Cedar Point TR: Opening Day 2009

[TopThrill182]

Sorry, no pictures. I figure plenty of other people have that covered. First off, I was thrilled to be able to make an opening day trip. This was my first visit on opening day, and despite the grim weather outlook I was pretty excited to be going. The day certainly had its "ups," but there were also quite a few "downs." Overall, though, I was so happy to be back at the park I was still able to have a great time. I tried to make this TR detail filled (for those who weren't fortunate enough to get to opening day), but tried to organize it by sections so you can skip to whatever interests you.

 

Weather:

 

Most weather forecasts I checked the day before indicated that the rain / thunderstorms would stop by noon. We arrived at the park around 1pm only to find it raining somewhat heavily. The heavy rain continued until about 4pm, at which point it stopped for the rest of the day. The rain did close quite a few attractions (Iron Dragon, WildCat, Raptor, etc), but others (Millennium Force, maXair) remained open. So there were still a few thrills to be had during the rain. There was a great deal of wind throughout the day, but I'm not sure it was really all that much windier than it is any other day by the lake. After about 5:30pm the sun came out until dusk, which was nice. Temperatures were in the 60's.

 

First Observations:

 

Upon entering the parking lot I noticed that it wasn't all that crowded (We were able to park on the side in 23). We then proceeded to get our season passes. The season pass line was incredibly long (as to be expected), but they kept it moving efficiently, and it was extremely well organized, so it wasn't really a problem. Again, all of the employees here were very friendly.

 

The New Stuff:

 

There were definitely improvements / changes throughout the park. Some highlights included:

 

- Entrance Area Remodeling: Overall the entrance area had some nice touch-ups. The brick pavers between the ticket booths and the entrance really added a lot (I hope they continue to expand their use of brick pavers through other areas of the park). It really breaks up the concrete and gives the entrance a more decorative feel. More colorful banners were added, which was also nice. When you come to the entrance there is one large LCD screen in the middle of the structure, and four smaller LCD screens hanging over the turnstiles. One of the LCD's wasn't working, but the others had advertisements from sponsors, as well as pictures from the park, advertisements for Magnum's birthday, etc. Overall some nice touches.

 

- Interactive Fountain: I can't really make up my mind on this one. The new fountain is definitely more colorful, and even with the cooler temperatures kids and adults were having fun running through it. In the center there are maybe 16 water jets. Surrounding the jets are quite a few bright yellow benches, along with large poles having colorful lighting similar to that found in the revamped maXair area. So the fountain does spice up the area, but overall seems much smaller in scale than the previous fountain. There really isn't too much "fountain" to look at (I think they should have made this bigger), but the surrounding area looks much nicer.

 

- Raptor fans: They seemed to have added misting fans (maybe 5 of them) in Raptor's queue.

 

- Wicked Twister queue changes: They have removed and blocked off the section of queue directly behind the old Aquatic Stadium. They currently have some of the Antique / Cadillac cars parked back there for storage. Don't worry, this was done tastefully and in an un-Six Flags manner (they did actually remove the railings back there and put up a new wall matching the current wooden wall surrounding Wicked Twister's queue). This change really makes sense to me, as I've never seen all of Wicked Twister's queue being utilized.

 

- Top Thrill Dragster railing: They seem to have added a silver railing along the catwalk running along the launch track. The railing is only in the middle section (starts after the track is raised significantly off the ground and ends at the concrete barrier at the entrance). Maybe I'm picky, but I really hated this change. It looks hideous and sort of stands out in my opinion. Obviously minor, but this bugged me.

 

- Frontier Town sign: A sign has been added (saying "Frontier Town") on the side by Snake River Falls.

 

- Haystack Dryer: Called "Family Dryer." This was surprisingly popular. I saw a rather lengthy line to use it. Can't really comment on how effective it is, but looks handy.

 

- Starlight Experience: There are TONS of lights wrapped around almost every single tree on the Frontier Town Trail. There also seem to be other floodlights in certain areas and perhaps other effects. While I am disappointed this secluded area won't be so peaceful at night, it does look like this will be a really cool addition. They turned on a few lights at night (which again looked great), but the whole system won't be on until next weekend it looks like. I have high hopes for this based on seeing how much is back there. And the nice thing is this was all done discreetly. In the day, it still looks just as woodsy and you can't really tell they have messed with things.

 

- Disaster Transport: Disaster Transport's queue has been permanently moved to its Halloweekends location. I didn't actually go in it, so I'm not sure if things have changed inside, but the outside of the queue looks a bit nicer (they have a large sign pointing you to the entrance that looks sort of cool). The old entrance was nicely blocked off, and again, this looks to be permanent. Perhaps this will allow them to put up more permanent props in the first few rooms for an even better Halloweekends haunted house?

 

- Magnum's sign: Wow! Looks great! And it's about time too... You really have to see it in person though, it looks cool and is a nice, large size.

 

Rides:

 

First let me make a comment on ride uptime. First, just with the weather during the first part of the day, the majority of the rides were closed. There were a few open, but the novice crews seemed somewhat slow in reopening the rides, and by the time they did, the rain would start again. There were also a lot of maintenance issues. I haven't been on previous opening days, but in comparison to a mid-summer day this one was pretty bad. Millennium Force was up and down probably 5 times throughout the day, with some sort of problem resulting in an evacuation with a train near the top of the lift hill (yellow train) at about 8pm. The ride, to my knowledge, did not reopen for the rest of the evening. While waiting in line for Magnum, it broke down for about half an hour. Maverick was apparently up and down throughout the day as well.

 

Top Thrill Dragster was closed for most of the day due to mechanical issues and weather, but towards mid-afternoon they tried to open it up. They only loaded the front two, sometimes three rows, and I would estimate that only one out of every five trains would make it over the hill (no this is not an exaggeration). The ride did appear to be open, but very few people were waiting for it, because considering that they were only loading the front two rows (combined with the fact that only one in five trains actually made it over) it apparently took hours to get on, if at all. While it was chilly, it was still in the 60's when the ride was having most of its problems, and the wind at that point wasn't too bad, so it would seem that the ride was having some mechanical problems which were probably compounded by the poor weather. I'd love to hear from anyone who has more details on just what exactly was going on.

 

Some rides were not open at all. Cadillac Cars is an example, and I believe that Mean Streak was also closed for the day (or so I was told by an employee blocking the path to the ride mid-afternoon). To Cedar Point's credit, Thunder Canyon and Snake River Falls were open.

 

The rides I went on:

 

- Magnum XL 200: Great ride. It was incredibly smooth, had tons of airtime, and even in the cold air it felt like it was running pretty fast. No complaints here. Oh and happy birthday by the way! I missed the cake but apparently birthday celebrations were in the morning.

 

- Gemini: Once again, no complaints about this coaster. It was running really well. It was smooth, had lots of airtime, and they always seemed to be racing it.

 

- Wicked Twister: Love this ride! Felt incredibly fast, and I'm glad to see that some of the vibrations I felt in parts of last season were not there today. Really a great ride.

 

- Skyhawk: Disappointing the ride cycle remains so short, but it is still a great little ride. They still don't let you pull down your own lap bars.

 

- maXair: Fun! Such a long ride cycle, and the spinning felt especially intense today.

 

- Iron Dragon: Nice ride at night. They had the mist in the pond going at full force. Crew was quite good.

 

- Raptor: Wow. This ride continues to surprise me. I really enjoy it more and more each time. Especially at night, it is just such a great ride! I was also surprised how smooth it was, as my head didn't hit the restraint once.

 

Note about Raptor: Here is where some Cedar Point "firsts" come into play. I never thought this would happen, but I got a re-ride at Cedar Point! We got on one of the last trains of the night, had a great ride, and came back into the station. They announced that this would be the last train of the night, but since there were only 8 people in the station (front row and back row), they announced that anyone who was sitting in an unoccupied row could ride again! I originally thought they were just being nice, but they quickly revealed that they couldn't send out an empty train at night (and I'm sure the cold was a factor here). After another great ride, we come the the brake run, where we sit for about ten minutes, before being greeted by employees telling us that again, due to their fear about sending out an empty train from the station, we would have to exit the train on the brake run. They brought around the cool step-stool cart thing, manually released the restraints, and we were escorted down the brake run to the exit. This was pretty exciting for me, simply because A) I have never succeeded in getting a re-ride at Cedar Point, and B) I got to take place in an "evacuation" (no matter how minor it was).

 

Due to maintenance issues I was unable to get on any one of the big three, but I still got to get on some nice rides.

 

Employees:

 

Employees were GREAT. Now, I realize it was their first real day on the job, and things may change as the season wears them down, but everyone was very enthusiastic on the first day! From the parking attendant to our waitress at Famous Daves, everyone was being extraordinarily friendly, courteous, and professional. All the employees really seemed to have a huge amount of energy and enthusiasm (we'll see how long this lasts- hopefully a while). Some ride crews still seem to be learning the ropes, but that's to be expected. Keep up the great work guys!

 

Overall Impressions:

 

Landscaping was certainly lacking, but it's Ohio and the leaves are barely on the trees... So we'll have to see how the summer landscaping turns out later. And did anyone see the trees at Magnum's exit? I thought at first it was an advertisement for Halloweekends (If you haven't seen it the pine trees have been cut so that there are no leaves on it and it is just the bare trunks and branches). I found this sort of amusing...

 

Glad to see the travel place booted out of their booth by Gemini. The new energy concession stand seems like a much more fitting idea.

 

Lighting was one disappointment. Millennium Force's lights still looked to be as weak as they were last year. Power Tower seemed to have one or two of its lights at the top fixed, but overall it still looks pretty bad. The Ferris Wheel still looks horrible at night. Top Thrill Dragster's lighting looked good. Again, I know this is picky, but their lighting look so great when its working, I hate to see it in a state of disrepair. Hopefully after the recession passes they will have more to spend on these things.

 

Merchandise selection in the stores seemed to be the same as it was last year. The new LCD screens, while not all functioning, were a nice addition, and the new brick pavers and fountain area was quite nice as well.

 

________________________________

 

So that was my opening day experience. Thanks for reading. Overall I'd give my visit a B-, but considering the weather, and the fact that it was opening day, that's to be expected to a certain degree I guess. Still, I'm thrilled that the season has begun, and I'm really excited to visit Cedar Point in the coming months!

[CPmaverick]

Nice TR. I was also there and it was a great start to the season. I rode Mean Streak in the morning. I could not believe how painful it was. When I rode Son of Beast a few weeks ago, it was smoother than MS yesterday.

[slither37]

I was there as well, and only problem I had was that my Platinum Pass that I had processed at KI was not working. Of course I did not know this until 9am. So half an hour later, I am was back riding, but still a delay then and then I chose to get the KI pass changed into the Cedar Point pass which required a wait.

 

One other thing new is the unlimited soft drink wristband. I tried 2 times to buy one for both my daughter and me, and apparently there were issues with he printer or something. Finally bought it, 9.00 per.

 

Now when you go to any place to get a drink, you will get soda in the same size cup that water is given in. This is kind of aggravating, but you can just walk to the next stand and get another and another and another. I am sure that I got value out of mine.

[Xxhershey818xX]

^ Sounds to me like I should get the Unlimited drink wristband on Tuesday when I go!

 

Anyways TopThrill182 That was a great trip report. I kind of was hoping for pictures. But you pretty much told me everything I wanted to know. I'm reading up on everything I can for Cedar Point because I'm actually making a trip up there with my school on Tuesday! I'm extremely excited and hope I can get on all the rides.

One thing I was wondeing is if Maverick and Millennium Force were open at all that day? I didn't seem to see anything on your TR about those rides.

[Movieguy]

I rode Mean Streak in the morning. I could not believe how painful it was. When I rode Son of Beast a few weeks ago, it was smoother than MS yesterday.

 

You know, I remember wondering why people were always complaining about the roughness of MS years ago. I haven't been back to CP in some time, but I have recently ridden another woodie that has the same reputation, Darien Lake's Predator. In 1999, I had no problems with it, but in 06 and 07, it was really painful.

 

I have a feeling I'd have the same unpleasant experience with MS now. I'm not sure though why I didn't find it so painful in 02, or other times in the 90s...maybe it has to do with me being younger, and smaller back then.

[Hand 0f Time]

I see that Cedar Point is off to a good start. I cannot wait to join the team.

 

Good report.

[Maverickrocks]

I was there yesterday as well and was impressed with some of the changes. The biggest suprise for me was how smooth Raptor was, no headbanging in the inversions and no rough ending, even in the very back. Not sure what they did exactly, but that ride is a whole lot better now!

 

The only discouraging things I noticed were the higher food and drink prices at some places. Other then that, things are looking pretty good for this season.

 

Some of the other new things that haven't been mentioned are the new causeway sign (which looks great), a new sign before the parking booths (replacement of an old one), and the Icee stand by Maverick now being called Artic Junction.

[ElToroGirl84]

I was there as well, and only problem I had was that my Platinum Pass that I had processed at KI was not working. Of course I did not know this until 9am. So half an hour later, I am was back riding, but still a delay then and then I chose to get the KI pass changed into the Cedar Point pass which required a wait.

 

One other thing new is the unlimited soft drink wristband. I tried 2 times to buy one for both my daughter and me, and apparently there were issues with he printer or something. Finally bought it, 9.00 per.

 

Now when you go to any place to get a drink, you will get soda in the same size cup that water is given in. This is kind of aggravating, but you can just walk to the next stand and get another and another and another. I am sure that I got value out of mine.

 

This concerns me since I bought a platinum pass at Dorney and I plan on using it at Cedar Point and King's island in June and worry that when I get to the gate it will not work but the people at Dorney assured me it should work. Do you have to change the pass to that park(the park you are visiting) if it doesn't work? Just a little concerned since I don't want to be denied entry at the start of my vacation especially after paying such a high price for the passes to begin with.

[cprocks22]

Great TR, thanks for all the information. Glad to hear about the fans in Raptors queue, I remember it getting VERY hot in there on a sunny day last year. I'll be going on Thursday this week for a school trip and will have a Photo TR up in a week *hopefully*.

[STR8FXXXINEDGE]

Great TR!

Pretty similar to how my day went as well.

The morning started out great, and then slowly got worse till I was ready to leave, but I stuck it out and the weather made a turn for the better, then the rest of the night was amazing!

I was just kind of chilling and being lazy, but here were my rides for the day.

Started my day out on Maverick.

Maverick - 2

Millennium Force - 2

Blue Streak - 1

Mean Streak - 2

Magnum - 2

Gemini - 1

Ended my night on the second to last train on Magnum.

 

I drove in Friday night to process my Platinum Pass and slept in my car, so Saturday morning I was able to get to the park super early. I was in the parking lot by about 7:00 am.

 

I actually met a fellow TPR member that is from California. I either did not get his name, or I can't remember it. Sorry! I do remember that his TPR Username is "Coaster(insert something else)", and he was, I think 42 years old.

We actually waited together and talked for a bit at the Soak City park entrance. We then got split up cause he had to get in a different line to use his sister park pass. I looked the whole rest of the day to hopefully meet up with him again, as I was rolling solo, but no luck.

If you're reading this, it was great meeting you and chit-chatting. Hope you have a great time on the rest of your trip!

 

EDIT: So I did some research in The Big Mike Road Show thread. In Big Mike's pictures from West Coast Bash, I found the guy that I meet. It turns out that I met "Michael (coasterobsessive)".

[larrygator]

Thanks for a well written review of opening day, something we don't see much around here nowadays.

 

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but a thousand well written words provide a lot more vital information.

[slither37]

This concerns me since I bought a platinum pass at Dorney and I plan on using it at Cedar Point and King's island in June and worry that when I get to the gate it will not work but the people at Dorney assured me it should work. Do you have to change the pass to that park(the park you are visiting) if it doesn't work? Just a little concerned since I don't want to be denied entry at the start of my vacation especially after paying such a high price for the passes to begin with.

 

I believe you may have to go to the guest services door at CP and KI. This does not take too long, although no one shows up there until 9am, which is the start of the morning ERT.

 

I do not know who I ran into, but I did speak with someone at the front gate that was wearing a TPR WCB 2009 shirt.

[ElToroGirl84]

This concerns me since I bought a platinum pass at Dorney and I plan on using it at Cedar Point and King's island in June and worry that when I get to the gate it will not work but the people at Dorney assured me it should work. Do you have to change the pass to that park(the park you are visiting) if it doesn't work? Just a little concerned since I don't want to be denied entry at the start of my vacation especially after paying such a high price for the passes to begin with.

 

I believe you may have to go to the guest services door at CP and KI. This does not take too long, although no one shows up there until 9am, which is the start of the morning ERT.

 

I do not know who I ran into, but I did speak with someone at the front gate that was wearing a TPR WCB 2009 shirt.

 

Well that rather sucks, why did I pay 160 dollars for a pass I have to change when I get there? It's a platinum pass and the fine print says it gets you into all Cedar Fair parks...sooo why would it not work at the gate? That's rather dumb.

[slither37]

Well that rather sucks, why did I pay 160 dollars for a pass I have to change when I get there? It's a platinum pass and the fine print says it gets you into all Cedar Fair parks...sooo why would it not work at the gate? That's rather dumb.

 

I completely agree, and I showed my displeasure to one of the park ops. I was rather upset and asked why I spent the money only to be inconvenienced. Yes it seems trivial, but my thought was that Cedar Fair has had 2 years to work these bugs out.

 

I did get a walk back through the exit of MF for my trouble, so I missed 1.5 hour wait for it.

[Jerrykoala2112]

So if I get a platinum pass for 160 dollars or what ever...It will work at Carowinds, KI and KD and CP? I hope I buy one and hope it works...and does it come with free parking?

[Homeboy23]

Yes it works at all Cedar Fair parks and has free parking.

[the_rock401]

Plat passes will work at all Cedar Fair parks, but in my limited experience with inter-park admissions (KI on Opening Day and WOF for Prowler), you should proceed immediately to Guest Relations and get things squared away before the bell.

 

This is how you did inter-park at Knott's prior to the plat pass business.

[Maverickrocks]

Wow, I see that my group got really lucky. We all have KI platinum passes and they worked fine on opening day. Very weird.

 

Must be an opening issue, though it really is stupid that they're having these problems. They updated their system last year to accommodate the platinum passes from other parks. So using a pass from KI or other parks should work at the gate...

[ElToroGirl84]

Well that rather sucks, why did I pay 160 dollars for a pass I have to change when I get there? It's a platinum pass and the fine print says it gets you into all Cedar Fair parks...sooo why would it not work at the gate? That's rather dumb.

 

I completely agree, and I showed my displeasure to one of the park ops. I was rather upset and asked why I spent the money only to be inconvenienced. Yes it seems trivial, but my thought was that Cedar Fair has had 2 years to work these bugs out.

 

I did get a walk back through the exit of MF for my trouble, so I missed 1.5 hour wait for it.

 

That's pretty cool of them to give you an exit pass for MF. I guess that was there way of making up for the time it took you to get the new pass.

 

Sounds like it's an opening day problem but I got my pass processed the 2nd day Dorney was open so not sure if I'll have problems or not. I'll just have to see if I have time the evening I get there to hit up the park before it closes just to make sure my pass and my boyfriend's pass works. (We didn't plan on hitting the park on the day we get there because we figured we wouldn't have time or would be to tired from the 7-8 hour drive there but I guess we will have to make the effort or get there even earlier the next morning.)

[BamBam36]

Top Thrill not making it over the top is NEVER a bad thing. You should have tried to get a ride.

[SakuraElizabeth]

^ I have yet to get a rollback..

 

Thanks for the TR, I really want to do the 4 hour drive up there sometime this season.

[Carnage]

Wow, I see that my group got really lucky. We all have KI platinum passes and they worked fine on opening day. Very weird.

 

Same thing for my Canada's Wonderland Platinum pass.

 

I was there Sunday/Monday/Tuesday, and it scanned without a problem.

[ElToroGirl84]

I actually e-mailed Cedar Point and they e-mailed me back today and told me I shouldn't have a problem and that Platinum passes get you into all Cedar fair parks. Let's hope she is right.

[Carnage]

^ It's not whether they get you in to all parks, it's whether they scan at the gates.

 

Worst case it doesn't scan, and you have to go to guest relations or a ticket booth to get in.

 

Though mine scanned, so you "shouldn't" have a problem.

[slither37]

^ Correct, just a minor hassle when it does not scan at the gate. I have seen Dorney passes be a problem at KI and CP. You will get in, you just have to go to guest relations and get a pass to get in, then go through the line.

 

I would have thought that Cedar Fair has had enough time to get this all worked out

 

I am going to KI tomorrow, now that I have changed my pass to a CP platinum, I wonder if I will have trouble getting in KI like I did at CP.