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As many of you might already know I went to Cedar Point on it’s closing weekend. But that is not where my Maverick story starts…

Back in May my friend Rachel and I already had made plans to go to Cedar Point. We both were well aware of the modifications being made to Maverick. We also knew that we weren’t going to ride Maverick this trip and we were okay with this because it’s Cedar Point. So with a full day of driving on Monday the 21^st we were ready to go to the park on Tuesday. Once we got to the gates to enter the park there were signs stating “Maverick is currently closed. We anticipate an early June 2007 opening.” It was kind of sad to see a sign like that but we still had a great day at Cedar Point. I even sat in the test seat thinking that was the closest I would get to riding Maverick.

On Wednesday we decided to start our day at the back of the park. And it was a good choice because we witnessed them put the last piece of modified track into place. I went up to one of the construction workers and just started chatting with him. He told me they were trying their hardest to get the ride open by the weekend. I didn’t want to believe him and get my hopes up. So Rachel and I went on with our day. We rode the train to the middle of the park and rode a few things in the front. We even took off our shoes and socks and had a nice stroll up the beach. Then we decided to head back to the car for some lunch. But before lunch, I wanted to swing by Maverick to take a few pictures. So I’m standing there taking pictures and Rachel went shopping for a bit. Then she RUNS up behind me completely out of breath. And then she says, “Your never going to believe me but I just bumped into Dick Kinzel and he said Maverick would be opening on Saturday.” And just like she said I didn’t believe her, I wanted to hear it for myself. So we hunted him down and I asked and he said, “Yes, come back Saturday it will be open.” So that sent me on an instant high and made the rest of my day 10 times better.

Thursday was another awesome day at Cedar Point. It ended with watching some late evening testing of Maverick.

Once we started our day on Friday we made our way back to Maverick. They were testing and there was a cool sign posted at the entrance to the ride. It stated, “Howdy! We’re doin’ the last little bit of testing on Maverick today. It’ll be ready to take ya on a ripsnortin’ white-knuckle ride beginning tomorrow!” I got very excited because you can only see a sign like that on one day. So later that night we made sure we got extra sleep so we could get to the park early.

Once we got to the park on Saturday there was already a pretty large crowd. They let us in to the park at 8:30 but held us back just under Magnum. Then while we were waiting to run to the ride it started pouring down. I got completely soaked, but it was ok with me cause I was about to ride Maverick on it’s opening day and nothing could of upset me. So at 9:00 they let us go. And I must say, this was the craziest running of the bulls I have ever been a part of. As we were running to Maverick water was splashing everywhere from people stepping into puddles. It had to of been close to one thousand people running from the back gate. Because once we got off the ride we got a certificate stating we were #791 and #792. The first 3,000 people to ride Maverick got a free t-shirt that says Maverick first rider. So that was really cool. We were only able to ride once because Rachel and I both had to work on Sunday. And after our first ride the sign at the entrance said the line was 2 hours long. So we got on the road to head back home. We had a great week at Cedar Point.

Okay, Now we can fast forward to October 2007. It was closing weekend at Cedar Point and they decided to end it in a fun way. By having a contest for the last ride on Maverick. On October 28^th there would be ten full time employees walking around the park with Golden Tickets around their necks. If you spotted one you would have to go up to them and say this exact phrase. “The old west was never this wild, may I please have the last ride on Maverick?” So While driving to Cedar Point my niece (Anna) is talking about the Golden Ticket thing the whole way there. I finally had to tell her that she is building the whole thing up to be a big disappointment for me and her.

So once we got to Cedar Point Friday night we had a great time, we rode Raptor and Millennium Force. Then we went through the Fright Zone and made our way back to Maverick and made it our last ride of the night.
On Saturday we rode pretty much all the roller coasters at Cedar Point and had a really fun day. Also ending it with Maverick.

On Sunday, I wanted to get to the park for ERT (Exclusive Ride Time) on Maverick and start searching for Golden Tickets. Once we got to Maverick and got in line, it broke down. So we decided to wait. After about 20 minutes the ride was back up and the line was moving again. Then once we got up on to the loading platform we waited for the front seat. The front seat is my favorite place to set on Maverick. But, this time it turned out to be a bad choice because the ride broke down right before it was our turn to ride. Another 20 minutes went by and then the ride was back up. Our ERT on Maverick turned out to be EWT. (Early Wait Time)

After that we rode some more things while making our way around the park. Once we got to the front of the park my family wanted to ride the Giant Wheel and I opted out. I told them I would rather walk around and that turned out to be a great choice. While walking around I bumped into Dick Kinzel. I was able to shake his hand and get another awesome picture with him. If you ever get the chance to meet him you will see that he is a very nice gentleman. After that I met back up with my family and we all rode Raptor. Once we got off Raptor we decided to ride Demon Drop. While walking toward Demon Drop my niece said to me that she thinks all the Golden Tickets have been found. Then right after she said that I spotted Tyler (from the CP blog) walking down the midway towards us. Upon closer inspection I noticed he had a Golden Ticket around his neck. So without any hesitation I RAN up to him. He held out his hand waiting for my big question. “The old west was never this wild, May I please have the last ride on Maverick?” And with those 16 words I received the greatest souvenir I have ever got at Cedar Point. After getting the Golden Ticket I was so excited I was shaking. My family didn’t even know why I took off running until after I had the ticket. Right after Tyler gave me the Golden Ticket I made my decision on who my one guest rider was going to be. I chose my niece Anna, because this was her first trip to Cedar Point where she was tall enough to ride everything. We were able to get a pretty cool picture with Tyler right there on the midway.

Later that night Anna was on the second to the last ride of Maverick’s first season. And I was on the very last ride of Maverick’s first season.

This year has been about being at the right place at the right time. I happen to be at Cedar Point to witness the last piece of replacement track put into place. I happen to be at Cedar Point on Maverick’s opening day. And finally I happen to spot a Golden Ticket and be on the last ride of Maverick’s first season.