Cedar Point -tips, tricks or bargains???

[polkadotminnie]

We are thinking about going to Cedar Point in August. It has been 6 years since our last visit. Is there any discounts, tips, or tricks that we should know? We will have 2 park days and stay off-site. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[jlwhitney]

Go in first thing in the morning. The lines get very long very fast. I had season passes in summer 2008 and all summer long lines were very easily 3 hours long.

Run to the back of the park and work way forward. Since alot of people stop at the closer ones first.

Skip the water park it is not that good at all.

Maverick ride is awesome and will have a long wait but so worth it.

Leave the park to eat for at least one meal. Eat breakfast before coming in. Since there are a lot of places to eat in Sandusky.

Mini-golf there is awesome as well.

 

[VAN]

I'd recommend staying on-site. I believe you get in an hour early plus your parking is free. Additionally, you can just come and go via the other exits during the day should you need a break.
You used to get coupons for tickets by calling 1-800-best-fun - request the Cedar Point Family Fun guide ... also discounted tickets are available from Meijer and (I think) AAA if you live in the midwest.

Make sure you have money for lockers ... some rides they won't let you bring anything on with you.

Have a swimsuit under your outerwear for the water ride section. You can run around in your swimsuit within that area of the park.

 

[bucket o' butter]

We are going to Cedar Point in a couple of weeks. Since our family all likes the thrill rides and plan to ride as many as we can, we have put together an itinerary. We got the info from various websites that "Cedar Point experts" have put together. They do state it is important to start in the back of the park and work your way back to the park. Here is what we are planning to do:

Tentatively arrive at CP at 9:00 to park and get in line. Stay until close.
1. Top Thrill Dragster
2. Magnum
3. Gemini
4. Mean Streak
5. Maverick
6. Snake River Falls (if weather is hot)
7. Millenium Force
8. Power Tower
9. Wicked Twister
10. Space Spiral
11. Raptor
12. Blue Streak
13. Eat Dinner
a. Midway Market – all you can eat for $10
b. If it is earlier than 5:00, ride the WildCat or Iron Dragon
14. Mantis
15. Night ride on the Millenium Force
16. If time allows, ride the Magnum or Power Tower at night

We are going to eat a big breakfast before we get to the park and then get a snack around lunchtime. We are going to eat at that Midway market because it is all you can eat. After we go in July, I will post how it worked.

We are going to Soak City on the second day for part of the day and then return to CP at night. We are staying at the Great Wolf Lodge because we got a great deal. I think they are still offering good discounts. We thought about staying on site because of the convenience, but they were just too expensive.

 

[polkadotminnie]

Thanks for all the great responses so far! Any other tips???

 

[czycropper]

bucket o' butter - can you give me any hints after your trip?

We are planning on going next year-probably at the end of June. We'll be driving from New Jersey and also going to Holiday World and Kings Island - yep, we're big coaster fans

 

[libraryfreak]

We are going to Cedar Point in a couple of weeks. Since our family all likes the thrill rides and plan to ride as many as we can, we have put together an itinerary. We got the info from various websites that "Cedar Point experts" have put together. They do state it is important to start in the back of the park and work your way back to the park. Here is what we are planning to do:

Tentatively arrive at CP at 9:00 to park and get in line. Stay until close.
1. Top Thrill Dragster
2. Magnum
3. Gemini
4. Mean Streak
5. Maverick
6. Snake River Falls (if weather is hot)
7. Millenium Force
8. Power Tower
9. Wicked Twister
10. Space Spiral
11. Raptor
12. Blue Streak
13. Eat Dinner
a. Midway Market – all you can eat for $10
b. If it is earlier than 5:00, ride the WildCat or Iron Dragon
14. Mantis
15. Night ride on the Millenium Force
16. If time allows, ride the Magnum or Power Tower at night

We are going to eat a big breakfast before we get to the park and then get a snack around lunchtime. We are going to eat at that Midway market because it is all you can eat. After we go in July, I will post how it worked.

We are going to Soak City on the second day for part of the day and then return to CP at night. We are staying at the Great Wolf Lodge because we got a great deal. I think they are still offering good discounts. We thought about staying on site because of the convenience, but they were just too expensive.

I am a ten year veteran of season passes (including the water park) so I know CP inside and out.

A tip on parking - do not park in the front of the park. There are 3 other lots that are much better. After you pay to park, follow the signs directing you to Soak City/hotels etc. The first lot you can park in is just past the marina. It is not just for marina people, anybody can park there. Then walk to the entrance across from Famous Daves (a good place to eat, btw). You will already be in front of hoards of people in line for the Millenium.
The other 2 lots are all the way around the peninsula. You will round the corner and there will be a road to your left directing you to the Soak City lot. If you park in that lot head for the front right corner. There will be a walkway to the resorts entrance to the park. You could also not turn on that road and instead turn right into the next lot. Park as close as possible to the end of the lot. You will be parked in front of the Gemini and Mean Streak. These two lots are good for heading for Maverick and Dragster. Another advantage of not parking in the front - leaving is much easier. I mean MUCH easier.

A word about Dragster - it is usually not running first thing in the morning. The worst lines are on:
Maverick
Millenium
Dragster
Raptor - although this is compounded by the fact that its what most people see when they enter the park.
I would try to hit those 4 as quickly as possible.

Another tip - the Marina Store (by Famous Daves) has slushies for $.99 or $1.49, ice cream for $.75 and up, and other great deals.

My favorite ride - Maxx Air.

If you like spinning madly, go on the balloon racers. There are 2 of these rides in the park. You spin as fast as you want - people will look at you strangely as it's suppose to be a kiddie ride, but when we get this thing going its totally awesome. Not for those with weak stomaches for sure.

If you choose to eat offsite, it's just like Disney in that it's a total hassle to get to your car, leave the park, find a place to eat, then reenter the park and park again. We bring a cooler and tailgate it in the parking lot.

If I think of other tips, I'll be sure to let you know. Have fun!

 

[polkadotminnie]

We were there a week ago. The longest line was for Maverick so you need to do that early.

 

[mdezot]

We went for the first at the end of June. We loved the park.. We stayed at the Breakers and loved that as well. As far as tips:

We were so glad that we stayed on site because the extra hour in the morning was ideal. We rode Maverick, Millenium Force, and a few more coasters before the park even opened to the public. It also proved convenient when T-storms came through one day. We went back to the room, relaxed and then walked back when the storms were done.

We were also able to get into the line for Top Thrill Dragster before the line officially opened a couple of morinings which was great.

We followed another recommendation and tried Famous Daves. I guess it is a chain but we were unfamiliar with it. They had a family sized sampler platter for 2 or 3 that we shared with our kids (9and 8). With drinks it cost us about $40. This was much better than the large sandwich and drink at Subway which cost about $20. We were so impressed with the food that we went back a couple of nights later.

As far as the water rides in the park...you will get wet....usually drenched.

I disagree with the PP that said not to go to the waterpark. Our family found it a relaxing and refreshing way to get away from the heat and lines in the midday.

Enjoy your trip.

 

[Mas17]

We went for the 1st time, the last week of May, before most schools were out. (ours got out May 20).
You can buy discount tickets at Meijers. I don't know if you have them where you are, but the tickets were $25.00 or close to.

We had a blast, rode all the big rides and will definetly do it again. Next time, we'll be staying. A 5 hour trip both ways plus all day in the park (they closed at 8pm) was not the way to go.

We also at a nice breakfast before going into the park, ate lunch there, then stopped on the way home.

Have a great time!!

 

[bucket o' butter]

bucket o' butter - can you give me any hints after your trip?

We are planning on going next year-probably at the end of June. We'll be driving from New Jersey and also going to Holiday World and Kings Island - yep, we're big coaster fans

We just returned from CP on July 8th. We had a great time even though it was two of the hottest days of my life! One thing we learned real quick is that there is no relief from the heat at CP like there is at Disney! Even the stores aren't air conditioned so they just smell like sweaty people! LOL!

We did stay off site at the Great Wolf Lodge and really enjoyed it. We would have loved to stay on site because of the early entry advantages, but it is so expensive to stay on site. For $300 a night, I had better be at Disney! There were several hotels right outside the CP entrance that looked nice that I am going to look into for our next trip. One was the Sandusky Inn and Suites. I don't know anything about it, but it is about 3 minutes from the entrance. Does anyone know anything about this hotel?

The rides are great, that is if you like thrill rides. There are pretty tight restrictions as far as height and weight go. Their website says that if a woman wears a size 18, then she may not be able to ride some rides. I wear a 14/16 and was not able to ride Millenium or Top Thrill. I was quite bummed. There were a couple of other smaller rides I couldn't ride either.

I highly recommend buying your tickets at Meijer if you have not already bought them. It is a great bargain if you are not staying on site. (Tickets are cheaper when staying on site) The two day park hopper pass was $70.99 pp. We got to CP at about 9:30 on the first day and had to wait until it opened to the public at 10:00. Definitely head to the back of the park first. The lines are not as long at the beginning of the day. I posted a ride order list earlier in this thread and we followed that and it seemed to work very well for us. The second day we headed to the water park first and stayed there for about 3 hours (I could have stayed there all day, but the family was ready to leave). We then went back to the hotel, showered, and then headed back to CP at 5 and stayed until close.

While we were at CP, we ate at Joe Cool's Pizza Hut. A medium cheese pizza is $13.49. More than a normal Pizza Hut, but not too bad for inside the park. You can get water to drink for no charge. We were going to eat at the Midway Market, but Pizza Hut seemed a bit cheaper for us. Also, while we were there, all of the restaurants were giving away water for free. That might have been because the heat index was 99 degrees in the shade while we were there. We did end up buying 2 bottles of water and refilling them at the drinking fountains. Since there is no relief from the heat, drinking water is critical!

I loved CP and I also enjoyed Soak City. It was expanded in 2005 and I thought it had a lot to offer. Several slides, wave pool, kiddie area, etc. If you go there, bring your own towels. There are no "freebie" towels like there are at Disney! We had to buy some real cheapie towels there that cost $8 apiece! Yikes! We are definitely planning to go again after I go on my "Top Thrill Dragster Diet"!

 

[Kellydelly]

We went for the 1st time, the last week of May, before most schools were out. (ours got out May 20).
You can buy discount tickets at Meijers. I don't know if you have them where you are, but the tickets were $25.00 or close to.

We had a blast, rode all the big rides and will definetly do it again. Next time, we'll be staying. A 5 hour trip both ways plus all day in the park (they closed at 8pm) was not the way to go.

We also at a nice breakfast before going into the park, ate lunch there, then stopped on the way home.

Have a great time!!

Did you really pay only $25 for tickets at Meijers? Meijers is usually a dollar or so more than the local parks and rec discount, which this year was a $37 ticket. The only cheaper ticket I saw was on CP's website, for $29 tickets during the month of May.

 

[cjnix29]

Good to hear all the tips. We are headed here next week. Wish I could find cheaper tickets, but the best I could find was $35, since we are going on an Wednesday. Some promotion through the end of July. Fortunately, I have a 7 year old, who isn't 48", so we won't need to worry about lines for the big coasters.

 

[bucket o' butter]

Did you really pay only $25 for tickets at Meijers? Meijers is usually a dollar or so more than the local parks and rec discount, which this year was a $37 ticket. The only cheaper ticket I saw was on CP's website, for $29 tickets during the month of May.

I was at Meijers yesterday and the one day tickets were $29. They had been $25 a few weeks ago, but that price was marked out and $29 was written in. This is at a Meijer's in Indiana. When we went to CP, the local Meijers in Sandusky also had the same price discount tickets there. I was surprised since it was so close to the park. So, definitely much cheaper than the gate price.

 

[rblenski]

July 2011

Ahh…I am finally giving back to these sites!

Thank you everyone in this post for the advice it really worked!!

Things that worked for me….

Pick an odd day – I went on a Friday when July 4 was the next Monday! No lines….really…I mean we never waited over 30 minutes for any ride even dragster. I also went on a different Sunday that was Father’s day and again “no lines”.

Stay on site – Awesome advice. We stayed at Breakers Hotel and it worked perfect with many different price ranges for rooms that are affordable included tickets. We went in early at 9am and hit all the big rides….no lines…zero!! At lunch we walked 10 feet out of the gate into our hotel room and ate subs we brought and then took a nap while kids played in lake and pool 10 feet away. Again, this was awesome. We even went back to the room after going on all the water rides for dry clothes. Great view etc. Highly recommend this!!! Worth the extra buck!

We are roller coaster fanatics!!

1. Dragster was worth the drive!! Go on twice!!
2. Magnum – went on many times. Great ride. Great hill. Great view of lake!!
3 Maverick – smooth ride. Amazing coaster
4. Mean streak – awful ride. Not smooth. No fun.
5. Gemini – Old school. Loved it 20 years ago. Its lame!! Good for little kids.
6. Millenium – great hill. fun
7. Raptor – good ride but not smooth. Not for us motion sick people (like batman @six flags)
8. power tower – lame!!!
9. Iron Dragon – Good.
10. Mantis – good.
11. Mine ride- old school. Good for little kids.
12. Cork screw – old school. Short. Not for us motion sick people

Cedar Point – CLEAN PARK compared to others. Friendly people! Love

Only 4 hours from Nigra Falls to finish family trip!! Awesome!!!

 

[bear_mom]

We went for two days in mid June and agree with what a lot of other people have said. We stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge due to the high cost of staying on-site. We didn't go to soak city - it was just a little to chilly for us with the wind and clouds.

We were there about 20 minutes before the park opened and that worked well, we were able to get right up to the barricades and then walked to Millenium first then over to Maverick from there. Beware though: those who complain about rope drop at Disney have nothing on opening at Cedar Point, it was an all out run for a lot of people.

We ate dinner off site both nights, we left the park around 6 each night. This was enough time for us do ride everything we wanted both days. On the first day we were pretty much all rollercoastered out by then, dds did a lot of the spinny rides in addition to the coasters. The second day I only rode two and that was due to some vertigo issues I'm having.

We were pretty relaxed about our park touring, the same way we are at Disney and found time to do everything.

If you have an iPhone there is a ride watch app where you can check ride wait times, based on user input. Worked well, I was able to see how long the lines were when we were debating about which ride to go to next.

Emily

 

[mistysue]

I printed some coupons out at coupons.com a couple weeks ago.

I am going to hold on to those just in case... we might go in August but haven't made up our minds yet.

 

[coastermom]

Wow glad I came across this we arive on the 17th of july for Cedar Point we are staying on site as we have the platinum passes for Dorney Park ... We are also heading to Kings Island later that week . I am looking forward to going back as the last time we were there my son was in a stroller and now he is almost 10 !! He makes the height for almost all the rides except a few he is 53 inches UGH needs one more inch !! We are coaster fans and go to Dorney and Six Flags in NJ all the time so yes we are excited for this trip ...

Thanks for some of the hints guys it will help us .. Will let you know how the trip goes when we return !! BTW we are staying at sandcastle suites !

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

One way to save money on parking.
If you eat at Famous Daves at CP and take your parking stub to the restaruant they will take the price of parking off your bill. Another great thing is that Famous Daves has a Famous Fest comes on a garbage can lid. The price is $37 and feeds 3 people or $63 and feeds 6 people. Remember the price quoted does not include the $10 off for having your parking stub.

Here is the link and the Famous Fest is on page 2 lower right hand corner.


http://www.famousdaves.com/resources/files/ToGo_Menus/3078.pdf

AAA has discount tickets. CP themselves just posted a facebook ad that you could get 2 day tickets for $64. So if you have not done so "like" them on facebook to get their current deals. there is also a AAA office on RT 250 in Sandusky on the west side of the road and not far from CP maybe 15 minutes away.

Also inside the park there are a lot of run of the mill places to eat such as Panda Express, Subway, Johnnie Rocket, Pinks Hotdogs. Not sure what the prices are since we ususally do the Famous Daves deal. We also take our own drinks into the park.

 

[czycropper]

We got back on Saturday - staying on site was great!

We arrived on Sat. June 25th and bought Twilight Tickets 7 got to the park around 6 pm - we were able to ride Raptor twice, Blue Streak, MaxAir (well, my DDs rode while my DH & I took photos), Windseeker, & walked around most of the park. We ate at Joe Cool's Cafe.

Sunday, June 26th - arrived at early opening - rode Millenium Force, Maverick, Magnum (twice), Gemini, Mean Streak (twice), Mantis all before lunch - had lunch at Midway Market (great buffet food and reasonable); in the afternoon we rode Disaster, Corkscrew (didn't really liked this one), Iron Dragon, Millenium Force, Mean Streak, Wildcat, Wicked Twister, Power Tower (DDs rode about 3 times) & some cars & bumper cars my DDs wanted to ride. We left around 8:30ish. The lines in the afternoon were a little bit longer but overall it wasn't that crowded.

Monday, June 27th - arrived at early opening - went straight to Top Thrill Dragster even though it opened at 10 am - my DDs & I decided to wait; DH went to Starbucks to get some coffee and then sat in the stands to wait for us We were the second set of cars to go on - it was great! Then we again worked our way around the park riding all our favorites again about 2 times - Magnum, Mean Streak, Maverick, Millenium Force, Raptor & Blue Streak. We ate at Coaster - ok food and expensive. We went back to the hotel and the girls put their suits on so they could ride the water rides since it was getting humid. They rode the water rides at least twice. I rode Thunder Canyon with them. We saw a couple of shows. Then went to ride Millenium Force again - can you tell we really like that ride - it only had a 45 minute wait. We got off and went back into the line, my DD13 & I decided to wait to ride in the front car. That was fantastic it was the perfect ride to ride at dusk!!!! We went to Dragster to ride again but it was down So we bought some souveniers & rode Raptor on our way out.

Great park!!!!

We also went to Holiday World & Kings Island on this trip.