AmyUD06

I always recommend it, especially if you've only got one day, unless you go to the park all the time.

Nope, no dedicated single rider lines. Crowds on a Wednesday should be very manageable. All depends on the weather.

Kings Dominion is offering a refillable metal tumbler instead of the plastic cups. Quite an upgrade if you ask me; still not enough to convince me to upgrade from the standard paper cup program....but the "Paper Cup Plus" program for only $10 more is looking kinda nice; it lets you get ICEEs, coffee, and hot chocolate in addition to fountain sodas.

Nice ninja edit there to make me look silly. Before your changes, you said specifically "rebuild the original" with nothing else.

And how would you propose doing that, given that the original coaster is now operating in another park (in a third-world country to boot, so you know maintenance hasn't been done), has recently had a major incident, and is by a long-defunct manufacturer? Seriously people, think before you speak.

Where did you get the spinning trains theory from?

I dig the area re-theme and the new restaurant/bar. Wild Mouse coaster is meh, of course for me, but a good addition for families. I can't wait to see how bad the lines get. My biggest takeaway: No more early entry for Gold Pass holders! Whoohoo!

By "every park" you mean four, sorry, five of them?

I like it, especially the spiral lift hill.

Theoretically they can change the price at any time, but it probably won't this close to the date. Note that you are physically incapable of buying it "in the park." You'd need to use your mobile phone to do it there. It's honestly easier just to buy it in advance. Even if the crowds are small, you'll appreciate one or two train waits for almost everything. And you only want Fast Lane Plus. Don't bother with the regular FL. With FL+, here's how I'd go: -Woodstock Express first; it's not on FL -Bat second; it's also not on FL. -Flight of Fear 3rd; it is on FL, but the merge is kinda back from the station some ways and it always seems to have horrible capacity even though it shouldn't. -After that, do whatever you want LOL. It won't matter with FL+. Wanna go spend some time in the water park? Cool. Wanna go back to your hotel and take a nap for a few hours? Fine and dandy. With FL+, you will have more than enough time to do everything you want several times. Yeah, if this is your "last big adventure" for a while, I would go all out.

It might be busy, might not be depending on the forecast. Will you have Early Entry with a Platinum Pass? Guessing not. No FL+? You should have FL+. It will turn any wait into a station wait on everything except Flight of Fear, possibly Orion, and possibly Beast at night. Read back through the last few pages, plenty of tips for first timers have been given, but I'll give a quick rundown of how I would hit the park without Early Entry. 1. Flying Ace Aerial Chase (it's horrible and you'll be glad you didn't wait, plus its never fun to stand in a long line with kids) - Back Row 2. Woodstock Express (see above about waiting in line with kids) - Back Row 3. Diamondback - some people swear by Row 11, but I prefer Row 2 or the very back. 4. Mystic Timbers - Back Row 5. Beast - Front Row or Row 17. 6. Backlot Stunt Coaster - Back Row 7. Flight of Fear - Front Row or Row 2 8. Orion - Front Row (some people swear by the back but gigas are all about the speed for me) 9. Racer - Front or Row 2 or 5 (if not the front you want a non-wheel seat) 10. Racer (whatever side you didn't do first) - Same 11. Adventure Express - Front or Row 2 12. Banshee - Front or Back Rows 13. Bat - Front for visuals, Back for forces. At this point you've hit all the coasters and have time for rerides on your favorites. I find KI's flat package somewhat lacking, but you'll probably want to hit the Log Flume (Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown) at this time (don't let the fact that its in the kids section fool you, it's good). Many people will suggest the Phantom Theater Encore show but if you've never been to KI you might not be very impressed; personally I'd spend more time on rides. Note that they shut Beast down from approximately 9:25 to 10:35 for the fireworks show. If you're trying to get out of the park before 11:00 PM, you want to be in the station for Beast no later than 9:15 to try to time it for a night ride. If you don't care, take a nice long bathroom break and then get in line at like 9:45. You want your last ride of the night to be Beast, preferably in the front row. For food, Tom + Chee has awesome various grilled cheese sandwiches and so-so mac & cheese. Everything at Miami River Brewhouse is good. Let me know if you have any more specific questions. EDIT: If you will have Fast Lane plus, the ride order will be a bit different, so let me know if you will.

You know that every CF website has Places to Stay in the top menu, right? It's just their design theme. I'm not discounting that yes, some people cross shop parks that are long distances away. I'm one of them - I do several 1500 mile + road trips a year. But I'm also an enthusiast with a dedicated interest in the hobby. Every single one of my friends refuses to go on trips with me for parks longer than 4 hours, and there's only one that will do more than 2. The general public is not taking long trips more than once or twice a year, and in those cases it's to see something new. No one is thinking about driving 4 hours to VF and then says "nah, you know what, let's just go to our local park since VF haven't added a coaster in 10+ years." School trips are going whatever park gives them the better price point, that's a simple fact. If you want to think that VF and Adventureland are competing, fine, you're entitled to your opinion. You also need to say then that Dorney Park and SF Great Escape are competing (or for a more extreme example, Busch Gardens Williamsburg and SF Fiesta Texas). They're not competing any more than any other park in the country is for tourism dollars. And again, it's not CF's standard procedure to make major investment at parks that are doing just fine financially regardless of competition. Think of Dorney Park again. This park is located in what might be the amusement park mecca of the US - Within a 2-3 hour drive, you have the following: Hershey, Knoebels, Dutch Wonderland, Sesame Place, SF Great Adventure, Casino Pier, Keansburg Amusement Park, Clementon Park, Playland's Castaway Cove, Morey's, Coney Island, and even American Dream. All are without a doubt "competition" for Dorney Park. Yes, while many of those places are shitholes, and some rarely see major improvement projects, Hershey and SFGAdv get new, major rides every few years. Dorney Park hasn't gotten a coaster in 10, and it was a hand-me-down - their last original coaster investment was 14 years ago (and I'm not saying they need one now). But yet, Dorney Park continues to exist, and make money for CF. Similarly, SF America is located within an hour or so of both Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and you see how frequently they get major investment Why? Because it doesn't always matter what competitors do if the park is meeting the goals of the operators. Clearly, VF is doing this, or they would be getting more investment (or shut down).

@Hilltopper39I think the problem is that the "tickets as low as $40" thing only applies on select days and every other day is more expensive. At SFGAdv, weekends are $75 (even buying online) and weekdays are $55. Paying $75 to go to a park where not everything is open is not most people's idea of fun. And the pass cost now seems low to you and me, but to someone who was used to spending $60 a year for a base level membership, that's a 100% increase in cost with zero improvements to show for it.

As I distinctly recall saying several times over the past few years, no they don't. Parks that are a four hour drive from each other are not direct competitors. Also, its not in Cedar Fairs wheelhouse to "directly answer" competitors moves, even if they are competitors. Which they aren't (at least any more than VF competes with Universal Orlando).

Sadly, some of these people will take you seriously and agree.

You're absolutely right on the first point about the GP not noticing. The only thing they could do to counter that is increase the launch speed to re-take the "fastest launch in the world" and then just add some trims at the near the top of the spike so the train doesn't crest too fast. But that's not going to happen; it's getting a new queue and some walls around the brake run or its coming out. Also, since when did Xcelerator's two additional turns count as a "bowl"? And please explain your logic behind CP not removing Dragster because a taller and fast (albeit, worse) ride exists in a completely separate market?

That's what I get for not properly reading posts. I truly am sorry, both for the insensitive nature of my post but moreso for your loss.

Yeah, Flying Turns if it's operating at opening first. Capacity is only 3-6 people per train and it's easily the slowest moving line at the park, even with the stellar operations. A lot of people go to Impulse first, as it suffers from the "first thing people see" syndrome. Phoenix is an awesome 300th! But Twister is just as awesome.

Here's a fourth to what @bert425, @Pedrinho, and @JT325 said. I couldn't care less about Fascination, and yeah 5 hours is not enough to truly experience Knoebels. I made the mistake of just doing a "stopping in on the way through" for my first trip here, and probably spent less than 4 hours there. I left with a mediocre taste in my mouth, much like @Arthur_Seaton's experience. I decided that I didn't give the park a fair shake during that trip, and spent an entire day there on my next one...I discovered as so many have how truly magical it is. There really are no words that haven't been said to describe it. Even little things, like the Carousel, which I normally wouldn't be bothered with (sorry Bert!), are awesome. And Haunted Mansion. And Black Diamond. And Looper. And The Boats. And Paratrooper. And the Scooters. And the list goes on and on.

Glad to see you back in good spirits!

Please don't entertain baseless conspiracy theories LOL.

Seriously? No one's made a joke about a launched coaster at Dollywood yet? Wow....you all disappoint me haha.

Re: TTD - For the thousandth time, the launch mechanism had nothing to do with last year's incident. They're not changing the launch mechanism. Re: Prestige Passes - Why does the regular $300 Prestige Pass not include access to other parks, when the $250 Platinum from MiA does? This leaves so many questions. I find it hard to believe that after so many years of CF pricing its "All Park" pass the same depending on what park you buy it at that they're going to change it now.

Just a quick TR from my trip to Cedar Point this past Tuesday and Wednesday... I got to the park after checking in to my hotel at a little before 6:00, and the place was absolutely slammed (scroll back a couple of posts for the pictures of the queues I posted). My night one rides were (all times are with FL+): -Raptor, 7-minute wait for back row right wing. -Millie, 34 minute wait for front row. -Maverick, 8 minute wait for back row. -Steel Vengeance, 25 minutes from entering the queue to getting my phone from the in-queue locker for back row. In my video note, I think I say it best: "Such an incredible ride, but such a stupid, stupid system." The new Farmhouse restaurant's patio provides a very nice cut through to Maverick's Fast Lane entrance. The show at the end of the day at Celebration Plaza is like most CP shows...lots of song and dance (but live instruments, which was nice), and fireworks shot off right there. They even have some bandstands set up to watch it, which was nice. That last bit kinda surprised me. The screens are also super high-res. After those four rides, I left the park around 9:30, stopped by Thirsty Pony for a tasty adult beverage and some Mac & Cheese Bites, and then was off to bed. I arrived back at the park for early entry opening and went right to Iron Dragon. I'm glad this is on Early Entry, being not on FL at all. My day 2 consisted of: -Iron Dragon, 1 train wait for front row (Early Entry) -Millie, 23 minutes for front row (Early Entry) -Maverick, 12 minutes for front row -Magnum, 5 minute wait for row 2 -Water park for like 4 hours; did every slide they have except the family tube one, capsule-drops, and mat racer, and probably a dozen laps of both their lazy rivers. Also a few tasty adult beverages at the swim-up bar. -Raptor, 1 train wait for a double ride in the back row, left wing. I have never seen re-rides happen before at CP, but hooray for me! -Blue Streak, 1 train wait for front row. Easily the best ride I've had on this in a very long time. It was absolutely flying with the heat, and even got some brief pops of ejector and floater air. -Valravn, 1 train wait for front row, left wing. I noted that it was a little vibrate-y. -Corkscrew, 1 train wait for front row and then 5-10 minutes sitting on the brake run while they cleaned some sort of spill from the train in the station...I don't think it was vomit...eek. -Gemini, half-train wait for row 2, red side, and we won! -Maverick, 9 minute wait for back row. This was also flying in the heat. -Train ride north-to-south -Didn't ride Rougarou because it's a POS and can die in a fire. -Gatekeeper, 8 minutes back row left wing. -Sky Ride, 6 minute wait, south-to-north. -Maverick, 3 minutes for front row. -Rode the train around a few laps waiting for it to get dark. -Millie, 21 minutes for back row to close out the night. Crowds on Wednesday were virtually non-existent; I think the threat of thunderstorms kept people away. All in all, an awesome day and a half. My ride counts were quite impressive: -Maverick x4 -Millie x3 -Raptor x3 -Every other coaster x1 (except Rougarou for obvious reasons, and CCMR which was down every time I was in the area) There is a new(?) mock-advertisement poster at Steel Vengeance. It reads: "We do what we do! BLASTER! will save you time, energy, stress, money...for over 80 (60?) years." Not sure if this is new or not, but its the first time I've seen it. One fun fact I learned on this trip: Apparently, Cedar Fair is running a park-to-park throughput competition for the summer. The park with the most efficient operations wins...something. None of the employees I asked knew what the prize was. This is why ride ops actually seemed to be hustling these past two days; in my experience CP ops can be a little lackadaisical. One not-so-fun fact I learned on this trip: So I have the season drink plan, using the paper cups. I noticed that every single time I redeemed it, the clerk would ask me if I wanted to buy a plastic Souvenir Cup, and I would always politely say no. Like, I have the paper cup plan for a reason. But, after the 20th time, it did start to get annoying. So when I finally encountered an employee at one of these places that spoke decent English (many, many did not), I asked what was up with that. It was explained to me that the park has "secret shoppers" going around, making sure that every employee at a place that sells Souvenir Cups, asks the customer if they want to buy one, regardless of what the transaction is. If the employee does not ask, they and their supervisor are sent home immediately and not paid for the rest of their shift. Seriously, Cedar Point, how toxic can you be? These are kids in their late-teens to early-20s, no longer making the $20 an hour you paid them last year, working long hours in the summer heat, and you're going to treat them like this? Shame, shame on you. Every time I redeemed my drink plan after that, I'd always say "No, I do not want to buy a Souvenir Cup." with a smile and a wink when I scanned my pass; I got quite a few laughs from the clerks. So yeah, a good trip rides wise, but kinda depressing with that information about the Souvenir Cups.

Okay, time for the last park of this trip... Stricker's Grove, July 4th. What an odd park. Privately owned an only open to the public four times a year, this is a prime example of what would happen if a park didn't care about making money. Here's their "main entrance": And their "ticket booth", which seemed more akin to waiting for a raffle at a VFW than an amusement park. Of course there's a bar... And under these canopies was where a BBQ was set up, with decent prices and decent food. Some additional things, like ice cream and soda, were available from this booth. They had a small arcade with plenty of '90s-awesome games. Of course, some games. Okay, time to get to the rides! This supply of 5 tickets cost me $10; it was enough for both coasters. Onto the rides themselves: Carousel Flying Elephants Ferris Wheel A healthy supply of kiddie-go-rounds Kiddie Whip With a can't-be-OHSA-compliant operator position. Scrambler Round Up Pirate Ship (non-operational) Tilt-a-Whirl Whatever used to be here... They also had a miniature train and minigolf course (not pictured), and...this: This was called Tip Top. It's hard to find any info on these, but manufactured by Hrubetz, it's kinda a cross between tea cups and a tagada. Words cannot describe the motion of this ride, so here's a video: VID_20220704_155748028.mp4 Crazy, and definitely too much spinning motion for me. What was in my wheelhouse, however, were their two wooden coasters. Though these were both built in the 1990s, they feel much, much older in how they're operated. First up was Teddy Bear, their junior woodie. This runs your standard PTC junior woodie trains with buzz bars, no seat belts nor seat dividers. No skid brakes, for that matter either. This took about 15 minutes to get on, and I can't remember where I rode it (and for some reason I didn't take a notes video afterwards?). It was pretty forceless, just a kiddie coaster really. And the final ride here for me was Tornado, their full-size coaster. This runs standard PCT buzz bar trains, but with dividers and seat belts. 16 minute wait for the back row, which I shared with a budding young enthusiast who filled me in on the coaster. He advised that I keep the seat belt loose and cautioned me about "intense ejector air." At first, I was like "Okay, kid" since the ride didn't seem all that crazy from watching it from the ground. I got a little floater on the first drop, as well as the last hill, but otherwise the ride was kinda boring. All that changed at the drop before the final turnaround. It seemed like the train just dropped out from under me, throwing my entire thigh straight up into the buzz-bar, in what was easily the most powerful ejector air I've ever felt on a coaster. I'm talking more sudden and intense than the most you'd find on an RMC. Aboslutely bonkers. 11/10, and found a place in my Top 10 Woodies for this reason alone. Sadly, that was about it for Stricker's grove. Worth the trip? Absolutely, but the park did leave me wanting more. And that also brings this trip report to a close. Thanks for reading everyone!