AmyUD06

I'll be there this Tuesday and can provide an update as well.

Cedar Point thus far is a bust today too; no rain but 35mph wind gusts that don't look like they're going to die down anytime soon. Ride op outside Raptor said they need to drop below 20mph. Feel bad for those lined up for the major coasters. Keep the hope alive LOL. I'm off to Waldameer now, and will try swinging back to CP later on.

Yeah I'm not holding my breath on tomorrow. Sucks for those who bought daily tickets and/or daily FLs.

After my non-trip to CP today, my last coaster was the Schwarzkopf Wildcat at Adventure Park USA in Maryland on May 16.

Indeed it has. There now. The place is SLAMMED. Bowling alley, bar, restaurant, everywhere. Ohio is definitely back open for business.

I'm not that worried. So long as I can get a few rides on Maverick, Millie, Raptor, and hopefully Dragster this long weekend, I'll be satisfied. All-season FL+ helps haha. If tomorrow gets rained out that'll just be more time at Waldameer, which is showing clear weather all tomorrow afternoon. My hotel just lost power again. Fun times, and time for a nap since I've been up since 2 AM.

@jagnycMaybe I missed something, but what are you doing on Sunday? Kennywood on a Monday should be calm enough. I'd also recommend stopping at Idlewild on the way. To avoid rough times on the coasters, try for non-wheel seats....that is the middle row on the three-row cars. On Phantom, that would be the back row of a car. Typically the further towards the front of the train you are, the less rough it is.

Thankfully I've got tomorrow (which will likely also get at least partially rained out), Sunday, and Monday here. If I have to sacrifice a day at Cedar Point Shores so be it. EDIT: The park's website is now indicating that they are closed for the day. Not surprising. The water next to the causeway road was about 6 inches short of flooding the road.

Guest Relations says it is extremely unlikely that major rides reopen, even if the weather clears (which it won't). I saw many employees walking towards the front of the park, presumably to go home for the day, while I was walking to Melt. Words cannot adequately describe the weather, so here's some videos. VID_20210528_125225930.mp4 VID_20210528_130319813.mp4 VID_20210528_125225930.mp4

Oh yeah is it rainy and windy. Just got here. Like 40+ mph gusts. Nuts. So far the only things I saw open were the carousel, Cedar Downs, and some of the circular rides in Kiddy Kingdom. So I just went to Melt to hang out until I can check in to my hotel.

Thanks! I think a lot of the waiting had to do with new employees, but don't get me wrong, the place was packed. I know we all like to joke about the hike to nowhere for the ride, but in all seriousness, I started the clock when I entered the start of the queue from the midway, then walked for about 2-3 minutes before hitting people, which was before the second (from the station) cut-out where the exit path meets up. The lift is also exceedingly slow and possibly 2+ minutes on its own LOL.

@Mikxy, I would say yes, a Saturday trip with FTU would be worth it. FTU doesn't help much, but it does help out substantially on Great Bear, Fahrenheit, and to a lesser extent SkyRush. Note that you absolutely should not try to visit the water park, because that will ruin your day with waits (hour+ for the lazy river, 1.5 hours for a slide, 30-45 minutes for the wave pool, etc.). That said, out of everything you listed, I'd probably try to do Dorney/Knoebels on the Saturday if possible. In the other thread, someone mentioned going to Knoebels first then just skipping Dorney, but I'd do it the other way around. Dorney does have some worthwhile coasters (Talon, Steel Force, Thunderhawk - even with that stupid brake on the last bunny hills), and some unique flats that are tough to find (Enterprise, Apollo). It's definitely worth a 2-hour stop in, especially if you don't have to pay for it. Remember that with your Hershey ticket, you also get in to the park for the last 2 hours on the day before the actual day of your visit - they call it "preview." If I was doing all three parks in one trip, I'd get a hotel near Hersheypark, drive out to Dorney on day 1 morning to be there at opening, knock out that parks above described rides, then head to Knoebels, and if you get bored there (not likely but possible), head to Hershey for the preview night. Day 2, spend all day at Hershey, then continue on your trip. Luckily I live close enough that all three are within a reasonable day-trip distance from where I live. I'll send you a PM with how I would do the trip that you're planning.

So, I had intended to write up a full report of my public-opening Saturday trip to Kings Island, but life kinda got in the way and put a stop to that. So, instead, here's a brief report with some pictures. I had arrived to the park for a 11:00 opening at around 9:30 and found literally over a hundred cars in front of me behind the locked gates. Lovely. Made my way to the front gate; it was good to be back! As has been discussed, no temperature tent, just a security guard asking the COVID questions. Got inside and grabbed my FL+ wristband, and then made my way over to Flight of Fear, knowing that it was the only coaster with limited capacity still and that the line would get insane later in the day. Passing by, all of the seats have been returned to Wave Swinger. Flight of Fear still wasn't letting anyone into the queue, so I took some pictures of Orion's line 6 minutes prior to opening. Yeesh. So they once again re-routed FoF's FL line - you still enter from the exit side, but instead of heading straight up to the inside of the UFO, you now enter into the warehouse with the general queue and then head up into the space ship where they merge. As you can see, social distancing is a thing of the past. After FOF, I went to Racer (red side, retracked parts were awesome, as I mentioned earlier), then Adventure Express (all effects in tunnel, even the lava-tip, were working). Most ride attendants were super-enthusiastic, interacting with the crowd to a level I haven't seen in...ever, probably. Grabbed some pretzel bites from the bar near Adventure Express, which were delicious. ...and then made my way over to Bat, which was good as always. Does anyone know what these footers to the left of the station were for? After Bat, hopped on Banshee...getting a little bit of that B&M rattle in the back row but still awesome. Rounded back around the front of the park for Diamondback, then Mystic Timbers (snake and "Cars" ending). Definitely flying once again with a full train, I forgot how fast this was despite getting on it a dozen times last year. Here was the queue at 2:00 PM: After that, hopped on Beast, then had my longest wait of the day: 43 minutes for a Classic and Grilled Cheese Donut at Tom+Chee. After that, I left the park to go back to the hotel for a bit, and took a drive around the lot to see how packed it was at 4:30 I've kinda drew it on this map, pretty much everything within the red box was full. Got back to the park and jumped on Orion. Pretty much same as last year, a lot of groups self-imposed distancing on the train so I didn't get to experience it with a truly full train. Then I hopped on Windseeker, and made a lap around the park, hitting Woodstock Express and made my way back to Banshee to find it down. Two maintenance guys on the bottom of the lift, both on cell phones, is never a good sign: Then it was back to Racer, to try for the blue side, but it was closed due to "fireworks setup," so I got another ride on the red side. Back to Mystic Timbers (bat and "Can't Take my Eyes Off of You" ending), and made my way to back to my #1 coaster here, Beast, to round out the night. Once they stopped running for the fireworks, like half of the FL line in front of me exited, telling everyone "the rides closed until 10:30" and the rest of us were like "yeah, no shit." Was able to capture some good video of the fireworks, which have to look awesome from Windseeker. VID_20210515_220035433.mp4 After the awesome Beast night ride (front row of course), I made my way out of the park and back to my hotel. Got a good night's sleep, went back to the park in the morning for a Grilled Mac & Cheese from Tom+Chee for breakfast, then started my drive home. All in all, a great trip....but FL+ really saved me. Without it, I would've had a lot less fun. Most major rides were posting 1-2+ hour waits throughout the day, and the food lines were all around insane. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - Cedar Fair needs to offer a Fast Lane pass for food service. I'd easily drop $100-200 for that. Ride waits, with FL+ (times are from when I enter the queue to getting off the ride): -Flight of Fear, 26 minutes from opening at 11:00, row 6. -Racer, red, 25 minutes, front row -Adventure Express, 16 minutes, front row -Bat, 36 minutes, back row -Banshee, 17 minutes, back row left -Diamondback, 7 minutes, row 2 (outer wing of the front car) -Mystic Timbers, 12 minutes, back row -Cup of water from a Refill Station, 11 minutes -Beast, 27 minutes, front row -Food from Tom+Chee, 43 minutes -Orion, 13 minutes, front row -Windseeker, 15 minutes -Woodstock Express, 32 minutes, back row -Racer, red, 13 minutes, row 5 -Mystic, 17 minutes, front row -Beast, 1 hour 16 minutes (including fireworks shutdown), front row But wait, there's more! On my trip home from KI, I always pass by Adventure Park USA, a small FEC with some rides in Monrovia, MD. They're always closed whenever I happen to pass by. But not this time! I saw the Wildcat running, and made a quick detour in. Notably, there was only one car on the track, and no others were to be seen. Here's some photos of this survivor. Their other adult coaster, a Zamperla Windstorm, wasn't ready for the season yet, ...so I still need to come back here and grab that credit, but the Wildcat was a very nice bonus. Fun Fact: This Wildcat started its life at Busch Gardens Williamsburg way back in 1976, and made its way around including a brief stint at Steel Pier in Atlantic City in the late 90s, before I got into coasters. Anyway, that's all for this report...tomorrow I leave for a rain-filled Memorial Day Weekend at Cedar Point, with another stop back at KI, mostly for their water park, on Tuesday.

I try. Knoebels is just this magical place that you can't properly experience in a short run. I'll admit I was disappointed my first trip, but my second and third were incredible.

Knoebels will surprise you. Aside from the big three woodies (Phoenix, Twister, and Flying Turns - which hasn't yet operated this year and possibly won't), there is Impulse, a surprisingly smooth Zierer, and Black Diamond (an incredible rebuild of a historic ride) for coasters, and a ton of awesome historic flats, including: -A whip that runs close to its original speed. -Bumper cars that run at an insane speed -A great Haunted Mansion ride-through haunted house. -Looper, which if you have a partner for this trip, is something to be experienced. -Cosmotron, an indoor Musik Express-style ride with an actual DJ and light show -A great log flume -A classic carosel with the ability to grab brass rings! -A hillarious drive-'em boat ride. -Paratrooper, Roto Jets, Satellite, and Round-Up, four classics that are tougher and tougher to find. -A nutty drop tower that, while not that tall, doesn't brake until like the last 10 feet. It is really not a place to be trifled with, and if you end up there on a Saturday you can easily spend the whole operating day there.

Go to Knoebels instead of, or in addition to, Dorney. Unless you're big on water parks, you can bang Dorney Park's unique adult rides out in like 2 hours. Driving from PA down to Carowinds, you will pass right by Kings Dominion, which is a much more time-worthy stop than Dorney.

As much as most people here will harp on the "benefits" of staying at Breakers to get early access, if you only have X dollars to spend, you will undoubtedly get more bang for the buck from the FL+ option.

Nah, as was stated, this Friday/Saturday/Sunday/Monday and every Saturday through the end of June were 10PM closures.

Flight of Fear will get the longest line in the park, followed by Backlot Stunt Coaster and Twisted Timbers; try to hit them early. I305, if its running, and Dominator are people-eaters and will never get substantial lines all day. Woodstock Express is a solid junior coaster with solid airtime in the back row; you could also hit this early to avoid being lined up with a bunch of kids. Here's how I'd plan a day here without Fast Lane: -When you enter the park, head left in the gap in International Street and head to Woodstock Express. -Then go to Flight of Fear, ride it. -I305 if its running. -Backlot Stunt Coaster -Making your way down Candy Apple Grove, hit Drop Tower. -Twisted Timbers -Apple Zapple -Windseeker -Racer 75 -Grizzly -Flying Eagles (flyers) -Blue Ridge Tollway (great drive-'em cars through the woods) -If you're of drinking age, grab some at the bar near the log flume. -Shenandoah Lumber Company (log flume) -If you like spin-and-swing rides (I don't), head down the ramp through the woods to the Carosel, and go left to Delirium. -Stop by Mac Bowl for awesome Mac and Cheese. -Bad Apple (Troika) -Anaconda -Head back to I305, if it's running. -If not, head up to Dominator. -Berserker -If you've got time left in the day, head back to Twisted Timbers and marathon until closing. If you DO have Fast Lane+, do whatever you want after Woodstock Express, Flight of Fear, Anaconda, Racer 75, and Apple Zapple ...these are all not on Fast Lane. FoF has been on Fast Lane in the past, but it's not listed on the website this year. Oh, and row recommendations for the coasters: -Woodstock Express: Back -Flight of Fear: Back -I305: Front for speed, back for Gs, both are insane. -Backlot: Back, I guess. Anywhere is fine. -Twisted Timbers: Back!!! -Apple Zapple: n/a -Racer 75: Any non-wheel seat, I prefer row 2 or5. -Grizzly: Front -Anaconda: Front -Dominator: Back

By the way, that "BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!111!!!!" from the local radio station posted on the last page? Yeah, it's that the station is giving away one of the Ticket of a Lifetime packages. Told you all not to get excited.

So long as the Thirst Pony is not affected, so be it.

They were there last year too, they've just got about ten times more of them since the legalization LOL.

At this point, "we'll actually be open every day in June like we told everyone for months" would be a big announcement.

I dunno, I think I'd file that one under "good things for the park."

The weather is actually supposed to be quite shitty this weekend, so I'm hoping that keeps some crowds away. I've got CP reservations for Friday, Saturday, and Monday, with Sunday at CP Shores.