Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread

[coasternut]

^ Kings Island is selling tix for their coaster event Monday. It's just C.P. being C.P.

[pianojohn]

From the website:

CoasterMania! Admission

$40 (event ticket only/Season Passholder)
$80 (event ticket and one-day park admission, taxes additional)

Includes: CoasterMania! collectible pin and t-shirt, access to all ERT (Early & Late Ride Time) sessions (ERTs TBD), CoasterMania! credentials and lanyard, lunch, Q&A session access and more.
All CoasterMania! participants must have admission to Cedar Point, plus a CoasterMania! event ticket.

On Sale Soon

[JJLehto]

Well after all that: Tix go on sale April 5 at noon. 

Huzzah! Also interesting, I dont believe they usually let it be known ahead of time. Well, I'm excited! 

Also $40 for pass holders (I assume my platinum covers that) is superb! Tough to beat that deal. 

[coasternut]

See, I shamed them into the announcement on April Fools day..

[JJLehto]

lol yeah good call on the April Fools announcement. Was a funny thought, so I almost couldn't believe it was actually announced today XD
Though really what a great day, I am stoked to finally get back to CP and I've always had such a great day for this event. 

[Alex Sutcliff]

Hi everybody. I wonder if you can help me out with a trip plan to include Cedar Point. I've been given the green light from my other half to bring forward our USA trip from June next year to August this year but before I commit to it, I want to make sure that its actually in my interest to bring things forward in light of Covid.

 Im travelling from the UK and the plan is to fly to Philadelphia and take a road trip to include Hershey, SFGA, Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens before flying from Philadelphia to Cleveland to spend two days at Cedar Point. 

This will be my first time to any of these parks and its a long way to travel so I wanted to use fast pass wherever possible to ensure a smooth day at each park. I just realised that CP are not offering any fast track tickets currently due to Covid and with the capacity limitations, I wonder if we would have a better value holiday by postponing to next year or if its still possible to get the best out of each park in the current circumstances?

As a separate question, I wonder when is a good time to avoid the crowds. If we went this year then we would likely be looking at the last weekend of operation but for next year we could come at a more flexible time to avoid the big crowds.

[AmyUD06]

If you're going to be spending 3 or more days total combined between Kings Dominion and Cedar Point, buying the Platinum Pass makes sense.  By purchasing that, it opens up the option of the "All-Season, All-Park Fast Lane Plus" add-on.  It's pricey ($875, on top of the $202 for the Platinum Pass), but if you're going to do the trip this year that's the only way to go.  If you're coming all this way, you might as well add in a day at Kings Island (about 3.5 hours drive south of Cedar Point, in Ohio near Cincinnati).

It may not show on the main web page, but if you go into Kings Dominion's ticket-purchasing page, it'll show up under "2021 Add-Ons." Note that it does NOT show up on Cedar Point's site, but that doesn't mean anything.

EDIT:  Yeah, there's Dorney Park too, which is about a hour away from PHL.  With the Platinum Pass, you could drop in and knock out their major dry park rides in like 2 hours.

EDIT 2:  You say the "last weekend of operation" for Cedar Point in August...that means Friday the 27th through Sunday the 29th.  Note that Kings Dominion and Kings Island are currently scheduled to be closed the Monday-Thursday before and after that weekend.  That may change, since Dorney is showing weekday operations (except Tuesdays) during the same time frame, but who knows.

Note that you'd also likely save a little bit of money (and a whole bunch of time) flying from Virginia to Ohio rather than driving all the way back up to Philly Airport.  There are a buttload of tolls in Maryland, and the saved gas/tolls will probably be more than the service fee for returning the rental car somewhere other than where you picked it up.

EDIT 3:  Since you didn't lay out your itinerary, here's how I would tackle all of the parks you mentioned given their operating calendars, plus Dorney and Kings Island, and Knoebels...which the fact that it hasn't been brought up yet is criminal.

-Thursday, 8/19: Fly into Columbus, OH and get a hotel centrally located between KI and CP.
-Friday, 8/20 and Saturday, 8/21: Two Full Days at Cedar Point
-Sunday, 8/22: Full day at Kings Island
-Monday, 8/23:  Fly into the Philadelphia Region, hitting Dorney Park quickly after you land.  Get a hotel centrally between Hershey and SFGAdv
-Tuesday, 8/24: Full day at Hershey
-Wednesday, 8/25: Full day at SFGAdv
-Thursday, 8/26:  Half-day at Knoebels, then drive to Virginia.  This will be a 5-6 hour drive with stops for bathroom breaks.  Get a hotel centrally located between Kings Dominion and Busch gardens
-Friday, 8/27: Full day at Busch Gardens.
-Saturday, 8/28: Full day at Kings Dominion.
-Sunday, 8/29: Fly home.
 

[tndank]

Been to Dorney already?  Seems like an easy park to pick up since you're flying there.

I think crowds will be awful all year.  Hate to say it, but moving it to 2022 is probably for the best all around.  Most likely longer hours, more normal operations, and international staff is able to help out again.

 

 

[Alex Sutcliff]

Thanks for your information. I had not considered Dorney but I think I could work it into our schedule. My aim was to get it all within 10 days but keep the trip at a saunter rather than a race. I could manage without rest days but my partner needs the down time and if this trip goes well I'm more likely to persuade for another trip to take in Dollywood, KI, HW, CD etc.

 This method is also the cheapest I could make it to avoid an extra $400 on a one way rental and without one way flights which would also add up. Our schedule currently looks like this..

26th fly to philly

27th drive near KD

28th KD

29th Busch

30th drive back philly

31st hershey

1st rest

2nd SFGA

3rd fly CP

4th go CP

5th go CP

6th fly home via philly

[coasterbill]

Going to Dorney and not Knoebels is a travesty. Please don't do that.

[JJLehto]

Coastermania tix purchased! Pretty excited esp given the lack of fast lane. I know the park already said no S V for early access on weekdays, so I reckon that means no extra early ERT. Shame, I'd love to not have to wait till night ERT esp since w/o fast lane I assume the line will be 2+ hours as usual and that's a no for me lol but still, pretty stoked! Should be a good day. See anyone else there who may be going. 

[qpb2004]

I also purchased my ticket, interesting to see how crowded it will be given that it still hasn't sold out to my knowledge. 

[AmyUD06]

49 minutes ago, coasterbill said:

Going to Dorney and not Knoebels is a travesty. Please don't do that.

I second this notion.

[Alex Sutcliff]

Okay I could swap out dorney for knoebals.

After researching I gather that wait times at CP are typically always over an hour? If I purchased some kind of fast pass for next year instead of this year, does this add enough value to do CP in one day or are two days still advised with a pass? I assume wait times reduce but there is a 15 minute wait at the station? Sorry for the noob questions. Finding it hard to find the info on fast pass options since they are not currently available.

[coasterbill]

I’d still recommend two days.

Fastlane at Cedar Point is good but not amazing. It’s still worth it, but at some parks it makes every single ride a 0-15 minute wait most of the time (like Kings Island) but at Cedar Point you’ll still wait up to 30-45 minutes for rides like Steel Vengeance, Millennium Force, Maverick and Dragster when you factor in the breakdowns that you’ll totally wait through. It’s much better for other rides though.

[bert425]

Kenobels is incredible.. and not to be missed.

it's also free to park, free to enter, and the food is inexpensive and very good.

[AmyUD06]

Fast Lane passes are not being sold on a daily basis yet; its possible that they won't all year.  Right now you can buy an all-season, all-park Fast Lane for all Cedar Fair parks through one of the sites that are selling them (that will be valid at Cedar Point), but as I mentioned it's super pricey.

Two days at CP, especially weekends, are advised even with Fast Lane plus...there's just that much to do.  Many major rides do not drop you right in the station either (Millennium Force and Raptor are the biggest offenders), so you might still have 15-30 minutes from the "merge" point.  Steel Vengeance, at its height before COVID, got 45 minute Fast Lane waits and it DOES drop you in the station.

Going on a Saturday and Sunday without a Fast Lane....you might have to skip out on some things.

If the decision really is a "this year OR next year" and not a "this year AND next year" thing, I'd say you should wait for next year.

[JJLehto]

3 hours ago, qpb2004 said:

I also purchased my ticket, interesting to see how crowded it will be given that it still hasn't sold out to my knowledge. 

I did Coastermania in 2017 and 2019 and both times tickets were available for, well idk how long but it was several days after they went on sale. Crowds weren't bad at all! ERT was great. S V was slow but that wasn't crowd related. Also the park itself wasnt tooo bad those days. So I'm hopeful! Even with covid restrictions (not sure how CP has been handling it this year)

25 minutes ago, Alex Sutcliff said:

Okay I could swap out dorney for knoebals.

After researching I gather that wait times at CP are typically always over an hour? If I purchased some kind of fast pass for next year instead of this year, does this add enough value to do CP in one day or are two days still advised with a pass? I assume wait times reduce but there is a 15 minute wait at the station? Sorry for the noob questions. Finding it hard to find the info on fast pass options since they are not currently available.

 Oh deff good call. Dont look at the # of coasters, Knoebels > Dorney without doubt. I mean Dorney ain't bad not at all but it's nothing special/nothing there is really worth it (if a choice had to be made). Knoebels is a wonderful experience.

Depends when you go to CP. Summer is gnarly. If you got early/late seasons crowds arent too bad (but Maverick, S V will be mobbed all day long). I will say with fast lane I've been able to do CP in one day and be fully satisfied, this included multiple rides on S V. To be fair, I've been many times and was fine with skipping some rides. 

2 days and Fast Lane is still not a bad call at all given there's just so much and it would reduce your stress if you don't wanna go at a frantic pace like me lol From how far you're coming and all 2 days and Fast Lane is prob still a good idea. 

[coasterbill]

The trip is in 2022 if I'm understanding correctly. They will have Fastlane.

[Alex Sutcliff]

4 minutes ago, coasterbill said:

The trip is in 2022 if I'm understanding correctly. They will have Fastlane.

The choice is between end of August this year or flexible date next year. Based on the advice so far it looks like we will have to wait for next year. We don't normally wait for more than an hour to ride something so it sounds like fast track is going to be essential for our trip. 

I'm not sure when schools are out in the US but I'm guessing if I catch the beginning of the season. Say in June, I should be OK?

[JJLehto]

24 minutes ago, Alex Sutcliff said:

The choice is between end of August this year or flexible date next year. Based on the advice so far it looks like we will have to wait for next year. We don't normally wait for more than an hour to ride something so it sounds like fast track is going to be essential for our trip. 

I'm not sure when schools are out in the US but I'm guessing if I catch the beginning of the season. Say in June, I should be OK?

End of August, imho, may not be tooo bad in terms of crowds but yeah...Fast Pass is deff gunna be huge, especially how far away you're coming/amount you want to do. Schools let out all over the calendar, (the US is always an incosistent patchwork lol)  

Hate to suggest putting things off but 2022 may be all around easier and better experience for you. If not for the event, I'd personally not do CP this year and my few parks are all early season weekday to try and dodge crowds. Ive put off my big plans till 2022 myself.

[AmyUD06]

End of June should be good anywhere in the country.  Some school districts run in to the first week or two of June.

[WolfBobs]

Gov Dewine just lifted a lot of the attendance restrictions for outdoor events, including allowing festivals again.  Now the guidance is just follow common sense and wear a mask...  so we're doomed.

Anywho, this means the parks should not have to worry about attendance restrictions this summer unless cases trend in a way that forces the restrictions to return.

[coasterbill]

The parks will probably self-limit anyway.

[WolfBobs]

^For sure, and in my opinion they should.  Because we are at a point now that we can trust humans to do the right thing and use common sense... 

But, the key take away is they will not be forced to at the time being as long as they are following more "universal" guidelines like mask usage enforcement, social distancing, etc.