AmyUD06

LOL. They can't pay for the rides they just built, and now they're talking about buying more parks?

Didn't even factor in the Resort Gate. Yeah, if you can be at the head of that line and make a brisk jog, that system might work for you....ride SV, then go get the APs for the other rides.

Only if you run and get on the first train or three. I found that by leisurely strolling back there, by the time I got there, there was already 30-50 people in the standby line (basically everyone that will run past you after the gate opens). Remember with the reduced capacity there's only a maximum of 12 people per train, and that's if there's no odd-number groups (say 1 or 3 people). The 20-30 minute delay of getting on the ride could negatively affect your ability to get the other passes in the initial drop, which was always my goal. If you do run and get on SV in the first few trains from the initial standby queue, you probaly won't get an AP for it - the line will still be back near the split to go left to Gemini or right to CCMR. If you take 25 minutes to get on and off the ride, you definitely won't get an access pass for it. Don't forget taking time to grab your stuff out of a locker afterwards, fighting the crowds in the locker area. I personally never wanted to have to rely on the second batch, but your mileage may vary. There are approximately 25% less passes given out in the second wave (4-5, 5-6, and 6-7, as opposed to the morning batch of 12-1, 1-2, 2-3, and 3-4). Also remember that if you do manage to grab a pass or two for the other 3 AP rides in the first drop, by the time you get them it will probably be a 2-3 and/or 3-4, right at the time you need to be lining up for the second drop. If you don't care about two of the other 4 rides, or are willing to interrupt your day for the second batch of passes, sure, but for me I'd rather not risk it. It just made more sense to me to grab all four passes early, get on those rides, and then take care of the rest of the park without having to worry about being in the right place at the right time.

LOL I always thought that was just part of the chain mechanism. Silly me. Nice.

Weird. I never heard it.

I was at KI both Friday and Saturday and can vouch for that. That said, CP is still pretty strict about it for the big 3, and less so for Dragster.

It's really not. I had great success using the following system each day both during my July trip and the one I just got back from: 1. Be there for gate opening, 10:00. This requires arrival at the park at 9:30-9:45 to allow time to go through the temperature screening. 2. Casually stroll back to Steel Vengeance. Even without running, you should be within the first 50 people in line for an Access Pass (hereafter referred to as AP). This Sunday and Monday I was in the 6th group and 1st group respectively, and believe me I was definitely strolling, and stopped for a bathroom break each day. 3. At 11:00 (or slightly before, as I noticed), collect your SV AP...it will definitely be for the noon-1:00 timeslot. 4. Casually stroll to Millennium Force. 5. By the time you arrive, the line should be shorter than it was at 11:00. When you get to the front, show them your Noon SV AP and they should give you a 1:00-2:00 AP for Millennium. From here, it depends whether your visiting on a Saturday or Sunday/weekday. If it's a Sunday or weekday, 6A. Loop around to Dragster, and show them your two previously acquired APs to get one for 2:00-3:00. 7A. Make you way back up to Maverick, and show them your three previously acquired APs to get one for 3:00-4:00. 8A. By this time, it should be around 11:45, and you're right back up near SV to get in line for the Noon AP group. 9A. From there, go about your day as you see fit. If it's a Saturday: 6B. Decide which is more important to you, Maverick or Dragster, and go there and get a pass, again showing your previously acquired passes. 7B. Try to go to the other one and get a pass. Note that they may be all out, in which case you'll need to carefully plan the rest of your day to be back in the area of that ride around 2:45 (when the lines start forming for the 3:30 distribution). Using that system, you're guaranteed a ride on each AP-coaster per day. It works, and really isn't that much of a hassle at all. Depending on other lines, you can try to squeeze some other rides in between your pass times, or just focus on being there at the time for the pass and then do other stuff at the park afterwards. Note that on this past Sunday, Dragster did not have enough of a crowd at some points to require AP use - they were still handing them out, but at both 11:00 and around 1:00 they were not requiring passes to get in line. EDIT: I see now that you're the guy who but doesn't believe a trip to Kennywood is worth it because Steel Curtain isn't operating, and have made similar other "debbie downer" posts, so there probably isn't any changing your mind.

Is your name Mandy that I met on TTD at CP today? She had the same philosophy.

LOL. At least they've got a sense of humor. And you never know, it could be a secondhand SLC from somewhere and technically be true...

Banshee and the Beast have lift-hill audio? News to me...I didn't notice it at all during my two days this weekend at KI.

So wait, was that you that drove 9hrs to ride?! If so then I was the one in the FastLane that let you go ahead of me! That front row ride was my last also! It was an awesome day!! Yep, that was me! Small world haha. Didn't have time to explain it all, but after visiting KI when they were only open until 7 and CP when half the coasters were closed back in July, I made another trip out here from Delaware (the state, since you have to mention this in Ohio where there's a town called Delaware) solely for the purpose of getting night rides at KI and a chance at Dragster at CP. Thank you again, so much. Not enough words to express my gratitude here. Had I known you were on here I would've invited you back to my hotel for a tasty adult beverage (since Ohio has gone stupid with their COVID restrictions for bars). Yeah, it was an awesome day. My complete report is forthcoming.

With my 1000th post, I do declare that my initial assessment of Steel Vengeance from a month ago was faulty. I think I got stapled on my back-row ride then, because on this trip I've gotten two back-row rides with some space between me and the lap bar and holy shit, this thing is awesome! Felt like I was out of my seat for half the ride. That said, and after some not-3-years-ago rides on the rest, my new CP existant-ride rankings are as follows (all changes noted in bold): 1. Maverick (back) 2. Steel Vengeance (back) 3. Millennium Force (front) 4. Raptor (back) 5. Top Thrill Dragster (front) 6. Gatekeeper (back) 7. Iron Dragon (back) {substantial drop) 8. Rougarou (back) 9. Magnum XL-200 (front or any non-wheel seat) 10. Gemini (any non-wheel seat) 11. Valravn (front) 12. Cedar Creek Mine Ride (any non-wheel seat) 13. Wicked Twister (back) {substantial drop} 14. Corkscrew (die in a fire) 15. Blue Streak (di in a fire) Not ranked: Kiddie Coasters since they're kiddie coasters and Pipe Scream because its not a coaster, and defunct coasters. My complete report from this trip is forthcoming.

Congrats! Don't rub you FL-ness in the face of those of us who have to do without LOL. Edit: Next post is 1,000! Better make it a good one...

Thanks for the tip... It paid off! Got in line for Orion at around 8:10 a got off around 9:25, plenty of time to make it over to Mystic, where I currently am after snagging another grilled cheese to get the 4th meal out of the wrist band. Been waiting bout 20 minutes so far, with probably another 20 ahead of me (plus the fireworks shutdown if they do that on this ride). All in all, not a bad 2 days at KI when I kept my expectations in check.

Yeah. It was crazy. Zach, the teen groups here are still mild compared to a Six Flags crowd, and I guess I'm exaggerating their "obnoxiousness" and I'm just getting old and can't tolerate any presence of today's youth culture LOL. So I'm back at the park now, lines are still bonkers per the app. Like 105 minutes for FoF. I've been standing in line for Beast for about 20 minutes and just started up the ramp so I guess that's no too bad. My plan ito get in line for Orion around 8:15 to get a sunset/night ride there then head to Mystic.

Day 2 update: Got to the park around noon, bought my all-day dining wrist band, rode Bat (front row, 50 minute wait) and Banshee (back row, 20 minute wait) with two meals in there too. A little too hot, so I left and came back to my hotel to rest and pack, then going to head back to the park around 7 PM for another meal or two and to grab yet another lap on Beast and try for night rides on Orion and/or Mystic Timbers. Packing now will help later, since I'll be on the road by 6 AM tomorrow to make it to Cedar Point for opening.

Any park making announcements for next year is being incredibly optimistic at best and plain stupid at worst. Assuming that this COVID-panic will go away by next summer is crazy. Just take it one month at a time. Also 2nd to Screamscape being taken with a grain of salt. Half of what they post is their own random speculation, and the other half is a week out of date.

I had a great view from Beast's queue LOL. I thought it was cool how they kind of synced Orion's mood lighting with the fireworks. EDIT: So, my first night back at KI turned alright. Ended up with rides on Mystic, Racer (Red), Adventure Express, and 3 cycles on Beast - 2 in row 14, and my last ride of the night at around 10:40 PM in the front row! Still the best coaster at this park as far as I'm concerned. Given that I only included KI on this trip to try to get some night rides on Beast and Orion, I'm gonna call this a win. With the lack of FL availability for tomorrow, I'm gonna sleep in and get to the park whenever I do, planning on staying until close to try for that night ride on Orion. Unless people tell me that Mystic is better as the night ride, which I have experienced and is pretty damnned good in itself. Hint hint.

How privileged that two (and a half) super awesome woodies, Phantom's Revenge (for those that praise it), some cool dark rides, and a bunch of classic rides you can't find elsewhere aren't enough to convince you to make a 30 min drive. Yeah, I was overall unimpressed with Kennywood when I was there in 2017, but to not go just because one coaster is closed when you live that close and they probably are desperate for any kind income is kinda crazy. Meanwhile, I've driven 9 hours for second time this summer just to get a night ride on Beast and a chance at getting on Dragster. Different priorities I guess. Enjoy what you can while you can. COVID might not be going away as soon as we all hope.

You have a PM sir.

So I'm at KI now, arrived around 4:00. Place is comparably packed... Waited 52 minutes for Mystic Timbers. Fast Lane for tomorrow will be a must. Way too many unsupervised teens/tweens. On a Covid note, mask use and social distancing in that line were atrocious... I'd say 50% of masks were below the nose and another 25% below the chin. Very few people were paying attention to social distancing markers, largely due to groups of 5+ obnoxious teenagers. I'm sure it's working out for them financially, but from a guest standpoint they should have kept the reservation system. EDIT: Looks like FL is sold out for tomorrow...hooray. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to be able to be at parks, but this is painful.

Unless you count the half-dozen song and dance routines at Cedar Point each day.

I'm pretty sure SF passes don't have photos on them either (the last one I had in 2017 sure didn't). Sounds like a marketing ploy to get people there, then tell them their pass has to have a photo (knowing damn well that none of them do), in hopes of people buying a daily ticket at the gate since they're already there. EDIT: I called them out on it in the FB comments. We'll see what their response is. EDIT 2: They replied that showing the pass and your login on a park app would suffice. I suggested they update their original post to reflect this since no CF or SF passes actually have photos on them anymore.

I would easily spend several hundred dollars for such a "face pass."

Or they're waiting to do 2021 additions in a CF-wide announcement. Plus, there's really no advantage to them announcing a new ride right now with everything in flux. Or maybe the free-spin is cancelled and we'll actually get something I'll ride, but that's just me being selfish.