Cedar Point opening weekend question

You should be able to book rooms now, so I don't think getting reservations at The Breakers will be an issue.

I've never been to the park on opening weekend, but I've been there on the 2nd weekend of the season twice. Both times the park was packed, even if the weather is still cold. I know several non enthusiast friends who have gone on opening weekend, and they all have said the park was packed. Someone told me Millennium Force had a 6 hour wait on opening day in 2000. So from my understanding, Cedar Point is a very busy park very early in the season. Hopefully this year will be different, and you find short lines. Good luck and have fun. I'll be waiting until the end of May before I attempt to ride Gatekeeper.

I only went once on opening weekend and that was enough for me. Consider it a training weekend for new employees and expect delays while they are learning their new jobs. We spent most of our time on the flats as the coaster lines were quite long. The longest line of all, however, was the photo line in the season pass office!

While we're on the subject, what is Memorial Day weekend like? I'm thinking of spending that Sunday and Monday (Memorial Day) in the park... bad idea?

I also have a question about CP. In 2013, I will visit CP for the first time ever. Do you guys have any advice?, what coasters should I hit first?

Honestly, the Breakers is a tad overpriced. The convenience is nice, but that's about it. It wasn't as "luxurious" as you'd expect. If you're mainly there for the park and don't mind walking an extra 15 minutes, Sandcastle Suites is a reasonable alternative. Same discounts/early admission. If it's a full-blown "vacation", including beach-time, pool-time, etc...Breakers may be a better choice.

I'd be concerned about opening day or any major holiday, just because that's when EVERYONE else ALSO has off of work. If you go on a particularly crowded day, make sure to leverage that early-admission. On crowded days, the "big three" (MF, Maverick, TTD) can easily see 2 or more hour waits, especially dependent on service needs. (Intamin coasters break down more often than they'd like to admit) I just seethe at the idea of waiting 2 hours to ride a roller coaster for 2 minutes.

Those three (Millenium Force, Maverick, Top Thrill) are "must-rides", to answer the question about "which to ride". I wouldn't consider any trip to the park "complete" without riding those. I'd also say Raptor, Magnum XL-200, and the new GateKeeper.

If you're into woodies, they have three, but Blue Streak is painful, Mean Streak (from what I've heard) is even worse, and I've never been on Gemini. Mantis is OK, but basically a shorter version of Chang/Green Lantern. Iron Dragon is good for the kids. DIdn't ride the CCMR or Corkscrew. Wicked Twister feels a lot like a "flat", but it's fun.

I've been to opening day in 2009 and 2011. While crowded, it was nothing like the crowds you see later in the season. Longest wait I recall was 90 minutes for Maverick, I think MF was similar mid afternoon. But it seemed to be an early crowd in 2011, the place was pretty empty by the end of the day with about a 30 minute wait on MF.

Couple of things - weather seems iffy early in the year. We had about a one hour period of rain both times which means alot of rides are closed.

Also, a lot of downtime as the crews are being broken in. TTD rarely ran either year, although I did get to witness lots of rollbacks.

One good thing is that the off property hotels still have off season rates. We stayed at the Knights Inn for about $50 a night, and they have a pretty good breakfast.

Good chance we'll do it again.

A 90-minute wait is acceptable? You said crowds aren't as bad as later in the season. How long are the waits then?

I will not wait 90 minutes for any ride. I will leave a park if the lines are that long. 45 minutes is long and 60 minutes is my maximum.

Based on a couple of opening weekends I've been to CP I would suggest skipping it, especially with a new coaster this year. You're not going to have the best operations due to the employees not being fully broken in yet plus it's a day everyone seems to look forward to after a long Ohio winter.

G-Dog

I didn't say 90 minutes was acceptable, I won't wait that long either and it was only for MF and Maverick at the peak part of the day. Most of the other coasters were less than 30 minutes, so there was plenty to do without waiting too long.

I can't speak to the waits later in the year as I avoid Cedar Point then, but I hear they can be pretty bad.

But yes, opening day can be iffy. Downtime is common as the crews are still being broken in.

* This post was modified at 1/29/13 12:12:07 PM *

http://thepointol.com/cedarpoint/2011-crowd-expectations/

"Heavy" means 1.5-2 hours for Millenium Force and TTD, 2+ hours for Maverick (very inefficient loading), 30-45 minutes at least for other popular coasters. GateKeeper may take some of the load off of the other rides...expect wait for it to be long as well.

Theme park crowds are pretty easy to figure out, universally:

* If school is out of session, kids have a lot of free time, so crowds are larger.

* If it's a weekend, parents don't have to work, so crowds are larger.

* If it's a holiday, no one has to work, so crowds are larger.

* If weather is warmer, crowds are larger.

* If the park is having a promotional event, crowds are larger.

So for opening weekend, you've got #2, #3, and #5 working against you, and possibly #4 as well.

If you're a coaster enthusiast and don't mind the dark, I STRONGLY recommend Friday nights at CP during Halloweekends. Between 11 and 12, some buddies of mine got 5 walk-on rides on TTD, back-to-back. In fall, in the middle of Ohio, everyone is too immersed in high-school football to give a sh** about roller coasters.

parkbookman said:

I didn't say 90 minutes was acceptable

Good to know!

You bring up a good point about crews not being up to speed early in the season. Reminds me of my first job working at a movie theater. The weekend of the first summer blockbuster never went well.

The period of time immediately following Memorial Day, the Tuesday after through that Friday, is a great time to hit parks as many of them start daily operation that weekend.

Joe
Great_Ump

And if you have to travel, most motels do not bump up to their summer prices until mid June. I recommend the Motel 6 east of Cedar Point.

It's not inefficient loading or untrained staff that causes the horrible wait times. Plain and simple it's the fastlane pass. Wait times have tripled on most rides since the introduction of faastlane. From what I've heard people have been complaining about it but Cedar Point doesn't seem to care.

HatTrick said:

It's not inefficient loading or untrained staff that causes the horrible wait times. Plain and simple it's the fastlane pass. Wait times have tripled on most rides since the introduction of faastlane. From what I've heard people have been complaining about it but Cedar Point doesn't seem to care.

I think you meant to say Cedar Fair doesnt care.. but,

Yep, that darn FastLane sure does make the lines a lot longer, or shorter, depending on your perspective... :) #Winning

Yes, during the first few opening weeks of the season a lot of the kids are lost trying to learn their job. From food and beverage to ride operation, it takes those young people a little while to pick it up. They have some good crew chiefs in place though, so dont worry, the coasters will move the que pretty quick for the most part, CP prides itself on that.

* This post was modified at 2/4/13 12:56:52 AM *

HatTrick said:

It's not inefficient loading or untrained staff that causes the horrible wait times. Plain and simple it's the fastlane pass. Wait times have tripled on most rides since the introduction of faastlane. From what I've heard people have been complaining about it but Cedar Point doesn't seem to care.

Opening day/week has horribly insufficient staffing and staff not properly trained to operate the rides efficiently at all of the commercial parks no matter where you go (with the exception of the year-round parks). I'm sure our trip report from opening day at SFGAdv will be very similar to last years - 10 minute lapses between dispatches on El Toro, employees that have no clue as to where anything is, loading and unloading nightmares, etc. I had a girl who didn't know how to operate the credit card machine! While the FP may increase your wait in line without one on any given operating day it will be 10x worse in the beginning of the season.

Trust me.

Jen

Gee, Jen, thanks for ruining my Gr. Adv. opening day anticipation! Maybe the company will make it worth the trip. ;)

Judy_P_in_Pgh said:

Gee, Jen, thanks for ruining my Gr. Adv. opening day anticipation! Maybe the company will make it worth the trip. ;)

We'll still have a great time making fun of all the people who have no idea what they're doing yet while I'm throwing a fit, LOL!

Looking forward to seeing you again! :-)

Jen

GoYanks34 said:

I'm sure our trip report from opening day at SFGAdv will be very similar to last years - 10 minute lapses between dispatches on El Toro, employees that have no clue as to where anything is, loading and unloading nightmares, etc. I had a girl who didn't know how to operate the credit card machine!

Trust me.

Jen

Did someone say something about "opening day at Great Adventure"? A blast from the past.

http://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/forums/roller-coasters-theme-parks/201870

Paul

alpengeistno3 said:

GoYanks34 said:

I'm sure our trip report from opening day at SFGAdv will be very similar to last years - 10 minute lapses between dispatches on El Toro, employees that have no clue as to where anything is, loading and unloading nightmares, etc. I had a girl who didn't know how to operate the credit card machine!

Trust me.

Jen

Did someone say something about "opening day at Great Adventure"? A blast from the past.

http://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/forums/roller-coasters-theme-parks/201870

Paul

And for those who would like my perspective on opening day from last year here it is!

http://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/forums/roller-coasters-theme-parks/220442

Just think - this year we can have 3 trip reports from opening day for everyone's reading pleasure. LOL! (Judy doesn't write them so Paul it's up to me, you and Mike!

Jen

Veterinarians are not permitted to assign homework.