gp1086

If it's true that path between KK and El Toro is open that is incredible news. I remember it being so convenient when i had a season pass back around 2009 and never fully understood why they closed it

Just finished two days in the park. A few thoughts: - Steel Vengeance is awesome! Yesterday I ran with the crowd and got on the first train of the day. Today I ran a similar pace and waited a few rides for the front row. So worth it! Even better in first row. Really a wild and smooth ride! I agree with the advice given to me, start at the Magnum entrance and be ready to run at the end of the national anthem. It’s a little more than 1/4 mile, so pace yourself, but I recommend getting there as quick as possible since the line becomes 2 hours fast. - Assuming you like these rides, I think the best route if you get in at 9 am opening and don’t care about front row Steel Vengeance is to do - SV, Maverick, MF, and Valvryn. I did these all before 10 am yesterday and then went right over to Top Thrill Dragster for opening and beat that line. You have to hustle a bit, but worth it if you want to get a lot of big stuff done quickly. - Food lines were long and slow. A lot of places weren’t open and / or were understaffed (all the staff there was great I will say!). Would note that the available options for healthy food and ice cream were limited (yes I recognize those are contradictory foods). - Wow. So many bugs. I didnt remember that being the case the last time I visited in 2010. Maybe it’s just the time of year...?

What can I expect at 9 am entry tomorrow? Is it like a stampede of people that are sprinting to Steel Vengeance? Do I need to be there at 8:30 to get a better spot for gate opening? Saw someone reference going into the park at 9 am sharp and still needing to wait an hour today

Any thoughts on why Top Thrill Dragster is closed today? Around 80 and sunny with very light winds. Would think this would be ideal conditions.

Saw someone asked about maxAIR. I’m not in the park today (on the outskirts) but definitely saw it running before at least 20 times. Couldn’t tell if there were people riding though.

Sandusky restaurant: We like Brick Oven Bistro as someone else has mentioned. Also Famous Dave's on the point at the marina is a good option and there is an entrance into/out of the park under Valravn. Side entrance: The resort entrance (G6 on the map) comes in right by Magnum's station. It's good if you are in the north end of Breakers and/or your early entry target is towards the back (ie Steel Vengeance). There is also the beach entrance (H11 on the map) which can be a good option if you are in the south end of the resort and/or your early entrance target is towards the south end of the park (ie. Gatekeeper or Valravn). Map: https://cdn-cloudfront.cfauthx.com/binaries/content/assets/cp-en-us/general-information/explore/2018-park-map.jpg Water rides: Not 100% on water rides but I would assume they are open from this weekend given the weather is definitely warming up. Perhaps someone else knows. I actually haven't ridden any of them in all my visits as it always seems to be too cold and my daughter seems to have a distaste for them....maybe this year though. Thank you! I think it definitely makes sense to use the resort entrance to beat most of the crowd to Steel Vengeance. Hopefully I can get a couple rides in there and on Maverick before things start getting to crazy at the park. Appreciate the restaurant recommendation too on Brick Oven Bistro. Haven't been in eight years and pretty pumped to check out Steel Vengeance, Valravyn, GateKeeper, and Rougarou for the first time (rode it as Mantis). Also remember loving Skyhawk as a flat.

Thanks, KPFan and Thrillrider!

Sorry to be slightly off topic on 1st question: Favorite restaurants around Sandusky? I'm already planning to head to Bay Harbor for dinner one night. Is there any type of side entrance to enter / leave the park during the middle of the day from Breakers Hotel, or need to go through the front? Assume water rides will be open throughout the park after Memorial Day given that the waterpark is open?

Great feedback and that tool is great!

Just booked a trip for next week and am pretty pumped. Some quick questions: (1) Assume Tuesday / Wednesday (5/29 and 5/30) will be significantly less crowded than Monday, Memorial Day (5/28)? I've got 2 days of passes to use. (2) Best strategy for hour early entry to the park? Steel Vengeance, Maverick, and then Millennium Force? (3) On the one day I don't go to Cedar Point, any suggestions for a day trip? Was thinking Cuyahoga Valley National Park would be cool to check out for some hiking / bike rides, but open to ideas. Maybe Put-in-Bay?

Sorry for another “how will the crowds be?” question, but thoughts on the Tuesday / Wednesday after Memorial Day? Are all the rides, food, shops open at this point?

Hi all. Thinking about going mid-week June around 6-19 to 6-21. How are the crowds around this time?

Thanks for all the awesome feedback everyone! Likely would be driving from King's Island area at this point, so would prefer to be South of Michigan's Adventure if feasible, so I could make it in ~5-6 hours or less from Ohio .

Very helpful advice grsupercity and Intaminlove. Thank you both! Trying to figure a park to pair with MA and Lake Michigan. Was looking at Kings Island and SFGAm. Any other suggestions? Know Cedar Point is a great option of course but been there a couple times already

Slightly off topic, but thinking of mixing a June trip to MA with a weekend getaway to one of the beaches along Lake Michigan (never been before). Looking for somewhere within 75 min drive from the park with great beaches and a fun town for good restaurants / ice cream shops. Decent proximity to Grand Rapids airport is a plus too. Any suggestions? Was looking at Saugatuck.

Thanks for all the feedback on my midwest trip! Another option I'm currently considering is Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and Water Country USA. Flights to Richmond and Roanoke look cheap for me. Seems like Water Country USA gets solid reviews for waterparks and could potentially fit a beach day. Thoughts?

Any suggestions for a USA Midwest 5 day trip I'm trying to put together? - Ideally would be two theme parks and one waterpark, so interested in a theme park that has a good waterpark nearby - Would be great if could drive from one park to another in under 5 hours, but open to quick flight if easy - Count out Holiday World and Six Flags St. Louis, which I've been to (I love Holiday World, but just want to try something new). Also trying not to do Cedar Point, as I've been before, but it's been a while and it's amazing, so could be open to it. Ideally would love to do Kings Island and Silver Dollar City (along with one of the waterparks, but logistically seems tough to fit in 5 days, even flying between the two is tough). Possibilities I'm considering include: - Silver Dollar City and World's of Fun (for waterpark, not sure if WhiteWater at SDC or Schlitterbahn KC is better) - Kings Island and Kentucky Kingdom or Cedar Point - Kings Island and Great America - Great America and Valleyfair Thoughts?

Visiting the Bay Area and was surprised to see no weekday operating hours for Discovery Kingdom despite the weather being in the high 50s/low 60s this time of year. Has it always been like this? Guess there’s always next time.

Made my first visit of the year yesterday (Saturday, 10/22). Arrived around 12:30 and started riding around 1:30 after standing in security line, buying season pass, getting flash pass, and finding locker. Left the park around 10:30 and was able to ride/ do the following (each 1x): - El Toro - Nitro - Kingda Ka - Zumanjaro - The Joker - Justice League - The Dark Knight - Superman - Safari Adventure - Skull Mountain - The Manor (maze) - Total Darkness (maze) Would have been able to do Kingda Ka another time and Green Lantern if both hadn't closed at the end of the night. Some notes / comments: - The platinum flash pass was well worth it. The park was very crowded during the day and insanely crowded after 6:00 p.m.. Flash pass waiting times at night were all anywhere from 6 minutes to 15 minutes, implying hour to two-and-a-half hour waits for everything. - El Toro and Kingda Ka remain my favorite rides. - In terms of mazes - Total Darkness was ok, The Manor was meh. Thought about doing another one (Wicked Woods), but line was crazy long. Waited about an hour for Total Darkness - wasn't worth it. If you're going to get maze tickets, would get them at the stand near Justice League - barely had to wait. - Ride ops were generally pretty good and fast. Definitely room for improvement to implement single riders, groups of two, etc. where there are empty seats. There's of course always a balance of just getting the train out vs. filling riders. - Food lines were very slow and disappointing pretty much all day / night. - Not sure why, but there was a huge line outside the "Ride Information Center"...? - Noticed that several of the photo stations outside rides (for on ride photos) were either closed or not working. Wonder if they haven't been selling as much lately. - Not sure how often / when it makes sense to get the multiple locker option ($8 for two hours at multiple locations vs. $1 for two hours at one location). Don't think you'd ever be able to justify enough rides in two hours to pay for the multiple

I think I really need to reconsider hitting Great Adventure tomorrow and coming here. Feel like the extra 20 minutes each way in the car will easily be saved in reduced time to wait for rides, mazes, and food.

If I'm planning to visit the park with a friend in one of the upcoming Saturdays, is there any reason not to get the 2018 Gold Season Pass for us two vs. just a daily regular ticket? Both seem to be roughly the same price, given the SP sale, around $70-75, but the season pass includes parking as well for 2017 and 2018 and other benefits like Hurricane Harbor access. Recall years back that I had to wait in a long line for processing after I got into the park. Is that still a thing or have they improved the operation? Also, how long are lines for mazes usually? Was going to pick up a regular maze combo wristband, but wondering if the skip the line premium is worth if will likely just want to do a few.

Thinking of going to Fright Fest weekend of 10/21-10/22. Have been on this weekend around 4 years ago and seen crowds beyond what I thought was imaginable. Safe to figure nothing has changed and worth it to get a platinum flash pass if I want to do the main rides? Also - any other suggestions for Halloween theme parks in the general NJ / NY / CT / Eastern PA area (e.g. Dorney, Lake Compounce), or is SFGA the best?

Great report and photos! Despite the reservation system, I can't help but be discouraged with the super long wait times. Recognize some of that is a byproduct of a busy holiday weekend and attendants still working to maximize efficiency.

New path? I assume it's not that super convenient one that used to connect Kingda Ka and El Toro?

Awesome photo!