Cedar Point and Kings Island in May/June

[MixedDrink]

Okay,

so I very well may be going to Cedar Point and Kings Island in May or June.

I will most likely be at Cedar Point for 2-3 days, so I'm not too worried about how long the lines will be, but just in case the trip is cut short..

what rides at Cedar Point should I ride on the first day?

 

Also, we may be going to Kings Island,

but probably for only a day,

so I wanted to know, how are the lines in June?

Since Diamond Back is opening next year I'm expecting the park to be busy, but I want to try and get most every credit at the park.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

- Basil

[Astat]

I went to KI in June of '06, and managed to get all the credits in on the first day. Having ridden Firehawk when it was at Geauga Lake however, I know the line for it moves VERY slowly. Adventure Express, Vortex, Racer, Beast, and Flight Deck all had very short lines/walk-ons, and reasonably short waits (~10 minutes) for Fairly Odd Coaster, the Rugrats kiddie suspended, and Son of Beast. I think Backlot Stunt Coaster was about 30 minutes, and Flight of Fear and Invertigo were about 20. Even on a fairly busy day, you should probably be able to get all the credits BUT Diamondback/Firehawk. I'd say ride those first, and the rest should be a pretty quick credit run, unless it's unusually busy that day.

 

As far as Cedar Point goes, I find it easiest to go up the right side of the park early in the day and hit Wicked Twister, Magnum, and Gemini, none of which tend to have waits over 10 minutes. Everybody runs to either Maverick or Dragster at the start of the day, so avoid those early unless you get there right at opening. Also avoid Raptor like the plague early in the day, it has a HUGE line for the first couple hours due to its location, but drops to 10 minutes or less by the end of the day. Throw in a ride on Millennium Force sometime during the day, and those 7 are pretty much all the "good" coasters at the park. I guess you could consider Mantis one too if you REALLY like standups, but it's pretty rough and getting worse. As for non-coasters, Power Tower always has a short line, and Maxair's line usually looks long but empties out quick with its high capacity. I've seen Skyhawk anywhere between a walk-on and 45 minutes.

 

Also, a lot of Ohio schools don't let out until after the first week of June, so weekdays in late May/early June should be far less busy than if you go later in the month.

[Goliath513]

I went to Cedar Point in mid-late June for 2 days and I was able to get all 18 credits there on the first day, which was a Monday, by about 4pm even with rainy weather. Their operations are good enough that you should should have no problem! I was also able to get on quite a few flat rides that day too. The second day was for re-rides on my favorite coasters and other rides. I also went to Soak City for a few hours in the late afternoon since our hotel ticket included it.

 

As for Kings Island, I have no idea what their operations are like. It's Cedar Fair and not their main park, so the operations probably won't be as good as Cedar Point. I hear their operations are good, but then again, I heard the same about Kings Dominion and their operations were terrible in every way.

[palmerleeberry]

Goliath513 wrote:

 

As for Kings Island, I have no idea what their operations are like. It's Cedar Fair and not their main park, so the operations probably won't be as good as Cedar Point. I hear their operations are good, but then again, I heard the same about Kings Dominion and their operations were terrible in every way.

 

I don't know where you heard that, but I can assure you that statement is totally untrue. I should know that fact for I've visited that park six times this season and each and every visit was a pure joy. The cast members and crew of Kings Dominion handled themselves beautifully during my visits, as they kept their rides running and the park in tip-top condition.

 

Perhaps that statement was directed to a certain Six Flags park that is located in Maryland; I know their operation at that park is terrible.

 

Now, as for MixedDrink's query on what to ride and in what order when visiting Kings Island and Cedar Point, this is my game plan: First, get to the park early and ride the newest coaster first since that is where the longest line will be as the day goes on. Also, ride the coasters that has the least seats per coaster train early in the day (For example, Coaster A runs two trains with sixteen seats per train as Coaster B can run two trains with thirty-two seats per train. Provided that each coaster has the same number of people in line, coaster B would dispense its riders quicker than Coaster A because coaster B can hold more riders, thus get rid of its awaiting riders in half of the time from Coaster A.

 

"That is what happened during one my visits to Kings Dominion. The Volcano (Coaster A) had a wait time of 40 minutes while the Dominator (Coaster B) was a walk up and ride when I got on during the afternoon."

 

As for water attractions, getting on them early in the day, later in the evening, or on days when the skies are gloomy would offer the shortest line.

 

As for the other rides, depending if the park isn't too crowded, all the other rides should be walk up and ride (or least wait a few minutes).

[Philrad71]

I guess you could consider Mantis one too if you REALLY like standups, but it's pretty rough and getting worse.

 

I had two pretty good rides on Mantis in the front seat with hardly any wait. It is really not that bad as long as you ride in the front and prepare for the transitions. I actually enjoyed myself on it this year and the first drop was hardly trimmed at all!

 

To be honest, my roughest rides this year were on Maverick. I rode it four times in various locations and got my ears boxed every time during the quick transitions. I even tried to keep my head back on the head rest and held on to the black grab bars - fail.

 

Don't get me wrong, I still love the coaster. Just be ready for some serious headbanging once this coaster starts getting some years on it.

[MixedDrink]

Okay,

we want to avoid summer crowds, so I think I'm going to try and get there in may.

By the way,

thanks for everyones help! It's greatly appreciated in making my Ohio experience even better !

[Guest]

As for Kings Island, I have no idea what their operations are like. It's Cedar Fair and not their main park, so the operations probably won't be as good as Cedar Point. I hear their operations are good, but then again, I heard the same about Kings Dominion and their operations were terrible in every way.

Kings Island had very good operations when I was there in 2007. Beast, Adventure Express, Italian Job, and Vortex were all running 3 trains with pretty good load times. Racer was running 4 trains, I couldnt tell how many FoF was running but they seemed to load trains fast enough, and Firehawk was running 2 trains with 2 stations. A lot can change in a 2 year window though, IDK how it will be operating next year.

[PKI Jizzman]

Well, weekends suck for KI starting in June. May shouldn't be too bad, especially on those weekdays where school is still in session. I'm planning on getting up to KI during the week multiple times because of the darn snake! Shouldn't have too much trouble.

 

-JZ

[yankees15]

I am also planning on a trip very similar to this next year. Right now I'm planning on leaving PA saturday 6/13 and arriving in Kings Mills that night. I would spend all of sunday 6/14 at Kings Island. Monday morning until around 1 would also be spent at Kings Island, and the night would be spent at Cedar Point. Tuesday and Wednesday would be spent at Cedar point and then I would come back home on thursday 6/18. I'm also wondering how long the line would be for both parks.