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Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread

p. 2030 - Top Thrill 2 announced!

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So your saying that lousy service, slow ride crews, lack of product, short staff, closed locations, hour long fast lane lines, closed rides and lack of any customer service is ok because it's halloweekends and should be expected?

Expected among enthusiasts or people who should know better? - Yes. However, that doesn't mean it's acceptable. There's a difference between expected and acceptable.

 

Thanks, this was going to be my basic response too!

 

See, here's the thing....

 

I totally expected the crowds and prepared for them the only way I could by buying fast lanes. I have been to several halloweekends, and never experienced bad service on the scale we did this weekend. It was unacceptable, even for a knowing enthusiast.

 

As we said, it's unacceptable. However, none of what you said really surprised me, not even from Cedar Point, I place I typically love, when it comes to this time of year. it just doesn't. I have found that contrary to what some new age hippie types would like to believe, the world is not getting better, people and situations are continuously deteriorating all around us, and it's not surprising that CF's business model, and customer service standards, at least when it comes to Halloweekends and FastLane administration, are slipping as well. That would explain why you have found this year's version to be worse than previous years'. I just know when I went ages ago, it was bad enough I swore I'd never go back on a Saturday, and I haven't!

 

It's not the people's fault that cedarpoint decided to over sell fast lanes and make the lines an hour long. It's a total money grab, and the furthest thing from good customer service.

 

I bolded the fact again, for emphasis, that yes: the current fast lane program IS a blatant money grab on Cedar Point's part! It does NOT exist to make your day at Cedar Point better. When it did, it was free, and was only good for use twice a day per person, and was a great program from a customer service standpoint, and was very well regulated, and utilized! While I don't doubt that they probably DO limit how many fast lanes they sell... I'm not going to straight out call them liars... If they CAN sell as many as possible for $150 a pop, don't you think they're probably going to? Especially when they have built queues for the fast lane that are long enough to accommodate a healthy line? So I'm in total agreement with you on your point! However, I'm not sure how this is really anything new or earth shattering, since it's pretty much S.O.P. for CP and CF in general... I mean, I feel for you, and your family man, I do! I can't STAND to spend money, and feel like I'd have been better off just burning it! But that's why I don't go to CP except for at certain times these days... (Hint... Hint... Come hang with me mid-week in May when I'll be riding Steel Vengeance with sub-20 minute waits and no Fast Pass! )

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A weird thing about the fast lane that we noticed, was that all the locations in the front of the park were sold out. However, the locations in the back of the park looked as if they were still offering them as the signs still showed them as being available.

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What I intend to do next year for Halloweekends is to drive out on the first Friday and stay in the Breakers. Attend the Haunt on Friday night but avoid the park on Saturday and take Mrs. Peabody to the Toledo zoo to see the penguins there. We'd then return to the park on Sunday, staying at Castaway Bay ($89 for Sunday night this year) to get the early admission and drive home on Monday. Since I have a Platinum Pass and one of the renewal perks is to bring a friend in free on any Sunday we'd only be paying one admission for Friday night. One could even make the drive from Cedar Point to Cincinnati for Oktoberfest on Saturday if one were so inclined. I won't set foot in Cedar Point on a Saturday again.

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I wonder, in light of the recent conversation in this thread, if people can help me out with more FastLane info. I might be going to CP next summer with my cousin. We wouldn't be able to go before mid-late June or in the latter half of August (I'm a teacher, so those times are not options for me). So, that leaves us with July or early August, mid-week, of course. We're already budgeting in FastLanes for our visit. My question: How effective is the FastLane system? Will we still be standing in lines and, if so, what is the typical time range? Is what happens during Halloweekends a typical thing, or just exclusive to the extra-crowded Halloweekends days? Thanks for the help and wisdom.

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I wonder, in light of the recent conversation in this thread, if people can help me out with more FastLane info. I might be going to CP next summer with my cousin. We wouldn't be able to go before mid-late June or in the latter half of August (I'm a teacher, so those times are not options for me). So, that leaves us with July or early August, mid-week, of course. We're already budgeting in FastLanes for our visit. My question: How effective is the FastLane system? Will we still be standing in lines and, if so, what is the typical time range? Is what happens during Halloweekends a typical thing, or just exclusive to the extra-crowded Halloweekends days? Thanks for the help and wisdom.

 

If you can go the last week of August the crowds are generally lighter as the Ohio schools are back in session then. We went that week in 2000 and waited twenty minutes for Millennium Force (its debut year). Their hours may be reduced that week but it may well be worth it. Of course, I haven't been during the regular season for quite awhile so it may be different now, but you might not even need FastLanes if you go in late August.

 

Edited to add: sorry, I misread your post. I've been trying to delete this post but can't find the method.

Edited by Mr.Peabody
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I wonder, in light of the recent conversation in this thread, if people can help me out with more FastLane info. I might be going to CP next summer with my cousin. We wouldn't be able to go before mid-late June or in the latter half of August (I'm a teacher, so those times are not options for me). So, that leaves us with July or early August, mid-week, of course. We're already budgeting in FastLanes for our visit. My question: How effective is the FastLane system? Will we still be standing in lines and, if so, what is the typical time range? Is what happens during Halloweekends a typical thing, or just exclusive to the extra-crowded Halloweekends days? Thanks for the help and wisdom.

Ooh tell me when you end up planning to visit Ohio! Maybe we can arrange some sort of meet up? Are you thinking about KI as well?

 

We used FL+ on Labor Day Sunday last year which is one of the most slammed of the year and the longest we waited was for Maverick, 20 minutes or so. You'll have to wait for whichever row you choose when you get to the station, so if you want front of Millennium Force you might have to wait a bit, but in general you should be perfectly fine on a weekday.

Who knows what SV will look like. As you know, Joker had its growing pains last year and I think the RMCs generally tend to do that (though hopefully not as bad as Lightning Rod!) Maybe Maverick will even get shorter lines, though that's doubtful since it is an Intamin launch coaster, LOL.

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I wonder, in light of the recent conversation in this thread, if people can help me out with more FastLane info. I might be going to CP next summer with my cousin. We wouldn't be able to go before mid-late June or in the latter half of August (I'm a teacher, so those times are not options for me). So, that leaves us with July or early August, mid-week, of course. We're already budgeting in FastLanes for our visit. My question: How effective is the FastLane system? Will we still be standing in lines and, if so, what is the typical time range? Is what happens during Halloweekends a typical thing, or just exclusive to the extra-crowded Halloweekends days? Thanks for the help and wisdom.

 

When it's not Halloweekends, Fastlane at Cedar Point is great.

 

It's not nearly as good as it is at some parks since you don't ALWAYS merge right at the station but considering the long lines the park generally has it still saves you a ton of time.

 

On most rides you either merge right into the station or at least at the bottom of the station stairs so you'll generally have a 10 minute wait or less (unless obviously you hop in line for row one).

 

Notable exceptions include Maverick where you DO merge right into the station but it can back up a lot. On a busy summer day that line can range from 15-45 minutes but you'll miss a huge chunk of the line. On Magnum and Rougarou you have a decent line before the station stairs so you'll probably spend about 15-20 minutes at either of these. On Dragster you merge at the split at the bottom of the ramp. This one's not awful but you may burn 20 minutes here (unless you wait for the front, then you're looking at an hour) and Millennium Force where you merge at the bottom of the ramp but it backs up a lot and it's a LONG ramp. You're probably looking at 20 minutes there too (again... unless you wait for the front).

 

Also, Iron Dragon and Mine Ride aren't on the system but those lines rarely get over 30 minutes anyway.

Edited by coasterbill
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I have found that contrary to what some new age hippie types would like to believe, the world is not getting better, people and situations are continuously deteriorating all around us...

On all fronts, bingo.

 

I wonder, in light of the recent conversation in this thread, if people can help me out with more FastLane info. I might be going to CP next summer with my cousin. We wouldn't be able to go before mid-late June or in the latter half of August (I'm a teacher, so those times are not options for me). So, that leaves us with July or early August, mid-week, of course. We're already budgeting in FastLanes for our visit. My question: How effective is the FastLane system? Will we still be standing in lines and, if so, what is the typical time range? Is what happens during Halloweekends a typical thing, or just exclusive to the extra-crowded Halloweekends days? Thanks for the help and wisdom.

We went last year in mid June on a Friday and Saturday. From what I can recall:

For Friday:

MF - 20 minutes

Top Thrill - 20 minutes

Maverick - 10 minutes

Valrvn - 10 minutes

 

For Saturday:

MF - 30 minutes

Top Thrill - 40 minutes

Maverick - 20 minutes

Valrvn - 20 minutes

 

Fury 325 - 5 minutes

Banshee - 0 Minutes

Intimidator 305 - 5 minutes.......

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It was 78 and sunny with little wind on one of the last days of the season. Also on a weekend where area schools had a day off. It happens but your Fast Lane did do the trick and cut hours from your wait time. You may not like that but it says wait less not wait no time and walk on during 3 hour regular lines. Just chalk it up to a bad day and move on as it happens from time to time when you have perfect weather, time off, and short staff.

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It was 78 and sunny with little wind on one of the last days of the season. Also on a weekend where area schools had a day off. It happens but your Fast Lane did do the trick and cut hours from your wait time. You may not like that but it says wait less not wait no time and walk on during 3 hour regular lines. Just chalk it up to a bad day and move on as it happens from time to time when you have perfect weather, time off, and short staff.

 

This is pretty blunt but it's the right idea. The park cannot control how many people choose to show up on what has statistically been one of the bustiest days every year. On top of that it was a perfect day weather wise. In addition with fridays and sundays being so slow, the staffing for those days is more than manageable. Sandusky is NOT a city that the park can pull thousands of employees from like Cincinnati or Charlotte to staff the park. The park does limit their fast lane, and it does significantly cut down on wait times.

 

This park is a destination and not just a "let's go to the park for a couple hours then leave" like other parks in the chain are. A lot of people come to this park for the coasters, meaning lines will be long on busy days. There is no way around that, as much as I wish there was. While some issues could be addressed by the park and its staff, a crowd that overwhelming (for example Raptor having a 3 hour wait) can't just be solved by throwing money at it.

 

Now I'm not saying the park is perfect or to just blow it off as a bad day, but to understand both sides, when looking at these very large crowds.

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I flew up from Texas for the weekend and had a great time! I went to King's Island Friday night first. It was quite busy, but me and my two buddies with me managed to ride every coaster and take in the haunt experience. We had a blast at KI and thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

CP, we knew it would be busy. We were there at 930 and had Fast Lane Plus. We never had a wait longer than 30-40 minutes and we were there from 10 am and left around 11 pm. We rode MF x4 and everything else twice. We bought food from the fire truck food stand instead of bothering with the typical park food knowing they were struggling. As far as drinks, I would always stop off inside Panda as they typically have a register open while everyone else is getting food. They'll just wave me over when I say all I want to use is my drink pass. Was it busy? Of course, but we still spent our money, we still ate, I saw the ride ops doing their absolute best hauling load times like they always do.

 

Keep in mind, the employees that were there likely worked Friday night, and they were there bright and early and there until likely at least 3 am. For those of you that know Josh on here, he was over at MF the whole day and that crew was pumping out the trains. Valravn, Raptor, and Gatekeeper were hauling loading also. I made sure to thank them because I know they were tired and they were doing their best. I'll happily wait 30-40 minutes when I know the ride ops are doing everything they can FOR ME!

 

They were using temps and some charity organizations donating their time, those poor kids were doing everything they could and I made sure I was nice to them as I'm sure they were on the ass end of some bad comments all day. They didn't have to be there, but they were trying. One kid posted at the MF split off for Fast Lane and the regular line looked like he was about to pass out. I gave him a pat on the back and a "atta boy" as he was there longer than they had planned.

 

Give them a break. The park has staffing issues for years this time of the year. I agree it's time to figure out a solution, but even a fully staffed park was not going to improve the experience if you had a bad time that much. We had a great time and I'm looking forward to going back!

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What I intend to do next year for Halloweekends is to drive out on the first Friday and stay in the Breakers. Attend the Haunt on Friday night but avoid the park on Saturday and take Mrs. Peabody to the Toledo zoo to see the penguins there. We'd then return to the park on Sunday, staying at Castaway Bay ($89 for Sunday night this year) to get the early admission and drive home on Monday. Since I have a Platinum Pass and one of the renewal perks is to bring a friend in free on any Sunday we'd only be paying one admission for Friday night. One could even make the drive from Cedar Point to Cincinnati for Oktoberfest on Saturday if one were so inclined. I won't set foot in Cedar Point on a Saturday again.

 

That is pretty much what we have done for the past 10 or so years. We leave after I get out of work on Friday afternoon and we arrive right around park opening. Normally lines are non-existent so you can ride most everything multiple times with little to no wait (except Maverick, TTD and MF, obviously).

 

On Saturday, we would skip the park and go golfing during the day then we would grab a bite to eat and then head back to the park for a couple of hours at night. We had Platinum Passes most years so we could just come and go as we wanted. If lines were ridiculous (which they usually were), we would catch a show or two, grab a few beers around the park and just people watch. Sometimes we would choose to go wait an hour or two for MF, but I need to be fairly well-oiled in order to stand in line for that long.

 

On Sunday, we would go into the park for a couple of hours as lines were still pretty non-existent. Then we would head home and still arrive at a decent hour in order to rest up for work the next day.

 

Obviously you can substitute golf for the Toledo Zoo or anything else in the general area on Saturday....Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Great Lakes Brewery, Hofbrauhaus, Put-In Bay, Milan (Thomas Edison's birthplace), the Marblehead Lighthouse. And if you ARE into golf, we found a great 36 hole golf course in Huron (right off of Rt. 2) that is phenomenal and it only costs about $25-30 to play!

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For those of you that know Josh on here, he was over at MF the whole day and that crew was pumping out the trains. Valravn, Raptor, and Gatekeeper were hauling loading also. I made sure to thank them because I know they were tired and they were doing their best. I'll happily wait 30-40 minutes when I know the ride ops are doing everything they can FOR ME!

 

Thanks! It surely was a busy day Saturday and I'll make sure to tell the crew that you and your friends told us we did a great job!

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^ I still remember how awesome you and your team were on Valravn during CoasterMANIA!

I was shocked how good it was, when everything worked well. How fast it went!

 

Happy All Hallows Eve, Josh!

Halloween01.jpg.6c131c93535c571f062baa978db10963.jpg

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I wonder, in light of the recent conversation in this thread, if people can help me out with more FastLane info. I might be going to CP next summer with my cousin. We wouldn't be able to go before mid-late June or in the latter half of August (I'm a teacher, so those times are not options for me). So, that leaves us with July or early August, mid-week, of course. We're already budgeting in FastLanes for our visit. My question: How effective is the FastLane system? Will we still be standing in lines and, if so, what is the typical time range? Is what happens during Halloweekends a typical thing, or just exclusive to the extra-crowded Halloweekends days? Thanks for the help and wisdom.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. This collective wisdom really makes me appreciate TPR. My trip is by no means set in stone, but the chance is good. I haven't been to CP in years. When I did go, it was always midweek in May. Since I don't have that luxury this time around, it's good to know that, while I may wait, it will be drastically reduced. Thanks again!

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^ I still remember how awesome you and your team were on Valravn during CoasterMANIA!

I was shocked how good it was, when everything worked well. How fast it went!

 

Happy All Hallows Eve, Josh!

 

 

Agreed Josh!

 

y'all, and the team at MF were amazing!

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According to CP Rundown (which is generally pretty reliable), Top Thrill Dragster is testing.

 

I can't wait to see what they end up closing so they can actually staff it.

 

I know that on Friday nights they've had the crew at Iron Dragon operating that. But for Saturday's and Sunday's....no idea. And thats a big crew

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Wait, I thought that there was some Intamin conspiracy going on that would shut all of their rides down at CF parks if they didn't pony up the cash for new ride swag?

 

And so it begins...

 

Look, that's not what I said, nor what was said to me. In fact, as I understand it, CP wants to open the coaster, and it's just a matter of defying Intamin's wishes. Frankly, I don't know if Intamin has ultimate authority here, but I doubt they do. So hopefully CP tests the ride, it runs fine, and they do what they want to do, giving Intamin the finger.

 

As for the veracity of what I heard, I believe in the sincerity of the person who told me the information MORE than I believe anybody posting on TPR (besides RAWKIN, Turtle Wax, and Robb, who I've all met) actually exists, and isn't just an android posting from the moon! It's possible he got bogus information, or misunderstood, but I rather doubt it... In the future, rest assured I'll keep these things to myself, as clearly, it's too difficult for people to disseminate possible reliable intel, from BS intel, and in our hobby, there's so much BS intel, that's understandable. My mistake probably, bringing it up at all...

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