Good morning!! How was your weekend?
Ours was pretty eventful, considering we spent half of it screaming bloody murder in Sandusky, Ohio. (Or, that might have just been me.)
Welcome to Cedar Point HalloWeekends!
Scott and I had only been to Cedar Point once before last summer.
When we got wind of the addition of a Halloween nights themed spectacle, I was intrigued and asked him if he wanted to make another trip. Of course he was down.
That same week, fellow blogger and Orlando friend Anna-Marie offered me four comp tickets she acquired at a conference at the park and I was thrilled to take her up on it. Thanks, Anna-Marie!
Around 8 a.m. Saturday, my best friend Alex and her boyfriend Alex (hehe… still think the same name coincidence is amazing) greeted us with Starbucks in hand, ready to hit the road for Ohio!
It’s just about a 2.5 hour drive from our house, which is totally doable for a day at an amusement park. We made decent time (after a pit-stop for breakfast) and arrived in line with a crowd of cars right after 11:30 a.m.
The park was packed, which we expected. It was a gorgeous fall day!
We almost gave in and purchased Fast Lane Passes (an additional $60 or $80, depending on which which coasters you wish to include) to skip the lines, but took our chances and everything ended up working out just fine.
We stayed until the park closed at midnight and were able to ride and do close to everything we hoped to.
Longtime HWG readers might recall my love/hate relationship with roller coasters. I love the thrill of riding them, but hate how I feel afterwards.
I am quick to get motion sickness, headaches, and extreme nausea after riding even one. My plan with theme parks is to balance it out with shows or something else in between the coasters, but Cedar Point is all about the rides!
My original plan was to join the group for every other ride. That’s what I usually do anyways. Somehow, I got talked into doing all of them (besides one that spun wayyy to much) and gave myself major kudos for putting my big girl pants on and hanging with the best of ’em.
That was Millenium Force. It’s labeled a giga-coaster (giant roller coaster) and I couldn’t believe how tall it was with a 310 foot drop! Crawling up in our cart was probably the most scared I have ever been on a ride… it just kept going (which I made sure to verbalize to everyone) (!!!).
I wanted to sit the next one out, but waited in line with the group just in case I decided to change my mind.
What do you know, I got talked into riding it anyways. Since we didn’t have Fast Lane Passes, we had plenty of time for my stomach to get it’s act together and cooperate.
We also had plenty of time to take photos. I was glad I decided to stick it out on this one, since Mantis will no longer be open after October 19th.
It’s a standing roller coaster, and I still can’t decide how I feel about it. It will be interesting to see what they do with the next one on deck to arrive!
I was happy when everyone was on the same page of wanting lunch/dinner to rest our feet after three coasters. I’m not going to try and sugarcoat it… I was hurting pretty bad.
I felt all out of sorts and thought I had reached my roller coaster limit for the day. I always feel like a baby when this happens, so I try to push through and keep a smile. My stomach can be so high maintenance, ya’ll.
Lucky for me, the nausea died down by the time we walked across the park and sat down to order at Chickie’s & Pete’s. Those of you who are familiar with the Philly phenomenon might have been just as excited to see Crab Fries as I was!!
I have only had them once before, and that was when Scott and I went to a Philadelphia 76ers game in Philly. This time the table ordered the regular seasoned with their famous cheese dip and sweet potato fries with maple sauce. YUM!
Three out of four of us ordered the Buffalo Chicken and blue cheese cheesesteak which was delicious, but a tad overloaded with cheese. I grabbed a fork and ditched most of the bun, but certainly made up for it when I single-handedly ate half of the fries on the table.
(You’re welcome, friends.)
We took a walk out to the car to get our jackets right after, and spent about thirty minutes driving around trying to get a closer parking spot. Welp, that’s a sure fire way to waste time and get absolutely nowhere.
I don’t recommend it.
We did, however, get to witness Alex demonstrate the most dramatic way to hop a fence on the way back, so I guess it wasn’t a total loss.
The rest of us took a the sideways duck and slide approach. She’s hilarious.
I noticed some festive Halloween decorations on our second entrance. It was time for the haunted houses to open and HalloWeekends to begin!
Besides the real spider webs (and spiders… eek!) around the park, there were intentionally placed ghouls and creepy greeters.
There was even a Halloween themed street show!
A band of pirates playing “Monster Mash” with dancing headless people and aliens is something you just don’t get to see every day.
We spent the remainder of our day and night strategically planning out our wait times and must-hit destinations of rides and haunted houses.
Margarita, anyone?
As soon as the sun set, things started getting spooky! There were themed out scare zones filled with ghosts and zombies, just waiting to find the girls who would actually scream at a scare (us).
We had enough time for two haunted houses, both of which had me screaming and hurting Scott’s arm with my unforgiving grip.
My strategy has always been to laugh when I get scared, and it usually works to ward the crazies off of targeting me. For some reason, Alex got the brunt of the scares everywhere we went. Looks like I need to bring her to every haunted house experience from here on out!
We caught the tail end of a cirque-style acrobatic and dance show called Skeleton Crew, who were all very talented.
As we finished up our “last” ride, we started heading towards the exit and got word that Top Thrill Dragster was still open. Holy geez, you guys. I never thought I would be so scared for a 17 second ride. Zero to 120 MPH in less than 4 seconds, then you’re 420 feet in the air, twisting, and coming back down at the same speed… no big deal.
I almost got out of it (I needed a strong stomach for the car ride home, right?) and was two seconds from walking straight past the seats. Against my better judgement, I sat down and figured I could do anything in under 20 seconds. I’m glad I did because it was so fun!
My favorite roller coaster was Gatekeeper! It is the tallest, fastest and widest wing roller coaster in the world! Check out the video (part of the link above in pink) around the 1:10 mark as it takes you through the gates of the main entrance. I thought my head was going to get chopped off, it was so scary, but so awesome at the same time.
I love wing coasters. They feel so smooth and secure for some reason.
We finally got back to the car close to 1 a.m. and didn’t return home until the wee hours of the morning. It was a long, tiring, incredible day!
***
I can sum up the rest of the weekend in a handful of photos/phrases:
Friday
PIZZA!
The best Moscato and pet snuggles.
Sunday
SLEEP!
Online service streaming with breakfast.
More pet snuggles.
Nine miles with Alex.
Gorgeous scenery!
Jimmy John’s before volunteering at our Youth Ministry.
Well, I’m off bright and early to assist HOOPER at a Piston’s event. I am hoping to be back home by lunch time to be able to check in with you all again later this afternoon. Have a marvelous start to your Monday!
Question of the Day
• Roller coasters: love or hate them?
• Halloween night scares and haunted houses: love or hate them?
Strength and Sunshine
Haha, very fun! I laugh during haunted houses/tours/etc. too! (It does keep things lighter and the creepies away!).
I am not an amusement park/ride/coaster person at all! The only rides I like are Disney World rides and Mt. Everest! The only real roller coaster I’ve been on!
Heather
It doesn’t always work, but more times than not it covers my fear and they move on to someone else… 😉
courtruns4cupcakes
I love CP and Halloweekends! I’m from Ohio and used to go there all the time when I was in high school. I still try to make it up there at least once a year when I go home to visit family. I was terrified the first time I ever rode Top Thrill but it was so much fun and I’m glad I went on it! My high school went to CP for after prom and I actually hated roller coasters but I didn’t want to sit on benches the whole day while my friends went on all the rides so I sucked it up and went on them. Turns out I love roller coasters!
Heather
So much fun! I used to go to Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando in high school with a group of friends. That was the best!
Fit 'N' Cookies
I love Cedar Point! It’s such a fun amusement park. I also really like the Mantis and am sad they are taking it down 🙁 It’s about a 3 hr ride from where we live, so we don’t get there too often, especially with Kennywood in our neck of the woods. Crab fries are the best! They sell those at our baseball stadium and I love them.
Heather
I’ve never heard of Kennywood before. Ahhh, I want more Crab Fries!!
Kaylee
That looks like an awesome time! Sadly my husband is not down for any kind of haunted house, I can barely get him to watch a scary movie with me!
Heather
Oh man. Scott thrives off of them. It’s not unusual for him to scare me more in those houses than the people working in it! Over the past few years he’s finally learned it’s not cool and that I will defend myself with whatever means necessary. He doesn’t try to pull it much anymore 😉
chrissyw
I hate roller coasters, but I love haunted houses!
Heather
I completely understand… 😉
Erin @ Her Heartland Soul
Oh man you are so much braver than I am! I can’t handle roller coasters. The scare the crap out of me way more than scary stuff! haha
Heather
Me too! I was way more scared in line for rides than I was for the haunted houses!
Ashley @ My Food N Fitness Diaries
What a FUN time! I’m totally a sucker for roller coasters – LOVE them! I’m not as much a fan of the twisty-turny-make-you-want-to-puke rides, but I do love rollercoasters.
Heather
Ha, I feel you sister. I did much better with the straight up and down rides!
Chelsea @ A Fit LittleOne
I love coasters!! I’ve actually been talking about lately how I want to go to either Disneyland or a theme park that gets decorated for halloween. It just looks like so much fun!!
Heather
I’ve always been a sucker for Halloween, so personally I think it’s the best time of year to go to a theme park! In Florida I went to HallowScream (Busch Gardens) or Halloween Horror Nights (Universal) almost every year!
aladygoeswest
Hi Heather! Sounds like a fun Saturday at the park, with its ups and downs of course. 🙂 I like most roller coasters, but stay away from all the multi-motion rides that twist you around too much. I haven’t theme parked in a long time now that I don’t like in Orlando anymore. These pictures make me want to go to one. I love your wine glass, it’s quite classy. 🙂
Heather
Hehe – ups and downs is right, literally! 😉 And thanks, Scott actually had those before I met him! I really do feel fancy when I use one, ha!
Diana
oh my gosh. your last picture just solidified lunch for today! ha.
what a fun weekend! you go girl! for getting on all of those rides. my husband always has to twist my arm for me to get on roller coasters (i’m prone to motion sickness too). eek! off to check out the video for the gatekeeper. have a great rest of the week!
Heather
Jimmy John’s is so good! Ha, thanks. I wouldn’t give me too much credit. I was completely being a baby behind the scenes… 😉
Elsie @ Sharing Healthiness
What an amazing weekend!!!! I love going to theme parks..I feel like I travel to a new world where only fun is allowed! I like rollercosters but just the mild ones. Ha! As much as I love Halloween I will pee my pants if I am scared..like literally! I would have died in those haunted houses.
By the way…CRAB FRIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Heather
Hehe, I’m a mild roller coaster goer as well. Or maybe even the kiddie rides? Is that an option? 😉
Lauren @ The Bikini Experiment
I used to love rides when I was younger, and now I am getting more apprehensive as I get older. Go figure! Looks like you had an awesome weekend. Happy Monday!
Heather
Thanks! And yes, I totally get that. I was pretty fearless in high school. 😉 Hope you have a great start to the week.
Sierra&Faith Winks and Eyerolls
Looks like so much fun! We love Chickie’s and Pete’s fries 🙂
Kaylin @ Enticing Healthy Eating
This looks like so much fun! The closest theme park to where I currently live is Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO. I love that place though, I’ve gone there more times than I can count ever since I was a baby. With friends, with family,…that place holds a lot of memories for me. It’s a great park if you ever get the chance to check it out!
Heather
Oh my gosh, Silver Dollar City!! My husband was basically raised in that park. He was born in Branson and grew up in NW Arkansas!! I’ve actually been and loved it 🙂
Kaylin @ Enticing Healthy Eating
That is incredible! Another SDC fan!! I like how the park doesn’t feel really “gimicky” to me, it has more of a down-home and country feel I suppose. I think it did so even more when I was a child, but either way I’m still a huge fan.
Heather
You should have seen Scott’s eyes light up when I read your comment to him. He LOVES SDC! 🙂
Kaylin @ Enticing Healthy Eating
High five to Scott! And now it looks like I need to put this theme park on my list too. 🙂 Though roller coasters and fast rides to wear me out fast as well (they give me headaches) I can’t help but love them anyways. Adrenaline junkie…
Anna-Marie @BeautyandtheBeets
I am so glad you had a great time. But OMG…..you rode the DRAGSTER????? We could see it (and hear it) from our hotel room and I was terribly anxious just watching it. Maybe next year but probably not.
Heather
I’m not going to lie… I really thought I was going to skip it. I even told Scott I was going to walk right past the seats when it’s time to get in the cars. Unfortunately, the exit wasn’t accessible that way. Literally, the only reason I went through with it. Ha! 🙂