Cedar Point & Kings Island

[HPCrazy]

I know I have probably mentioned this in the past but I will be going back out to Cedar Point and Kings Island on August 15-18 for my second time since 1998/99. We are also taking my friend Alex who has never been to either of these parks before. I wanted to know people's suggestions (especially from the CP & KI experts on here) on crowds and wait times to help me think things over accordingly.

 

First off, we plan on picking up Alex and leaving sometime during the day on Saturday, getting up to Sandusky later that afternoon, check in at the Breaker's Express hotel and get our CP tickets there and such, and then just wind the day down so we won't be so tired in the morning. Some questions about this part:

 

-What's there to do in the Sandusky area as far as killing an evening (mini golfing, eating, etc)

-Good place to eat breakfast the next two mornings (Sunday and Monday) or is there a place at Breaker's Express?

 

Also, since we will be staying at Breaker's Express, we will be taking advantage of the one-hour early entry into CP on Sunday morning, so my goal is to do Maverick first (can't wait to compare it to Fahrenheit!) and then Millennium Force (if they will be running during this time). Would these be good first two choices for the early entry? I am not sure if I will do Dragster or not those two are on my "goal list" for the day. Some questions about this part:

 

-Once the rest of the park opens, what would be a good ride to start off with? By this time I should have Maverick done and maybe Millennium Force.

-Best times to ride the other coasters (except Dragster)

-Best place(s) to eat, should we decide to eat in there?

 

After we're done with CP, we will be staying at Breaker's Express that evening and will rise early to make our trip down to Cincinnatti. We are planning on arriving at King Island sometime on Monday morning, just not sure when yet - will be around opening though. But before we get there, we plan on going to our hotel which will be the Comfort Inn at the Fields Ertel exit off 1-71 and buy our discounted tickets there. I remember we stayed at the same place before when we last visited.

 

But anyways once we get to the park and get in there, I plan on doing Firehawk first and save Diamondback for later. Why? I've been hearing alot of people saying about the wait for Firehawk and that there is a "single rider line" at Diamondback. Since these are two of my "goal rides" for the day, I figure get Firehawk out of the way and have that credit done first and do Diamondback later with it being a "people eater" as alot have said, and the singles line cutting back on wait time, which worked perfectly for me on Fahrenheit last year since Alex didn't ride with me. I also plan on doing both a "day" and "night" ride on the Beast since we plan on being there til close. I've ridden the Beast during the daytime on my last visit but I have heard incredible reviews of rider's experiences on it in the dark, so I am really looking forward to that! Some questions about this part:

 

-Am I wise at doing Firehawk first or should I do Son of Beast first, instead?

-Since I only rode Beast, Racer (forwards) and Adventure Express on my last visit, when would be good times on riding the other coasters?

-This may sound odd and I can't remember, but are those helicopters in Nick Universe for adults too? Or is it strictly a kiddie ride? I was actually thinking of taking a spin on it for some fun (I remember it as Yogi's Sky Tours on my last visit, but never rode it).

-Best place(s) to eat, should we decide to eat in there?

 

I think that's about it. I definitely will have a PTR after the trip, and will be excited share my second trip out to Ohio's two mega-parks!

[Yamez]

For killing an evening they do have a small movie theater by Sandusky Mall. As I just said, they obviously have a mall if you're a mall walker, and it has some decent stores. I would also suggest going out to Battery Park and walking around down there, its absolutely gorgeous at night, not to mention the nice views of CP and the Marina.

 

For food, I am a fan of Perkins Pancake House by Meijers, or my personal favorite Berardi's, you can see their website here http://www.sanduskyberardis.com/. Its a small family owned restaurant by the High School football fields, the staff is friendly and the owners are just as kind, not to mention the food is fantastic! Highly recommended. I don't know if there's anything at Breakers, I've never stayed there.

 

As for your rides, if you can try and get Dragster out of the way. That leaves you free to ride most everything else, and the lines won't be too bad early on, so you should be able to get your credits.

 

Go to the front of the park later on in the day. The front of the park tends to be crowded early, and the back later.

 

As for food, it depends on what you want. If you want sit down restaurants there's a few in the park, and a few just outside the park's gates. Famous Daves and TGI Fridays are both outside the park. In the park there is Game Day Grille, Johnny Rockets, and the Midway Market. If you don't want to go to a full service restaurant the fry stand by Wicked Twister near Planet Snoopy I find have probably the best Chili Cheese Fries in the park.

 

I can't help you with Kings Island, I'm not familiar with the area or the park. Hope this was of some assistance.

[Electerik]

Do you like ice cream? Because Sandusky is home to my favorite ice cream store anywhere, Toft's.

 

Map of the Area

 

Toft's New CP Flavor

 

/"Caveman Chocolate" FTW!

[hemmy]

Take the king kong pizza challenge @ Chet & Matt's in Sandusky

[HPCrazy]

Hey guys, thanks so much for the pointers! I never knew there was a Battery Park there. So I'm guessing it's along the lake if you can see Cedar Point from there. Maybe that is something to check out and take some pictures. How far is Battery Park from Breakers Express?

 

I haven't been to Perkins in a long time. They have a few around here (York and Hanover) so I don't know how the quality of the food is now. I remember Midway Market from my last visit, but alot of those other places just opened in the past few years so they would all be new to me. Again, thanks so much for the suggestions!

 

Edit: I just checked out the menu on Berardis website and it looks like a pretty cool place. Thanks for letting me know about it.

[Cobra Commander]

Lazytown Choppers a.k.a. Yogi's Sky Tours can be used by adults, just do it early because they take a long time to load and unload.

[spaceace12]

Your going August...Kings Island will be packed.

[DBru]

May I ask why you are not planning to ride TTD?

[HPCrazy]

Well I want to do Maverick first and depending on what the wait time is for Dragster after that, it may eat up the rest of early entry time. I heard that and Maverick get the most people. I am assuming that is correct.

[DBru]

Are you sure Dragster is included in early entry? It wasn't in 2007...

 

But regardless, you seriously need to get on that thing. It's definitely the most intense 15 seconds you will ever experience on a coaster.

[Yamez]

Dragster is not early entry. It takes too long to warm up in the mornings.

[HPCrazy]

That's a relief. I do know that Maverick and Millennium Force are part of early entry (unless that changes this year). I am planning on doing Maverick first, and then Millennium Force. Maybe after those two, I'll see what Dragster is like, you know, not long after opening. I'm sure there are CP experts here that know about that.

 

Oh and DBru, thanks for the encouragement about me riding Dragster. While I don't have a problem with it, it's just trying to find the appropriate time to ride it so I am not standing in line for an hour or two.

[Yamez]

If you can manage to knock out Maverick and Millennium during early entry I'd go ahead and hit Dragster right afterwards, the line should be pretty short. After that you can pretty much do the entire park at your leisure (unless its a really crowded day), which makes for a much more fun experience (in my opinion).

[HPCrazy]

We are planning on arriving in Sandusky on Saturday and check in at Breaker's Express when we get there. Rise early on Sunday and do the early entry into CP, and then go to Kings Island on Monday. I don't know how the crowds will be on a Sunday and Monday in August at either park. That's one of the reasons why I started this thread, to get some expertise from CP and KI experts on here.

 

Thanks for the imput about Dragster, Yamez. Maybe we can swing by it when I finish up with Millennium Force. I think my dad thinks I should ride it too because he did mention to me that it would be like I rode the second tallest coaster in the world (or one of the tallest) - lol!

[Carnage]

You may want to give Dragster some time to warm up. (or at least see how it's running at opening).

 

In the spring/fall it takes at least an hour or so before they start loading full trains, etc. Though in August I would imagine that it's warm up period would be far less.

 

Though when running well Dragster's line moves very quickly. It can crank through a large crowd in no time. Pending any breakdowns of course. I don't think I've been to the park once and not seen it down at one point or another. Although quite often it'll only be down for 10-15 minutes.

 

As long as the weather is decent and it looks to be running well I'd say go for it. As long as the line isn't like 2 hours long.

[Darien Laker]

When I went last in '07, it was Maverick, Millennium Force, and Raptor for early entry. I actually ended up of being able to get a nice front seat ride on Raptor (one train wait) before doing anything else.

 

On the other hand, since MF and Maverick are your goals, you would probably want to pick those two. I had time for two rides in my early entry, and I went with MF as my second ride, because Mavericks queue seemed close to full; MF's line was just out of the station. I'm not sure the waits for the two rides would be that unbalanced now, since Maverick isn't brand-spanking-new anymore. I'm not sure if they still do these three rides now either, maybe they switched it up.

 

 

When I don't have early entry (or after my early entry) I seem to start at Magnum and make a circle(ish) from there. Dragster's line seems to move quickly when i've been on it, unless there is a major break-down, which doesn't seem to happen nearly as often as it once did.

 

Have a good time!

[HPCrazy]

Thanks guys so much for the Dragster advice! It's beginning to sound more promising. As long as it's not over an hour or so, I may end up going for it.

[slither37]

You have a good plan, on the weekends, I will go to Maverick, MF get a ride on each and then to Raptor which I can usually get to just before the crowds are let in. Then right after Raptor I go to Wicked Twister and can usually get 2 or 3 rides on it without a wait at that time. Then to Magnum/gemini then I will go ride Skyhawk, yes, purposefully avoiding Mean Streak.

 

As far as food in Sandusky, I see someone already mentioned Beradis. Very good food.

 

Remember to park in the back of the park to get to Maverick.

[HPCrazy]

Are you referring to the lots by Soak City/Challenge Park (where Magnum goes by)? Is anyone allowed to park back there? I ask because I thought that was strictly for Soak City/Challenge Park guests. We will be staying a Breakers Express and have the five min or less drive to the park itself. Doesn't really matter to me if I walk to Maverick from the front gate.

[slither37]

When you go through the booths where they collect for parking tell them you want to park in th eback, sometimes you will be given a paper to put on your dash sometimes not, go to the left and the road goes all the way back around the park until you end up next to gemini which is where I usually park. Walk under the lift hill of magnum and then entrance is right there.

 

Oh no way, maverick from the front at 9? you will get there for one ridge before the park opens. It is still a little hike from the magnum entrance, but not nearly as far as the front gate.

[Carnage]

Just go to the far left parking booth.

 

Just tell them you're going to hotel breakers, or soak city, or challenge park. They won't give you any trouble, and will just send you back there.

[HPCrazy]

When you go through the booths where they collect for parking tell them you want to park in th eback, sometimes you will be given a paper to put on your dash sometimes not, go to the left and the road goes all the way back around the park until you end up next to gemini which is where I usually park. Walk under the lift hill of magnum and then entrance is right there.

 

Oh no way, maverick from the front at 9? you will get there for one ridge before the park opens. It is still a little hike from the magnum entrance, but not nearly as far as the front gate.

 

Do you always park back there when you go to the park? And they let you park there the whole time?

[DBru]

Don't tell them you are going to Hotel Breakers. They will ask to see your confirmation code.

[HPCrazy]

Breakers Express guests probably park in the main lot, am I correct? If so, parking may not be that much of an issue unless there are hundreds of people already there before they let the CP Resort guests in first.

[slither37]

Anyone can park in the back of the park, to to the far left toll booth and tell them that want to park in the back. I usually do park back there.

 

I believe there is at least one restaurant serving breakfast back there, Sandcastle Suites maybe?

 

Kind of a cool drive around the park,