Places to Visit »Cedar Point

Written by Mike

Cedar Point started off in the late 1800s like many amusement parks of the day.  It was a boardwalk on a scenic waterfront complete with picnic grounds, an amusement arcade and even a ballroom.  While some of this past is visible in the park still (the ballroom still stands), Cedar Point is now known better for one thing, it’s “America’s Roller Coast”.  That may be their slogan, but it’s pretty accurate.  With some 14 roller coasters, including some big firsts of their day and the second tallest and fastest coaster in the world as of this writing, its got a pretty good reputation among coaster lovers across the world.

When I knew i wanted to book a trip there, I started looking around for local hotel options.  To my surprise, some of the best places to stay in the area were in the park itself.  This includes some serene log cabins that can hold up to 10 people (which if split among some friends or a family turns out to be a pretty decent deal).  The food in the park is comparatively good for amusement parks, but staying in the cabins allowed for us to do some BBQing at night while taking a coaster break before one last evening push.  Staying in the resort also lets you into the park an hour early, plus when else can you say you slept in a cabin at the foot of a giant wooden coaster?

The park is really clean and has plenty of family entertainment including an old frontier town section that does glass blowing and blacksmithing.  The Gemini is a wooden/metal racing coaster hybrid that was one of my favorites there, as well as a newer magnetic launched coaster called the Maverick.  A day pass includes a trip to the water park, which is a nice break especially on a really hot day like it was when we were there.  If you get sick of the 13 or so coasters, they also have a great arcade with some classic games, and some lesser known old ones with some awesome cabinet art.

All in all it was one of the most pleasant amusement park trips I have ever had and a great trip for roller coaster lovers and fun lovers alike.

On a side note, if your looking for an interesting place to eat one night outside of the park or on your way home, I would recommend local Czech favorite, Old Prague Restaurant in Vermilion OH.  We actually found this place thanks to the use of a “where to eat nearby” iphone app and were not disappointed.  Not only was there an older lady playing standards on a Casio, but they had good beer and even better Sauerkraut balls.

Click here for the rest of Cedar Point

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Posted on February 24, 2011