2013 Season Recap

So unfortunately the 2013 season for the park has officially come to a close. However, it is now time to watch construction for the new family additions and improvements to come next May. It's time to think about your visits to the Point this past year. What were some of your best experiences? Worst experiences? Any other comments about how this season was for you and your family?

I loved finally being able to ride GateKeeper after the off season tour and following its progress way back when the rumors first began. HalloWeekends was fun as always, and I was very impressed with Zombie High School. Overall, I like the improvements the park had been making and am looking forward to what it to come. I'm also excited about more tweetups. I didn't win any, but it's an awesome idea and hopefully next year I'll get one. The only negatives are that some of the staff can be unfriendly, mainly in food services (but the ride ops were awesome!), and that Maverick's wait is very long. Other than these things, I had awesome trips (all 9 of them.) I loved being able to make fond memories and spend cherished time with my friends and family.

First, some parting music.

http://youtu.be/SFOvUA_R-zA

Worst experience: Gatekeeper's vests (I'm dying here!)

Best experience: Vestapalooza (It's like a whole new world!)

^Speaking of which, my vest locked Friday night. Not a very good experience.

The best part of the season for me was media day. The weather was perfect, the lines were short and the staff did everything imaginable to make it an amazing day. The only downside was that getting 20 rides on Gatekeeper before the park officially opened definitely spoiled me for the rest of the season. Thankfully there were plenty of times that the lines were short anyhow. I must say they did a great job on Zombie High School as well! Looking forward to 2014!

Best:

Tony's back!
Pre-Season Tour
Coaster Mania
Learning how to win GateKeeper Bank-A-Ball
Coaster Club/Press Opening Day of Halloweekends - GREAT FOOD!!!
Tweetups! Great idea.
Cedar Point Coin. LOVED the coin Idea.
GateKeeper! GateKeeper! GateKeeper!
Wonderful memories made with the family.
My daughter finally hitting 54" and has now ridden every ride in the park.
Gemini Midway makeover announcement. A great place to dress up.

Worst:

Food. God it sucks. Horrible Food. Bad food from surly workers. Injury meet insult.
Smokers in the park outside of smoking areas
The idea that the Breakers may lose some of it's historical charm.
No loyalty discount when renewing Platinum Passes.
Early Entry being watered down to the point where it no longer has the value it used to.
Platinum food perks not as good as before - but the food sucks anyway so does it matter?
The change of the merge point for Fast Pass on Millennium. Significant loss.
Mean Streak - fix it or tear it down.

Your mom is to fat to ride TTD. said:
^Speaking of which, my vest locked Friday night. Not a very good experience.

This happened to my mom on our last visit. We sat in the back left, I was on the outside and she was on the inside. My vest didn't lock but hers did. It was not fun for her since she was expecting it not to lock like it had been doing. Hopefully the park can further address this issue over the offseason.

I live in California now so I only made it to Cedar Point three times this season (lowest in years). Twice in June and a Halloweekend's Friday at the beginning of October.

PROs: I'm all aboard on Frenchy running the franchise. The park was cleaner than I can remember. While he wasn't fully responsible for Gatekeeper, it's a solid addition to the park. The company is better shape today, than it was the day he took the job. Ouimet has maximized revenues in areas than Kinzel was either unaware of or just too complacent in his job to address.

CONS: I get that Fast Lane is a learn as you go kind of endeavor, but I felt that they had to have drastically oversold it the day I bought them in June. Last year Fast Lane was almost too good of a deal starting at the MF and Maverick platform, but this year I felt like I got ripped off for an extra $120 on top of my season pass and hotel stay.

I still don't get peoples fast lane complaints...but I'll hold my tongue for now

I think I got to CP about 15 times this year. Had some great times and look forward to doing it again next season.

I was surprised how quickly GateKeeper was somewhat forgotten in the later months of the season. Reminded me of Wicked Twister and Mantis' opening years. Although GK opened with a much bigger build up because it was the first new coaster in 6 years.

Sad to see the season come to a end. If you count media day I made it in to the park 20 times this year.

I had a personal record of 31 visits this year and it never gets old. I feel like on the busier days i can go to the park and not ride a thing and be perfectly happy. I loved the tweet ups (i won 2 of them but only 1 coin) and i loved the coins! Gatekeeper was also a GREAT addition as was the new front gate. I do feel as if more and more people had early entry this year, but my way around it was riding rides in a specific order, avoiding riding Gatekeeper first. I also feel like this year was the worst year for Mavericks line. Pretty much the only time i was willing to stand in line for Maverick was early entry. Overall, this year was an unbelievable year, from Gatekeepers media day to closing sunday! Looking forward to next years new additions!

It was kinda a off year for me. I only got to the park 4 times and none of the trips were after July. I was lucky enough to win a tweet up and it was very nice finally meeting Tony. From what I've read, 45Wheelgun pretty much sums it all up.

I was only at the park for coaster mania which was an awesome event as usual. I loved the new entrance to the park, but gatekeeper was a disappointment, much like wildeagle at dollywood last year! I have already decide not to attend the park next season for the first time in 12 years. I think i will do Kings island instead for some banshee!

Had a great season at CP as usual. It all started with Gatekeeper's Media Day. What an event and the extra's were totally unexpected. No idea how many times we ended up going but it was a lot. I ended up winning 2 tweetups and my wife won 1. I really looked for a golden ticket on Sunday but never came across one. Just wasn't in the right place at the right time.

Only disappointment was the cool weather earlier in the year that cut down our visits Soak City.

Hopefully we will get another opportunity at a PointBuzz off season event this winter.

Pros:
Media Day-that was way more than generous
Gatekeeper- just as fun to look at as it is to ride
13 total visits (including media day)
CoasterMania-my first one, look forward to more in the future
Tweetups, even though I didnt get any
Taking my friend for her first time (and getting a hilarious gatekeeper picture)
Having my senior pictures done in and around the park
And closing day, good weather for last rides

Cons:
Mavericks line- only rode 4x this year
Food staff- on Sunday I heard an employee at the corral say "I'm glad its my last day working in this s*** hole"

Ride On_17 said:

Your mom is to fat to ride TTD. said:
^Speaking of which, my vest locked Friday night. Not a very good experience.

This happened to my mom on our last visit. We sat in the back left, I was on the outside and she was on the inside. My vest didn't lock but hers did. It was not fun for her since she was expecting it not to lock like it had been doing. Hopefully the park can further address this issue over the offseason.

That was the exact seat I was in.

This season was by far the best season I've ever had! From my parents surprising me and taking me to GK media day and OSU Day, to taking my best friend to the park for the first time in June, AND this was after his grandpa died the previous year, which prevented him from going, 2013 has been the best!

^^Hmm, so it must just be an issue with that seat. Has anyone else experienced this on any other seat?

thedevariouseffect said:
I still don't get peoples fast lane complaints...but I'll hold my tongue for now

I couldn't agree more.
Gatekeeper was definitely a highlight for my season.