14 Hours, 2 Flights, 1 Monster Coaster By Carol Sottili Special to The Washington Post Wednesday, July 26, 2000

7:30 a.m., Wednesday, June 28. Arrive BWI. Board Southwest flight ($133 round trip!).

9:20 a.m. Arrive Cleveland after a one-hour flight. Car rental goes smoothly and I'm soon tooling west on Sen. John Glenn Highway, thinking that if the senator could take a ride in a space shuttle at age 77, I can certainly, at age 45, survive a 310-foot-high roller coaster that will send me hurtling around a track at 92 mph. I switch the car radio from oldies to alternative rock and crank it up. Did I mention that the Millennium Force is the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world?

10:30 a.m. I wish all these billboards weren't of hospitals and blue-eyed Jesuses telling me, "I am the way." Not that I believe in foreshadowing.

10:45 a.m. I can see it from the highway--the Force. Just its tip, crowned with a flashing airplane warning light, poking between the Best Budget Inn sign and the Erie County water tower. I must be getting real close.

Another seven miles pass before I get to the park. This sucker is huge.

11 a.m. I'm in the park. I'm trying not to look at it, but my eyes keep sneaking back, like when you pass a bad car crash and can't bear to look, but do. Huge cumulonimbus clouds are building in the south. Maybe the park will have to shut the coaster down because of thunderstorms. Then I wouldn't be able to ride it, and it wouldn't be my fault. That would be awful. Just awful.

11:20 a.m. I get to the coaster just in time to hear a perky park employee explain that the coaster is "down" for at least an hour due to mechanical difficulties. This is like telling your boss you were late to work because your dog got hit by a car, and then your dog does get hit by a car.

11:45 a.m. I get a "ticket to ride" for the coaster. To manage the incredible lines, park management has come up with a system. From 9 to 11 a.m., riders are first-come, first-served. To ride between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., you need a boarding pass. The passes are all handed out by early afternoon. From 4 p.m. on, it's first-come, first-served again, and if you're in line by closing time, you will ride, regardless of how late they have to keep it going.

My pass says I can ride from 4 to 5 (when I was there, passes were required until 8). I'm nervous, because my flight home is at 7.

12:40 p.m. I decide to warm up by taking a ride or two on a few of Cedar Point's 13 other roller coasters, more than any other park on the planet. I'm a wooden roller coaster person, so I ride Gemini first, a 22-year-old racing coaster that goes 60 mph and drops 125 feet. My stomach feels as if it's being lifted from my body.

Next up: the much larger and newer Mean Streak, also a woodie. Waiting in line, I chat with Terry and Ann Woginrich of Palmerton, Pa., traveling with their adult daughters, Tanya and Tina. The family has gone on coaster quests to amusement parks throughout the eastern United States since the girls were in elementary school. Have they ridden Millennium Force? Yes, twice, and they plan on riding it three more times today.

Asked how the Force compares with other coasters, Ann says solemnly, "There is no comparison."

"I'd like to be able to see your face when you come off that ride," Terry says.

3 p.m. I take a quiet Ferris wheel ride before heading toward the Force. As the wheel stops to load new passengers, I am at its zenith looking out over the park, Lake Erie and Sandusky Bay. The screams of coaster riders are muffled here, the breeze is cool and the smell of the lake mixes with my suntan lotion. A parasailer glides by. A Four Tops song plays in the distance. Maybe this is where a middle-aged woman belongs.

3:30 p.m. I mosey over to the Force, getting my game face on. I'm in line before I can think. There are a couple of gray muzzles, but the average age of the riders seems to be 17, when you still drive fast and think going to war is exciting. Tattoos and pierced orifices are big. The music has changed from the Four Tops to Blink 182.

3:55 p.m. I'm at the head of the line, watching as riders return to the gate. They're cheering and exploding in spontaneous applause. I hear "Awesome," again and again. I think that, for once, the word may be being used correctly.

"How was it?" I yell down to a group. They look up with huge smiles, just shaking their heads. I'm beginning to think that some sort of religious conversion must be occurring during the ride.

4:02 p.m. It's go time. I'm alone in the third car from the rear, held in by an ordinary (car-style) seat belt and a plastic-covered bar. The sides of the car are open.

I am being pulled up, my back plastered to the seatback by gravity, my eyes staring straight up at blue sky and white clouds. I can't see the crest, but I know when we're about to go over by the screams of the people in front.

"Oh . . . my . . . God," says the person in front of me, ever so quietly.

And then we're plummeting, and, like the senator in the shuttle, I am momentarily weightless, feeling my body being lifted out of the seat. I force myself to keep my eyes open.

Just as I'm sure that this metal bullet will be driven deep into the core of the earth, we're headed back up and whipping around. We're going very, very fast, up and down and around, through tunnels and finally back to the beginning.

4:04 p.m. We've lived to tell the tale. Strangers high-five one another and the crowd waiting to board is looking at us with a little fear and lot of envy. We're members of the Millennium Force club now, and we're feeling pretty cocky.

9:30 p.m. Arrive BWI. The flight was delayed an hour, but I didn't get cranky.

11 p.m. Arrive home. Total cost of trip: $244. I borrow my 15-year-old's Blink 182 tape so I can listen to that song again. I kind of liked the title--"What's My Age Again?"

GETTING TO CLEVELAND: The cheapest way to get to Cleveland and back in one day is to fly Southwest out of BWI. Round-trip fare is $133; you must purchase two weeks in advance. There's a 6:30 a.m. flight there and a 9:10 p.m. return flight. I opted for an 8:15 a.m. departure and a 7:25 p.m. return and still fit in my coaster ride, although that was cutting it pretty close. If you include an overnight stay, the fare drops to $99; you must purchase one week in advance.

GETTING TO CEDAR POINT: I rented a car through Dollar at www.travelocity.com. The daily rate was $32.99, plus an extra $20 in local taxes. From the airport car rental center, it's an easy hour drive to Cedar Point. Take I-480 west to I-80 west and follow the signs north on U.S. 250 to Sandusky and on to Cedar Point.

THE COASTER: There are open lines between 9 and 11 a.m., but don't waste your time. Be one of the first to get a boarding pass at 11 a.m., then get back in the boarding pass line at least once so you can ride the coaster at least twice. The boarding pass gives you a set hour that you may ride, resulting in shorter lines and less waiting. Lines are open again after 4 p.m., but the system is still evolving.

THE PARK: With its world-record 14 roller coasters, Cedar Point is especially popular with older children and teens. It also offers shows and kiddie rides, but the coasters are the main draw. Adult (taller than 48 inches, younger than 60) entrance fee for park-only is $38 a day; a pass for the park and Soak City water park is $49. High-season operating hours are typically 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Info: 419-627-2350, www.cedarpoint.com.

STAYING OVERNIGHT: There are five official Cedar Point Resorts, including two within walking distance of the park. There also are many budget hotels within easy driving distance.

INFO: Cedar Point (see above); Sandusky/Erie County Visitors Bureau, 800-255-ERIE, www.buckeyenorth.com.