HalloWeekends at Cedar Point

Photos by OHventures

Amusement park enthusiasts from around the world flock every year to Cedar Point, located in Sandusky, Erie County, Ohio. We are lucky to have one of the best amusement parks on the planet right on the Lake Erie coastline. With more rides than any other park on earth (71), and the second most roller coasters (16), Cedar Point has been breaking records and drawing in millions for decades.

 

For the past 20 years, Cedar Point has been hosting HalloWeekends, on the weekends that fall between Labor Day and Halloween. The entire 365-acre park transforms into a spookier, scarier, and more thrilling experience for guests, with pumpkins and cobwebs decorating the queue lines, and ghosts, goblins, and ghouls roaming the midway.

This past weekend, I experienced HalloWeekends for the very first time. I had been to Cedar Point many times since my youth, but never during HalloWeekends. During this time, the park is only open Friday through Saturday, and with limited hours. After spending a Sunday in the park in late September, I have to say it was one of the best visits I have ever had to Cedar Point!

This is mainly because the crowds are significantly smaller than during the summer months. I do, however, hear that Saturdays during HalloWeekends can bring in very large numbers of park goers (especially in late October). So, if you plan to go, make it on a Sunday! We arrived just before noon (the park opened at 11AM) and left around 7 PM (the park closed at 8 PM).

Dead Ride Cemetery

The park was truly transformed, with special Halloween touches everywhere you looked. I loved the attention to detail: skulls, bats, and skeletons strategically placed throughout the park. I particularly enjoyed the specially created displays, such as the "Dead Ride Cemetery," featuring "tombstones" of former coasters and attractions that are now defunct and have since been torn down. Pictured above, you can see part of the cemetery (which is found in the Midway near the Raptor roller coaster), including the grave site of the Mean Streak, the giant wooden coaster that is being torn down this year.

Further down the Midway is a giant jack-lantern to walk through (perfect for a photo op), a giant mechanical ogre, and the "Cemetery of Dead Rockers." This area is found near the Corkscrew roller coaster (pictured below), and features headstones of rock-and-roll legends who are no longer with us: Rick James, John Lennon, Elvis, and even Amy Winehouse.

Even further down the Midway is the Great Pumpkin Spectacular, where you can find 10,000 hand-carved jack-o-lanterns lining the walkways. They are true works of art, and look even cooler at nighttime, all lit up. This is a new addition to HalloWeekends this year, and can be found near the Top Thrill Dragster and the Power Tower. 

This entire stretch of the Midway is where you can witness the Great Pumpkin Parade at 4 PM each day. And if you have kids, there are a ton of places nearby that can offer age-appropriate Halloween fun (like trick-or-treat zones and Peanuts characters dressed in a not-so-spooky manner). 

We, of course were not there with children in tow. This meant that not only could we hit up all of the haunted houses we wanted, but we could also indulge in some adult beverages. Do yourself a favor and try the craft beers especially made for Cedar Point. This includes the RougaBrew and the Valravn Red Stout, both named after newer rides at the park, and both available for a very limited time. You can try them at the Trail Tavern near Millennium Force roller coaster (yes, the one that is over 300 feet tall). 

Enjoying a RougaBrew at Trail Tavern

Another great spot for some cold ones is Chickie's & Pete's, found near the entrance and right next to the Blue Streak roller coaster. A word of caution, however: plan to ride the more intense rides before you eat heavy foods and guzzle on some beer. We did things a bit backwards, eating some famous crab fries (seasoned to perfection) at Chickie's & Pete's, then riding the aforementioned Blue Streak - the oldest (1964) and most rickety roller coaster in the park (hey - it had no line, so we had to try it).

Now it was time for the scary stuff. There are so many haunted houses in the park, but we could only make it to a couple (no thanks to the long line we waited in to ride the Maverick roller coaster). The two we were able to experience were: the Eden Musee (a wax museum themed haunted house full of surprises), and Hexed (a witch themed haunted house with a ton of great scares).

 

While we really did want to try some of the other featured haunted houses (like the Zombie High School and the haunted hospital aptly called Eternity Infirmary), the real scary thing would be if we didn't get to ride some of the newest roller coasters at the park. This includes Rougarou (a floorless coaster, formerly known as Mantis when it was a stand-up roller coaster...it's complicated). Being that this is named after a werewolf creature from French folklore, we felt it was appropriate to ride on HalloWeekends.

It would also be a sin if we skipped GateKeeper, a wing roller coaster with the largest inversion on earth (built in 2013) and frightening keyhole elements. And, most of all we HAD to ride Valravn, the longest, fastest, and tallest dive roller coaster in the world, which was just installed at the beginning of the 2016 season. Aside from Maverick, this was the longest line we stood in (and even so, it was only a half an hour), but it was definitely worth the wait.

Overall, the trip to Cedar Point for HalloWeekends was nothing short of perfect. The crisp fall weather was gorgeous - not too hot, and not too cold. And, the lines for most rides were 15 minutes or less (even the GateKeeper was only about 10 minutes). You still have time to check out HalloWeekends in 2016!

AirVentures

Photos by OHventures

I have been in an airplane many times in my life, but only on countless commercial flights (and of course that time I went skydiving).

This past Labor Day weekend was the first time I had the opportunity to ride in a non-commercial plane - all thanks to a great friend of mine, Alex (who joined us previously for the Bike Columbus Festival), who recently earned his pilot license! On a limb, I told Alex that I wanted to ride in his plane sometime soon, and without hesitation, he obliged!

Alex told me that I would be his first official passenger. This was both an honor and a true sign of bravery! Truth be told, there was nothing to be scared of, because Alex is a total pro and it was 100% safe.

Our flight plan consisted of Alex flying from OSU airport in Columbus to pick me up in Akron/Canton. From there, we would fly over my house and circle around over downtown Canton before heading west and north to our final destination of Kelley's Island!

The plane we were riding in was a Diamond DA20 Eclipse. I am not even sure what all that means, other than it was a very small 2-seat aircraft! I was surprised when I first saw the plane to see just how small it was. Sitting together inside, our knees touched and there was not much room to move about! This meant it would be a cozy flight!

After a short safety briefing, Alex and I departed from Akron/Canton for our cross-state trek! It was an extremely smooth take-off and flight altogether, putting me at ease and allowing me to soak in the sights. We were flying at heights of approximately 3000-5000 feet, which is not very high in comparison to most commercial flights, which are found at an altitude of 30,000 feet!

View of Downtown Canton

Being at this "low" altitude (seemed high to me as we were up there) made it easy to make out key landmarks (such as the McKinley Monument in Canton), and other points of interest (such as a cement plant in Huron - pictured below).

View of Huron, OH (the white smoke is from the cement plant)

Perhaps the coolest sight to see was the Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky! It was really awesome to soar over this small peninsula and to make out all of the rides and attractions. The massive  (such as Top Thrill Dragster and Millennium Force) all looked minuscule from our vantage point flying over! As funny as it sounds, it was also remarkable to see just how massive the parking lot of Cedar Point is (pictured below).

Cedar Point in Sandusky

Our headsets gave us the ability to speak to one another and hear one another clearly. Alex affixed two GoPro cameras to the inside of the plane so that we could re-watch our aerial adventure at a later time (link coming soon!). 

Kelley's Island

The trip flew by (no pun intended) and took us just 45 minutes to reach Kelley's Island - much better than the 2.5 hours by car and the ferry ride on top of that! After a smooth landing, Alex and I explored the island and ate some lunch (a post on that coming soon).

Put-In-Bay

Before heading back, we were sure to circle over the neighboring Lake Erie island of South Bass, so we could catch a good glimpse of the vacation town of Put-In-Bay (where Alex and I partied with friends in summer of 2014). It was awesome to see Perry's Monument (pictured above), and the rest of the resort town from the sky.

Overall, my "AirVentures" trip was incredibly exciting and just what I needed to cap off my summer. Seeing the great state of Ohio from up above is something that everyone should try at some point in his or her life. Since you likely don't have a close friend who has a pilot license, try some of these options: Wright B Flyer in Dayton, Cincinnati Airplane Tours in Cincinnati, Flight 54 Travel & Tours in Cleveland, Capital City Jet Center in Columbus, and Pickaway County Airport in Circleville for starters.