Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread

[prozach626]

The fast lane problem is one of the reasons I really want to like Cedar Point, but would almost always rather go elsewhere. If you have an hour wait for Fast Lane, it's time to jack up the price. Hell, I'd pay double just to have the typical Fast Lane Plus waits that you do in large sister parks like Kings Island, Kings Dominion, and Carowinds. I don't mind visiting less parks per year, just to pay a lot more money for an enhanced experience. Paying $150 for even a half hour wait vs. an hour plus wait does not strike me as a bargain. Jack up the prices. Lower the wait. Supply/Demand the shit out of it.

 

When we went to Kings Island's haunt a week ago, we had zero wait for Mystic Timbers, a 2 minute wait for Diamondback, zero wait for Banshee, and at most a ten minute wait for Beast, on one occasion. It was $90 so well worth it, while typical waits were anywhere between 45 minutes to over an hour on all of the large coasters. This allowed us so much time to hang around the park, drink a few beers, and really enjoy ourselves.

 

As far as eating in parks, we rarely do it. I don't understand why people consistently have experiences ranging from an hour or two to get completely mediocre food sold at high prices, when it takes just as much time to leave the park, go to a decent nearby restaurant, and come back. This is why we continue to pack our lunch in a cooler and leave for dinner.

 

With Cedar Point, you have to really plan your visits around peak operations and lowest attendance (see coasterbill's advice). Your other option is to take a bunch of money, shove it up your ass, and still wait in lengthy lines. Emily had the suggestion of visiting CP's haunt next year to ride Steel Vengeance, but after consistently reading terrible reviews, there's no way you could pay me to make the trip.We'll gladly re visit KI or Carowinds to get the most bang for our buck.

[coasterbill]

Oh god, I just checked the posted wait times from the app on Saturday. I know these have a margin of error but good lord.

 

180 minutes for Maverick in late afternoon, 105 minutes for a non racing Gemini, 150 minutes for Valravn basically all day and 210 minutes for Raptor all afternoon. Can anyone confirm if Raptor's line ever seriously reached 3 1/2 hours?

 

Millennium Force was at an (almost reasonable by comparison) 120 minutes all day, Power Tower was closed all weekend (probably for staffing) except for 30 minutes after 11 PM on Saturday where it managed to build up a 40 minute line, even Pipe Scream was at 45 minutes basically all day Saturday... Jesus.

 

It's hard not to feel like they should consider a hard ticket event where they can raise prices dramatically and exclude passholders. At the very least I wish they would jack up Fastlane prices.

[thrillrider]

 

As far as eating in parks, we rarely do it. I don't understand why people consistently have experiences ranging from an hour or two to get completely mediocre food sold at high prices, when it takes just as much time to leave the park, go to a decent nearby restaurant, and come back. This is why we continue to pack our lunch in a cooler and leave for dinner.

 

At some parks we do this, however the crowds were insane and people were parking on the grass. We got into the park before opening and the rest of our family, so had princess parking. Besides that, the line at the tolls to get into the park were backed up all day. So leaving would have been an even bigger hassle, not to mention time consuming. Plus, we have the season dinning plan.

[thrillrider]

Coasterbill...

That's seems a little light on the wait times, but they were at least that. Put it this way...mine rides que line was full. Corckscrew had an hour wait.

[WolfBobs]

Don't forget the $150 price is the non-discounted price. Platinum pass holders can purchase a Fastlane Plus at the regular Fastlane price.

 

Not only would raising the price be a possible solution but also removing the discount perk during Halloweekends.

 

I like the idea of removing Halloweekends from the regular pass and keeping it a Platinum pass only perk. And then maybe as other suggested only valid on Fridays and Sundays.

 

Regardless of how they attempt to control crowds the bigger issue is available staffing for the park, which just nose dives after Labor Day. When I worked for CF we had the season long bonus program. $1/hr for every hour worked paid out when/if you completed your contract. This has been stopped, giving employees no incentive to stay till the end. My bonuses used to be over $2000 when I was a supervisor at GL. Not bad for a summer job. This really motivated me to come back every weekend even though I was going to school in Toledo. I believe reinstating this program could also help with staffing. Every paycheck tracked your bonus so you knew weekly what you were giving up if you quit early.

[prozach626]

:.

 

180 minutes for Maverick in late afternoon, 105 minutes for a non racing Gemini, 150 minutes for Valravn basically all day and 210 minutes for Raptor all afternoon. Can anyone confirm if Raptor's line ever seriously reached 3 1/2 hours?

I just don't understand how that could be fun for anyone, coaster fan or not.

 

 

As far as eating in parks, we rarely do it. I don't understand why people consistently have experiences ranging from an hour or two to get completely mediocre food sold at high prices, when it takes just as much time to leave the park, go to a decent nearby restaurant, and come back. This is why we continue to pack our lunch in a cooler and leave for dinner.

 

At some parks we do this, however the crowds were insane and people were parking on the grass. We got into the park before opening and the rest of our family, so had princess parking. Besides that, the line at the tolls to get into the park were backed up all day. So leaving would have been an even bigger hassle, not to mention time consuming. Plus, we have the season dinning plan.

 

Yeah, I meant to make mention that eating outside of the park didn't really seem like an option in your case. During haunt events we still eat outside of the park, but we make sure to leave for an early dinner around 4, so that we can get back before the rush. However, that didn't even seem to be an option during your visit. Sorry to hear you had such a shitty time.

[WolfBobs]

Can anyone confirm if Raptor's line ever seriously reached 3 1/2 hours?

 

While I wasn't there personally if the queue was full (which it was the previous Saturday 10/7 I was in attendance for) then yes it can be a 3 hour wait, even with 3 trains running. While I don't ever bother with waits that long now, when I was a teen back in the late 90's and early 2000's a remember waiting through that full queue and it would be 3-4 hours.

[prozach626]

^I'd be done with this hobby and never look back if that were the norm.

 

 

Apparently, Cedar Point still hasn't found the 'breaking point' for FastLane Plus prices on busy HalloWeekend Saturdays if that many people were willing to part with the $150. Maybe they need to raise the price to $250 and see what happens.

I'd actually be fine with $250 during normal operating days and $300 for weekends, and $350 for HalloWeekends with a couple stipulations: #1) They actually limit the passes. #2) Max waiting time should be 10-15 minutes. The premium that people pay to stay at the resort already shows that people are willing to shell out money for a certain kind of Cedar Point Experience. If I recall correctly, our completely modest room was somewhere between $300-400 per night. I've stayed at a few damned nice resorts for those prices, and I'm not talking about places that would have a Perkins in the lobby. However, we were willing to pay for the full CP experience, as many others were.

[Running_Buddy]

First time I visited Cedar Point was 1996, and Raptor's wait was 2 hours. Mantis on the other hand...oh boy...it was opening year for that beast. The wait was LONG!

 

Since people are discussing insane wait times, I'm curious as to the longest reported wait time you've seen/heard for a ride at Cedar Point?

[Hilltopper39]

I know Dragster had some insane lines in it's opening year, with breakdowns and stuff I remember lines easily being 4 and 5 hours.

 

The first time I got a ride on it it was closed all day then reopened maybe 1 to 1.5 hours before park closing was scheduled. People were had been queing all day while it was closed waiting for it to open so the que filled immediately when they opened it. I got off it at like 1 am and there had to be atleast another 1.5-2 hours of people in the que.

[Jason Maier]

I know Dragster had some insane lines in it's opening year, with breakdowns and stuff I remember lines easily being 4 and 5 hours.

 

The first time I got a ride on it it was closed all day then reopened maybe 1 to 1.5 hours before park closing was scheduled. People were had been queing all day while it was closed waiting for it to open so the que filled immediately when they opened it. I got off it at like 1 am and there had to be atleast another 1.5-2 hours of people in the que.

 

That must have been something . . . . a late night ride on TTD.

[tuxedomask5432]

I know Dragster had some insane lines in it's opening year, with breakdowns and stuff I remember lines easily being 4 and 5 hours.

 

The first time I got a ride on it it was closed all day then reopened maybe 1 to 1.5 hours before park closing was scheduled. People were had been queing all day while it was closed waiting for it to open so the que filled immediately when they opened it. I got off it at like 1 am and there had to be atleast another 1.5-2 hours of people in the que.

 

That must have been something . . . . a late night ride on TTD.

 

I waited in line 2.5 hours for Maverick, as well as Millennium Force during Maverick's Opening Summer. Pretty Much all of the big name rides were posting 2 - 3 hour waits all day.

 

I also got in line for Maverick right as the park was closing, so we were one of the last trains out of the station that night, and probably left the park around 1 AM. Maverick is amazing at night

[DILinator]

^^ I understand this, but I still avoid the park like the plague before Memorial Day and after Labor Day.

 

I totally get after Labor Day, and also maybe the first week or so of the season. But honestly, as somebody who attends CP virtually ONLY during the month of May, I have experienced very little in the way of poor operations most of the month, outside of Opening Day, and maybe that first week. Generally, it's an awesome time to go to the park, and I HIGHLY recommend it!

 

I hate to do this, because I typically try to be positive but....

 

RANT TIME!

 

So this weekend(Saturday)

 

9. At this point everyone was just frustrated and in a pissy mood. They spent over $1,500 on fast lanes and tickets, and got onto 6 rides all day. At this point they just wanted to leave. So on the way out, they stopped by guest services to complain about the experience. Needless to say, it fell of def ears. Guest services told them that fast lane is only ment to decrease your wait time.

 

To finish up this lengthy rant, here are a few things .

First...it seems like cedar fair is just interested more in a money grab than guest experience. In no way should they have sold that many fast lanes. If you pay $150 per person, your wait should not be an hour still. Not to mention that they failed to mention that so many rides were not operating and the price was still the same. They had no problem taking our money though.

Second...if your going to be that short staffed, you need to distribute your employees a little better. People gotta eat and drink. It was a total mess. Weird thing is that on sunday, most of the places that were closed on Saturday were open.

 

After speaking with the family and feeling embarrassment for recommending they go check out halloweekends, they really do not have a desire to return to the park. For the amount they spent for cedarpoint, they could have done Disney with free fast lane, and still had saved a bunch of money.

 

The park should be embarrassed. This was more than just the big crowds...this was operational, and could have been prevented if not for so much greed.

 

End rant...

 

Please don't take me for being a straight up @$$ for the following comment, because I'm really not trying to be... but... You went on a Halloweekends Saturday. Towards the end of the season. I mean... I pretty much could have told you that you would have experienced virtually everything you experienced ahead of time. As for greed? HECK YEAH!!! CF is ALL ABOUT $$$ Let's be real here... When they cared about customer experience, they had a free hand stamp, one for each hand, that allowed you to utilize a skip the line feature twice a day. Fast Lane is 100% about greed, and 0% about giving you a better day at one of their parks... Don't get that twisted! Now, if you happen to have a better day at one of their parks in the process (like Prozach reports at KI, or KD), then everybody wins! But that certainly isn't CF's #1 priority, nor concern. Not trying to sound cold, nor uncaring, just being real about it. And I'm saying that as a lifelong CP lover, and attendee, who will practically live there next May! Greed is just what CF has become all about... The bottom line. *shrugs* And yes, Halloweekend Saturdays are living, breathing nightmares that need to be avoided at all costs, and I've been telling all of my friends that for well over a decade now!

 

:.

 

180 minutes for Maverick in late afternoon, 105 minutes for a non racing Gemini, 150 minutes for Valravn basically all day and 210 minutes for Raptor all afternoon. Can anyone confirm if Raptor's line ever seriously reached 3 1/2 hours?

I just don't understand how that could be fun for anyone, coaster fan or not.

 

Wait... What??? Are you saying you never went to an amusement park before the advent of this insipid (IMHO) thing called fast pass, or that you never had fun there if you did? Dude, that's how us "old school" peeps did it all the time! That was simply the amusement park going experience! Sure, I've now learned how to avoid having to do that at CP, and in my "old age" don't care much for waiting in those kind of lines if I can avoid it (but I won't waste my hard earned money on skip the line passes either when I can just go at a time when I'll wait 15 minutes for Valravn Opening Year.) I'm just surprised by the notion that waiting in a long line for a coaster, without paying for a skip the line pass, is now suddenly such a foreign, or outdated concept! lol

 

First time I visited Cedar Point was 1996, and Raptor's wait was 2 hours. Mantis on the other hand...oh boy...it was opening year for that beast. The wait was LONG!

 

Since people are discussing insane wait times, I'm curious as to the longest reported wait time you've seen/heard for a ride at Cedar Point?

 

I've waited about 3 hours for Raptor before, in its early years, and probably the longest I've waited for a coaster at CP is TTD, opening season, including breakdowns, about 4-5 hours... Yeah... Baked and burnt that day!

[KPfan]

I was there on Saturday and it was crazy, but in a good way. Yes the lines were long, really long. But the crowd was amazing and we had a blast. Yesterday was a decent day despite the weather. Lines were much shorter but several rides were down due to the wind. Valravn opened up around 7p but the line was back to Chicky and Pete's with people waiting for the queue.

[Philrad71]

Friday nights and Sunday's are always the best time to go (as long as it isn't Columbus Day weekend) to Halloweekends, so I'm surprised to hear that it was that busy on Friday and Sunday.

 

As others have mentioned, avoid Saturday's during Halloweekends like the plague and if it's still that bad with FL+, even more reason to skip it. I recall going in one year (before FL+) and we waited almost two hours for Demon Drop and other than Cedar Downs, the Skyride and Gemini, those were the only rides we got on all day because everything else was sporting 1-3 hour waits.

 

Never again, said I.

[prozach626]

 

Wait... What??? Are you saying you never went to an amusement park before the advent of this insipid (IMHO) thing called fast pass, or that you never had fun there if you did? Dude, that's how us "old school" peeps did it all the time! That was simply the amusement park going experience! Sure, I've now learned how to avoid having to do that at CP, and in my "old age" don't care much for waiting in those kind of lines if I can avoid it (but I won't waste my hard earned money on skip the line passes either when I can just go at a time when I'll wait 15 minutes for Valravn Opening Year.) I'm just surprised by the notion that waiting in a long line for a coaster, without paying for a skip the line pass, is now suddenly such a foreign, or outdated concept! lol

Trust me, brother. There was a day when I waited for over an hour to ride rides like Ninja, Batman the Ride, and Mine Train. As I graduated from exclusively visiting my home park of SFSTL, I was still content with waiting in hour long lines at Six Flags Great America. Ten years ago, I was perfectly fine when we first visited Cedar Point and waited in an hour and a half line at the end of the day for Maverick.

 

However, times have changed and I have since spoiled myself. I have no desire to wait in any line over 20 minutes, with missed time to roam around the park, possibly enjoy a cold beer, and relax. Park days are relaxation days for me. I don't endlessly use my fast queue systems to marathon coasters, with the exception of the last hour or two, but I use them to spend time away from lines. There's nothing relaxing about being stuck in the sun on a windless day, while being surrounded by obnoxious teenagers. Don't get me started on indoor queues where I have nothing to stare at but dark walls and possibly an endless loop of some cheesy super hero telling me to help save Superman, or some BS, by using my laser blaster. On top of all that, spending anywhere from 4-12 hours of driving only to ride a handful of rides just won't take the cake for me, anymore. Two minutes of fun in exchange for two hours of wait. Fast queues have drastically reduced our necessity to stress over any kind of strategy and have greatly enhanced out enjoyment of parks. Only on the rare occasion do we go without them while visiting large parks. I work hard for my money and we save very well with no debt outside of our mortgage, so I have no problem spoiling myself for 5-6 times per year. It's one of the reasons I work overtime. Fast queues are the greatest thing since sliced bread, in my eyes.

[thrillrider]

^^ I understand this, but I still avoid the park like the plague before Memorial Day and after Labor Day.

 

I totally get after Labor Day, and also maybe the first week or so of the season. But honestly, as somebody who attends CP virtually ONLY during the month of May, I have experienced very little in the way of poor operations most of the month, outside of Opening Day, and maybe that first week. Generally, it's an awesome time to go to the park, and I HIGHLY recommend it!

 

I hate to do this, because I typically try to be positive but....

 

RANT TIME!

 

So this weekend(Saturday)

 

9. At this point everyone was just frustrated and in a pissy mood. They spent over $1,500 on fast lanes and tickets, and got onto 6 rides all day. At this point they just wanted to leave. So on the way out, they stopped by guest services to complain about the experience. Needless to say, it fell of def ears. Guest services told them that fast lane is only ment to decrease your wait time.

 

To finish up this lengthy rant, here are a few things .

First...it seems like cedar fair is just interested more in a money grab than guest experience. In no way should they have sold that many fast lanes. If you pay $150 per person, your wait should not be an hour still. Not to mention that they failed to mention that so many rides were not operating and the price was still the same. They had no problem taking our money though.

Second...if your going to be that short staffed, you need to distribute your employees a little better. People gotta eat and drink. It was a total mess. Weird thing is that on sunday, most of the places that were closed on Saturday were open.

 

After speaking with the family and feeling embarrassment for recommending they go check out halloweekends, they really do not have a desire to return to the park. For the amount they spent for cedarpoint, they could have done Disney with free fast lane, and still had saved a bunch of money.

 

The park should be embarrassed. This was more than just the big crowds...this was operational, and could have been prevented if not for so much greed.

 

End rant...

 

Please don't take me for being a straight up @$$ for the following comment, because I'm really not trying to be... but... You went on a Halloweekends Saturday. Towards the end of the season. I mean... I pretty much could have told you that you would have experienced virtually everything you experienced ahead of time. As for greed? HECK YEAH!!! CF is ALL ABOUT $$$ Let's be real here... When they cared about customer experience, they had a free hand stamp, one for each hand, that allowed you to utilize a skip the line feature twice a day. Fast Lane is 100% about greed, and 0% about giving you a better day at one of their parks... Don't get that twisted! Now, if you happen to have a better day at one of their parks in the process (like Prozach reports at KI, or KD), then everybody wins! But that certainly isn't CF's #1 priority, nor concern. Not trying to sound cold, nor uncaring, just being real about it. And I'm saying that as a lifelong CP lover, and attendee, who will practically live there next May! Greed is just what CF has become all about... The bottom line. *shrugs* And yes, Halloweekend Saturdays are living, breathing nightmares that need to be avoided at all costs, and I've been telling all of my friends that for well over a decade now!

 

:.

 

180 minutes for Maverick in late afternoon, 105 minutes for a non racing Gemini, 150 minutes for Valravn basically all day and 210 minutes for Raptor all afternoon. Can anyone confirm if Raptor's line ever seriously reached 3 1/2 hours?

I just don't understand how that could be fun for anyone, coaster fan or not.

 

Wait... What??? Are you saying you never went to an amusement park before the advent of this insipid (IMHO) thing called fast pass, or that you never had fun there if you did? Dude, that's how us "old school" peeps did it all the time! That was simply the amusement park going experience! Sure, I've now learned how to avoid having to do that at CP, and in my "old age" don't care much for waiting in those kind of lines if I can avoid it (but I won't waste my hard earned money on skip the line passes either when I can just go at a time when I'll wait 15 minutes for Valravn Opening Year.) I'm just surprised by the notion that waiting in a long line for a coaster, without paying for a skip the line pass, is now suddenly such a foreign, or outdated concept! lol

 

First time I visited Cedar Point was 1996, and Raptor's wait was 2 hours. Mantis on the other hand...oh boy...it was opening year for that beast. The wait was LONG!

 

Since people are discussing insane wait times, I'm curious as to the longest reported wait time you've seen/heard for a ride at Cedar Point?

 

I've waited about 3 hours for Raptor before, in its early years, and probably the longest I've waited for a coaster at CP is TTD, opening season, including breakdowns, about 4-5 hours... Yeah... Baked and burnt that day!

 

So your saying that lousy service, slow ride crews, lack of product, short staff, closed locations, hour long fast lane lines, closed rides and lack of any customer service is ok because it's halloweekends and should be expected? Sorry, but that's a weak argument for people that spent a LOT of money to have a good time this weekend. It's not the people's fault that cedarpoint decided to over sell fast lanes and make the lines an hour long. It's a total money grab, and the furthest thing from good customer service.

I suppose it should be the people's fault for not knowing that a bunch of rides, food stands, and stores were going to be closed ad well after paying the same amount to enter the park during the summer.

I suppose that we should have know better than to think that going to a Halloween event at cedarpoint was going to be fun. I guess our expectations were a bit high.

[anonymouscactus]

We went Columbus Day Saturday a few years back (supposedly a record attendance day) and learned our lesson after going on two or three rides. Our experience was pretty much the same as yours.

 

Our new go-to is Sunday the first weekend of haunt and almost everything is a walk-on including haunts if you time it right... without Fast Lane. Yes you don't get the night time atmosphere but you get to do all the houses and the rides in a few hours, easy. We've done it four years now and it's been awesome every time.

[DavidB]

To the initial post: You are a regular here and allowed your group to walk in the gate and ride the newest ride closest to the front of the park? As a regular visitor to CP and against all of the advice repeated here ad nauseam? Flex your enthusiast muscle and help your "guests" out a little!

 

I get that it's awful on Saturdays, absolutely awful. I've posted a couple times about naively going on Columbus Day weekend 2013(I think). The weather was perfect and the crowds were unbelievable. 3+ hours for Maverick and Millennium Force. They sold out of Fastlane by the time I tried to get them for me and my girlfriend. We didn't ride hardly anything because of the lines and ended up stuck in the back parking lot for 3 plus hours after the park closed on Saturday. I didn't know what I had gotten us into, I wasn't following this forum at the time and was only just getting back into the hobby.

 

I went again with a friend last year. Made sure to at least avoid Columbus Day. Were the lines long on Saturday? Absolutely. But after riding Maverick and Top Thril first, as is often suggested, we were standing in line for Power Tower early in the day, I made the call and we got Fast Passes, and avoided the food stands. You still can't walk on, but at least you're cutting lines to 1/4 of what they might otherwise be. To me that doesn't seem unreasonable.

 

That said, the parking situation is not one I had to deal with either time as I stayed Friday night at Sandcastle Suites one time and Lighthouse Point the other. Nor am I interested in the haunted houses. The Halloweekends situation can be frustrating, but it's not a surprise to anyone in this forum, and if you're prepared and funded enough you can still have a good time. Hopefully next time will be better though, because I've been where you were Saturday...and it blows!

[DorneyKid14]

I've gone the past few years in early may, and never really had a problem with stuffing and stuff being closed. Crowds are usually good once all the schools leave for the day.

 

Went on a Sunday in the fall two years ago at the end of september, and the crowds were low.

 

But i can not imagine waiting that long for any coaster. They do need to either sell a certain amount of fast lane or raise the price. An hour wait for the fast lane line is ridiculous. I honestly can not imagine being one of those employees that night, no matter the department. I have worked 'busy' nights before for haunt at dorney, but my department also had staffing, and we were never busy, because no know played games.

 

All seasonal parks will have staffing issues at the end of the year, especially a park like CP that depends on so much on college students as their staffing. Make a trip to dorney one day, youll never had to wait for anything as long as you did at CP.

[CP Maverick]

The park is SEVERELY understaffed compared to previous years as well. There's no reason to voluntarily close sources of income if you have the proper number of employees to staff it.

 

And it's not just CP. I can't find employees either, and I have a larger population to pull from.

[thrillrider]

There is always temp agencys, and bringing back the employee bonus program.

 

I also know somebody that submitted an application for weekends in Oct, and never got a call.

 

There are avenues they could explore, but I don't think they want to open there wallets to do it.

 

They could also cut back on certain rides like planet snoopy, and use those employees in other area as needed. On Sunday, we ate at midway market. They had several workers just standing around. Point is, they can pull from certain areas to help other areas.

I'm not sure who is doing the staffing, but they may want to take a better look into that person(s).

[coasterkyle]

For the sake of humanity if you're going to complain, can you at least use the correct grammar? Like use the proper there/ their/ they're, It really isn't that hard.

[prozach626]

 

So your saying that lousy service, slow ride crews, lack of product, short staff, closed locations, hour long fast lane lines, closed rides and lack of any customer service is ok because it's halloweekends and should be expected?

Expected among enthusiasts or people who should know better? - Yes. However, that doesn't mean it's acceptable. There's a difference between expected and acceptable.

[thrillrider]

See, here's the thing....

 

I totally expected the crowds and prepared for them the only way I could by buying fast lanes. I have been to several halloweekends, and never experienced bad service on the scale we did this weekend. It was unacceptable, even for a knowing enthusiast.