Get to the Point

When Mike and I saw the kids' excitement after riding the Barnstormer roller coaster at Magic Kingdom back in February, we determined that we would like to see those giddy smiles again this summer.  The kids and I will be on the west side of the state with my mom in August, so I didn't want to head that way to do Michigan Adventure for this family trip.  At just shy of 42" tall, even the bumper cars and swings at Liberty Fest a few weeks ago were off limits to them, so I also wanted to be sure there would be plenty of kiddie rides wherever we went.

Phone Pictures

With a surprisingly large number of rides for kids 36" tall and up and the newly renovated, 110 year old Hotel Breakers on site, I was lured to book a long weekend at Cedar Point.  Before looking into this trip I had no intention to take the kids there before they were maybe seven or eight since my own memories of the place began around that time.  Those memories also include roller coasters far too big for my five-year-old's.  However, we just got back from three days on the beach, riding kiddie rides (and a few thrill rides), and luxuriating in some brand spankin' new amenities at the hotel.  It was a bit of a splurge for a long weekend, but we packed a lot in, as always.

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The four of us drove up early on Saturday and spent the day on the beach. The kids have now had at least their feet in all five Great Lakes!

On Sunday we took advantage of staying on site to get into the park an hour before the general public.  We were also grateful our hotel could serve as a convenient place to warm up, change, and rest in the mid-afternoon after unsuccessfully dodging raindrops for most of the day.  Since we were only steps away from the park, we were able to wait for the rain to let up and get right back out there after dinner.

Even with the near-constant drizzle, we managed to ride everything we wanted (including kiddie sized bumper cars and swings) and had a great time together. With the Kiddie Kingdom, Camp Snoopy, and Planet Snoopy areas to visit, the park had plenty of rides for Michael and Sophie.  Over the course of the day they rode Wilderness Run--the old Junior Gemini, now part of Camp Snoopy--nearly a dozen times, mostly as the only two riders!  The Woodstock Express reminded us all of Barnstormer, and we rode that a couple of times as well.  Thanks to the rainy weather for most the of the day, we practically had the park to ourselves in the evening when the weather was perfect.  

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The weather was great again on Monday, our last day of this little getaway.  We packed up our room early and spent a few hours in the hotel's outdoor pools before heading home.  A storm was coming in yet again, so that made it a bit easier to say goodbye to this trip.

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I'm not sure why I didn't get many photos of Sophie over this trip.  There was a while when I felt I was getting more of her, so I guess these things work themselves out!