Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread

[cmullin]

Id rather have quality coasters then quantity.

Exactly. Parks are better when they have all quality coasters. SFMM and CP are great because they have so many, but then parks like SDC and Dollywood have 5 or 6, that are a awesome.

 

I would say CP has a pretty good balance between quality and quantity. Raptor, Gatekeeper, Millie, Magnum, Maverick are quality coasters and that is 5 right there. Add Wicked Twister and TTD and that is a great coaster collection. Most have good capacity not like SFMM throwing up a quick low capacity coaster for some arbitrary title of most coasters.

 

Its tough though being CP and some of these other mega coaster parks. Something like Gatekeeper or Raptor would be the main attraction at some parks like Dollywood but at CP its just another coaster among many.

I think that CP and SFMM have some great coasters, but just they have so many they don't pay as much attention to them after they're built, and they almost never have theming, but that might change with Banshee.

[necoastergp]

^ Banshee at KI affects CP and SFMM?? Maverick has theming, I know you said almost never but it does.

[jwil]

Went to CP Wednesday through Friday last week (8/7-8/9). Hadn't been in five years.

 

No surprise the waits were brutal. Millennium Force ended up being the worst wait on Thursday--3.5 hours. However, that included a 45-minute to an hour breakdown as it seemed one of the trains was having issues (yellow). I realize I won't go back without getting a fast pass, but to afford it over three days is excessive. We just had to wait. Unfortunately it is becoming near impossible to enjoy your time there without a fast-pass. On Thursday we got 4 rides in over the course of the majority of the day. I made a joke you spend 10 hours waiting and 10 minutes riding, and I don't think I was far off.

 

A lot of the major rides seemed to have issues while we were there. Gatekeeper broke down Friday afternoon and people had actually gotten stuck on the lift hill. Not sure how long they were there, but we watched them pull each person off the ride individually. It had to be awkward when there is nothing below you but the track. MF, TTD, and MaXair all had downtime, and of course Skyhawk and Shoot the Rapids were still MIA. I didn't see any work being done on either of them.

 

My favorite coaster is still Maverick with MF in second. I got a night ride on Mean Streak and I actually liked it a bit better than when I rode it five years ago, but it is very rough and the layout shows its age. I would much prefer something akin to El Toro take up that space. Iron Dragon is also a favorite of mine--just a smooth ride. It is unfortunate there aren't very many suspended coasters left around. Big Bad Wolf was a great ride but is since deceased.

 

The only new ride I didn't get on was Windseeker, largely because I had no interest in riding it. Plus I was familiar with all the issues the ride has had and didn't care to risk getting stuck up there for 3 hours. We got lucky in riding Gatekeeper on Friday before it broke; 2 rides in 2 hours (one for early entry then we got right back in line to ride on the other side). The right side was the better ride, IMO, but overall the ride was not all that interesting. The intensity I like in certain rides was lacking with Gatekeeper. It might barely be in my Top 10 coasters.

 

Stayed at the Breakers Express this time largely because the place was booked solid. I previously had stayed at the Hotel Breakers so it was disappointing to have to drive back and forth to the park and a bit less convenient, but overall it was not a bad stay. Still, next time I will definitely stay at Breakers on-site again, just be sure to book more in advance.

[cmullin]

^ Banshee at KI affects CP and SFMM?? Maverick has theming, I know you said almost never but it does.

No, but KI has a lot of coasters, and from the animations, it looks like they might be putting in a little theming, which is nice.

[alwaysairtime14]

Went to CP Wednesday through Friday last week (8/7-8/9). Hadn't been in five years.

 

No surprise the waits were brutal. Millennium Force ended up being the worst wait on Thursday--3.5 hours. However, that included a 45-minute to an hour breakdown as it seemed one of the trains was having issues (yellow). I realize I won't go back without getting a fast pass, but to afford it over three days is excessive. We just had to wait. Unfortunately it is becoming near impossible to enjoy your time there without a fast-pass. On Thursday we got 4 rides in over the course of the majority of the day. I made a joke you spend 10 hours waiting and 10 minutes riding, and I don't think I was far off.

 

It's August. Families are cramming in there last vacations before school begins in a few weeks. I went to SFNE mid-August 2 years ago, and haven't gone to a major theme park in August since then. Sorry for the wait times, it's just the August Curse.

[Crazy4Coasters!]

(By the way moderators, if this is not the suitable place for this topic please feel free to move it, thanks!)

 

Hey there everyone! I'm trying to make a trip to Cedar Point a reality for my wife and I to enjoy this fall season. We live in Los Angeles and we've always wanted to visit Cedar Point and I think this October we might be able to make that happen! I saw that Cedar Point is only open on weekends in that time frame so we're either traveling on October 10th-12th or October 16th-18th.

 

So this is where I need all your help... What airline(s) are inexpensive to fly to Sandusky/Cleveland area from L.A., any hotel recommendations around the area that aren't too expensive, are there any buses and/or shuttles to the park or should I get a rental car, how's the weather around that time of year, what crowds should we expect and any other advice you can give a couple of westcoasters heading to the eastern U.S. of A.??? Thanks everyone in advance!

[alilstronger]

^ If you do not mind no amenities on a plane I would go with Southwest. I always fly them anywhere in the US I go if they fly where I am going. Prices are cheap and they allow 2 free checked bags as well as a carry on. Plus if you have to cancel no worries they let you keep your credit until you are ready to use it. They have specials all the time, just sign up for their email blast.

 

There are many hotels in the area near CP that not CP owned that are cheap. I used Google Maps to find mine (Mecca Hotel) and than booked it via Priceline since it was part of pay when you stay. It was literally 10 minutes from the park. I paid $55 a night where the Breakers Express was going to charge me $90 a night and I was only 5 minutes further away. Now my hotel was falling apart and needed a MAJOR make over. It was clean though and that is all I was worried about.

[DirkFunk]

Cleveland was, historically, a hub for Continental, now merged with United. It's been de-hubbed but most of the flights into and out of Cleveland will be on United these days. Southwest/AirTran has a strong presence not only in Cleveland but in nearby Akron as well.

 

There's no mass transit to the park. For convenience sake, you're renting a car. The alternatives feature lots of uncomfortable transfers on public transport before ending up in a cab. If you were to somehow take a bus from the airport to an Amtrak station in Cleveland to Sandusky and then take a cab, you would need to stay on the Peninsula at Cedar Point to get there on a daily basis or face cab rides. So yeah, rent a car.

 

It is October, so more than likely you're looking at highs during daytime in the low-mid 60s and lows at night in the 40s. It could be much colder. It could be much warmer. You should probably expect to pack pants. You should also expect the park, should the weather be decent, to be packed to the gills on Saturday. The nicer it is, the more people will show up. Sundays are usually not too bad.

 

Sandusky's hotel choices are awful. If price is the primary concern, the Knights Inn and Maples Motel along Route 6 are probably your best bet.

[Crazy4Coasters!]

^ If you do not mind no amenities on a plane I would go with Southwest. I always fly them anywhere in the US I go if they fly where I am going. Prices are cheap and they allow 2 free checked bags as well as a carry on. Plus if you have to cancel no worries they let you keep your credit until you are ready to use it. They have specials all the time, just sign up for their email blast.

 

There are many hotels in the area near CP that not CP owned that are cheap. I used Google Maps to find mine (Mecca Hotel) and than booked it via Priceline since it was part of pay when you stay. It was literally 10 minutes from the park. I paid $55 a night where the Breakers Express was going to charge me $90 a night and I was only 5 minutes further away. Now my hotel was falling apart and needed a MAJOR make over. It was clean though and that is all I was worried about.

 

Thanks for the reply. We don't mind amenities on our flight. I was looking into Spirit airlines but they don't fly real close to that area so we're probably taking southwest for the flight. My wife wants a hotel that's "decent" in space(a room that doesn't have the bed right next to the door) so I might have to shell out the extra bucks for that. I

[Crazy4Coasters!]

Cleveland was, historically, a hub for Continental, now merged with United. It's been de-hubbed but most of the flights into and out of Cleveland will be on United these days. Southwest/AirTran has a strong presence not only in Cleveland but in nearby Akron as well.

 

There's no mass transit to the park. For convenience sake, you're renting a car. The alternatives feature lots of uncomfortable transfers on public transport before ending up in a cab. If you were to somehow take a bus from the airport to an Amtrak station in Cleveland to Sandusky and then take a cab, you would need to stay on the Peninsula at Cedar Point to get there on a daily basis or face cab rides. So yeah, rent a car.

 

It is October, so more than likely you're looking at highs during daytime in the low-mid 60s and lows at night in the 40s. It could be much colder. It could be much warmer. You should probably expect to pack pants. You should also expect the park, should the weather be decent, to be packed to the gills on Saturday. The nicer it is, the more people will show up. Sundays are usually not too bad.

 

Sandusky's hotel choices are awful. If price is the primary concern, the Knights Inn and Maples Motel along Route 6 are probably your best bet.

 

Thank you for that! For sure then I'll rent a car. We are only going to be there for a few days so I wouldn't want to take time off our vacation trying to figure out the transit system. I'll check United just in case for airfare as well. And I was looking for hotels in the sandusky area so if we do choose do go that route does anyone have any hotels in that area you recommend? And we were planning to go to the park on Saturday but from what you wrote we'll probably bump that to sunday!

[DirkFunk]

Spacewise most of the rooms in Sandusky aren't great. They're aged motel units that get spruced up once every two decades. Honestly, there's way worse options than the two places I named. I've heard the Maui Sands isn't bad along route 250 and they have some cheaper rates that don't include their waterpark, so that's something you may want to keep in mind.

[Crazy4Coasters!]

There were some options like the Maui Sands that we are considering but I'll keep showing the wifey pictures of places in the area and see which one she likes the best! Thanks again!

[cmullin]

^ Do you have a Platimnum Pass? If not then you should try to stay on site, and Breakers Express is the cheapest on site hotel that lets you get in early.

[WildStangAlex]

any hotel recommendations around the area that aren't too expensive

 

My advice is to stay at Breakers Express. The rates really aren't too bad, it's Clean, Comfortable, and close to the park. You will also receive 1 hour of extra ride time in the morning if you stay there, on select rides.

[Crazy4Coasters!]

^ Do you have a Platimnum Pass? If not then you should try to stay on site, and Breakers Express is the cheapest on site hotel that lets you get in early.

 

No platinum pass!

 

And thank you for reminding me about the early entry with that hotel.

[Crazy4Coasters!]

any hotel recommendations around the area that aren't too expensive

 

My advice is to stay at Breakers Express. The rates really aren't too bad, it's Clean, Comfortable, and close to the park. You will also receive 1 hour of extra ride time in the morning if you stay there, on select rides.

 

Any ideas which rides they usually open up for early entry?

[johnnyknottsville]

^From CP website these are the early entry rides available

 

GateKeeper, Ocean Motion, Midway Carousel, Raptor, Millennium Force, Iron Dragon, Maverick and Planet Snoopy.

[Crazy4Coasters!]

^From CP website these are the early entry rides available

 

GateKeeper, Ocean Motion, Midway Carousel, Raptor, Millennium Force, Iron Dragon, Maverick and Planet Snoopy.

 

Not shabby at all!!! Thanks!!!

[singemfrc]

I have a question for local pass holders..I'm going on a day that's usually not very busy (Sun 9/8), but since I'm travelling half way across the country for just one day at the park I really want to use my time as efficiently as possible so I'm probably going to buy FL+ either way, but I'd prefer to buy it at the park. So, how often/how easy do the Fast Lane passes actually sell out? Is it common on a moderately busy day at the park to see FL or FL+ sold out?

[cmullin]

^From CP website these are the early entry rides available

 

GateKeeper, Ocean Motion, Midway Carousel, Raptor, Millennium Force, Iron Dragon, Maverick and Planet Snoopy.

 

Not shabby at all!!! Thanks!!!

It's always those rides, so you should be able to get at least one ride on the four big coasters open, and then go over to TTD before the gates open to the rest of the GP.

[Koasterking48]

Why why why why why would someone do this??

 

Inn other news, one of the park's biggest fans, "Mean Streak Henry," as he's known to our staff, made a special milestone on his favorite coaster this morning: his 10,000th ride.

 

Yes. Ten. Thousandth. Ride. On. Mean. Streak. (That was too many periods, I know.) Oops! There's another one. And another...nevermind.

So, congrats, Henry! And Ride On till you hit a million.

[Olsor]

Why why why why why would someone do this??

 

Ride-induced amnesia?

[Wes]

Obviously something in his brain shook loose between Ride 600-650.

[cmullin]

^ HAHA! But seriously, I'm surprised he doesn't have brain damage by now! One ride gave me back pain for a few days, he must have mastered how to ride it by now. You've go to be crazy to do something like this.

[Garet]

I think he must have looked at all the other roller-coasters in cedar point and noticed they already have groupies and went looking for the ugly girl sitting crying in the corner alone.