teacherkim

Rats. I was hoping it would be ready by the week of June 4. I have a free ticket from another source (not SF bff) and was hoping to take our friends that week when it would presumably be a little less crowded as the next week is bff for all passholders. If anyone gets news on its opening date, please, let us know!

Yeah, for my son that is the goal...so I will probably just get them and be done with it. We get the remnants sometimes here in St Louis too but usually only when they hit Texas. This one is hitting kind of far to the east to still get Chicago....waiting to see the track when it makes landfall. Maybe the "cone" will shift, lol.

Most of the high schools in the area are already on summer vacation, but a lot of the elementary schools are still in school this week in the surrounding suburbs. Chicago Public Schools are still in session. The crowds are usually not bad in May during the week, and mid-week is a good time to go. There is a chance of rain and thunderstorms Wednesday and Thursday this week, the much higher chance being on Wednesday. Regarding the flash pass, I never buy them at any park, so someone else might be able to address that better, but I would guess they would not be needed this week due to so many schools still being in session and the fact it is only May, and a short operating day. Some guests will also be at the waterpark. I know you would like to buy them ahead of time, but I would advise they just wait to see what crowds are like and buy them if needed at the park. I would also advise arriving before the park opens, because they could walk onto a lot of rides early in the day without a flash pass. If money is no object though, and it would ease your mind to buy them, then buy them. Yeah, who would have thought that they would have to worry about a tropical storm, in Chicago, in May. Go figure. They may just have to make a last minute decision about which day to go. We usually get fp if we are at a park out of town and only have a day, but no reason to throw money away either. They may just have to see what the crowds are like and make the decision at the park.

Ok, Chicago people, my Dad and Son will be up there next week and going to the park either Wed or Thurs. While I get that there is never an absolute; what are the crowds liable to be like next week? Are schools still in (kinda seems like they might be from the park hours)? Trying to decide if I should go ahead and just get them fastpasses since they will only have one day or wait because it is unlikely they will be needed. It's just a lot easier to do ahead of time since I would be paying!

Hmm...... Too bad about Typhoon Twister. Does anyone in the know have an idea of when it will likely open? Would think it would be a priority since it is the new ride for the year. Have friends with kids wanting to utilize our bff to go to the water park.

So I will give a quick summary in addition to the updates I posted while at the park. The Good: * Park had light attendance due to it being so early in the season and not great weather. Lines not bad and walk ons with FL * Service was very good. Ride ops were moving fast and staff in the hotel were bending over backwards. Waitress at Friday's gave us free chips and salsa in honor of being her first table of the season. It was a little thing but nice after a long car ride. *Due to our extra early entry and then some clear out when the rain hit we got on SV a couple of times (My son got 4 rides in) The Bad: *There was some staggering of ride open times. You could tell they are not fully staffed yet and just couldn't operate all the rides at once. But, hey it is very early in the season and with lighter than normal crowds; that is a pretty livable "bad" *Getting SV ert replace with MF ert due to the one train operations. Again, not the end of the world The Ugly: *The weather. Now I'm not blaming CP for this of course but holy crap it was cold this weekend. I literally felt like I had frostbite on my hands and face a few times. Rode Valravn in the rain and got face pelted by cold stinging raindrops. I'm guessing the windchill on the coasters was below freezing. We stopped for gas in Dayton, it was 84 and we had been using the air in the car. By the time we turned off of I-75 it was 50, drizzling, and we had the heat on. Same thing in reverse coming home today. This morning when we pulled out at 6:45 am it was 47 and pouring rain. Yikes. Out of 222 people at the ACE event only 20 made it to MF for the ert at 10 pm according to my son. Where were mom and dad...in the room with the heat cranked up. Happy birthday kid, I did it for you! *Better luck to those of you going in the next few weeks. Best of all: *We beat the Mayflies this time around. Two years ago when were there at the end of June, EVERYTHING, was covered in Mayflies. Couldn't walk to the car without crunching multitudes as you walked. Brushing dead Mayflies out of your hair is. totally. disgusting. Won't even talk about what happens when you dare open your mouth on a coaster. Gross. Anyway, I'm way too lazy to post pictures, sorry. But, happy to answer any questions on anything I might have forgotten about! Happy riding everyone!

Yep! No waits over 30 min today for the most part. And anyone using fastlane pretty much had a walk on. There was some staggering of rides due to what I assume were staffing issues. Some technical closures but I think they were mostly temporary. The temps dropped a bit in the afternoon and when it started to rain some, the park emptied out even more. Even SV dropped to about a 30-40 min wait. They never resorted to the boarding passes that I'm aware of. As mentioned SV did go down for a while. It was pretty frigid on most of the rides in the afternoon and evening and I'm sure that helped keep crowds light today as much as the rain forecast. Thankfully even though there was some rain, no lightning. It didn't appear any rides shut down due to weather. We were supposed to have an hour of ert on SV at closing but it was switched to MF due to anticipated long lines with the one train ops. My son is still in the park so he will let me know how that ended up working out. It was pretty damn cold when I rode it at 7:30

And the rain chance is down to 50% at around 2 pm

Quick update..... we were allowed in @8:45, hustled right back to SV, got on 2nd ride of the day..... It was pretty awesome (and that's the mom of the enthusiast talking) By the time we got off already a two hour wait and that was just the early entry people. Have not started handing out boarding passes yet.

Just walked down the boardwalk and Gatekeeper and Wicked Twister both going with riders. Saw TTD go and ALMOST have a rollback, could not tell if it was testing or had riders.

So we just checked into the Breakers about a half hour ago. Driving around the back side we could see trains cycling on everything except TTD, can't say for certain if they were all with riders or just testing on certain things, but most things were cycling. Couldn't see Iron Dragon. Lines looked long at SV of course and MF. That's the best I can report from the vantage point if the hotel and perimeter road. We are getting escorted in at 8:45 tomorrow, keep your fingers crossed its not a wash out. I'll report on the day when I can.

To call the FL upgrade only "marginally" more, isn't quite accurate, at least according to what that word means. And that's the reason I'll likely never get FL. If it were only a marginal extra cost, I could see myself using it on days where lines get longer. But at minimum, on its cheapest days, at nearly double the cost of admission, it's a HUGE extra cost, not a marginal one. Yes, again, if you were coming one time a year, from a great distance, during the busy season, for only one day I could see that being "worth it", and something you should budget for to get the best Cedar Point experience. But during a May weekday, trimming your wait on only a few of the most popular coasters, just 25 minutes, does seem like a "waste" to me, at least given my pauper's budget. So when I advise people, and they ask if it's worth it, I'm always going to say "no" during this time, assuming they are looking to save money where they can, and are willing to wait what I consider a reasonable amount of time, for only a few coasters, while saving no time on most of them. Again, that's my perspective, and you're certainly welcome to FL+ it to your heart's content. I'm just providing people with a different viewpoint, if they're more cost-conscious like me. EDITED: Because my intention was not to insult, offend, or upset anybody with my choice of language. And "marginally" is a totally subjective word. I have been to many parks, understand the cost of whatever fastpass they have and to me it is marginal when I factor in what I am already spending on hotel, transportation, etc, etc. Bottom line if it's worth it to you and you can afford; get them.....if not then don't. Totally personal decision. In fact I'm not sure why the "worth" is even a discussion because that has to be an individual decision.

Going then, I'd be surprised if you actually needed FL+ for the park... That's why typically it's a good idea to wait until getting to the park to see what the crowds are like. I just know when I go to CP (between mid-May and mid-June during the week), on most of the coasters, the FL+ is a complete waste for those who bought it. Basically, it'll help you get on SV, and Maverick faster, most likely. Too late now, but for future reference, especially when going during the week early in the season, and for multiple days, you probably don't need FL+ unless you absolutely abhor any waits at all. Complete waste as in everything will be station waste, or complete waste as in everything will be 10-20 minute waits or are we talking station waits?If he's like me, bypassing even 10 minute lines on the semi-good coasters and 20-30 minute waits on the really good coasters will be worth it. I guess it all depends on your preferences. As per CoasterBill's recommendations a couple years ago we got BGT's skip the line system to ride "Cheetah Hunt and the Log Flume whenever we damn well pleased," (almost exact words) despite everything else being near station waits. Our only regret was waiting a couple hours to do this and getting stuck in an hour long Cheetah Hunt queue, when we could have waited 5... (We would have left the line, but I wanted to prove the value of the pass to my wife so I made her suffer). I'm trying to gauge if it depends on what kind of experience you're looking for or if it will be a waste as in everything will be nearly walk-on. I also have a question for everyone as far as when we will know we won't be completely wasting our money when we go to Coaster Campout. We'd like FL+ both Saturday and Sunday, because we're spoiled rotten pricks. How can I get the best feel for if the pass will be necessary in the morning? I'd like to get the pass as soon as possible to take full advantage of it. I hope my question makes sense. When we were there two years ago which was Valravn opening year, on a Wed, in late June........several of the coasters had 30-45 min waits without FL. We were already in line for Valravn due to early entry and watching the masses running in to get in line was like a stampede. SV will be worse. Get the FL.

Will be there on Sat. Do my best to post a tr on Sunday evening when we get home. We do have an 8 hour drive so don't look for it before Sunday night.

I should be able to answer that question for you after Saturday, if no one gets to it before then. I'm anxious to hear how it goes. We'll be there the Saturday and Sunday after this coming weekend, for Coaster Campout. As far as the FL+ goes in general, if we can even bypass 10-20 minute lines on everything FL+ is worth it both days for us. Similar to KI where you ride whenever you damn well please. I just don't want everything to be a station wait and find out we screwed ourselves by getting FL+. Otherwise, we don't mind spending the money. Will give you a full report. I agree with you on FL+, we have been to many parks here and a couple in Europe and when you only have one day which is often the case we always get whatever "fastpass" that park offers. The last time we were at CP, we were there on a Wed in June and the FL+ was the only way the boy got on every coaster (Yes, every single one) in one day.

I should be able to answer that question for you after Saturday, if no one gets to it before then.

We tend to go to our home park on opening for entertainment due to all the mishaps and confusion as much as the rides. I remember the opening day that the power grid went out for just about the whole park and most of the rides stopped suddenly. They had to hand crank the people down from the ferris wheel....it was great. Maybe there is something wrong with us and I'm a bad mother

Yep! That's why we are going when there is ERT, more likely we will get on, even though it will be just the second weekend then. All the talk of the hype for a new coaster reminds me of 1976 when the Screaming Eagle opened at SFStl. It might be a classic cherished old woodie now but for a very brief time it was a world record holder and I can remember when it opened lines were 2-3 hours long, for a woodie, before any sort of social media. It was super hyped up on the local news at that time.

So, my son has been talking about SV all winter. This discussion has hyped him up even more, to the point that we are making the 8 hour drive from St Louis for a one day coaster con with ACE on May 12 for his birthday. That will be drive up on Friday, CP on Sat, and home on Sun......school isn't quite done for either one of us so we have no extra days to spare. There is going to be an after hours ert session on SV and hopefully it will be up and running although from the reports it seems it has been fairly reliable so far. He is still pissed about going to Dollywood with Grandpa and not making it onto LRod

LOL!! They just sent out the passholder announcements and had a feature on the Boss with a video. It's an old video that still shows the helix. Whoops. My son is ready to sue for false advertising.

That is almost verbatim what I said to my son when he was aghast that I liked reverse Freeze, not for the launch but for the view. He insists that the old forwards launch is best which is interesting since he has only ever ridden it in its current state having not been tall enough before. He has ridden several forward launches though to be fair.

They are predicting storms in the afternoon so ride your priorities first or they may get closed down due to lightning. Dave Murray just apologized for the weather on behalf of Mother Nature on the evening forecast.

That's one thing I've noticed about the couple of European parks I have been too. The landscaping/flowers are out of this world. But I'm into that and so I notice, I'm sure some people pay no attention to that whatsoever.

You know I really wasn't specifically looking for spic and span stuff. More observing ride ops and such. Nothing glared out at me one way or the other EXCEPT that the roof over the lower queue of Eagle is still in really bad shape, but that's been the case for years. I did notice they had planted some spring flowers that do ok in colder temps to get some color in the park before they can put in the more summer type stuff in early/mid May. So, that was a nice little touch.

So, we also were at the park on Friday. We kind of enjoy the first few opening weekends as much for the chaos as the rides. I say that in a totally loving way, not complaining, but it can be it's own form of entertainment Did see Boss testing. I will reserve judgement til I ride it, hard sell for me, I liked the helix! I did not ride Namtab but the boy did and I was surprised that his opinion was "meh", he thought it was kind of weird. Most rides were up and running if not right away by noon at least. Including Thunder River which with a windchill of about 47 I thought not even if you payed me, but there were people riding it, lol. Only non obvious ride closures for the day that I saw were Shazam and Boomerang. JL, had a couple wonky screens that went blurry but I will say that the ride ops were doing a really good job at utilizing the single rider line and filling up all the cars. Much better than in years past. Even though I love SFSL dearly as usual there were some not quite ready for first busy day incidents. Saw lines out the door at both JB's and the Primo's by Boss. We ate at the Go Fresh. Not sure what happened but they had some kind of medical emergency that slowed them down even more. First about 5 min or so after ordering an employee came out and told me that they had just run out of chicken and had to get more and it would be at least 10 min til our order was ready. Then I notice all sorts of commotion, frantic phone calls, security comes running, first aid team comes running.......next thing I notice is that the same employee who gave me the bad chicken news is being carted out in a wheelchair. He was conscious and I didn't see any noticeable injury. Previously, he was running around pretty frantically so guessing he passed out or maybe slipped and fell hard; however that is pure conjecture I really don't know what the nature of the injury/condition was. Of course, through no fault of their own, this put them even further behind. About 30 min to get a wrap and a chicken sandwich after the order was placed. I certainly hope the young man is alright but the point is that it appears the frantic nature of the employees being overwhelmed seemed to have contributed to the incident. I'm not blaming the employees they were working their butts off, but somehow they were not able to fulfill the orders in a timely manner. I'm guessing the same at the other venues since the lines were like FF lines without having anywhere near a FF crowd. I've seen this countless times during the first few weekends. Not sure if it is a lack of enough employees (kind of my initial impression), training, nerves as new people start new jobs (I'm guessing food service has the highest turnover), lack of supplies (they ran out of chips in the middle of all this) or some combination of all those factors. But, for whatever reason food service always seems to be particularly rough at the beginning of the year. The customers were being as patient as possible. particularly since many realized an emergency had occurred, but it was hard for many not to get impatient. Now, I have to tell you how I single-handedly killed Screaming Eagle yesterday. People before us slow to get out, I had to do the usual salmon going upstream push to get the drink bottles to the cubbies and so was the last one rushing back to get buckled in. Due to that I was really focused on the seat and noticed as I got in that there was a heavy metal bracket, about half an inch thick and about 2 x 4 inches with holes to be bolted onto something, laying loose on the floor in front of my seat. My first thought was, well that's going to flyout and hit someone in the face so I handed it to the ride attendant. Well needless to say they immediately shut the ride down and made everyone get off. Imagine a split second moment of everyone in the station (including my own son) staring at me accusingly as they closed the ride. I was persona non grata but of course it was the right thing to do. And the ride ops thanked me profusely for bringing it to their attention. They let us stand on the stairs at first thinking they could get us all back on quickly but the maintenance people decided it was supposed to be holding something under the seat on and I think that was it for Eagle for awhile. It was about 3:30 and we left shortly after that so not sure if it reopened or not. My opinion after attending many many early season days is that the rides ops were doing a great job! My son said that even the split situation at Batman was pretty smooth. And there were lines at a lot of rides that don't normally have them, like Mine Train. I think being the first nice day in the whole month of March and no school for most had a lot of parents bringing out the smaller kids. Looneytoons was pretty busy. But they do need more workers or smoother protocol or something at food service. Yes, it was a good sized crowd but no more than any moderate summer day and they were just completely overwhelmed and having difficulty servicing the crowds. Again, all the employees I saw at food service were working hard, they just seemed "frantic". Thankfully, no power outages that I am aware of which has happened more than once in the past!