AmyUD06

May the odds be forever in your favor.

That is great news, it puts you a lot closer to Frontier Town and probably saves you 15-20 minutes walking from the main gate. Note that all of the other auxiliary gates are closed, and that you'll need a wristband from Express to get in through the Magnum/Resort gate.

They started giving out the Steel Vengeance passes at like 10:50-10:55 each of the three days I was there. Maverick was 10:55-11:00. Millennium, I'm not sure since I was never around that area when they started giving them out. Entering the park at 10:00 as soon as they rolled up the gates, walking at a normal pace (I'm too old for the running of the bulls haha), I made it to be in the first 50-75 SV passes on the first two days and amongst the first 20-30 Maverick passes today. That said, by 11:00, the SV pass line extended all the way to the train crossing on each of these three days. Maverick's line was almost as long on Monday, but more reasonable yesterday and today. If your reservation/arrival time is after 11:00, you're probably out of luck for the initial issue. Note that Tony Clark did post a blog entry today saying that all reservations at 10:00, 10:30, or 11:00 would be allowed to enter the park with the gate-roll-up at 10:00. Don't forget to allow 15-30 minutes to get through the health screening line before you even get to the gate, and note that they didn't even open the health screening process until 9:45 these three days. If Dragster is open, that will probably bleed off a good chunk of people that would be otherwise going for one of the three big rides' passes, so maybe that will help. I do know that if you're going to shoot for a 3:30 issuance, you probably want to line up around 2:30. Especially now that they've published on that blog entry that there will be a second issuance at that time...before it was kinda a "had to be there to be told that by an employee" kinda thing.

Thanks! Glad to know that they're appreciated.

No, if you want SV go there first. There's a good chance they'll be gone by the time you make it there after waiting in line for MF and Mavericks passes. Likewise MF might be gone if you do the reverse... I found that adding the long walks from Frontier Town to MF gives both MFs and Mavericks lines time to die down so you don't end up standing in line while passes disappear. Note that they have said Dragster, if opening, will be an access pass ride too. I have no idea how to make it work if you wanted to grab all four from one pass issuance session.

Alright, I'm back at my hotel after Day 3 of CP, just relaxing and packing for the drive home tomorrow before another trip to the Thirsty Pony, so here goes the rest of the TR: Cedar Point Day 2 - July 14th So, my game plan going into today was similar to my plan for yesterday - snag all three access passes first thing, then schedule the rest of the day around that. Using the same route (Steel Vengeance line before they start handing out the passes, then down to Millennium Force and then finally back to Maverick), I got 12:00, 1:00, and 3:00 times respectively. Again, as with day one, by the time I was done grabbing passes, people just started lining up for the 12:00 SV entry, so I grabbed my spot in line (3rd) and once again walked right up to the platform. One train later, and I was on, this time in the back row. While it is a better ride in the back than the front (dat airtime), I stand by my original assessment - underwhelming. After having some great rides on Gatekeeper later in the trip, SV is, for me, a solid #6 at Cedar Point and #2 RMC behind Twisted Timbers. Sorry not sorry. I grabbed a slice of Pizza from Wagon Wheel again, then completed my MF time slot (front row, 40 minutes in line plus 15 before they would let the 1:00s in) and then had some time to kill, so I walked around checking ride times (all too long) and finally went to Melt and had their cheeseburger, which was awesome as expected. Surprised though that the burger was just a regular circular patty and didn't take up the entirety of the bread. Made it back to Maverick at around 3:15 (my access pass was for 3:00-4:00) and saw most of the outdoor queue filled up, so I decided to find a shady bench to lay down on until 3:50, when I entered the queue and walked right up to the second-from-front line of the out door area. Oh well...57 minutes for the back row, and awesome as always. From there, my goal was to blitz all of the remaining operating coasters, lines be dammned. That went as follows: -Cedar Creek Mine Ride, 27 minutes for row 3 (didn't have the choice to a non-wheel seat) -Magnum XL-200, 27 minutes for row 13 (same thing here, was only running two trains) -Iron Dragon, 27 minutes for last row (I could've sworn there was padding on these seats in the past, but not anymore) -Gatekeeper, 28 minutes for last row right side (greyed out a little bit on the bottom of the drop loop, which was cool) -Raptor, 55 minutes for row 7 (largely delayed on the brake run due to a protien spill on the train ahead of me). No, I did not make up those times...I ran the stopwatch on my phone on each, and all of them except for Raptor were 27 or 28 minutes and some seconds. Freaky. Anyway, this proves that it is possible to ride all operating coasters in a normal COVID-shortened day without Fast Lane. You just need a plan, plenty of stamina, and a little luck. So, all I had left at this point was Valravn, which had I gotten off of Raptor at a reasonable time, I could have made it in line before 8:00 for. Sadly, I walked out of Raptors exit ramp at 8:06, and then walked against the entire flow of traffic over to Valravn just to confirm that it was closed. Oh well, that's why I have a Day 3. Notably, during my travels of the coaster blitz, I saw Dragster cycling...a lot. Basically chruning empty trains out like nobody's business. I swung by the station, and there was a white-shirt supervisor (not sure the difference between them and the green-shirt supervisors) standing near the edge, overlooking the midway, so I asked him if there was any chance of it opening today. He said no, but "fingers crossed maybe tomorrow evening." He explained that they were running cycles for the state inspection process, which requires them to do X amount of runs without an issue before each season before the ride will be certified by the state to operate to the public. Either way, it gave me hope. Got back to the hotel and took a cool shower, and then it was off for my first trip ever to the Thirsty Pony. Wow. Awesome place, reasonable prices, DELICIOUS food - I got a Goopy Burger - a regular hamburger dripping with Cheez-Whiz. For someone who routinely takes his cheeseteaks in Philly as "american and whiz, wit-out," it was glorious. Sat around there shooting the shit with a couple from western New York (about a 3 hour drive from CP) and a guy from Indiana about coasters, COVID, life, all while downing some yummy adult beverages. Ended up closing them out (which was at midnight, reasonable for a Tuesday I supposed), stumbled back to my hotel and off to bed for Day 3.... Cedar Point Day 3 - July 15th Starting this day out, I only had 3 goals: 1. Get on Valravn 2. Get a second ride on Raptor and Gatekeeper 3. Try to get on Dragster So, with this in mind, today was a lot more laid back. I didn't bother with SV or MF access passes, only getting one for Maverick. After I grabbed the pass, I shot down to Valravn and got in line. 52 minutes later, and I was complete with my back row ride. This was more out of completionism than anything else, I've never been a fan of B&M dive coasters...the two that I've been on (this and Griffon at BGW) just don't do enough with their layouts. Back up to Maverick for my access pass usage, which I walked right up to the indoor queue area. This took a total of an hour and 28 minutes for front row start to finish. Probably 30+ minutes of that was a shutdown while I was in the queue (at least in the shade), during which they had to do an evac from the brake run. But, I stuck it out (what else would I do?) and eventually got on the front row, which is awsome. Not as great as the back row, but I already had two rides there this trip, so I figured I'd sample the other flavor. Back to Melt for another grilled cheese/mac&cheese combo, then off to Raptor. On and off in 29 minutes in row 3. From there it was onto Gatekeeper, where I walked right up to the platform, but sadly they had just started their cleaning cycle. So, it took 21 minutes, again for the back row right side. Again, greyed out a little at the bottom of the initial drop loop. All this time, I was watching Dragster like a hawk. I had even saved my Exit Pass that I got on Day 1 just for that ride. Sadly, though it was cycling earlier in the day, now it was quiet. I walked by the station and asked the employees if there was any chance of it opening today, to which they replied no but they were hoping for tomorrow. Bummer. Or maybe that's just a line they're told to say? Either way, I was hot, and tired, and had accomplished everything I set out to with this Cedar Point trip, so it was time to call it a day. I hoofed it back up to the SV gift shop to buy the shot glass for my collection, then tried to take the train to save my legs some of the walk back, but after waiting 10 minutes and the train arriving, it was full by the time I got to the front of the line. Oh well....made the long walk back to the front of the park, every now and then glancing at Dragster, hoping for some signs of life, to no avail. Back to my car, and to my hotel, and typed this up. I didn't take that many pictures at Cedar Point, but what I did take I'll post early next week when I'm home and recovered. All in all, despite the first day feeling like a disaster at the start, once I tempered my expectations and came to realize that there's no way they would be operating at the same level that Kings Island was, I had a great time. Three rides on Maverick, two on Steel Vengeace, Millennium, Raptor, and Gatekeeper, and at least one lap on every other adult coaster that was operating is nothing to be sad about. Really the only closed coasters I truly missed being able to ride were Dragster, Gemini, and Rougarou (Blue Streak and Wicked Twister are meh and Corkscrew can die in a fire). Apparently more rides will be opening as they complete inspections and get more staffing, so it sounds like the situation there is improving week by week. And at the end of the day, I still got to go to two amusement parks and ride 7 of my top 25 coasters in the span of a week in the middle of a "devastating pandemic." Not bad, not bad at all.

SEAS has to actually pay for these new rides before they can operate. Don't hold your breath.

Thirsty Pony review: Awesome. That is all. Day 2 of CP review will come at some time in the future. I am feeling to good in an adult way to type it out now.

That is awesome to hear. I guess I wasn't too far off when I suggested they do that yesterday. I'm glad to hear the park has a plan to address their staffing issues. I also heard from a bartender at the Frontier Trail bar today that they somehow have some internationals ready to go, they just have to clear quarantine. On another note, so far the Thrirsty Pony seems like an awesome place.

Since we're playing the ranking game, and I now have recent rides on most of the coasters on this list, I can clearly say: 1. Maverick (back) 2. Millennium Force (front) 3. Raptor (back) 4. Top Thrill Dragster (front) 5. Gatekeeper (back) 6. Steel Vengeance (back) 7. Iron Dragon (back) {substantial drop) 8. Magnum XL-200 (front or any non-wheel seat) 9. Rougarou (back) 10. Valravn (front) 11. Gemini (any non-wheel seat) 12. Cedar Creek Mine Ride (any non-wheel seat) {substantial drop} 13. Wicked Twister (front) 14. Blue Streak (any non-wheel seat) 15. Corkscrew (die in a fire) Not ranked: Kiddie Coasters since they're kiddie coasters and Pipe Scream because its not a coaster, and defunct coasters. Stay tuned, my day 2 report is coming later today! Preview: MUCH better day than yesterday; got on every operating coaster except Valravn. Gotta check out this "Thirsty Pony" that everyone raves about.

The "best beer man" for you is the Biergarten and not Miami River Brewhouse, which is air conditioned and you can actually get a variety of food at? Talk about disregarding the opinions of those who do not extol the virtues of and glory that is the NA Miata.

Man, Zach, what have we been talking about in PMs? Just gotta let it all roll off your back. We will never be understood for not buying in to the "sky is falling" hype. Get yourself to KI on a weekday and get some rides in...operations are great and it feels like normal times except the mask and actual space around you in lines. You'll feel better, I promise.

Unpadded metal. It's painful. Trust me you want the seat belt as tight as possible and like at least 3 inches between the bar and your thighs. I kinda lift my legs and scooch forward when they're checking the restraints, then on the lift slide back and tighten the hell out of the belt.

Yep! To prevent your legs from crashing into the lap bar over hills.

Still at the park for Day 2 now. Much improved from yesterday... But I'm not sure how much of that is actually improved operations or just me tempering my expectations. In great news, Dragster was cycling again. Spoke with a white-shirt supervisor that was working the ride, who informed me that they were going through the state certification process and that if everything went according to plan, it would be opening to the public tomorrow afternoon. Now, this is Dragster we're talking about, so chances are something will go wrong, but personally I'm fingers crossed for my first ride on it since 2008.

Well, just got off of the back row of SV. Better than the front, but still #4.

Wow that was quick.

Fast Lane is NOT for sale on CP's website/app or in person at this time. However, if you really feel like splurging, you can buy the "All-Season, All-Parks" Fast Lane for $850 from Kings Island's site and it'll be valid at CP. Not sure if you'd need to go to KI first to "activate" it or not.

Fast Lane is for sale on KI's website/app, but not in the park as of Sunday, both in advance and day of. You just have have to buy it online.

Whew, at least I'm not alone in my SV thoughts. To that last guy, yes the Sky Ride is open - one group allowed per car. Anyway, here's the day one report! Cedar Point Day 1 – July 13, 2020 Warning: Very Long (that’s what she said) TL;DR – Day started out kinda shitty, LOTS of food closed, too many people, day got better, still left after only 3 rides with plans to come back the next two days. We begin this journey at four o’clock in the morning in Mason OH…to make it to Cedar Point for opening, I’d need to be on the road at 6:00, so that’s what happened. After three and a half hours of half highways, half country roads, I had arrived at Cedar Point at around 9:15. My reservation for today wasn’t until 10:30, so I decided to take a drive around the island to see if non-hotel guests would be allowed to use the resort gate; we were not. So, back to the front, sun-tan lotion’d up, and made my way to the substantial health screening line at 9:50. Note that they were selling "face coverings" outside from a little booth for $2.00; I didn't see anyone buy one so I'm not sure what type they were. Different than what was done at Kings Island, the health screening here first had you walk a zig-zag through the tents with colossal fans blowing on you, I guess to try to keep your body temp down to an acceptable level. At the end of the tent, there was a thermal scanner set up, but it wasn’t a continuous stream of people…the attendant called us forward one by one to stand in front of the camera for a half-second, before waving us through. After the temp check, I breezed through security (same old metal detectors) and then camped out waiting for my reservation time. Except, I figured I’d try to sneak in early, so after the gates opened and the crowd had died down some, I walked up to the ticket checker and provided my pass, which was scanned and I was waved on through. Perhaps they’re more lenient here than at KI? Either way, we all know about the “access pass” situation for Steel Vengeance, Maverick, and Millennium Force. What they were doing today was allowing an hours-worth of people to wait in the standby line, and then lining people up to get access passes when the ride opened. I first thought about hopping in the SV standby line, but decided instead to wait for an access pass – I was probably 50 people from the front. By the time I left the line, noon-1:00 pass in hand, it extended all the way back to the train crossing – absolutely huge. The Maverick access pass line was almost as long, and not yet moving, so I decided to head to MF to grab the access pass for that then head back for Maverick’s, which would put me almost at the right time frame for my ride on SV. Arrived at the back of the MF line right as it started to move, and a few minutes later I had my pass for that ride (also noon-1:00). Note that I did ask to get a later time, but they were not handing out later times until the earlier ones were gone. On my way back to the Maverick line, I swung into Panda Express – one of the food locations that was open – to grab an all-day-dining wristband. I tried to cash in my first meal at Wagon Wheel Pizza, but they were not yet open despite a sign indicating that they should have opened a half hour prior. The only two food locations open at this time (around 11:30) in Frontier Town were Panda Express and Hate Chicken, so I was out of options. Made it to Maverick, grabbed my pass (2:00-3:00), and by then it was 11:45 so I dumped 90% of what I had on me in a locker and plopped down in the developing line for noon access pass holders for SV. After a brief delay due to my not quite understanding the loose article policy (apparently, glasses without a strap are not even allowed in the queue even if you possess numerous zippered pockets to put them in when riding, despite the fact that everyone needs to wear a mask…whatever I’m still bitter), I make my way up to the station after about 15 minutes and find myself at the head of a grouping, so hooray for front row. I think. Steel Vengeance Review: Put simply, I was not impressed. Yes, it was a great coaster with high speeds, some airtime, plenty of twists and turns…but something was just meh about it. Is this a ride that’s only “OMFG-amazeballs!!!!1!” in the back? Don’t get me wrong, I liked the ride, and liked it a lot…it’s not that it’s “too intense” (my all-time #1 favorite is Maverick)…I don’t know how to describe it. I have to say that, for me, it’s not even a top 3 coaster at Cedar Point (those honors go to Maverick, Millie, and Raptor, in that order). Sure, SV is a very close 4th, but honestly I think Twisted Timbers at Kings Dominion is a better RMC. When I go back tomorrow I’m going to try to get the back row to see if it’s a night-and-day difference, but I’m not holding my breath. Maybe I just hyped it up so much in my head? Oh well, at least it was coaster #150. After riding SV, I quickly stopped in to the now-open Wagon Wheel Pizza for a slice on my meal plan. MUCH better pizza than that at Kings Island, that’s for sure, but until it was my turn they only had one window open and the line was four groups deep and barely moving. This will be a recurring theme for the day. I made my way down to Millennium Force, and was l0cker-in to l0cker-out in 47 minutes. Note that I entered the queue at around 12:42, so towards the end of my “group” of access passes. Somehow I lucked out and got the front row, my preferred seat, on this too. By this time, my second meal was about due, so I began searching. I’m not going to list them all out, but believe me when I tell you that more places that accept the meal plan were closed than were open. At this I was incensed, so to Guest Relations I go to try to get a partial refund on the dining plan since had I known that more than 50% of the available locations wouldn’t be open, I wouldn’t have bought one. While walking up there, I see that Cedar Downs Derby was closed – this ride takes ONE employee to run (I’ve seen it in the past), maybe two if you want a second one on cleaning duty. Anyway, upon arrival at GR, I of course find a huge line, but I grab an employee walking out just to ask if it was even possible to get a refund to see if it was worth waiting in the line. She, Stephanie, apparently #4 of the park (by her radio callsign of simply “four”) didn’t know, so immediately radios “six”, presumably the director of food service, to ask what’s up. One phone call later, and she’s walking me to the nearest restaurant that takes the plan to process my refund. That is what I call customer service. After it was done, we chatted a bit about what I saw wrong at the park (way too many people there, no Fast Lane available at any price, lack of dining options) and my entirely positive experiences at Kings Island in the prior days. We both lamented the lack of internationals and said she would bring up my concerns at a staff meeting later that day. I left the encounter feeling validated, and now in a much better mood. By now, it was just after 2:00 and time for Maverick. Made my way in and all the way to the bottom of the stairs before encountering any other people, and a few brief minutes later was up at the grouper. Rows 3 and 6 of the second train remained vacant, so I asked if I could go to the back row (the best spot on this coaster), but the employee was initially like “no” and “we can’t take requests.” So, I relented and walked up to row 3, while row 6 behind me remained vacant. I looked over at the grouper, who kind of nodded his head in the direction to signal I could move, so I thanked him. Apparently the next group was more than 2 and didn’t want to split up. Thank you very much to them. Awesome ride as always, still my Number One, and to make it even better, it suffered a breakdown as we pulled into the brake run. Apparently the two trains prior to mine didn’t want to dispatch. So, as we waited for maintenance to come out and do their thing, I kept silently begging for an evacuation. Being evac’d from my favorite coaster would be something. Sadly, no evac, but we were given exit passes that say “good any day” for our trouble of sitting in the sun for 15 minutes. After this (just before 3:00), it was time for some more food, so I made my way to Melt (along the way noting in the app wait times of 45-90s minutes for Magnum, Valravn, Raptor, and Gatekeeper – the only other coasters operating (Iron Dragon had been running but was currently broken down). Had their basic grilled cheese (of course) with a side of mac & cheese, and a delicious if not mixed strong enough Jack & Coke. You guys were not kidding about the portion size here – wow. Not quite enough for two, but definitely filling. After Melt, I decided to check out SV and Maverick to see if I could grab another access pass (I was initially told at both locations that they would give out another bunch at 3:30), but no dice at either ride. Having been up since way-too-early-for-vacation and feeling a bit tired, I decided to call it a day and head to my hotel (Econo Lodge North) and check in. Took a cool shower, unpacked, and sat down to type this up. All in all, a day that started out not so great turned out to be pretty good, despite only getting on three rides. The way I see it, I’ve got two more days to try to hit everything I want to. Some additional thoughts: About Closures: As is now common knowledge, the follow major rides were closed with signs on them indicating that they had no intention of opening for the day: Corkscrew, Gemini, Wicked Twister, Windseeker, Rougarou, Power Tower, Top Thrill Dragster, the entirety of Planet Snoopy. What may not be common knowledge is how much food service was closed: Everything in Frontier Town except for Panda Express, Klansman’s Fried Chicken, and Wagon Wheel Pizza; the mac & cheese place at the front, every Auntie Anne’s I saw, the entire food plaza under the Sky Ride, Dragon’s Inn, and almost every push-cart type stand. You know what I didn’t see closed? Almost all of the games, which I saw no one playing (as usual) and souvenir shops. Which brings me to my next point… About Staffing: Listen, I get it…employee X is assigned to the Y department. But desperate times call for desperate measures – it’s time for them to tell these kids that, provided they’re old enough, they’re reassigned to rides or food. I used to work at a park, I know how much training employees get – one can certify on several smaller rides in one day, a coaster a day, and it doesn’t take a lot of training to run a deep fryer or grille or even a cash register at a restaurant. That, or start paying better (they’re already at $12 an hour minimum, which seems ridiculous to someone who started at Six Flags Great Adventure making $5.35) so that people will come off the unemployment gravy train. Or maybe offer major bonuses to out-of-work employees from Michigan's Adventure, Knott's, Carowinds, and any other CF park that's still closed to come fill in the gaps. They have the housing, they could do it. At Millennium Force, in addition to all of the normal staff, they had two additional employees in the queue for the sole purpose of enforcing social distancing (not needed, everyone was well behaved) and mask wearing (I saw him yell at a few), and one employee just sitting at the bottom of the exit with no apparent function. In a park with half of the rides closed, this seems excessive. Surely these guys are trained on other things. Also of amusement with staffing decisions was the entire crew of normal rides employees at Dragster, standing around while maintenance workers were testing it (it lives!), despite their statements that they had no intention of opening the ride today (I asked later). About COVID Procedures: About the same as I saw at Kings Island…90% wearing a mask properly, 10% only covering their mouth or down below their chin. Masks still suck in the heat but aren’t causing me any breathing problems. Notably I only saw one person all day with no mask anywhere in sight. Social distancing was well respected in queues, but not so much in the lines to get access passes for the big three or generally walking around. Staff were addressing mask deficiencies as they saw them. That said, I really think they need to cut the amount of reservations they allow each day by half, or make resort guests have to take up a reservation "slot." Today felt like a normal summertime Monday in terms of crowds, which with half of the rides closed, half the food stands closed (no, the food trucks don't make up for it), no major shows, and no Fast Lane available...it becomes a complete disaster. Anyway, that’s my two cents…I’m sure many will disagree. Yes, I’m glad parks are open. Yes, I understand that CP is in a very unique staffing situation with so few locals available. Yes, I’m overjoyed that I was able to get rides in on two of my top 10 steel coasters during all of this chaos. That said, they have a lot of room to improve. More to come on days two and three.

Well, at CP now for Day 1, and though it started out looking to be an unmitigated disaster, things keep getting better. Also, unpopular opinion: Steel Vengance isn't the best coaster at this park. Or even in the top 3. Fight me.

Thanks to you both! I figure that, especially now in the crazy COVID times that we're in, people would be curious about wait times and operations and stuff like that which I'd normally gloss over. I'll be sure to try to do the same at Cedar Point starting tomorrow.

Careful now, we all know that COVID is a totally serious thing that has nothing to do with politics at all.

Just be warned that you may be sitting in your car on the entry road for quite some time. KI didn't open their parking booths until 10:15, 15 minutes before their earliest reservation.

This experience is from Kings Island, so your mileage may vary. You can come in the parking booths as soon as they're open regardless of your reservation time. You can go through the temperature screening and security check regardless of your reservation time. You will NOT be let through the pass/ticket checkers until your reservation time. If you are let in before 11, you are free to walk around, but nothing will be open until 11. This includes food service unfortunately. No idea on the boarding passes release time or if people are held at a certain location at CP, but at KI the normal "rope-drop" areas were not there and you could wander the entire park once you got in.