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First trip to Cedar Point


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Hey guys, my wife and I are finally planning our first trip to Cedar Point and we have a lot of question...

First of all we are planning to stay at the cedar points express hotel. We have a three day park hopper purchased already, my questions are do you recommend purchasing a front of line pass? Is it worth it? Also about the food options, besides breakfast which is included, do you recommend the food pass? We are frequent flyers to Disneyland and Knott’s and the occasional Six Flags Magic Mountain trip. What kind of environment does the park have? Are there any night shows were should make time to see or is it more of a SFMM type? Also lines... obviously Steel Vengeance will have expected lines but what other rides should we aim for first?? Thank you in advance!

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A lot of these questions are based on your own personal preferences obviously but I want to pop in real quick and stress that since you're staying on property you'll be able to enter the park one hour early every day and you should absolutely get there for the start of early entry and take advantage of this perk.

 

Steel Vengeance, GateKeeper, Maverick, Millennium Force and Valravn will all be open for Early Entry and since you'll be there for 3 days you can try a few different early entry strategies.

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I'll be honest, we only get out to Cedar Point every couple of years, and when we go, we usually go with a group and stay on-site at Breakers. We ALWAYS ALWAYS get the front of the line pass. That being said, a lot of your other questions can probably better be answered by people who frequent the park more than we do so I'm going to move this into the main forum.

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I went last year for the first time (during Coastermania! too) you are gonna have a blast.

 

in terms of food, I don't know that I'd go for the dining Pass, tho Bill did buy it and we shared for 1 day, but honestly I thought the majority of the offerings were only so-so (tho the sit down barfood by Blue Streak . . was that a Chickie and Peete's?. . .was decent).

 

The food at Melt! was good too, and a good qty for the price, but there was quite the line, as the place is popular.

 

I thought we had better meals outside of the park itself. . in particular at the Bar-B-Que place just off the marina entrance, and the TGI Friday's & Coffeeshop places at Hotel Breakers (by the Magnum entrance).

 

nothing in the park was terrible tho, and If you'll eat enough to make it wroth your while, might be worth your time.

 

As Robb said, you'll get way better advice from those that have been more than just the once I have been, but I will offer 2 recommendations:

 

1) go into the Museum in Frontier Town. . not only is it super interesting, and has a lot of CP history, but if you tell them at the counter it's your first visit, you might get a nifty free souvenir

 

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2) don't be fooled by Cedar Downs looking like a simple carousel. Give it a spin.

It's hella fun, and easily my favorite flat in the park

 

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have a great time!

Edited by bert425
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oh, and although I didn't do any shows, from what I heard, they were decent-good (I just was more focused on the midways/rides).

 

I'd say majority of the park is very Major Theme Park-ish (not themed to the levels of Disney, or BGW), with multiple wide concrete midways thruout the park

 

. . with the two main exceptions being Camp Snoopy (nicely themed), and a beautiful section on the West side that's a wooded path/area from Millennium Force going back to Frontier Town -- not only themed very well, but also has an entire petting zoo section with some neat animals. . that whole area doesn't even feel like you're in a Theme Park.

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Hey guys, my wife and I are finally planning our first trip to Cedar Point and we have a lot of question...

First of all we are planning to stay at the cedar points express hotel. We have a three day park hopper purchased already, my questions are do you recommend purchasing a front of line pass? Is it worth it? Also about the food options, besides breakfast which is included, do you recommend the food pass? We are frequent flyers to Disneyland and Knott’s and the occasional Six Flags Magic Mountain trip. What kind of environment does the park have? Are there any night shows were should make time to see or is it more of a SFMM type? Also lines... obviously Steel Vengeance will have expected lines but what other rides should we aim for first?? Thank you in advance!

If you're going to be there for 3 days, I wouldn't pre-purchase the fastlane. See how crowds are; if it's super busy, get it, but if not, your Early Entry may give you enough rides on the really busy coasters. The super popular ones tend to be the ones on Early Entry, while others like Iron Dragon and Gemini don't usually have lines that are too bad. You can totally ride the Early Entry ones a lot early, then ride the less popular ones throughout the day. However, if it's really busy on the days you go, even the less popular rides might have an hour line--they're still the shortest lines, just all the lines are absurd. In those cases, get the Fastlane and enjoy your day.

 

To put it in SoCal terms, it's Magic Mountain, with the friendliness of Knott's, the operations of Disneyland, and food quality of Magic Mountain. They do have the Luminosity show that's pretty cool at park closing. Nothing close to what Disney does, but it's nice. Also, if you're in line when the park closes, you will get to ride. So get in line for something awesome like Millennium Force about 5 minutes before closing and have a high note to end your day.

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Hey guys, my wife and I are finally planning our first trip to Cedar Point and we have a lot of question...

First of all we are planning to stay at the cedar points express hotel. We have a three day park hopper purchased already, my questions are do you recommend purchasing a front of line pass? Is it worth it? Also about the food options, besides breakfast which is included, do you recommend the food pass? We are frequent flyers to Disneyland and Knott’s and the occasional Six Flags Magic Mountain trip. What kind of environment does the park have? Are there any night shows were should make time to see or is it more of a SFMM type? Also lines... obviously Steel Vengeance will have expected lines but what other rides should we aim for first?? Thank you in advance!

 

I stayed at Cedar Point Express last year and it was great. Nice, updated and clean. Not sure when you're going but I went first week of June for 2 days and didn't need express passes. Maverick was 45 min at peak (but we rode is 4-5 times in the morning during early entry) and Dragster was half an hour at most points. Gatekeeper/Raptor/MF/Valravn/Magnum were all 20ish or less 90 percent of the time. If you are going during a peak time, if it were me, I would have no qualms about spending the extra money for a platinum express pass due to the unlimited nature of the riding. I have no experience with the food pass. Luminosity was not showing the week I was there so I can't speak to it's quality. I recommend that if its open and the wait is reasonable always take your opportunity to get on Dragster, I did that one time skipping if "for later". It closed for the day and I didn't get on it. Cedar Point is also immaculate in it's cleanliness and care for the rides. They are a beauty just to look at. Park doesn't have the overall charm and themeing of other parks but makes up for it in many other ways. The views are incredible, there's a cute little petting zoo and the custard is really good.

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Not sure when you're going but I went first week of June for 2 days and didn't need express passes. Maverick was 45 min at peak. Gatekeeper/Raptor/MF/Valravn/Magnum were all 20ish or less 90 percent of the time.

I'm sorry but IMO this is absoultely terrible advice!!! How can you tell someone NOT to get the front of the line pass when you just said the lines could have still been 45 minutes??? And even those three rides you just mentioned at 20ish minutes means if they rode all three they would have waited an hour. And with the express pass that would cut that time by more than 1/2.

 

Also was the visit you're talking about your 'first ever visit" to the park?

 

I would never ever tell someone who is going to Cedar Point for the first time ever not to get the front of the line pass. The amount of time you can save, even if the lines are only 20-30 minutes each on average, adds up very quickly and equals a LOT of time.

 

That's time you can spend riding MORE things, taking your day at a more relaxed pace, having extra time to not rush a meal, and overall just enjoying the park.

 

Even having three days at the park I would still get the Fast Lane Plus pass to ensure that you can get everything in and as much as you'd like. We are going to be at the park later this year for 2 days and we'll have the FL+ pass both days. I couldn't imagine doing that park without it no matter how many days I'm there.

 

Just imagine being at Disneyland and having an instant FastPass for everything you want to do. That's what their FastLane pass is like.

 

Please don't listen to people that try to tell you not to get the front of the line pass because getting it, even if lines are only 20-30 minutes will GREATLY increase the quality of your day.

Edited by robbalvey
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Hey guys, my wife and I are finally planning our first trip to Cedar Point and we have a lot of question...

First of all we are planning to stay at the cedar points express hotel. We have a three day park hopper purchased already, my questions are do you recommend purchasing a front of line pass? Is it worth it? Also about the food options, besides breakfast which is included, do you recommend the food pass? We are frequent flyers to Disneyland and Knott’s and the occasional Six Flags Magic Mountain trip. What kind of environment does the park have? Are there any night shows were should make time to see or is it more of a SFMM type? Also lines... obviously Steel Vengeance will have expected lines but what other rides should we aim for first?? Thank you in advance!

 

unless you go the last week of august, my 2 cents is to always get the Fast Lane passes. you'll get a lot of extra time to either, take in the entire park, water park, or re-ride everything. i can't see doing cedar point without them, especially when traveling all the way from So Cal.

 

environment? weather? people?

 

what ride to aim for first? the closest one. lol for me, i like to ride, ride, ride. for the big rides, i like to do them more than once when i'm near them. cedar point is a big park. i think it's like 1 mile from front gate to steel vengeance. so i think walking back and forth between rides is wasting time.

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Hey guys, my wife and I are finally planning our first trip to Cedar Point and we have a lot of question...

First of all we are planning to stay at the cedar points express hotel. We have a three day park hopper purchased already, my questions are do you recommend purchasing a front of line pass? Is it worth it?

 

I've been going to CP 25-30 times a year for the past 15 years or so, so I'm a pretty old veteran of the park...

 

Like someone else said, since you are staying at a Cedar Point hotel you will be allowed early entry. You should 100% take advantage of that.

 

I always recommend fast lane plus to people from out of town unless you are going between May 14th and 17th, or August 27th to the 30th. Even if you will be there for 3 days I still recommend it because if it were me I would want to ensure that I have the best time possible. And unless you get fast lane you will most likely be waiting a lot more than you are riding. If you're going to be there on Fri, Sat, and/or Sun then you definitely need it... Las year I probably got FL+ 15 times on my 30 or so visits.

 

Also, 2 of the better rides in the park, Maverick, and Top Thrill Dragster are not very reliable. So even if you're there for 3 days, those rides could be down for 2 of them. So you would come all this way to only get on each once or twice. If you don't want to spend the money for FL+ all 3 days if I were you I would get fast lane plus that first day and marathon the hell out of Maverick, TTD, Valravn, and Steel Vengeance. Then the next day use the early entry to hit those 4 again, and use the rest of the day plus the next day to hit everything else. Plus you would still have early entry on the 3rd day.

 

 

 

Also about the food options, besides breakfast which is included, do you recommend the food pass?

 

Even though your breakfast is included (at the hotel I'm guessing) I highly highly highly recommend Berardi's Family Restaurant at 1019 West Perkins Ave in town. It's the absolute best breakfast. http://www.sanduskyberardis.com/menu/

 

As far as the food pass, I wouldn't get it. There are some decent options, like Pink's, but I usually pack a couple coolers with food from home and drinks. I've never bought the dining plan until this year, so when the park opens up I will be trying a bunch of different places and I can get back to you on that.

 

 

 

We are frequent flyers to Disneyland and Knott’s and the occasional Six Flags Magic Mountain trip. What kind of environment does the park have? Are there any night shows were should make time to see or is it more of a SFMM type?

 

I've never been to Disney, or Knotts, or SFMM, so I can't compare CP to any of those places. With that said, I think CP has a great environment. It's very clean, very pretty with the location on a peninsula, and the landscaping is great. The ride operations are first class.

 

 

 

Also lines... obviously Steel Vengeance will have expected lines but what other rides should we aim for first?? Thank you in advance

 

 

I hit on this a little bit above, but with SV in the picture this year it's very hard to give advice on what order to do the park in. Without FL+, the way I would always do the park, after early entry is over and the GP are starting to enter the park is to hit TTD first, then work my way counterclockwise with Magnum, Gemini, etc... But with SV that might not be the best way to go anymore. My advice is to just get FL+ so you don't have to worry about what order you do things in and you can just enjoy yourself...

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Hey guys, my wife and I are finally planning our first trip to Cedar Point and we have a lot of question...

First of all we are planning to stay at the cedar points express hotel. We have a three day park hopper purchased already, my questions are do you recommend purchasing a front of line pass? Is it worth it? Also about the food options, besides breakfast which is included, do you recommend the food pass? We are frequent flyers to Disneyland and Knott’s and the occasional Six Flags Magic Mountain trip. What kind of environment does the park have? Are there any night shows were should make time to see or is it more of a SFMM type? Also lines... obviously Steel Vengeance will have expected lines but what other rides should we aim for first?? Thank you in advance!

 

I think that if you're going to be at the park for three days, the Front of the Line Pass isn't going to be necessary. 36 hours at the park is plenty of time to ride everything and have re-rides. I'd only recommend the line-cutting add-ons if you have a limited amount of time at the park. And in regards to the atmosphere, I think that you'll be very satisfied. Its a rare park that has big national chain level thrill rides with a small mom and pop style charm and friendliness. You should also stop over to King's Island if you have a chance too. Also, checking out Six Flags Ohio's ruins can be a delightful and exhilarating experience as well. If you're a history buff and love excitement in your life.

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I think that if you're going to be at the park for three days, the Front of the Line Pass isn't going to be necessary.

PLEASE STOP TELLING PEOPLE THIS!!! THIS IS THE STUPIDEST WORST MOST HORRIBLE ADVICE YOU CAN GIVE SOMEONE GOING TO CEDAR POINT FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME!!!!!

 

I seriously don't understand why people would choose to wait HOURS IN LINE when they can also choose to NOT wait hours in line.

 

The stupidity behind this just boggles my mind.

Edited by robbalvey
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I'm with Robb. Don't listen to anyone that tells you that you're "probably not going to need" a Fast Lane at Cedar Point of all places. I'm not saying buy it in advance, because weather, etc can be a factor in crowds but DEFINITELY budget for it. If you're going all the way to the roller coaster capital of the world do you want to stand in line the entire time? Eff that. Make sure you have some money for Fast Lane.

 

We spent an obscene amount of money for FL+ wristbands for 4 people over a 2 day memorial day weekend ($800+) and had a great time. Those who didn't have it were waiting in 30-120 minutes queues all weekend. Us? We rode everything we wanted to and the longest we waited was 30 minutes, the majority of the time it was 10 minutes or less. I regret nothing and would do the exact same thing when we go back.

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36 hours at the park is plenty of time to ride everything and have re-rides.

That is true in low season, but peak it certainly is not. Lines can get over an hour, and in those circumstances 36 hours is not enough time, nor would anyone want to spend their day in one hour-long line after another. Fastlane is worth it for that. Keep in mind too they got park hopper passes, so they plan on the waterpark at least one of those 3 days.

Edited by ytterbiumanalyst
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If the reason you're going to Cedar Point is to RIDE all the awesome roller coasters they have, and not to actually just stand around in line watching other people enjoying the great coasters, BUY THE DAMN FAST LANE PASS! Simple as that, no ifs, ands or buts. This is even more true if you you're not local and don't get to visit the park very often. And perhaps even more so on a year when the park is opening a monster new coaster that will certainly attract even larger crowds.

 

BUY THE FAST LANE PASSES!!!!!

BUY THE FAST LANE PASSES!!!!!

BUY THE FAST LANE PASSES!!!!!

BUY THE FAST LANE PASSES!!!!!

 

If your budget allows, I'd even suggest getting the VIP tour. This is the best way to enjoy the park and get in as many rides as you can on your favorite attractions. It is expensive, but you'll get to ride everything you want multiple times, and choose exactly which seats you want for each ride. Do it if you can.

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agreed with Robb, Boldy, and several others. . get the FastLane+ (for at least one day).

 

in all honestly, the only ride that the FL+ was wasted on for me was the Ferris Wheel, because even with the FL+ line, loading/unloading took a good 20-25 minutes (and that was with a minimal line on it anyways). Not sure why some parks balance the wheel out this way, but yeah, took a long time for such a short line.

 

but wow was it worth it's cost just for ValRavn. . easily saved me 20-30 minutes every time I wanted to ride.

(and most of the other coasters, the merge is so close to the station, that it saves time on them too. . I think MF and Gatekeeper might be the only two where the merge point is 15-20 minutes from the station, but even that is a savings on time).

 

the park is so big, if you want to be able to take it at your own pace, FL+ is absolutely the way to go for your 1st visit.

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I know you said your tickets are already purchased, but just for future reference, Cedar Point also offers ticket/Fast Lane+ bundles on select days as well at a very reasonable price. I don't know how I managed back when they had no system in place, to be honest. It's a must for me.

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Hey guys, my wife and I are finally planning our first trip to Cedar Point and we have a lot of question...

First of all we are planning to stay at the cedar points express hotel. We have a three day park hopper purchased already, my questions are do you recommend purchasing a front of line pass? Is it worth it? Also about the food options, besides breakfast which is included, do you recommend the food pass? We are frequent flyers to Disneyland and Knott’s and the occasional Six Flags Magic Mountain trip. What kind of environment does the park have? Are there any night shows were should make time to see or is it more of a SFMM type? Also lines... obviously Steel Vengeance will have expected lines but what other rides should we aim for first?? Thank you in advance!

 

I made my first trip to CP a couple years ago...

 

1. Fastlane is great, but you can also get a lot of mileage out of the early entry from staying at the Express. One day of FL+ should be okay (unless you want to spend lots of time of Dragster or Steel Veng).

 

2. Can't speak much about food.

 

3. The vibe of the park is big time coasters, but with more of a clean and friendly atmosphere. I remember feeling like it was a hybrid of the good parts of both Magic Mountain and Knott's.

 

4. The live entertainment at the park has decreased in recent years (Valravn repleaced their big indoor theater, and the big outdoor theater was demolished last year), but the lineup on the website still seems promising.

 

This thread was super helpful when I was planning my trip... http://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=69766

 

From my experieince.... Use the Marina gate (explained in the above thread) it will save you so much time. Millenium Force is best from the front, but it needs a few hours to really warm up. A late afternoon ride will be drastically different than the morning. Iron Dragon was a snooze, skip it unless you want the credits, Ninja is way better. Dragster from the front is amazing, you can cut down your wait by using the early entry time to get to the queue right at 10am when Dragster opens.

 

Lastly... the park is MASSIVE. I was a crazy person and did it all in a day and I was worn out. 3 days is plenty of time to enjoy the park at a comfortable pace without walking in circles like I did.

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I seriously don't understand why people would choose to wait HOURS IN LINE when they can also choose to NOT wait hours in line.

I don't understand why people spend so much time, preparation, and money on trips to their rare trips to parks such as Cedar Point and not spend the extra couple hundred dollars for fast lane over a couple days. It's not JUST about being able to ride as many rides as you want for me. It's about spending less time in some shitty switch back and using that time to grab a beer and enjoy the views from the more enjoyable areas of the park.

 

I don't make special trips to places like Cedar Point to spend hours of my day elbow to elbow with the general public while my biggest enjoyment is watching other smiling faces of riders as they go by. I know people say that a skip the line pass is a waste when lines are only even 15-20 minutes long, but I disagree. Other than merge points like MF, usually the shorter the regular line is the shorter the fast lane line will be. I enjoy skipping 20 minute wait by being on the ride in a couple minutes so much more than I enjoy skipping two hour lines by being on the ride in 20 minutes.

 

You also eliminate the factor of unpredictability. For example, despite everything else being 10-15 minutes you decide you want to walk to Maverick, only to realize that the line which was 20 minutes earlier is now spontaneously an hour. With your FL wrist band on hand, it makes no difference. Ride as you please.

 

I'm sure people talk crap all the time when Emily and I decide to get wrist bands for out of town parks where the max waits are only 10-20 minutes, but we pay for the convenience. When it's our trip where we invest our time, energy, and already a decent chunk of money, we want to maximize our total park experience. If that means paying a combined total of $200 extra, I'm fine with that and I don't think twice.

 

With the exception of people having kids and making it much more of a financial burden, I see a lot of posters saying they literally don't have the extra $100-$200 to spend and have depleted all of their money into the tickets, transportation, and food. This seems incredibly irresponsible for me and I think priorities need to be reexamined for these individuals. Surprisingly, these aren't just posts from the younger people on the boards.

 

Of course, this is different from those posters who have plenty of extra disposable income but decide to save the extra money. I can respectfully disagree with these people. Almost 50% of our household income goes to savings, market investments, and retirement, but there are just some things that are just worth the money to us. We always go for Skip the Line passes, which is one of the reasons I'm pissed that Hershey decided to not fulfill it's announcement of their Skip the Line Unlimited pass. It was one of the deciding factors to plan our trip when it was announced. If most parks didn't offer this option I probably wouldn't be interested in this hobby nearly as much.

 

So yeah... I vote get the FL+ online as soon as you can determine the weather isn't going to be a complete pile of sh**. Short of a monsoon, I say go for it.

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I seriously don't understand why people would choose to wait HOURS IN LINE when they can also choose to NOT wait hours in line.

 

 

You also eliminate the factor of unpredictability.

 

every time i've gone, without fail, i've also had to deal with the unpredictable weather. that's always killed a number of hours from my visits. fastlane makes up for that.

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I go to the park frequently (and have on occasion sprung for FL+), and agree that if you aren't a local, and especially if it's your first ever trip, to get it for at LEAST one day. Yes there are ways to avoid lines but you have to have an active plan and go on rides in a certain order, and frankly if you are on vacation, you shouldn't be worrying about all that and FL+ allows you to wander around and ride and rest and eat as you please. I go all the time so I don't mind having a plan since I can't afford it every visit, but I can't stress enough you should budget fast lane for at least one day. All 3 if you can! I wouldn't recommend buying it ahead of time, as weather and other conditions can change crowds dramatically during certain parts of the year.

 

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF EARLY ENTRY! DO NOT SKIP THIS EVEN IF YOU ARE GETTING FL+.

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I seriously cannot handle the stupid posts and stupid advice any longer. And seeing that the original poster hasn't even logged into the forum since he posted asking for advice, I'm just going to lock this thread, hope they get the advice they are looking for and keep people from steering others in the completely wrong direction to begin with.

 

This post was originally made in the "Ask Alvey" thread but I moved it here thinking that other people who frequent the park more would have better advice.

 

That was a mistake.

 

There is a REASON why people pay us money to plan amazing vacations. And that reason is we aren't going to give people FUCKING HORRIBLE advice that will make their day at Cedar Point suck.

 

Thread locked.

Edited by robbalvey
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