pianojohn

OK, gonna vent a little. On Facebook, people were losing their MINDS that Cedar Point was so crowded yesterday. ON a Saturday. In the fall. Perfect weather. Halloweekends. These are the same people who complain when they come to Walt Disney World during Christmas week and are shocked by the crowds. Seriously, people. If you don't wanna deal with crowds, DON'T COME TO CP DURING A SATURDAY IN THE FALL! Ugh.

NO. F no. How soon we forget when Six Flags bought all those parks years ago, ran them into the ground, and then sold them off. Cedar Fair does not NEED Six Flags or its management style. If anything, let Six Flags pick up some of the water parks and ruin...I mean, run them.

My two cents: 54 years old here. Full time WDW employee but I have bought a Cedar Fair Platinum Pass the last few years and have been able to use it at Cedar Point (usually early June), Knotts (sometimes 2-3X depending on travel to the West Coast) and other Cedar Fair parks depending on my schedule. Just last week I did a 12 hour trip to Carowinds, flying up in the morning and back home in the evening. I usually go alone or with my husband, and I just make it a priority to visit as many parks as I can. I also grew up going to CP every summer and then working there for five years from 1986-1990. If you want to go to a park, GO! Find a way and just do it! My biggest regret is NOT visiting Astroworld when I knew it would be closing. I should have just charged a trip and made an effort to go.

Carowinds Trip Report Wednesday July 10, 2019 I just got back from a quick 12 hour trip to Carowinds! I flew up Wednesday morning from Orlando, spent the day in the park, and flew back that night! Highlights: Weather! It was supposed to rain, but other than a few sprinkles, it was great. Hot but doable since most people were in the waterpark. Lines: NON EXISTENT! Being an Orlando resident, I am accustomed to summer time lines that stretch for miles. Not at Carowinds. The longest wait I had was for the Sky Tower since it had just started to go up. Copperhead Strike: 4X. Longest wait was maybe 10 minutes. Fun coaster though the extended hangtime is a bit strange. Fury 325: 2X Fun coaster but after the first few drops, I was ready for it to be over. Just seems unnecessarily long for no reason. Intimidator: 1X Rode in the very back row and it was ROUGH. Felt every bump on the track. Maybe just getting old, but I don't remember it being so bouncy. Lowlights: NO WATER RIDES. I could be wrong, but this seems to be the only major park without any water rides. I really REALLY wish parks would reconsider and start building log rides again. But in this park's case, build ANYTHING. NO transportation. Not that the park is huge, but it would be great if they had a train which circled the park or even a sky ride. Just my two cents Anyway...on to the pics! Trying to do my best Elissa impersonation. Robb said I need bigger boobs. Very comfortable trains. AND a water fountain right in the station. Genius! Hangtime A little nod to the past Thanks FunPics! I have over 150 from all my Cedar Fair parks. Well worth it to add to a Platinum Pass OUCH It looks so pretty from a distance. That's the best thing I can see about this horrible coaster Brain damage in 3....2....1... The tie dye Frap. Tasted like banana The doucebags next to me were flipping off the camera, so they had to crop the picture. Better

Not "every Halloween" but they did it once or twice... They did it ONCE and it was insane. I played piano in one of the attractions (The Brown Derby) and the lines to get in and out of just our little restaurant stretched over an hour. The meet and greets were even worse with lines to meet Maleificent and Starlord and Gamora lasting 2-3 hours. There were MANY unhappy guests since everyone wanted to do everything, and I feel they sold way too many tickets.

A little self promotion if you don't mind! A musical I wrote is FINALLY available for download or on CD. Just This Once: A Song Cycle was performed at the Orlando International Fringe Festival in 2015. Here is a link to that story: https://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=38494&p=1586514&hilit=Orlando+Fringe#p1586514 And here is a link to download the music from Amazon Music: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07R92VNJ3/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3R67KSRHUMIW5&keywords=just+this+once+a+song+cycle&qid=1556744370&s=gateway&sprefix=just+this+once+a+s%2Caps%2C152&sr=8-1

I predict we'll just end up calling it HMA. Not sure who the genius is who came up with a FIVE word name for a roller coaster. Thoughts?

I got to ride it about a dozen times since 1999. My last ride was last April when it was a one train operation. Fun ride, but a maintenance nightmare. I predict they'll replace it with a Copperhead Strike type ride in the near future.

Just saw a blog post from Holiday World about their new tshirt design. Anyone see a problem with this?

Thinking of taking a quick trip there this spring/summer. How far is it from the airport? And what's the safest way to get there? I see taxis available but not sure how reliable. Also, is there a decent hotel nearby? And finally, what are the crowds like? Any need for FlashPass? Thanks to anyone who's been to this park!

This was my 1st mountain coaster so I really cannot compare it to others. I do know it was LONG with 4 lift hills. And the scenery was great. You can even see Wild Eagle from the top of one of the highest points.

I just got back from four days in Tennessee, and it was amazing. Since my husband and I both have off for Christmas, we decided to get away for the holidays. We stayed at Dolly's Dream More resort, and it was great. The park is beautiful at Christmas, there are a ton of shows, and the food is awesome. We got to ride everything we wanted, including Lightning Rod three times. Even got a ride on the new Rocky Mountain Coaster in Pigeon Forge. It is located less than a mile from Dollywood! Enjoy the pictures! The view from our hotel room The trains with no front on them. Amazing ride! Yes! And two trains running as well! The highlight: they now bake and sell the Cinnamon Bread IN THE HOTEL!

The new no front for Lightning Rod.

If you ever come to Hoop on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, yours truly will be at the piano!

Heading to Dollywood for Christmas this year! Any can't miss things in Pigeon Forge? We are spending 2 days at the park and 3 nights at Dreammore. The park is closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so looking for things to do on the 24th. Thanks!

Totally agree! And they need to turn off the video feature at night since it never works when viewing. SV Video Day.mp4 Daytime video works great! SV Video Night.mp4 Nighttime? Not so much

Finally got my Steel Vengeance credits! Just returned from a quick trip home to Ohio for my 35th high school reunion! I was able to squeeze in a few days at Cedar Point, my home park and where I played piano for 5 seasons! Some quick points: Stayed at the Express Hotel which was recently updated. Nice room, close to the park, and relatively affordable. When I come back in September, I will stay at the Breakers. I bought FastLane Plus for Thursday since I wasn't arriving until after 4pm that day. If you're a Platinum Pass holder, you can buy FastLane Plus for the price of a regular FastLane! Saved me $20 AND hours of waiting in line! Did the Snoopy breakfast the 2nd day. Good food, fun characters, AND (the best part), I was able to park in the Breakers parking lot and use the Gemini/Magnum/Resort gate for early admission. This meant I was able to run to Steel Vengeance and be on the 2nd train of the day. If you're a regular park guest, you have to use the main entrance, and that is a LONG way back to the back of the park. Steel Vengeance. WOW. My first ride was very disorienting. Unless you ride in the front, you really cannot see what is coming up. For our 2nd ride, we opted for the back row. And we rode it at night. In my opinion, the absolute BEST night ride on a coaster and my new #1. It was just mind blowing! On to the pics! The obligatory front gate pic Finally here! Wow Wow again My first ride Hotel guests Breakers 2nd ride at night Food More lobby photos Rotunda Breakfast. And all you can eat! AND it was Snoopy's birthday! My front seat ride the 2nd day Photos you can only get when driving around the point So, when I rode Twisted Timbers in April, I wore a Steel Vengeance t-shirt. It was only appropriate to wear a Twisted Timbers t-shirt when riding Steel Vengeance!

Have fun everyone who is going! I have gone and it was a blast! And BE NICE to Robb! He doesn't have to do these bashes (and I am sure they are a pain in the....ashes!) so be cool!

Question: What's the easiest way to get from NYC to Rye? I am staying with friends in Woodside, so I can get to any subway train. Thanks!

Just got back from a quick trip to Worlds of Fun for my first time ever! Got there about 9:30 so was able to get in for the early season pass admission at 9:45. Thanks to the helpful advice received here, I was able to do Spinning Dragons with no wait, Patriot front row (no wait), Timber Wolf (the only person on the ride!), Mamba, and Boomerang. Prowler. OUCH. I mean seriously?? It felt like they forgot to tighten every bolt and screw on the track, so running over them was like being jack hammered at 40 mph. Has it always been this awful? Literally got to ride every coaster in about an hour and still had time for the log ride and train. Nice entrance though the walk from the parking lot seems long The carousel See? I am the only one on Timber Wolf! Yes. I rode this. Eh. Not impressed OK ride No. NO. NO. Painful from the first drop to the end. Thanks to FunPix and my Platinum Pass add on, these were all included!

Thanks for the advice! I was going to pre-purchase FastLane, but they charge a $5.95 convenience charge in the app that they don't charge in person. No thanks!

Some advice for a first time visitor! Coming to WOF next Saturday June 30th. I plan to arrive by 9:15 to use the early admission for Platinum Passholders. 1) What coaster should I ride first? Which one has the longest/slowest moving line? 2) I can only stay til early afternoon. Is it worth it to get FastLane for the day? 3) Any must do/must EATS in the park? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Yes. I played piano at Cedar Point from 1986-1990. We did 6 25 minute shows a day, 6 days a week. Once you get into the groove of doing it, it's not that bad. I still play piano professionally (Walt Disney World for 19 years) and when the kids I am working with complain about having to do 5 20 minute shows a day, I just laugh.

If you want to lose all faith in humanity, read some of the "expert" responses to this incident on Twitter. Literally had to stop myself from calling out every idiot who seems to know better than the people who built the coaster. Some of my favorites: "Glad everybody is ok on #SteelVengeance collision, but @cedarpoint is easily the worst operated amusement park I’ve been to. " Translation: I didn't get to ride it, so the whole park sucks. " While I do feel for the people involved in the accident on the new ride #SteelVengeance, I do find the "compensation" for the people who had been waiting since early entry (5+ hours) to ride absolutely unacceptable. You can do better than that.." Hey....ever hear of a ride called Test Track? It didn't run properly for almost 2 FULL YEARS. "Breaking news! #SteelVengeance was working but down again! Another #CedarPoint #fail day. Seriously @cedarpoint a second day of this? Time for new engineers!" Because hiring a new engineer will magically fix every problem out there! And the best one of all: "Didn’t go in with Universal expectations, but Six Flags/Cedar Fair expectations. Embarrassingly below that. This makes Knott’s and Six Flags look like Disneyland." Replying to @***** @cedarpoint I've never been to those two, but I definitely agree." Sooooooooooo...you've never been to those two park but you agree. Hmm...I've never been to Paris or Germany, but using your rationale, they both suck. People

Just got back from a quick 3 day trip to VA. Was able to do Kings Dominion on Wednesday and Friday with minimal crowds and many rides on Twisted Timbers. Did Busch on Thursday and the park was PACKED which makes no sense. It was freezing cold (38 at the start of the day) and only got into the upper 50s that day. I know it was spring break week but I was still shocked. My thoughts: Rode Loch Ness with the new trains. Same experience and probably rougher. New trains not that much of an improvement. And since they were only running two trains, wait time was 30-60 minutes all day. Did Invadr again. Still pretty underwhelming ride. And with the shorter than normal trains, the wait times are always long. Saw 1/3 of the OktoberZest show. Since I worked in live entertainment at the park from 1994-97, I am VERY familiar with all of the shows. This was a disaster in my opinion. The lack of the iconic round stage (not thanks to ex VP of Ent) has been gone for years and with it the magic. The cast of 10 dancers worked hard, but using only 4 live musicians and a WAY TOO LOUD backing track was distracting. And the "featured" moment with the violinist doing a Cirque type rip-off solo was horrible. I don't even think she was in tune. Battle of Eire was not open. Again, WHY hold a press event a week prior where stories, videos, and pictures are published on the internet but your ride isn't ready to open? By comparison, Kings Dominion held their Twisted Timbers press event and then opened the coaster the next day. Now the biggest WTF for the day was the park's app. I downloaded it and tried to get it to work. However, it only works when on a wifi network. When I tweeted to the park to point this out, they wrote back " @BuschGardensVA Apr 5 Sorry for the confusion. We do not have park-wide WiFi. We only have WiFi at the front gate." So essentially, the app (which they encourage you to use) is totally worthless. UGH!!