Coasters (083)

Yesterday, I made the decision to go to Cedar Point’s 2021 opening day by myself. Mike was scheduled to work, and I really wanted to go. We have season passes and meal plans, so the only expense would be gas and whatever souvenir I purchased. We don’t typically purchase items, but I had a particular sweatshirt in mind with the logo of my favorite coaster that no longer exists: Mean Streak. It has been rebuilt into Steel Vengeance, which admittedly is a much better coaster than Mean Streak ever was or could be, but I am a nostalgic sap for my favorite. We even went to Mean Streak’s funeral and walked in the procession to its grave in the Midway. 

Admittedly, it was very odd driving 2.5 hours one way by myself to attend opening day, but with my depression having a very strong grip on me lately, and my lack of physical exercise, I truly felt like I needed to do it. An entire day of exercise, fresh air, sunshine, and adrenaline rushes fulfilled my hopes for what the day would hold. It was perfect in every way. I even made a new friend in line for Steel Vengeance, my first ride of the day. Then I met up with a friend that Mike and I met five years ago, as Ride Warrior Club members, when she got off work at the park. She loves it there so much that she works at Cedar Point and sticks around after work to eat and ride coasters. We got lucky meeting her; she’s a true gem. 

I rode four coasters in total today. At the first three, ride hosts were strictly assigning rows to guests. This is a true bummer to someone who will wait an extra 20 minutes for the front row. I thought it odd that on every single ride, I was assigned to row 3. That’s my lucky number, and has been always. On the fourth ride, if they hadn’t been lenient about me riding in the front, I would have been in row 3 again. Funny how that stuff works out. I couldn’t have asked for a better opening day. Well, it would have been nice to ride more coasters.