Family Trip to Cedar Point

It is time to blog about the first week of June, 2016. Yes, I am that far behind in this blog. Please forgive me. The first week of June is always one of my favorite times of the year because it usually revolves around a trip to Cedar Point. It just so happened that this year was the year in which I made the decision to bring the entire family with me to Cedar Point. I am going to be honest, I did not know what to expect. Cedar Point is a huge amusement park as most of you probably know from reading this blog. I will do my best to detail our Family trip to the Point. I will warn you now that this blog is lengthy so be prepared. 

We Did It!

I had no idea what to expect at Cedar Point with my two kids, who were 6 and 2 when we went. Would they be overwhelmed with all of the walking? Would they not be able to ride some of the rides? Would Landyn have a good time with the rides she could actually ride? Would Bri enjoy the smaller rides or be too afraid of the bigger rides? How would we manage two young children at essentially the biggest amusement park in the United States? There were so many unanswered questions running through my mind. So, how would this trip end up? I guess you will have to keep reading to find out.

Will this be a good trip Landyn?

What do you think Bri?

Yes, great trip!

The Aynes family packed up in my 2006 Toyota Camry the afternoon
of Memorial Day, May 30th, 2016 and hit the road from BirminghamAlabama in route to Sandusky Ohio. A mere two hours into thetrip we hit a batch of traffic on I-65 North which came to avirtual stop. Never in all of my years driving that route have Iever encountered traffic at that spot. As we listened to ourdaughter Landyn whine, for what felt like forever, we finallystarted moving and she started to calm down, thankfully. 

I knew this was awaiting us...

...and this

It appeared that a burned disabled vehicle caused the 45-minute
delay on our way north. I was bummed because I had it all worked out in my mind that we would stop outside of Louisville for the night. However, that did not happen and I had to do what every sensible manwould do in this situation; I listened to my wife, took hersuggestion, and made the decision to stay in the area where westopped for dinner. After we stopped for dinner at the CrackerBarrel in Elizabethtown Kentucky I booked a Comfort Suites upthe street for our night’s stay. It ended up being a wise decision. 

Wise decision Daddy...

...you are the best Daddy

I have to say that the Comfort Inn and Suites in Elizabethtown
Kentucky was very nice. The room was a great layout for a familywith small children. They also had a great indoor pool and hottub which the kids loved. Then they had a solid breakfast in themorning. Not too bad for right at $100. I have come to realizein all of my travels that a really nice hotel nowadays will setyou back around $100 a night. It used to be years ago that youcould get hotels much cheaper around $60-80 a night but thatdoes not seem to be the case anymore.

Hot Tubs are always nice

As are sweet moments like this!

We left Elizabethtown around nine that morning and proceeded on
the remaining six-hour journey to the greatest amusement park inexistence. I could feel the excitement building. The rest of thedrive went off without much of a hitch. We made a stop for lunchat a Steak N Shake somewhere off of I-75 outside of Dayton,Ohio. The kids both got milkshakes which kept them happy forsome time. Landyn managed to destroy her outfit as per usual.Bri kept asking us when we were going to get to the park and ourreply was always a pretty consistent, “we still have a ways togo.” All things considered the 700 mile, 11-hour journey withthe family went surprisingly alright. I feel blessed to have twokids who do so well in the car.

Yes, can I have a milkshake?

Me too?

The milkshake doesn't go on your head Landyn

It was somewhere in the neighborhood of four in the afternoon
when we made the left-hand turn onto the Cedar Point causeway. Iknew in a matter of minutes the sight that awaited me and I wasexcited to see the look on the kids’ faces when we drove pastthe park on our way to the hotel. Landyn let out an exclamationof, “ride rides, ride rides” repeated a few times as weapproached the front of the park. Bri was also all smiles as wewere finally at Cedar Point and she could get out of the car. We had finally made it!

Yes, we made it!

A little bit of Disney made it too

We checked into the Hotel Breakers the onsite Cedar Point hotel
that dates back to 1905. In 2015 the hotel underwent a $50-million-dollar renovation project turning the hotel into abeautiful lakeside resort. I made no hesitations about stayingthere because I knew how convenient it would be with two youngkids. The ease of being able to walk from the park to the roomat any time of the day was a huge selling point for me. Westayed in a Lakeview suite which was very nicely done andoffered us a good amount of space. The room was not cheap but it ended up being very worth it. 

Is that the ocean?

Awesome room!

Location, Location

Location!

The kids were itching to do something so we went down to thepool area to swim. The weather outside was perfect hoveringaround the 80-degree mark. The kid’s area of the pool offeredthree small slides and a bunch of spray jet things. Bri andLandyn both loved the area and I thought it was a great additionto the hotel. The pool was also very nice and the decent sizedhot tub was just icing on the cake.

Weeeeeee

I have water on my face

Sister moment

It was starting to get late and we still had yet to eat dinnerso I decided to order some pizza from Dominos. Let it be knownif you want to order pizza on a Cedar Point property you will payfor it. A 1-topping large pizza ran me over $20! That was finethough considering it was a quick and easy way to feed all fourof us. It was nice being able to eat our pizza and gaze out atbeautiful Lake Erie. The hotel’s location simply could not bebeat.

I love this place

Best $20 pizza ever!

It was now Wednesday, June 1st and we were ready to head intoCedar Point as a family. I had purchased two discounted 3-dayCedar Point/Soak City admission tickets from Hotel Breakers atcheck-in for $90 (adult), and $80 (child). This also includedthe very nice benefit of early entry into the park before thepark was officially open to general public guests. It allowedAshley and I to grab a ride each on the usually hour long waitcoaster Maverick in no time. I had taken the kids over to theCamp Snoopy kid’s section of the park which I had thought wasopen for early entry but sadly found out that they didn’t openuntil 10 am. The kids handled this well and soon we were allenjoying kiddie rides with them.

That's a tall coaster kids

Are we seriously about to enter the greatest amusement park in the world?

Landyn had to make sure she was tall enough

For the next two hours Ashley and I had a blast with the kidsriding many different small rides. For the first time I got mycoaster credit on the kiddie coaster Wilderness Run which youcan only ride if you have a child riding. Score! Bri also rode theother kid’s coaster Woodstock Express. She enjoyed both of them.Landyn rode the balloon ride, bus ride, swing ride, and circularcar ride. Bri got to meet some Peanuts characters includingdancing with Lucy and hugging Snoopy. It was a cute experience.

Trying not to hurl on the Tilt-a-Whirl

Ashley trying not to hurl on this thing

New coaster credit for me!

So much fun Daddy

I should mention that Ashley managed to score two rides on TopThrill Dragster right after it opened up at 10 am which cansometimes be a rarity since the coaster has issues early in themorning. I was happy she got to ride it. After Camp Snoopy wemade our way to the Sky Ride which I am very fond of. It wasnice that you could take kids as young as Landyn on a ride likethat. It was now around lunchtime so we decided to eat at theMidway Market. It seemed like a good choice because of the manyfood options at the buffet.

Can't believe I can ride this Mommy

Love this shot

Awww

So Cute

After lunch we made our way over to the Kiddie Kingdom area sothe kids could go nuts riding the many solid kid rides. Landynloved the carousel and the little drop ride and rode themmultiple times. Bri enjoyed the miniature bumper cars. Ashleyand I took advantage of the short lines on GateKeeper and eachtook a ride on that. Great coaster as always. We also managed tograb a ride on Wicked Twister too. Since Snoopy was in the areaof the Snoopy section Bri and Landyn got to give him hugs. Yes,it was adorable.

You better get outta my way

Priceless!

The cuteness is...

...off the charts!

So, yeah, when is the ride going to start?

We walked through the arcade checking out all of the games andthen headed towards the back portion of the park where thepetting farm was located. We spent a little time there admiringthe animals and then decided to head back to Hotel Breakers forsome relaxation time. We went back to the pool and enjoyed thehot tub and kids’ area with slides. So our first day as a familyinside Cedar Point was a success. I was proud of how thingsturned out and the kids loved everything.

Where are you going Landyn?

Time to wind down

The next day we grabbed breakfast to go from Perkins (restaurantinside the hotel), just like we had done the previous day, andheaded back into Cedar Point for early entry. I drove Ashleyaround to the Marina gate and dropped her off in hopes that shewould get to ride the new coaster Valravn. Unfortunately, it wasbroken down so she did not get to ride it. She made of the mostof it though with a ride on Millennium Force.

This is how I roll

A puddle

We met up and I went for a ride on Magnum XL-200 while Ashleytook the kids to the Yogurt Plus shop. Then we all left CedarPoint and made our way over to the Soak City waterpark. I haveto be honest that our time in the waterpark was not great. Briseemed to have a good time but Landyn was a little whiney. Weonly spent about three hours there before we decided to spendthe rest of our time back in Cedar Point. I will say that next year Cedar Point is expanding the water park and adding new attractions which should be a big improvement. 

This stuff is delicious

We walked around and rode the Sky Ride to the front of the park.I was able to score rides on Raptor and Blue Streak at thistime. Ashley took the kids to Kiddie Kingdom and let Bri andLandyn ride many rides together. I took Bri on a few biggerrides in the area like the Dodgem bumper cars and Tiki Twirlboth of which Bri loved. We took the kids over to the waterfountain splash pad area where they jumped and ran through allof the jumping water. Bri made a friend and Landyn was, at thispoint, worn out.

Hey there

Sky Riding it!

Water fountaining it!

Sometime during the afternoon of day two in the park Ashleytexted me to not be upset but she could not find the diaper bag.My initial reaction was, “how can I not be upset?” She had setit down in Kiddie Kingdom to ride the carousel with Landyn, wentback to retrieve it, but it was nowhere to be found. The bag hadour car keys, credit card, driver’s license, admission tickets,and my Cedar Fair Platinum pass in it so I was nervous. Ashleywent to the Lost and Found to tell them that we had lost our bagso they would have our contact info if it showed up. Since weare people of faith we decided to say a prayer about the bag inhopes that it would be dropped off at Lost and Found. We allwent back to the hotel where we had to ask the front desk toprint us new tickets for our third day. I had to call CedarPoint maintenance to unlock our car. I then had to go back inthe park before the 8 pm closing time to get another Season Passprinted. It was a hectic few hours but I think we handled itwell.

I am worn out!

After I got my season pass re-printed I made my way over toMillennium Force since there was still roughly 30 minutes or sountil closing time. I got to Millennium Force and found, to myutter satisfaction, that there was no line. At this point therewas around 15 minutes until the park was due to close. I managedto get three straight rides in thanks to the exit gate beingopen and Cedar Point’s complete awesomeness of keeping ridesopen 8 minutes after the parks closing time. It was a gloriousmoment. Day two was done and I made my way back to the fronttowards lost and found. I was amazed as the workers insideremembered who I was and said with excitement, “we have yourdiaper bag!” I almost felt like crying, seriously. Our prayershad been answered.

Iconic

At this point I had done so much walking I felt like I couldn’twalk anymore. I was at the front of the park now and I had toget back to the hotel which was about a mile away (I am notkidding). Luckily for me Cedar Point had a shuttle that tookhotel guests from the front of the park back to the resort. Iwaited a decent amount of time while in the meantime takingpictures of the awesome sunset. Cedar Point has some of the bestsunsets I have ever seen.

That face you make when you don't want to walk anymore

I mean seriously! Sunsets!

It was now day three of our Cedar Point trip and it would beanother jam packed one. Today was going to be a long day for meand my family. The park was open from 10 am until 10 pm. It wasalso Coastermania! day as well which as most of you, who readthis blog, know starts very early and ends very late. TheCoastermania! portion of this blog will be saved for anotherblog post so be on the lookout.

These views never get old

Should I sit in this chair or this chair?

Since this blog post is getting very long I am going to give youreaders a quick rundown on our third day. I picked up Ashley,Bri, and Landyn shortly after 10 am and we made our way intoCedar Point. We took the shuttle to the front of the park so weall could experience the front entrance; the previous two dayswere entered through the resort/marina entrance. We all rode theOld Carousel and then I took Bri and rode Ocean Motion,Matterhorn, and the Scrambler. We all met back up and rode theKiddie Kingdom carousel twice.

Where are you going Landyn?

Got her!

Guys I want to ride this ride

Time to ride this thrilling ride

Then we made our way back to Frontier town in the back of thepark and rode the car ride (?). It was neat because Bri was tallenough to drive us all around. After that I took Bri over toCedar Creek Mine Ride to see if she was tall enough to ride. Itturned out she was right at the 48” height requirement so shegot her first ride on a bigger coaster. She enjoyed it so Idecided to take her to another 48” height requirement coaster Ithought she would enjoy. She rode Iron Dragon and enjoyed it somuch that we rode it back to back. Ashley was with Landyn overin the Camp Snoopy area and we met up there. It was after 9 pmat this point and our trip was winding down.

Bri's first 48" height coaster

Followed by her 2nd 48' coaster

Before we left Bri was begging us to let her ride Magnum XL-200coaster. I told her that it was very high and that it went veryfast but she didn’t care. She wanted to ride it! I had Ashleyride it with her and after they got off she said she wasn’tscared. I don’t think she liked it that much but I was proud ofher for not getting upset and actually riding it. I would havenever been brave enough to ride a 200-foot- tall roller coasterat 6 years old. I think Bri is going to be like me and thatmakes me happy.

Bri looks kinda shocked

Well, there you have it. We did Cedar Point as a family. I amvery thankful that we had the opportunity to go. We spent fournights and three full days there and had a wonderful time. Therewere a few hiccups along the trip and during our time at CedarPoint but I think we handled them as best we could. It was achallenge to do things together as Bri wanted to ride morethrilling rides at times than Landyn did. Ashley and I oftenfound ourselves split up between Bri and Landyn depending on thesituation. All in all we had fun and that is what truly matters.

This is fun!

Also fun

Ready to spin?

Man I love this place!

I came away from the trip and realized that Cedar Point hasplenty of rides for kids and families. You can seriously findendless things to do and then re-do while there. We never had adull moment and the kids seemed to have a ton of fun. I verymuch enjoyed the looks on their faces as they rode rides andexperienced the sights. Cedar Point never disappoints and always delivers the greatest amusement park experience. Get to the Point and ride on!

Goodnight Cedar Point...

...and Thank-you.