5 June 2005
recently disturbing trend #2
So I was at Cedar Point today with Jessica (and supposedly lots of other coworkers across the many brands my company controls) and others, and had something of a good time.
According to the park's site June isn't one of their higher-traffic months, and the park didn't seem altogether that full. Unless everybody was in line for the new MaxAir, there just weren't as many people as I've seen there before. I vaguely recall standing in line for the Mean Streak for at least two hours when that opened, and this time I was able to get into the second seat of the front car in under four minutes, most of which was me walking or running through the long maze of railings which is now much much larger than necessary.
They could, I suppose, build a smaller ride inside the line space, if for no other reason (than using the space) than to get more people to trek all the way to that end of the park. Not that people need an excuse, since the Mean Streak is still an excellent coaster and worth the trip alone.
But that's old news. Since that opened the park has seen at least three new coasters (the order's a bit guzzy, sorry) and each better than the last, except for the painful Mantis.
As I stood in line, on the few occasions it took me more than half an hour to do so, I was people-watching. Since I work in fashion these days I seem to pay a little closer attention to what people wear, and I saw a lot of Abercrombie shirts and an equal number of sarcastic, licensed, and/or ironic tees on everybody from a little girl wearing "Pimptastic" to a middle-aged guy wearing a red shirt solely labeled "Duff".
The ones that stood out, hoever, weren't the Christian parodies of the Orange County Chopper shirts or the countless variations on the "your mom" theme, but the AC/DC shirts.
I saw at least five kids, tweens and teens wearing black AC/DC shirts. I realize the band is still out there and kicking it with the best of them, but still it gives me pause to see the kids wearing the shirts. After all, I saw not one shirt for Britney or the Backstreet Boys or Maroon 5 or whoever they're supposed to be loving these days.
And then there was my Darth Vader shirt which was appropriately timely, though I bought it many years ago. I didn't see any other Star Wars shirts at all, which I suppose could be a sign of the popularity of the latest film or maybe just the general merchandising burnout the public is experiencing.
After all, once they've bought their Darth Taters and Vader Sprinklers and Sith baseball jerseys, who has the money for a simple t-shirt?
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My favorite is the Iron Dragon. Did you know if you sit in the very front, when you come down over the lake, you get a little wet? It's a nice way to cool off on a hot day without waiting in the water ride line. Or at least that's how it was my senior year in high school. That's the last time I was there.
People aren't going to Cedar Point because they're poor.
I can't imagine paying the $48 per adult for admission, plus $9 to park, plus $3 for a 22-oz pop, plus who knows what else for food... to go to Cedar Point. That's for myself though- I'm a rollercoaster wimp. I went on some as a kid but now I look at them and I'm like, "No thanks!"
I rode all the wimpy rides like the Matterhorn and the Dogems. But for people like Mike who ride nearly all the coasters, I suppose it's worth the $48. They ought to give a discount or special pass (read: cheap) to those who are not actually going to ride the coasters. They should also let people in for free who are just going to walk around and watch their kids' stuff.
I'm considering a revival of my "Beaver (with spy gear)" shirt.