2013: Best Food Values

Lol...could be worse..deli sandwiches versus full cooked meals :-P I'd rather be packing ham and swiss than black risotto and smoked salmon haha

We've gone plenty of times with cold fried chicken from the store.

mmm love the chicken idea! We brought pb&j for lunch and turkey sandwiches for dinner. I froze grapes and blueberries too and they kept great.

thedevariouseffect said:
Lol...could be worse..deli sandwiches versus full cooked meals :-P I'd rather be packing ham and swiss than black risotto and smoked salmon haha

More like being able to heat up some pulled pork to put on a bun.

The cold chicken sounds good!

I grill some johnsonville brats the night before, after they cool, i put them in a ziploc bag and put them in the fridge. Toss the bag in the cooler in the morning, Instant snack right there, they taste great cold right out of the bag, no buns needed! :) Been a quick grab snack with our family for years!

I have to vote for Famous Daves... We love the one local to us (which is a little cheaper, but compared to other offerings at the park it is by far the best value for the quality of food and service)... We went both Friday and Saturday last weekend and Saturday the bartenders already remembered us... Amazing service and incredible staff! Of course, the food is amazing, too...

We don't really eat anywhere else at the park... Maybe Donut Time, but that is more for a sweet treat... :)

Yesterday I got the spicy polish dog at Pink's. I can't even begin to explain to you how spicy hot this is! I love spicy food. I put habanero sauce on everything, but I could barely eat this hotdog. Lol. I couldn't believe it. I don't know what all is in that, but it's hotter than habaneros.

The Marketside buffet thing is terrible. The food was cold and bland and I was highly disappointed. Don't go there.

Has anyone tried the fish sandwiches by Gatekeeper? I'm wondering if they're any good?

Does anybody know if Cedar Point has allergen menus for their restaurants?

I think it is all ridiculously expensive, but I do have to say this. We went to Johnny Rockets a couple of weeks ago at CP. We had 2 burgers, cheese fries to split, a shake to split, and 2 pops. The bill came to about $35.

Yesterday we ate at one of the side places back in Frontier town. I'm not sure what it was called. We had a chicken fingers basket and split the fries. We then got a pretzel, a pop to split, and another basket of just chicken fingers.

It also came to $35. We had to sit on the ground because there were no tables available, and there were no free refills on the pop like at Johnny Rockets.

Johnny Rockets did take a lot longer, but I think it was the better deal out of the 2. We got more for our money and got to sit down in the air.

I think the best deal though is to pack food in a cooler and eat in the car. We didn't do that this time because we didn't have room in the car for the cooler, but it would have saved us a lot of money.

I want to comment only on Cedar Point food prices, not quality.

Friday, my FFA Chapter and I worked the Ohio Cattlemen's Association food tent at the Ohio State Fair. I was calling out orders from the customers' tickets. At the fair, your captive to the vendors' food prices, just like Cedar Point. Therefore the prices are more expensive then what there worth. Tickets were coming in at $10 for a burger and fries...sound familiar.

Cedar Point's food might be expensive but in a captive environment atmosphere, they are definitely not as outrageous as some make them out to be.

I'm willing to bet that the Cattlemen's Association serves much better burgers than Cedar Point.

And you would lose that bet. The Cattlemen's tent serves burgers the same way Cedar Point serves theirs (or any other fast food restaurant, for that matter.) Frozen patties are put on the grill and when there cooked their put in to a small container of grease to keep them warm. If anything, Cedar Point's burgers are actually bigger then Cattlemen's tent.

Odd. The Iowa Cattlemen's Association serves very good burgers.

CDF said:
Cedar Point's food might be expensive but in a captive environment atmosphere, they are definitely not as outrageous as some make them out to be.

The conversation about food at the park rarely takes the tone that food is too expensive. Only that the value is bad, considering quality:cost.

It is too expensive. I expect it to be more than if I left the park but when my husband checks the price of nachos and cheese and it's more than I make per hour it's too much. We used to eat at the park quite a lot in the 90's. It was expensive, but not to the point of being prohibitive. We don't ormally buy food in the park anymore. This year so far just a funnel cake and a pack of Tic Tacs. The cooleris getting lots of use.

If you want something quick and a little healthier than a burger, I found the char grilled chicken sandwiches served under the Skyride (nearest corkscrew) to be pretty decent.

The meat was moist and lightly seasoned. It was served on a soft bun with a nice piece of green leaf lettuce and a ripe tomato slice. I think it tasted better than most grilled chicken sandwiches served by major fast food chains.

I also tried one the other day and was pleased with the grilled chicken, one of the better food choices in the park.

The burgers at Lakeside are also served with the leaf lettuce and tomato, a bit nicer than what I remember from Burger Patio which I think were just plain burgers.

I think it's expensive, too, for what you get, just like even fair food nowadays, I can't believe the price jump. What I used to buy and could afford as a teenager/young adult back in the day, I could have had a nice dinner at a fine dining restaurant with today's fair and amusement park prices. If they'd lower their prices some, wouldn't they make up for that in volume and in turn, make their guests happy and want to return?

I really appreciated Kings Island's platinum pizza deal with four large drinks, a large family size salad, and very large pizza (we had left-overs even) all for $30. Cedar Point wants $30 just for the pizza. I guess CP's market doesn't call for deals.