Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread

[Skycoastin Steve]

This is exactly why I'm excited for the fast lane system! I'm doing a road trip on my way to the Leviathon meet up point, and CP is one of our stops. We were initially going to go to CP on our way there, then on the way back to my house because we KNOW that the park is going to be busy and we want to make sure we get all the credits. But now, with the awesome fast lane system, we don't have to worry about it! We can spend all day at the park, get all the credits and enjoy the day instead of waiting hours and hours in line. Plus, this will free up an extra day and we can spend time at a park that we want to spend more time at OR add a whole new park to our trip.

This sums up why the system is a good thing. Locals have season passes to visit whenever they want on slow days, but people from out of town don't have the luxury of flexible scheduling. This eases the burden of doing the whole park in one day (something that's literally impossible to do at CP anywhere from mid June to early August).

 

 

And for the ones concerned with "large groups of people clogging up the line," let me provide some simple math. Millennium Force holds 36 people. Even if group-ageddon walks up with 72 people and the operators let them all on at the same time, that's only two more trains you have to wait, or about 3 minutes. And if those same 72 people were in line in front of you, guess what? That's two more trains to wait, about 3 minutes! But that's never going to happen. It's always small handfuls of people that walk up with these passes, never "giant groups." Then they merge into the station and pick their row, leaving you anywhere from 12-17 rows to choose from, meaning you won't have to wait any longer than usual. Even at places like BGW, BGT, or SWO, where they have specific rows reserved for Quick Queue people, normal guests can fill in those rows if there are no Quick Queue holders waiting on them, therefore reducing the wait!

 

I know the big butthurtness comes from people who either 1. don't want to spend the extra money or 2. can't spend the extra money, but if the issue is money, maybe you should find some cheaper hobbies. I'm not rich by any wild stretch of the imagination, and I think these systems are a godsend.

[odene497]

I'm really looking forward to this option, and being able to ride Maverick more than once or twice in a visit. And I like the merge point idea rather than only having certain seating options. I just hope they have workers stationed at the merge points. I remember a few of them at LaRonde not having any employees, and it was pretty awkward deciding who looked nice enough to just butt in front of.

[Jojo19799]

^At KI, the fast lane line and the regular queue line met in the station at the coasters. There was a grouper there 1) to hold back the regular line so the station doesn't get flooded with people and 2) to let the fast lane people into the station. I thought this worked well, and I'm sure CP will have a similar set up.

 

This is great news. I haven't been to Cedar Point for 5 years because I find the waits to be unbearable. This makes a visit much more attractive to me.

 

This is also why I have been avoiding CP for years. I think my last trip was in 2001, and it was during the middle of August. I promised myself never again. But, now that's all changed.

[odene497]

^At KI, the fast lane line and the regular queue line met in the station at the coasters. There was a grouper there 1) to hold back the regular line so the station doesn't get flooded with people and 2) to let the fast lane people into the station. I thought this worked well, and I'm sure CP will have a similar set up.

 

Glad to hear! Hoping to make it to KI as well.

[j1m3bo]

Well as a Brit going to CP mid-August this year (7 of us in total) I am really pleased. It's a long way to go so I am definitely going to make the most of it (although when I went a couple Augusts ago it wasn't too busy). And in comparison I am off to Thorpe Park next week and their Fast Lane wrist band costs £70 (about $100), so a good deal to be had at CP! Woop woop! Can't wait!

Jamie

[KDCOASTERFAN]

This is exactly why I'm excited for the fast lane system! I'm doing a road trip on my way to the Leviathon meet up point, and CP is one of our stops. We were initially going to go to CP on our way there, then on the way back to my house because we KNOW that the park is going to be busy and we want to make sure we get all the credits. But now, with the awesome fast lane system, we don't have to worry about it! We can spend all day at the park, get all the credits and enjoy the day instead of waiting hours and hours in line. Plus, this will free up an extra day and we can spend time at a park that we want to spend more time at OR add a whole new park to our trip.

This sums up why the system is a good thing. Locals have season passes to visit whenever they want on slow days, but people from out of town don't have the luxury of flexible scheduling. This eases the burden of doing the whole park in one day (something that's literally impossible to do at CP anywhere from mid June to early August).

 

 

And for the ones concerned with "large groups of people clogging up the line," let me provide some simple math. Millennium Force holds 36 people. Even if group-ageddon walks up with 72 people and the operators let them all on at the same time, that's only two more trains you have to wait, or about 3 minutes. And if those same 72 people were in line in front of you, guess what? That's two more trains to wait, about 3 minutes! But that's never going to happen. It's always small handfuls of people that walk up with these passes, never "giant groups." Then they merge into the station and pick their row, leaving you anywhere from 12-17 rows to choose from, meaning you won't have to wait any longer than usual. Even at places like BGW, BGT, or SWO, where they have specific rows reserved for Quick Queue people, normal guests can fill in those rows if there are no Quick Queue holders waiting on them, therefore reducing the wait!

 

I know the big butthurtness comes from people who either 1. don't want to spend the extra money or 2. can't spend the extra money, but if the issue is money, maybe you should find some cheaper hobbies. I'm not rich by any wild stretch of the imagination, and I think these systems are a godsend.

 

Therein lies the problem...some of us are limited to only visiting on a saturday,when volume will be at it's heaviest.

[KI Kidd]

Personally, I think this is a great move for CP and as someone who only gets to visit CP once a year I am excited not to have to choose between one more ride on Millennium Force or one more ride on Maverick when it gets close to time to go.

 

That being said, anyone who was at KI for the Saturday night from hell last year, knows that the the definition for "limited" can be pretty broad. DB's Fast Lane wait was 15-20 min from the station for a few hours. Is that a million times better than waiting in the 2-2.5 hour standby line? Of course. But it was curious that there weren't any reports on those haunt nights of anyone trying to purchase Fast Lane and being told that they couldn't because they had sold out. It will be interesting come the Saturdays in July and August to see just how limited these are.

[TXman308]

^At KI, the fast lane line and the regular queue line met in the station at the coasters. There was a grouper there 1) to hold back the regular line so the station doesn't get flooded with people and 2) to let the fast lane people into the station. I thought this worked well, and I'm sure CP will have a similar set up.

 

Well MF and TTD stations have been flooded for years, so if FL manages to fix that, that's another good reason why CP is implementing it. In my personal opinion though, exit ramp access would be so much easier, just look at the rides they chose (MF, TTD, Corkscrew, Gemini, PT, MaXair), where, like on corkscrew, one exit from the station could be a regular exit, where the other could be a fast lane line. Just my two cents.

[cfc]

I've yet to visit Cedar Point, but Fast Lane sounds like a good option to have. From what others have told me, you have to budget at least two whole days to get everything in due to the summer crowds--this just gives you an alternative, if you want to spring for it.

[larrygator]

If you're a visitor at a park and you're not prepared to spend as much money as someone else, you are a lower priority to the business.

 

 

That is true everywhere you go not just parks. Try this experiment. Go a a restaurant with a friend and start off by ordering a glass of water. Have another group of friends go at the same time and start out by ordering a round of drinks. Guess what table is going to get better service?

[Erik Johnson]

Thank you CP! Anytime a park adds a fast pass system is good news.

[andybarnes84]

We'll be visiting CP on Thursday 14th June so i'm on the fence over whether fast lane will be for us but it sounds great. Not that expensive (by UK standards anyway) and as we've only got the 1 day there it might be worth paying extra for. Do you think that the official hotels will be able to sell these in addition to the cheaper entrance tickets? I'd rather not pay online in advance as it could turn out to be a really quiet day (delusional? perhaps )

[Philrad71]

^Usually, the park is not crowded at all during the weekdays in the early season unless they are having one of those math/physics days or a bunch of church and school groups will be there.

 

A quick scan of the website doesn't show anything planned for the day you are going, so my guess is that you probably won't need Fast Lane.

[andybarnes84]

^Usually, the park is not crowded at all during the weekdays in the early season unless they are having one of those math/physics days or a bunch of church and school groups will be there.

 

A quick scan of the website doesn't show anything planned for the day you are going, so my guess is that you probably won't need Fast Lane.

 

Very reassuring thanks for checking that out for me

 

I thought that it might be busy as it's open until 10pm. I've got the 1 hour ERT that comes with staying at the Breakers Express so hopefully you're right and we'll just be able to take our time.

[coasterlover420]

^CP in early early June, the lines are nothing. The 14th, however may be a little bit more crowded, but it's still never more than 45 minutes for the popular rides, especially at CP since capacity is really important. The one thing you can't avoid, fast pass or not, is that the Intamin coasters will spend quite some time being broken down unless you're lucky.

^At KI, the fast lane line and the regular queue line met in the station at the coasters. There was a grouper there 1) to hold back the regular line so the station doesn't get flooded with people and 2) to let the fast lane people into the station. I thought this worked well, and I'm sure CP will have a similar set up.

 

Well MF and TTD stations have been flooded for years, so if FL manages to fix that, that's another good reason why CP is implementing it. In my personal opinion though, exit ramp access would be so much easier, just look at the rides they chose (MF, TTD, Corkscrew, Gemini, PT, MaXair), where, like on corkscrew, one exit from the station could be a regular exit, where the other could be a fast lane line. Just my two cents.

Whether or not a station is flooded is purely the decision of the ride ops, and it changes constantly because MF and TTD cut the crowd position to start rotation every half hour. It's not a "fix" that needs to be solved. Plus I don't really think they would need to distinguish between fast lane lines and such, because either way, the guests with fast lane will have wrist bands (or whatever) and the ride ops up at the station can mediate it, whether it's to the unload station or the load station. Not too different from the way the special access is already done, I'm sure.

[BrownStreak]

I didnt expect Cedar point to drop down to this level. Sure, you make more money, but it was the mutual comradery that everyone had to wait in the same line as you that made Cedar Fair park more family friendly. When some smug person passes in front of you with a smug look on his face just because he could afford to pay the few extra bucks, it drives me crazy!

 

Get used to it, that's how life works.

 

If they want spend their money those people sit in first class on planes, drive nicer cars, live in better homes, have better seats at concerts/sporting events, stay in better hotels, attend better schools and the list goes on and on. And many times they have a smug look on their face. Sorry that's life.

 

The issue with your logic that I have is that a plane having 1st Class seats does not affect my flight time, people having more expensive cars does not make my commute longer, people who stay in more expensive hotels do not affect the occupancy rates at hotels I can afford (and I can say the few times I've had to stay in expensive hotels the service was rotten compared to my normal budget lodgings).

 

The last time I went to SFGAm was in late Summer 2010...which was the LAST time I will go to SFGAm - despite the fact that I lived in the Chicago area most of last year. Despite the fact that we arrived near park opening and stayed until near closing we only got on 6 rides total. For the first half of the day the Q-Bots were not adjusting to the wait times 'live.' The 2nd half of the day there was an issue with the Q-Bot System and they began to let everyone with a Q-Bot board with no wait at all. We didn't buy one at the start of the day and figured we would see how things went. Of course when this issue occured they weren't selling them anymore. This should give you an idea of what can happen when there is 'no wait' and you can hit each ride with no wait as many times as you want - which seems as this is how FL will work:

 

The wait time for Superman was posted at 90 minutes, but my friends had never been on it so we got in line. 4 1/2 hours later we got to ride. Those with the now unlimited Q-Bots were running from the exit back into the Q-Bot Express Line. One of my friends wasn't going to ride and she told us that she saw the same girl board Superman and Dark Knight three times each in the span of 20 minutes.

 

The argument that 'those people would be in line anyways' is thrown out the window by the fact that people can get right back on again the way FL is set up. The fact that MF is set away from most other rides and is not nearby any other FL rides means that people will do just that and that does affect the wait time considerably.

 

Upcharge Queue Cutting Passes are like the Stoplight Cameras of the Theme Park Business - they provide a great deal of revenue for minimal output, yet they do little to actually curb the problem that caused them to be implemented in the first place. Statistically Stoplight Cameras increase rear-end collisions more than they decrease the side impact collisions they are intended to decrease making the intersections more dangerous rather than safer - plus they generate revenue for the city. Handled improperly (as FL seems to be) Upcharge Queue Cutting Passes increase wait times yet generate revenue for the park.

[paiging_jen]

I just really hope all these people that are against quick queues, Q-bots, Fast Lanes, etc do quit going to parks that utilize them as a protest....then my wait times will be less with or without my "line cutting" pass!

 

And personally, I think these systems are outstanding. Any time I don't have to stand in line for long periods of time with annoying teenagers and GP makes my day that much better. And if there is a time I visit a park and don't purchase one of these passes (which is fairly often), I definitely don't get upset or even pay attention to those that do. It's a personal choice whether or not to purchase one. I don't quite understand why people waste their thoughts and energy on getting upset over these things. Do people that get upset having someone with a fast pass receive priority boarding also get upset if a handicapped rider boards before you? I've been asked to wait a train or 2 for these riders and it's never once bothered me.

[jmicha]

I personally don't really care enough about these systems to protest them, but I do get where some of the frustration comes from. I was at KI in line for the Beast and after 2.5 hours of waiting (Halloween Haunt was packed) a group of older ladies came in with a massive smile and quite loudly while looking at the people in the normal line said, "wow, I'm glad we only had to wait 10 minutes unlike THOSE people" while pointing. Obviously not everyone is like this which is why I don't really care (hey, it's their money. If I'm not willing to spend the extra for the fast lane I really can't complain) but it can be irritating on those extremely busy days when you see people gleefully making their way to the front of the line.

 

Honestly, the only thing I wish would change about lines at Cedar Point is how they jam pack some rides' stations which makes the line seem shorter than it really is until you reach the station. Magnum, TTD, and Maverick (sometimes) come to mind. Wading through hoards of people trying to determine which lines they are even in is far more frustrating than some people having a much shorter wait to ride.

[99er]

This should give you an idea of what can happen when there is 'no wait' and you can hit each ride with no wait as many times as you want - which seems as this is how FL will work

But how many people had already bought a Q-Bot for that day? I am guessing the number was much larger then the number of Fast Lane passes that could be sold for a day. We know that there is a limit on how many they will sell for a day, no one knows what the amount is but I would bet the farm that it is a lot smaller of a number then what a Six Flags park would sell in Q-Bots.

 

From those that have experienced it already at Kings Island, they have all said your wait is not increased that much with Fast Lane. I know its hard to fathom the thought of waiting until we see the system working at Cedar Point, you know since non of us have yet, but killing this idea just because you think your wait time might increase 15 minutes is a bit much. Come back on here in July and tell me how much it sucks then.

[STR8FXXXINEDGE]

The issue with your logic that I have is that a plane having 1st Class seats does not affect my flight time, people having more expensive cars does not make my commute longer, people who stay in more expensive hotels do not affect the occupancy rates at hotels I can afford.

You are correct, a plane having 1st Class seats does not affect your flight time, just like a coaster having Fast Pass does not affect your ride time. The people on the plane that paid 1st Class, get to walk right by you and board first, and you can still get on the same plane. Hell, they even get the front seats! The same as when someone pays for a Fast Pass and walks right by you to board the coaster train, and you can still get on the same train. It's not like they are loading five full trains of people with Fast Passes without letting any people on that don't have them.

[Nozzy]

It's not like they are loading five full trains of people with Fast Passes without letting any people on that don't have them.

 

Unfortunately, this is what a ride op suggested to me at Carowinds today at Vortex, that as long as there are Fastlane guests waiting they will board first, regardless of anyone waiting in line. For us, that meant we were "next" 3 times before actually getting to ride. At other rides later in the day they were at least running it 1 Fastlane train, 1 normal train.

 

Still, it's not equal. Fastlane get their pick of seats on Intimidator and Carolina Cobra as they are let in first. Everyone else is assigned what's left in the middle. Lines ARE longer since by the time FL guests board a train from the entrance in the front of the station the second train has already stacked. Then we get the air gates opening for the 1 remaining row to be filled. Beyond that, they are not spread out throughout the ride- they have choice of seats- in other words, the line you see for the front is half of what you'll wait.

 

I don't mind these systems when there is control, but what I saw today was sorely lacking. It is the utmost stupidity to build staircases to load platforms and then hold up boarding anyway. There is no limit on riding, and users can get on every other train. After seeing the majority of rows fill with FL regularly, it's hard to believe there's a limit on the number sold.

 

I hope that Cedar Point does a better job of implementing it, cause what I saw today was horrible for operations...

[paiging_jen]

^I have a feeling the system will be tweaked as the season progresses. Give it a bit of time, it's "new" to these parks and there needs to be some time to make adjustments and make sure all staff are operating on the same page with how the park wants the system to be implemented. From your post in the Carowinds thread about the FP, it almost seems like it was implemented differently for each ride. I would hope this would become more consistent as the season progresses and would just be a sign of ride ops not fully understanding what they need to be doing.

[Philrad71]

Personally, I think it's a great thing that CP is getting FL - way overdue in my opinion. Even though we try to go to the park when it is normally not crowded, there are times when lack of vacation time forces us to go here (and other parks) on weekends.

 

Halloweekends is a good example...go there on a Friday night or Sunday and (a lot of the time) the rides are walk-on's. Go there on a Saturday however, and the lines can get 2+ miserable hours. I would definitely like to have FL for any Saturday visit!

 

Even though it's not cheap, I would rather throw a few of these on a credit card for family/friends than have to subject ourselves to huge lines and obnoxious people. We have yet to do a Fast Pass, Fast Lane or Q-Bot, but as I get older, waiting in long lines is just not worth it. Also, if the line is over one hour, my 68 year old partner will sit it out...he hates it too!

 

I would definitely see us getting one at Canada's Wonderland next visit because that is almost always a weekend visit for us and every time we have been there, lines were insanely long and we had a hard time getting on what we wanted.

[Geauga Dog]

The only way CF can properly implement this system and not tick off people is to have the Fast Lane users just merge with the regular line before heading up to the ride platform like they did with the old Freeway system. They wouldn't be holding up loading trains.

 

I only got to see it at Kings Island while waiting for Drop Tower and Diamondback, which are both people eaters anyway. My only problem with the program is they sell it when lines are short to non-existent all day, which happened a couple times last year. If people can't wait a meer ten-fifteen minutes in line then they have issues.

[Jerrykoala2112]

 

I only got to see it at Kings Island while waiting for Drop Tower and Diamondback, which are both people eaters anyway. My only problem with the program is they sell it when lines are short to non-existent all day, which happened a couple times last year. If people can't wait a meer ten-fifteen minutes in line then they have issues.

 

I have to agree, but it's up to the GP. If they are willing to blow off that money to save some of their own time, it's good for the park. I went to Dollywood on a non-crowded day, but we were afraid it would be crowded, so we went to get Q-Bots... But the people working the counters said the park wasn't crowded, and most likely not be for most of the day, and told us not to get Q-Bots. I guess that more points to Dollywood, but I doubt a park like Cedar Point would turn people away from buying their fast lane tickets when the parks are not busy.