I then walked down the Frontier Trail to find, I bet you can guess, Shoot the Rapids down! Please fix the problems Cedar Point! Anyway, that didn’t matter to me as I couldn’t ride anyway.

I then headed to the car to leave the park, yep, I was there for about three hours just to leave. Haha, not really, I left to go have a quick dinner at Wendy’s before heading back to the point 10 minutes before Hot Summer Lights started. That’s the difference between Six Flags and Cedar Fair, at Cedar Fair you can re-enter all the way up to 9:59pm while at Six Flags you can’t re-enter after 7pm. Really, how is that more fun than the fun and only?

Anyway, after Hot Summer Lights, I went to take tons of pictures of the Starlight Experience after most of the guests cleared out.

After that, I headed back to the car to call it a night.

Ride Count:

• CP & LE Railroad x1

Show Count:

• Grand Ole Country x1
• Tropical Heat, Island Beat x1
• Starlight Experience x2

I first started my trip off with a quick dinner at waaaay better Wendy’s.  Then I headed to the park to catch the last show of Tropical Heat, Island Beat.   Then I headed down the Frontier Trail to check on Shoot the Rapids, which was still closed, but ended up opening the next day.

It had been almost a month since the ride was planned to open, so everyone who wanted to ride, including me, was hoping that it would open very soon.

Also, they finished stocking the gift shop, plus employee ride night the night before spelled an opening within the coming days.  Next, I moved onto the CP & LE Railroad to take me to the front of the park so I could ride Blue Streak and Raptor.

I then hopped onto the Skyride and then made it onto one of the last Iron Dragon trains of the night.

I then headed to see the Starlight Experience.  After that I did a little shopping in Frontier Town and then caught the last ride of the night on Paddlewheel Excursions.  After that is was time for the ride night to begin.

I got in two laps on the Magnum and then headed over to Top Thrill Dragster to find that it was down and there were still general public riders waiting to ride.  So I called it a night and went on a walking loop of the point.  I managed to take some pictures of the Starlight Experience before it was shut off for the night.

I then headed to the bathroom. (I normally don’t post that in my trip reports, but this time in plays into the story.)  After coming out of the bathroom, I spotted people running back towards the Maverick, so I followed and it turned out that Cedar Point opened Maverick because Top Thrill Dragster was down.  So I got one no wait ride in on the Maverick before officially calling it a night.

Ride Count:

• CP & LE Railroad x1
• Blue Streak x1
• Raptor x1
• Skyride x1
• Iron Dragon x1
• Paddlewheel Excursions x1
• Magnum XL 200 x2
• Maverick x1

Show Count:

• Tropical Heat, Island Beat x1
• Starlight Experience x2

Then it was onto the Cedar Creek Mine Ride and then, because it was almost time for Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I went to get on the train. Although, I got “sidetracked” into the Live Music in the Palace while I waited for the train to come.

After Signed, Sealed, Delivered it was time for dinner at the car.  Then it was onto the Wicked Twister Midway to ride the Space Spiral, Giant Wheel, maXair for my first and last time, and Troika.

After that it was onto part two of the Starlight Experience behind the scenes.

Later, I rode the Antique Cars and then went through the Starlight Experience during the best time, after dark.

After a little shopping, it was time to end the day.

Ride Count:

Skyride – 1
Paddlewheel Excursions – 1
Cedar Creek Mine Ride – 1
CP & LE Railroad – 1
Space Spiral – 1
Giant Wheel – 1
maXair – 1
Troika – 1
Antique Cars – 1

Show Count:

Live Music at the Palace – 0.005
Signed, Sealed, Delivered – 1
Starlight Experience – 1.5

This was the first time I saw it so I didn’t think it was that bad, but I went back another day and there was a girl also singing and the guy was singing the same songs that “people requested” the last time I saw the show.

Hopefully this show will not return or it will changed to something better. After that, I headed down the Frontier Trail to see Got Country.

Then after Got Country I went to see my second favorite show last year, and it was great!  It moved up to my #1 favorite show for the summer.  I heard that a lot of people didn’t like the new ending song, but after seeing it all summer, it grew on me and I loved it!

After Signed, Sealed, Delivered I took a quick dinner break at the car and then I headed over to the Wicked Twister Midway for a trip to Alaska on Disaster Transport and then a relaxing ride on the Space Spiral and the Giant Wheel.

Wicked Twister was down for the night, so I passed that and headed to the Frontier Trail so I could film the setup of the Starlight Experience.

After that I went on a car ride on the Antique Cars and then headed down the Frontier Trail to experience the Starlight Experience after dark.

Then I headed over to the Wildcat Midway to see Hot Summer Lights.
If that wasn’t a fun enough day I ended it with a photo session in the Starlight Experience by putting it on a fence post and placing it on fireworks setting to get some pretty cool pics.

Well that was my trip.

Ride Count:

Skyride – 1
Disaster Transport – 1
Space Spiral – 1
Giant Wheel – 1
Antique Cars – 1

Show Count:

Live Music at the Palace – 1
Got Country – 1
Signed, Sealed, Delivered – 1
Starlight Experience – 2
Hot Summer Lights – 1

After a short downpour, it stopped and the rides reopened.  My first stop was Got Country.  After the show I headed back to Frontier Town and rode the Cedar Creek Mine Ride, Antique Cars, and then Mean Streak.

Then it was onto my first Paddlewheel ride of the season, which was not good, the new captains still have a lot to learn!

Night was falling and it was on to see the Starlight Experience for the first time.  I thought it was pretty neat all of the lights and floats!

Just a quick, but fun Friday night trip!

Ride Count:

Antique Cars – 1
Mean Streak – 1
Paddlewheel Excursions – 1
Skyride – 3

Show Count:

Got Country – 1
Starlight Experience – 2

Don’t worry a FULL walk-thru is still coming in the near future, check out more vids here!

After picking up our season pass, I had to take a picture of the new entrance plaza.

Then moving inside the park to ride the raptor, forgetting to look at the wait sign, I ended up waiting about an hour to ride a ride that I could have ridden without a line during early entry time.

After I “kicked the sky” I had to take a picture of another new thing… the new splash fountain!

On to the Blue Streak, which is rumored that the people who built it had to get the designs of Chippewa Lake Park’s Big Dipper in order to build it. I don’t know it if true or not, but probably untrue.

After being shook up on the Blue Streak, it was on to the open road! I went along for the pictures for my flickr.

Heading over to the Wicked Twister midway, to ride some rides over there, but of course LONG LINES!

After a quick swing on Ocean Motion, it was on the the CP & LE Railroad. Of course you can’t forget about Snoopy over at Planet Snoopy.

Since I arrived late, there was a long line for both the Millennium Force and the Maverick, so just enjoy the photos that I took from the train.

Now it’s time for the sights and sounds of the old west in Frontier Town!

Then on to the Cedar Creek Mine Ride…

…and then on to the Town Hall Museum with it’s haunted carousel horse.

The story is that…

“Upon seeing her husband’s creation, Mrs. Muller fell in love with the horse. So much so that even after her death, her ghost returned to the Cedar Point Carousel to ride it. In fact, her love was so strong that her ghost would make it impossible for anyone to photograph the horse, lest someone else view it and fall in love with it.” – The Ghosts of Ohio

So you could say that I proved that story wrong!

As the sun started to go down, it was a great time to take sunset photos. Like this one of the Maverick…

One of my most popular flickr photos is the Starlight Experience Preview…

…this is the winter themed area of the Starlight Experience.

That about wraps up my experience at Cedar Point’s opening day. We headed home after one last ride on the Magnum, after all it is 20 years old.

Enjoy these final pictures, and everyone is welcome to comment below!

Check out more pictures from Cedar Point 2009 in my flickr set!