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I keep seeing this question popping up across multiple threads (and all over FB group too). . so figured I could start a thread answering the question: I'm going to xxxx park on xxxxx day, do you think crowds will be big enough that I should buy the upcharge skip the line pass? --> EVERYTHING is different in 2021. . . pent up demand from COVID closures for 15 months has resulted in every park being slammed, most every day (unless poor weather keeps the crowds away). Many parks are also dealing with staffing issues, resulting in shorter hours, and hella long lines for food places that *are* actually open. so the answer to "should I buy Flash Pass / Fast Lane / Skip the Line?" is YES thruout 2021, the answer is YES. the only reason not to get it, is if you don't mind not riding much, and just want to go for the atmosphere to walk around the park, maybe grabbing only 1 or 2 rides. (for example, your "home park" and you don't care if you ride much, you just want to go out and enjoy the day and people watch). Personally tho? if I'm traveling specifically to go to a park? damn right, I'm paying the upcharge to get Flash Pass/Fast Lane +/Timesaver, etc. . . especially if I plan to eat in a park, and I know I'll spend 45 minutes in the food line? I want to make up that time elsewhere on a ride. (steps down off soapbox)

* except Dorney

Credit to @onlinehyde on Twitter for this, as I have better things to do than watch the Goldman Sachs Travel and Leisure Conference webcast without actually being a shareholder and there’s no transcript to skim, but there was an investor conference yesterday. Cedar Fair shared that they anticipate burning average of 60 million in cash a month during Q2. As a reference, Six Flags expects to be cash flow positive for Q2. Busch / SeaWorld is already cash flow positive this year. They’re looking to “improve efficiencies” (see: cut budget). The fact that they made another budget move on the same day that they said they were going to do exactly that must be a coincidence, right? Saying “kids these days don’t want to work... please ignore the fact that Six Flags is paying people half of what we’re paying them, staffing their parks just fine chain-wide, not cutting hours, operating 7 days a week and in many cases extending hours to capitalize on pent-up demand” is easier than saying “We’re absolutely clueless as to what we’re doing so now we have to pay people $15 an hour to work at Kings Island and we’re closing early for budget since we’re losing tons of money thanks to our poor decision-making”. Based on the comments here, I guess it’s working. PS: I’ve also seen the over-dramatic Facebook comments. Those people are ridiculous but that doesn’t mean Cedar Fair isn’t also a train wreck. Those two things can both be true.

I'm psyched to check out the new land when we head out west in August. I know people are let down by the new ride, but like some others have said, it looks like they're taking the same approach they did with SGE. Get it open with an introductory lower-ticket attraction then work on the e-ticket. Almost like a soft opening for the entire land. Of course I haven't been to DCA in years so all of the Marvel stuff, Cars Land, etc. will all be new to me, so I'll take whatever I can get!

Also worth keeping in mind that if you happen to be staying at a hotel in NYC, Coney Island is very accessible via Subway, with four separate lines terminating right by the park.

Everyone should be happy that they aren't closing entirely those 2 days, geez. An 8 pm close on Sunday and Monday, oh the humanity. SFSTL is only open until 7 right now most nights, 8 on Sat

OMG! I agree. I have done HW and back in one day which is a 6 hour round trip and I have done 12 hour drives. But I don't think I could do 11-12 hours AND a theme park day. And I wouldn't be talking about making it in 5.5 hours with a cop on the boards, that must be petal to the metal and Zach's gonna be watching for you with his radar gun

Got some Intel from the Dippin' Dots lady today... I think she got a little excited and spilled the beans. She pointed at Dragon Flyer and said it will be a bigger version of that in the new expansion area. It will easily be 1000' longer than Wild Eagle . So that would make it at least 4150 ish feet long making it the longest invert coaster. The interesting thing is that it will not have any inversions but will be a terrain based inverted coaster. My prediction is it will be built by Vekoma. Also, had a ride op tell me that Lightning Rod will finish getting Ibox this offseason. So everything but the brake run and station will be Ibox.

I was just making a joke, I didn't mean to derail this thread (but also I'm 100% serious, lol). The only thing that I'd add is that in many cases there's no harm just buying the passes at the park. You often need to do that anyway to get pass discounts to apply properly. Unless it's a park where pre-buying or buying as soon as you arrive saves you a ton of time (like a Six Flags park) or you're going on a weekend where there's a very real chance that they'll sell-out you can always just budget for the pass and then play it by ear because there's no real reason not to. Whenever I see a post like this about a Cedar Fair or Busch park where buying the pass in a shop takes approximately 8 seconds I scratch my head.

Let them kick you out, then make a boat load of money in the lawsuit. Chances are they won't actually kick you out though, just harass you. Yet another reason why I refuse to give that dumpster fire any of my business.

FL+ is awesome at Dorney....for the water park.

Just pin this to the top.

Early reports are very positive! Looks like another hit on our hands! Based on some vlog videos on Youtube, it looks like the park did a pretty killer job with the surrounding landscaping, too!

This is neither here nor there, but I think a large part of CF's staffing woes come from how many employees they dedicate to each ride. For example, at Millennium Force on the Sunday I was there, here's how many employees were working just that one ride: -Two greeters -One at the FL merge -One grouper in the load station -Four checking restraints in the load station -One actual panel operator -Two in the unload station That's 10 employees for one ride. Meanwhile, when I was at SFGAdv back in early May, El Toro had the following: -Two contracted, outside-company employed, security officers as greeters (don't count) -One at the Flash Pass merge -One actual panel operator -Two checking restraints That's 4 actual park employees for one ride. The trend continued at both CP and KI for all rides....there was always almost "too many" employee's stationed at each ride. That said, based on my experiences at both CP and KI, the rides departments are not where they are having staffing problems...it's food service. Which, by the way, Six Flags is also suffering horribly with.

But hanging out at a park won't teach you how to be financially responsible...LOL. There were things I wanted to do (take private clarinet lessons from a professor at MSU) but my parents weren't going to pay for them (it was not cheap), so at 15yo, I worked at our Dairy Queen. I took my private lessons and paid for them myself. Later on, I purchased a stereo system for my room. Quite honestly, the experience was priceless...learning how to work with money, deal with crappy customers. Get along with supervisors and coworkers, etc. I don't think parents are doing their kids a favor by handing things to them. After awhile, nothing will excite them or make them happy and in the real world, they will not be able to figure out why they NOW have to pay to live. Talk about mental health LOL. Hell, in my 20s, I worked two jobs and went to school. One job at one point was a paid internship so that one did contribute to the entire college experience/resume, etc. I really had no choice. I didn't qualify for a hell of a lot of financial aid and my parents couldn't foot the bill so if I wanted it, it was on me. Hello, real world. And, let's be honest....when I was 16, I made a whopping 3.35/hr at McDonald's! LOL Good times (it was a social job for me..made lots of friends and had fun).

How sad!!!! WTH is wrong with people today!? Happier living off the system? I outright told my daughter (she is 16) today that if she wants her hair dyed and to stay in TaeKwanDo, she better find a job. There is no reason why she cannot start helping herself. Hell, for $20/hr, free meals, free board, free entry to CP, *I* will go work there!!! I have no shame! That's great money!! And FREEEEEE RIDES!!! Hell yes!

1) I went a few years ago and parking wasn't bad. There is parking near Cyclone, We went with a payed parking location. I believe there is a couple of those nearby and we payed for a few hours. 2) You can DEF get your rides in within 4 hours, that's all you need I feel. 4) Deno's can DEF be done within an hour, maybe less 5) IDK about the single thing but I've heard sketch stuff from American Dream Employees.

I think this entire coaster was built from the ground up in the time that Iron Gwazi has been SBNO LOL.

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I'm actually gonna miss Garfield. Garfield was my life around age 6. I know, it sucked in terms of mechanics, but the story was cute and it appealed to kids. Keep in mind, I'm 18, and I'm also a Six Flags stan so...