gearbm95

Disney and CP are just insanely different...to the point where I don't view the Disney parks as parks but something completely different and immersive. Disney will probably ALWAYS have their built-in audience due to how synonymous they've become with toddler and adolescent culture. Disney will always have the families and "Disney Adults" to keep it booming. CP, and to a certain extent, other regional parks need to expand their markets and come up with innovative ways to increase attendance outside of attractions alone. Amusement parks will probably always be geared toward the 4yo-16yo demo but it wouldn't hurt some regional parks to lift some ideas from DIsney/Universal for special events to increase attendance. How about a Food & Wine festival at SFMM in the spring? Free concert series (actual good acts, not Smash Mouth, Sugar Ray, Better Than Ezra and other park acts) at CP? Darien Lake has done a great job at increasing attendance considerably the last two years by offering free admission to anyone who purchases a concert ticket to shows at their Live Nation-run amphitheater, granted they have a 25k capacity venue on-site but what is stopping other parks from building something similar? Parks need to improve their programming outside of attractions and maybe take a chance on more adult themed events?

Just speaking from personal experience, it's been really hard to get friends to go for a trip in September. A lot of people up here associate CP in the summer/fall with massive lines, and that's a huge turn off to the non-enthusiast. This year we're trying to hit the first weekend of HW to hopefully miss the lines. I'm on board to purchase a FP+ but it's hard to get the other 2 people going (non enthusiasts) to drop $50 for a ticket and then another $150 for FP+, on top of 2 nights at Breakers ($650 for 2 nights), and $50-ish in spending money for the park. That's like $460 per person for one night at the park and 2 nights in a hotel...quite pricey! Without FP+ you save $150 but you get on 7 rides all day and probably can't do any of the haunts. We're debating possibly doing CW instead as the lines are not nearly as long and you can get a quality 4 star hotel in the Toronto area for $150/night USD.

After multiple rides over 3 days I ended up with huge bruises on my thighs from SV, I figured it's because I'm fat and I have fair skin that bruises if I sneeze wrong. Wouldn't stop me from getting right back on it though! This is probably why I didn't like it nearly as much as everyone else. I think it was a bit too much against the grain for me. Felt a lot like bull riding! Nobody said he was to blame for the(supposed) decline in attendance. But nice twist on words. I believe the conversation was about Canadian visitors. Living in a border city (Buffalo) and working in the tourism industry I can 100% tell you that Canadian travel to the US is down. While not delving into a political debate, this has been the slowest summer we've had for cross border traffic since 2007.

there was an indoor pool, next to the Arcade, and right outside the main doors to TGI Fridays. maybe we caught it just after they treated it, but the whole area just reeked of Chlorine. . it was really strong when we walked by. So no outdoor hot tub? Lame.

Need some advice for a mid-September Halloweekends trip to CP (9/14-9/15). Looking at staying at Breakers...couple questions... Is the hot tub open during September? If so, what time is it usually open until? Do any of the beach bars remain open after the park closes for resort guests? Thanks!

Totally agree. Fright Fest is terrible, at least it has been at the Six Flags parks I have been to it at - SF America, SF Great Adventure, and SF Fiesta Texas. The haunted houses are terrible and NEVER scary. However, on the bright side I LOVE being able to ride the coasters until midnight at Great Adventure. I will say that CW probably had the best Halloween event I've been to. The biggest disappointment is easily Halloween Horror Nights, at both Hollywood and Orlando. While the haunts were top notch the scares were effectively zero...every haunt had a constant stream of people which eliminated any chance at scares. It was really annoying to essentially just walk through themed sets with 30 other people all around you.

Went to the park yesterday (Sunday)...got there about 1pm, was able to get a $17 lawn ticket on Stubhub for Zac Brown Band and that included park admission, so essentially I got a park/concert ticket for $15 less than a normal park ticket. ROS was running in the afternoon. Lines were not too long, Tantrum had a 45min wait and that was the longest wait. I didn't notice the landscaping everyone is complaining about, everything looked fine to me. Also, picked up a $20 lawn ticket for Rob Zombie/Marilyn Manson on the way out so I'll be back at the park in August as well.

I mean... I just typed Six Flags Great Adventure into Kayak and sorted by distance and it didn't return a single 4 star hotel. The nearest hotel period is 21 minutes away and it's a 2 star. That problem isn't exclusive to Cedar Point. Actually, Cedar Point Express Hotel has super reasonable prices a lot of the time given what they offer and it's a 4 star hotel on most sites. There's an HGI less than 15 mins from GA. Kayak lists their properties as full star, they dont usually classify the jump from 3 to 3.5, even though it is quite significant. Breakers Express is just cheap looking, everything just looks sticky, and I get it, its a seasonal property used mostly by families with children. Either park you'll have a blast, its just depressing trying to find anything to do at night around CP. They didn't even have Uber to get you back to your hotel which limited any type of drinking we could do at the park.

I'll play devils advocate on this one... Both parks are great, however, there are some downfalls to CP that have been glossed over. Generally, any accommodations in the surrounding area that are not CP properties are not very nice. I try to stay at 3.5/4 star properties and there's actually none in the Sandusky area, as you get closer to Cleveland there's a couple Courtyards and Hilton Garden Inn's but you're about a 30 min drive out from the park. The prices to stay in a CP property are laughable compared to those at a similar non-park property. While CP has higher highs, they also have some lows, in regards to their coasters. Blue Streak, Iron Dragon, Mine Ride, Gemini, Corkscrew, and Rogarou could all be considered not exciting, to meh at best. GA has a a solid collection, granted a few clunkers in there as well. If you're attending in the summer I assume you'll be using FL or Flashpass. Pricing is less for FP platinum, usually around $85-115/person depending on the size of your group, where as it's going to cost a solid $150/person at CP (express lines will also be a little longer at CP as the standby lines are usually longer). Food is pretty terrible at both parks tbh. The theming is essentially non-existent at CP, GA does a little more in this dept but nothing over the top. Flat rides at GA get the slight nod due to the variety. CP has a lot of overlap within their flats and an OK lineup. I think you'll be fine with whatever park you choose but if you're looking to do things beyond a park while on vacation I'd choose GA. With NYC, Atlantic beaches, and DC all being within fairly decent driving distance you can make a great vacation out of it. CP is in Ohio, and unless you want to hit KI as well its really just full of meth.

Darien is a VERY valuable park that has been mis-managed multiple times. I can't think of another property in the country that has a theme park, on-site hotel, campground (3rd largest in US), and 26,000 person Live Nation concert venue. They also own more land than any other Six Flags property. This is a property that has great potential. Even though operations have suffered the past few years they've been able to build a really solid modern water park. Hopefully, Six Flags reclaims ownership of the property and continues to build organically and not just slapping down a hyper coaster into a park that was not yet ready for that type of growth. The park has strong bones and should be a good investment for them. Also, the Canadian market is a HUGE draw for any investors, Darien pulls a large portion of its crowds from Southern Ontario, as many people there find CW to be overpriced and the 2-3hr queues not enticing.

Post Malone is completely sold out so there were no tix available for this promo. Theres still $20 tix for Kendrick, just pulled 2 up in the lawn on Live Nation.

Livenation.com lol http://13wham.com/news/local/20-all-in-concert-ticket-offer-announced-for-darien-lake

Live Nation is running a $20 concert ticket (no fees!) promo all week. $20 for a general admission ticket to any show at Darien this summer, concert ticket includes park admission Considering its more than $20 for a regular single day park pass this is an INCREDIBLE deal. If you plan to hit Darien this summer make it a concert day and you'll get great value. There's $20 tickets available for the following: Post Malone Marilyn Manson/Rob Zombie Dave Matthews Band Kendrick Lamar Dead & Co. Poison Jason Aldean Brad Paisley Lady Antebellum Kidz Bop Live Zac Brown Band Logic Lynryd Skynryd Slayer Godsmack/Shinedown Warped Tour Chris Stapleton Dierks Bentley Breaking Benjamin/Five Finger Death Punch G Eazy Miranda Lambert

Those look pretty slick.

How well did Fantasy Island do last October since Darien Lake had issues in the past with doing a Halloween event thus killing their event altogether? I don't have any hard evidence but I think they did very well with the events last year, the weather was great and surely brought in a lot of people. There really aren't any haunts or haunted houses near Niagara Falls at all, if you want to go to one you have to drive to Buffalo. They were also selling season's passes for $34.99 which covered the end of the 2017 season including all the haunts and full admission for the entire 2018 season which is going to assure that they get as many people in the park as possible. Fantasy Island did well with their Halloween event due to the fact that it played out as almost two seoerate events. Until 4pm the event was focused at the under 12 crowd, where as for the first time ever, after 4pm they created a much more adult haunt.

Ive heard that May 25 is the target for opening Tantrum to GP.

Who cares about the parking fees? Ive been to Disney probably 10-12 times in the past 20 yrs and have never stayed on resort and never once regretted the decision For the price you pay at a Disney resort you can stay at MUCH nicer resorts in the Orlando area, this is especially nice if you're looking to escape the cultural sterilization of the Haus of Mouse and looking to find some adult nightlife, bars, restaurants, etc. Disclaimer, I'm not a Disney freak or one of those "Disney Adults" but I do enjoy a couple days at the parks while in Orlando, and never saw the value of staying on property. Being cattle called is such a turn off and the resort transportation never appealed to myself as a value. I'm sure its a different story for those of you with kids or feel the need for mickey pancakes. PS. The Ritz Carlton and Waldorf Astoria Orlando still offer free parking, and they're much more suited for an adult trip!

Not sure if it was mentioned here but Darien Lake is offering FREE same-day admission with the purchase of any concert ticket this year...considering most shows have lawn tickets for under $30 this is an incredible deal...the updated list of 2018 concerts is below (easily the best theme park concert lineup in the US)... May 26 - Post Malone/21 Savage June 3 - Kendrick Lamar/SZA/Schoolboy Q June 19 - Dead & Co. June 24 - Zac Brown Band June 27 - Dave Matthews Band June 28 - Chris Stapleton July 13 - Lynryd Skynrd July 21 - Lady Antebellum/Gavin Degraw July 22 - Kesha/Macklemore July 25 - Warped Tour Aug 3 - Slayer August 7 - Chicago/REO Speedway on August 12 - Rob Zombie/Marilyn Manson August 18 - Kidz Bop Live September 7 - Niall Horan/Maren Morris

Little late on my TR from last Saturday (9/16) but here's a "quick" version: Ended up getting to the park at 10am (no early entry, camped at KOA in Sandusky) and the crowds didn't seem too unbearable YET. We had free passes due to an issue I encountered earlier in the season, so ended up splurging and buying the $149 FL+. Almost immediately Raptor had a 90min wait upon the park opening at 11am, ended up getting on in less than 5 mins with FL. Just as intense as ever, also, have the red/white lights always been there under the ride during one of the inversions near Valravn or are they only for Halloweekends? Anyway, lights looked awesome at night. Ended up grabbing a ride on the Sky Ride for a quick assessment of how busy the park was, didn't seem too bad at this point. Ended up heading over to Windseeker after Sky Ride...here's where I ran into my one real complaint of the day. It was roughly 1130ish at this point, I'm sure WS had probably cycled 6-7 times at this point, however when we went to go sit down I sat in a PUDDLE of dead bugs. Not just 4-5, literally 20, and I didn't realize it until my friend noticed it on her seat before she sat down. I said something to the ride op and asked for a napkin/paper towel, he told me they didn't have anything like that. So we went to move to an empty seat and EVERY single one had a bug puddle on it. I ended up having dead bugs smeared all over my shorts, which was gross but whatever, had it been someone else I'm sure they would've caused a scene. Still unacceptable that they'd open the ride in this condition. Went out the beach entrance and decided to walk the boardwalk to the Magnum entrance to check out the expansion progress at breakers, looking good! However, there was a group of probably 6-7 20 somethings on the beach, sitting down, openly smoking weed. Not that it bothered me but I thought this was a little shocking, is there no security patrolling the beach? Ended up getting quick rides in on Magnum and Pipe Scream then went back to check out SV. Damn,that ride is going to rule! Decided to just take it easy and went over to the tavern in Frontier Trail for a couple beers. The Rougabrew and Frontier Trail lager were damn good, and not bad at $8 for a bottle. Hit up Rougarou with a slight buzz, 45 min wait, about 15 mins with FL. Walked back towards the front of the park and decided to do WT (1hr wait, 20mins with FL) and Gatekeeper (1hr wait, 10 mins with FL) and by this time it was 2:30. Also, it says a lot when a non-enthusiast gets off GK and says "Thats it?"...this ride is so damn pretty but the lack of forces and speed is just shocking. Walked over to Blue Streak(20min wait, 5min with FL) and had a solid ride there, funny how my friend remarked that BS felt more intense than GK. Next went over to Valravn (1hr 45min wait, 5mins with FL) and this was my first ride on the coast, and I came away impressed at the first drop, but after that it just felt kind of meh. Guess i'm not as fan of newer B&M's. The ride is quite beautiful though. Walked back to Power Tower (20min wait, walk on with FL) and Dragster (1hr 30min wait, 15min with FL) and both still delivered. Took a couple bugs to the face on Dragster but that's part of its charm, right? Headed over to Melt for dinner...FANFUCKINGTASTIC! They had vegan options, I was floored...usually I'm stuck with fries all day at parks. Had a phenomenal portobella melt that was huge and only $13! Maybe the best park meal I've ever had. Took our time and had a couple drinks with dinner and it was now approaching 8pm. Decided to head towards the back of the park for the haunts and such. Hit up Gemini (30min wait, walk on with FL) on the way for a walk on, still a solid ride. Went back to ride the Mine Ride (30min wait, no FL option) just to see the "mystic" part...ummmm, it was a spider projection and music you couldn't even hear when riding through the "shed". Skyhawk (20min wait, walk on with FL) gave an amazing ride, seemed like an extra long cycle too! Checked out the scarezones, the lack of wind and warm temps def helped the fog stick. It was very difficult to see where you were going, however the packed midways really made it hard for any of the scare-actors to "get" anyone. The lines for most of the indoor haunts were now about +90mins so we decided to skip all of them. Took a lap on the train from the back station, the Halloween-ized lighting on the skeleton scenes actually looked great! Ended up hitting Maverick (2hrs, 10mins with FL) after and a night ride with the fog from the haunts made it one of the best rides I've ever had on it. Also, the warm evening temps def had the trains flying around that track! Started to make our way to the front of park for rides on Millennium Force (1hr 45min, 15mins with FL) and Iron Dragon (walk on, No FL). By this time it was now 11:55 and we decided to start heading out. Overall, had a REALLY fun time at the park, however, I don't think I'd ever attend a HW saturday without having FL+. Even with a FL+ we didn't have any time to do any of the indoor haunts or Cornstalkers. It's honestly not worth it, the crowds are unbearable and the lines for food are pretty crazy considering most of the employees seem to be of the volunteer type during this time of the year. Speaking of volunteers....can we have the Bluffton University Baseball team be the greeters at the coasters all year round?! Talk about eye candy...

Anyone know if you're able to reach the Fridays at Breakers if you're not staying at Breakers or going to the park that day. We're coming in tomorrow night and only going to the park Saturday but wanted to have a couple drinks at the restaurant tomorrow night.

Ugh... This looks to be a Christian rock concert. When I used to work at Darien Lake we had Kingdom Bound (3 day Christian concert) and it was the worst week of the year. We actually got called in early (lifeguards) to stand guard over the wave pool at 9am while they did baptisms. That water was so vile without the waves on to break up the clouds of hair/weaves/band-aids/hair gel...I felt disgusted watching them dip their heads in. The amount of teens busted for shoplifting and trying to hook up was crazy, security always dreaded that week. The best part was the park had to cover all the signage for Viper due to complaints from the event organizers about "serpents" in the park. They put a temporary sign out front and changed the name of the ride, it was ridiculous. Guess I'd rather just deal with the crowds on a busier Halloweekends night than deal with the Christian rock crowd.

Anyone ever been to CP the first weekend of Halloweekends? Thinking about going down there Saturday, btw did they always start Halloweekends this early or is it earlier this year? Really hoping for some manageable crowds this weekend.

Thanks for confirming what I thought. We're just gonna skip Cedar Point and do something in Cleveland on Saturday. I cant be bothered standing in 90+ min lines with sweaty people when its that hot outside.

Thanks for the heads up, read some reviews and they seen slightly seedy. Think we might just end up scratching CP all together. My friends don't want to pay $200 each for passes and FL+ just for one day. Haven't been to Cedar Point on an August Saturday in probably 10 years, is it even worth going to the park without FL+ during August?

Hotel costs around CP this year seem higher than in the past. Debating going to the park 8/12 after doing a concert in Cleveland on Friday but the cost of hotel plus admission and fast lane is pretty crazy. We were looking to stay 2 nights (Fri/Sat) and even the crappy 2 star hotels in the area are $120+ per night. If we stated at a CP property we'd be looking at close to $1000 total for 3 people including tickets/food. Think we might just stay closer to Cleveland, they have Hilton properties for $75-80/night and just bite the bullet on the commute to the park. Any recommendations on an area halfway between Cleveland and CP that has decent selection of restaurants/bars/hotels?