coasterbill Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 I may be in the minority here, but those motels near the park are beyond creepy. I am surprised a larger chain hotel has not been built (Hilton for example), likely due to the seasonal nature of the area. Breakers Express was nice though when we stayed overnight when working at the park. I would never stay at any of the budget motels myself though... Yes, it is just a place to sleep... But I want it to be VERY clean and know there are standards being followed in terms of cleanliness. I would gladly pay more for that comfort. Curious how Breakers will look after the renovations... We may have to check it out next year when it is complete on a weekend when we are there. I only live an hour away though, so staying over is never really required. But it could be nice on a weekend. I think my opinion differs from a lot of people's but I prefer staying off point at a cheaper hotel. Regarding your post, I guess it depends on your definition of a budget motel. Generally if I'm staying at a cheap hotel (which I do frequently) I only stay at a chain as I feel like they have some standards they need to meet (albeit minimal) to be able to remain part of the franchise. I also read reviews on multiple websites before booking a hotel as 2 hotels with the same name can differ greatly. Generally my thought about hotels is that if I'm not going to be spending any time there, then I don't care about anything as long as the hotel is clean, quiet and safe. All I need is a place to sleep because I'm going to leave when I wake up and not get back until I'm ready to take a quick shower and immediately go to sleep. If I were going to the beach or something then I would want a much nicer hotel because I'll be spending a lot of time in the room. I absolutely understand the benefits of staying at Cedar Point but for us it's not worth the cost. We'll be at the park from 9am to about 11pm on a standard day (assuming we get in line for something like Millennium Force right before closing like we always do), so the amenities offered by the Cedar Point hotels don't matter (unless you don't have a platinum pass and want the early entry). We won't be spending any time at the pool, the hot tub or looking at the lake because it's going to be dark. The only benefit is the location but I don't think a 20 minute drive will kill anyone. Hotel rates vary greatly across the country and we found the area around Cedar Point to be ridiculously cheap. You can get a pretty decent hotel room for less than $50 per night. When we were there we stayed at the Super 8 near the Ohio Turnpike (yeah I know, but not all Super 8's are created equal, this one is pretty nice) on Labor Day weekend for 4 nights for less than $200 and it was great. We do pretty well, but we are on a fixed income... and with the money we saved on the hotel we could spend it on Fast Lane Plus instead. I'd consider that a much better use of the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoppy Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 (edited) $40 Maples Motel, minutes from CP is what I've always recommended. The only problem is the damn train... Edit - Sure, the motel option is 1 bed/older amenities. Red Roof/Breakers Express have worked well depending again on your budget and how many folks are in your party. Edited May 14, 2014 by Hoppy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alilstronger Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 I may be in the minority here, but those motels near the park are beyond creepy. I am surprised a larger chain hotel has not been built (Hilton for example), likely due to the seasonal nature of the area. Breakers Express was nice though when we stayed overnight when working at the park. I would never stay at any of the budget motels myself though... Yes, it is just a place to sleep... But I want it to be VERY clean and know there are standards being followed in terms of cleanliness. I would gladly pay more for that comfort. Curious how Breakers will look after the renovations... We may have to check it out next year when it is complete on a weekend when we are there. I only live an hour away though, so staying over is never really required. But it could be nice on a weekend. I think my opinion differs from a lot of people's but I prefer staying off point at a cheaper hotel. Regarding your post, I guess it depends on your definition of a budget motel. Generally if I'm staying at a cheap hotel (which I do frequently) I only stay at a chain as I feel like they have some standards they need to meet (albeit minimal) to be able to remain part of the franchise. I also read reviews on multiple websites before booking a hotel as 2 hotels with the same name can differ greatly. Generally my thought about hotels is that if I'm not going to be spending any time there, then I don't care about anything as long as the hotel is clean, quiet and safe. All I need is a place to sleep because I'm going to leave when I wake up and not get back until I'm ready to take a quick shower and immediately go to sleep. If I were going to the beach or something then I would want a much nicer hotel because I'll be spending a lot of time in the room. I absolutely understand the benefits of staying at Cedar Point but for us it's not worth the cost. We'll be at the park from 9am to about 11pm on a standard day (assuming we get in line for something like Millennium Force right before closing like we always do), so the amenities offered by the Cedar Point hotels don't matter (unless you don't have a platinum pass and want the early entry). We won't be spending any time at the pool, the hot tub or looking at the lake because it's going to be dark. The only benefit is the location but I don't think a 20 minute drive will kill anyone. Hotel rates vary greatly across the country and we found the area around Cedar Point to be ridiculously cheap. You can get a pretty decent hotel room for less than $50 per night. When we were there we stayed at the Super 8 near the Ohio Turnpike (yeah I know, but not all Super 8's are created equal, this one is pretty nice) on Labor Day weekend for 4 nights for less than $200 and it was great. We do pretty well, but we are on a fixed income... and with the money we saved on the hotel we could spend it on Fast Lane Plus instead. I'd consider that a much better use of the money. I could not agree with you more. I look for the cheapest with decent reviews. I only need a clean and safe place. I do not need a pool, closed in walk ways, gym, free food, etc. I'm literally only sleeping and showering at hotels when I go on a park trip so I need to spend as little as possible on a room. I stayed at the Mecca Motel which is so close to Cedar Point but so much cheaper. Is is falling a part? Yes. It is EXTREMELY dated? Yes. Was it a little scary? Just a tad. Was it clean? For the most part. Was the advertised mini golf grown over? Yes. Was the advertised pool there? No. However, once I saw several others families staying there I was relieved. And over all I will gladly stay there again. The staff was friendly to me and I only paid $50 a night!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Password121 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Last summer I stayed at Breakers Express and paid between $100 and $120 for four of us. I think as one time visitors it was worth it, given ticket discounts and early entry. There's a chance we'll be returning this summer and staying at Breakers Express again for the same reasons, possibly adding a discounted starlight ticket for the night before. I'll be sure to run the numbers to see if the perks are worth the extra cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 $40 Maples Motel, minutes from CP is what I've always recommended. The only problem is the damn train... Being that the train runs parallel to Rye Beach Rd and all of the hotels near the park, there is no escaping the demon train!!!! I'm not sure what the motel name was that we stayed in. But, it was the one right across the road from the big CP entrance sign. The lobby has a microwave, and you have to turn a dial to the certain time. That would probably be the Quality Inn with the Rain water park, bowling alley and Thirsty Pony restaurant? I liked the Thirsty Pony to go in and have a couple of beers and grab some decent pub food, but the hotel room with the coaster paintings (they also offered free water stains on the bathroom ceiling, stains on carpeting, ashtray smell and fire ants at no extra charge!), the indoor water park (you have to see it to believe it) and the breakfast (crowded room with about five tables with the worst breakfast food I have ever seen/tasted). I would easily pick the Motel 6 with the lime green walls and faux wood floor over the Quality Inn anyday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyRCT3 Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Anyone know if the Breakers room refurbishments are complete? Seeing some photos on here looked like they were still working on the exterior, but I was wondering if all of the internal remodeling was finished? I was wondering if we will be getting one of the refurbished rooms or one of the circa 1950 style rooms. The exterior work will/was done during the 2013/2014 off-season. The interior work will be in the 2014/2015 off-season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRice92 Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 Hey Everybody, After realizing how few pictures I took on opening day I'm just gonna do a mini TR in the Cedar Point Thread. Opening day this year was a blast! First I want to thank anyone who's posted in the Cedar Point thread in the past few months suggesting to start in the back of the park and work your way up. That REALLY helped out getting in all the rides without Fast Lane. The weather was excellent, way better than last year's opening day. And this trip was my very first time experiencing the joys of being a single rider! I was nervous heading to the park in fear that I would get bored without someone going with me but it turned out to be the exact opposite, I met and talked to a lot of people and there was nobody to slow me down from riding coasters all day. Operations were really good for opening day, the Maverick crew especially. They were running the ride at full capacity first thing in the morning, and the Gatekeeper crew was really solid too. And for Gatekeeper, I don't know what happened over the off season but somehow the ride went from just "ok" to pretty awesome I easily had my best ever ride on Gatekeeper on opening day, bumped it up to my #5 coaster at the park! I think this is pretty impressive ride count for a day without Fast Lane and two hours wasted in the dragster line due to multiple roll backs and a breakdown. SCORECARD: Maverick Millennium Force Mantis Magnum XL-200 Iron Dragon -Lunch- Magnum XL-200 Top Thrill Dragster (Finally working again) Millennium Force Raptor Gatekeeper Blue Streak Raptor Corkscrew Gemini Mean Streak (And it's still horrible) Maverick Maverick Maverick Up bright and early at the front gates by 8:30 to get early entry at 9! *I may not have looked happy in this picture but I was actually really pumped. First ride of the day! My all time #1 steel coaster! 2nd up of the day was good ol' Millennium Force! I was lucky to snap this, maintenance was on this when the ride was actually moving down the tower when I took this, not in a free fall of course but I wouldn't be able to do that not strapped into the seats. After blowing two hours in the Dragster line between 6 roll backs and a minor break down, I get this close to the front seat then Dragster broke down for an extended period of time, I decided to ride it later in the day. I'm sending this off with a picture of Millennium at night, some of the best lighting on a coaster! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrlandoGuy Posted May 16, 2014 Share Posted May 16, 2014 ^great little TR, thanks for sharing! Sounds like a fun day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superbatboy Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 Going to CP today looks like rain though, anyone know CP's rain policies? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDipper 80 Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 ^It's terrible. Just about everything will close with a drizzle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcjp Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 ^I think at least the B&Ms will keep running if it's just a drizzle. Well, that's what happened in one of the days I went there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 Going to CP today looks like rain though, anyone know CP's rain policies? Shhhh, be careful not to talk like that when you get closer to the park. Iron Dragon's rain policy is to close the ride immediately if anyone in the state of Ohio mentions the word "rain". The same goes for Dragster. (In all serious though Cedar Point does have the worst rain policy of any park I've ever been to... but the good news is the rides do re-open quickly once the rain stops and it's a good excuse to go for a walk down frontier trail, check out the great arcade on the main midway or eat crab fries). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDipper 80 Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 ^I think at least the B&Ms will keep running if it's just a drizzle. Well, that's what happened in one of the days I went there. I used to work at Mantis and we would stay up in a light rain, but if there was any remote chance of lightning we would close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPSFMMCW Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 Thats funny that they have that policy cuz at KD when its raining hard i305 will stay open. Man...it hurts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LazyFriday Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 (edited) I actually went to Cedar Point on a Halloweekend Friday and there was a steady rain all night. The only ride that was down was Dragster. Everything else stayed open until it started raining extremely hard. So the rain policy doesn't seem consistent. BTW Millennium hurts in the rain. Edited May 17, 2014 by LazyFriday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koasterking48 Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 I actually went to Cedar Point on a Halloweekend Friday and there was a steady rain all night. The only ride that was down was Dragster. Everything else stayed open until it started raining extremely hard. So the rain policy doesn't seen consistent. BTW Millennium hurts in the rain. I have also ridden Maverick and Millennium in fairly steady rain. Yet, I have also been to the park on another day when Force (and probably Maverick too) was closed in a drizzle. The policy enforcement seems very inconsistent indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirkFunk Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 The last couple years, winds where gusts might hit the 20-25MPH mark alone were often enough to close most of the park's coasters. I remember last year during opening weekend that Wicked Twister was closed due to high winds until, I assume, someone realized that the purpose of the ride is to roll back/valley every time. Coasters used to run in rain - again, over the last couple years, that has seemed to change to the suggestion of rain bringing all the coasters to a screeching halt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasternut Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 ^ What happened a few years ago was a very slow speed collision on Magnum in the station. It was raining then, and that was the scape goat for it. Since then STUPID weather policy! This slow speed collision at the station had to be operator error, but the rain was blamed since it wet the brakes... I guess all the years / decades Magnum has been running the brakes never got wet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithPlus1 Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 Why does Snoop Dogg carry an umbrella? For drizzle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GigaG Posted May 17, 2014 Share Posted May 17, 2014 Not long ago, near closing time, I went on Magnum XL-200. It wasn't raining, but there was a lightning storm freakishly nearby. Maverick ride night that night ended up being cancelled for it. The ride was running with no trims, and with lightning striking around the peninsula, my friend described the incident as "feeling like a train to death." BTW, how could operator error cause the Magnum collision? Does Magnum manually release from the final brakes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raptor6 Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 I'll be going to Cedar Point on Wednesday and I was wondering if there's somewhere I can get an inexpensive ticket. So far our awesome TPR discount can get me 13.99 off and reduce the price to 46 dollars, can anywhere else get me a better deal? I know you can get a really discounted Kings Island coupon from Kroger stores in the area. Meijer sells 1-Day tickets for $49.99 and 2-Day tickets for $87.99. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yamez Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 BTW, how could operator error cause the Magnum collision? Does Magnum manually release from the final brakes? It used to, yes. This year when they gave Magnum a new control booth they eliminated the manual controls though, now the operator booth only dispatches the trains, locks and unlocks restraints, and opens the gates. The brakes at the end of the ride near the tunnel used to be manually operated as well, there was a switch we had to pull to release the train whenever they were stopped there, this was known as 'setting up'. It was one of the most irritating things about the ride because we'd have to call the ride down for however long it took (usually about 20 seconds) for someone to run down there and release the train. Its all done automatically now though, which might contribute to slower dispatch times as there isn't as much urgency for the crew to get the trains out as quickly as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyRCT3 Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 I know it's just Wikipedia, but Wicked Twister is stated to pull 2.1 Gs. Having ridden in the back many times I find this figure a bit of an understatement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewRnR Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 It used to, yes. This year when they gave Magnum a new control booth they eliminated the manual controls though, now the operator booth only dispatches the trains, locks and unlocks restraints, and opens the gates. The brakes at the end of the ride near the tunnel used to be manually operated as well, there was a switch we had to pull to release the train whenever they were stopped there, this was known as 'setting up'. It was one of the most irritating things about the ride because we'd have to call the ride down for however long it took (usually about 20 seconds) for someone to run down there and release the train. But it wasn't operator error - the train should've set up on the tunnel brakes but it didn't. The brakes at the end of the tunnel failed and caused the train to slip through hitting the train in the brake run. The operator couldn't have done anything. Arrow brakes are(were? haven't looked recently if they have switched) some of the few that are spring-open, pressure close. If there is a leak in the pressure hose, which I heard could've been the case, the pressure wasn't fully applied and the train slipped through (probably didn't help it was raining). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillrider Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 I thought the brakes are in a natural closed position? Meaning it would take air pressure to open them and allow the train to pass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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