Cedar Point Trip Advice

[cmullin]

I'm going on a trip to Cedar Point, Canada's Wonderland, and Kings Island and was wondering if anyone had any advice to make my trip more enjoyable and get more rides in at each park. Any tips are greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

[Dinnwitted]

For Kings Island, one should go on a weekday. The order of attack should be in this order:

1. Firehawk - line is at best a crawl.

2. Flight of Fear - Same reasoning as Firehawk.

3. Backlot Stunt Coaster - Same reasoning yet again.

4. After this, you should do the other coasters in any order you choose.

[cmullin]

Ok thanks!

[1pizza14]

When are you planning on going? Canada's Wonderland is TERRIBLE on almost any day in July + August, the park is almost always slammed, if you are visiting in one of those 2 months, I would HIGHLY suggest getting fastlane + , otherwise getting all the credits/ rides in will be very difficult. All parks are Cedar Fair, so you might want to consider getting a Platinum Pass.

[cmullin]

When are you planning on going? Canada's Wonderland is TERRIBLE on almost any day in July + August, the park is almost always slammed, if you are visiting in one of those 2 months, I would HIGHLY suggest getting fastlane + , otherwise getting all the credits/ rides in will be very difficult. All parks are Cedar Fair, so you might want to consider getting a Platinum Pass.

 

From June 3rd to the 11th. We have Platinum Passes and have bought Fast Lane+ at CP and one of the other parks but are planning on buying at both. Also, we are going to Coastermania at CP

[dstephe9]

I'm also planning a trip to cedar point this summer. Staying at the resort. I don't plan on buying a fast pass. Would you all suggest buying a starlight ticket the night before to get more time in the park and be able to ride almost all rides? Or is a fast pass the only option to ride all rides?

 

Date of trip is currently undecided. It will be a weekday in July or August. Probably arrive Monday and leave Thursday but only only one day in the park plus possible starlight. Which day would everyone suggest? I am thinking Wednesday (starlight Tuesday night)

 

The rest of the time I just plan to relax.

[Aaronupsidasium]

Honestly if you plan to spend that much time at the hotels in July or August you'll spend way more money on hotels than on park tickets. It's peak season and you should book your room ASAP.

 

Yeah but if you buy a three day resort pass (90 dollars) you get into many major attractions an hour early, access to the water park if you want to relax and they usually throw you a bunch of food vouchers for anywhere on the resort. It sounds better than splurging for fastlane.

 

Remember that some of the hotel restaurants which include TGIFridays and Perkins are open later than the park so you can tide of self over with snacks instead of wasting good coaster time eating dinner in the park.

[rcdude]

^^When I visited Cedar Point (2008), it was on a Tuesday in late August, which is typically considered one of the lowest crowd periods at the park. Despite this, we found waits of up to two hours for the big three at the park, and even with the advantage of early entry we barely managed to get all the coasters done in one day. We did not have time for any re-rides, and only were able to do a few non-coaster rides (all of which were walk-ons). Based on this, I would strongly advise purchasing at least the regular Fast Lane pass if you are spending less than two full days in the park, as it will almost certainly be busier during your visit than it was during mine. If you are doing one day plus a starlight, buy Fast Lane for the full day if it is important to do everything, as you may not be able to ride everything otherwise. If you do two days (or more), you can probably skip Fast Lane if you don't mind waiting in lines. If you are only visiting for one full day, you will not get everything done without Fast Lane.

 

To the original poster, if you're buying Fast Lane at the parks it shouldn't be that hard to get on everything in a day. I visited Canada's Wonderland on a weekend last summer and while it was busy, thanks to Fast Lane I got on all the significant attractions plus a few re-rides before dinner and didn't have to run around the park like crazy to do it. Just make sure to get to the parks early (ideally 20-30 minutes before opening) and do the attractions that do not have Fast Lane access first.

[Aaronupsidasium]

I have to disagree that late August is the slowest time of the year. The last two times I went was Memorial Day (2005) and first weekend of June (2007) and the lines were really light. Last time only Maverick, MF and MaxAir had long lines. Yeah that means lots of rerides of TTD!

 

So yeah my recommendation is to go before June 20th, when when the resorts end their discounted rates.

[B&MBoy1982]

I usually only go to Cedar Point on a Monday.

 

A tip I would give anyone: park at the Soak City lot, enter by Magnum, and head toward Maverick first.

 

Kings Island isn't too bad during the week. I am not expecting the park to be extremely crowded this summer due to The Beach waterpark reopening this year.

 

They offered 2013 passes to everyone who bought a 2012 pass before they made the announcement to close.

 

I agree with riding Firehawk first. Afterwards, do not zig zag. Ride things as you come to them.

 

Diamondback's queue when it is FULL is 45 minutes from the sign to the station. It's not too bad as it is a people eater. Flight of Fear's queue is not too bad once you are inside the hanger.

 

I have seen Back Lot with a full queue, but more times than not, the queue is only half full and only takes 30 - 45 minutes.

 

If they bring it back this year, eat at Backyard BBQ. Gold and Platinum get a discount. If not, have Hank's Burrito Shack. It's quite good and decently priced for all you get. You can pay a little extra (I think it's 4.99 for a 32oz) at Hank's if you want a drink from the Freestyle machine, but if you go around to the bar behind Hank's, you can get a regular soft drink for 3.99 I think.

 

My favorite snack throughout the day is (depending what I am in the mood for) either Rivertown Potato Works or the pretzels! The pretzels are hand rolled, not the frozen "Soft Pretzels" they used to sell.

 

The pizza place in RIvertown next to Beast is pretty good. I am not really a fan of Larosa's, but it usually has a shorter line than the one on International Street.

 

I went to the park 39 times in 2011, only 9 in 2012, ( I was slacking). I plan to make up for it this season.

[Whodey]

Invertigo is also is slow going at KI. I agree with everyone hitting Firehawk first followed up by FOF.

[cmullin]

Thanks so much for all of the advice so far! It's going to be a huge help on our trip!