$3 soda = criminal

I will say that the Beer and BBQ foods were nothing short of delicious. I also noticed that the Brisket found its way onto menus at Soak City and Frontiertown. I'm not saying that one night I'll suddenly have a taste for Brisket and decide to run to Cedar Point to get it. But if I'm already there, it's nice to have as an option.

XS NightClub said:
Given your post, You likely have never worked in a full service restaurant;
Fresh burger/tenders will always cook faster than frozen,
Frozen pizza will take longer to bake than fresh,
Fresh Food is easily cooked safely,
Fresh food can be made cheaper than pre-made frozen alternatives.

Where it gets cost conscious for operators is food storage and handling, frozen is convenient to move and keep. It also can save money on prep and training, especially in high turnover environments.

The long times you wait at CP is through poor facilities layouts, antiquated practices and laziness.

Just look at other parks and large venue services and you can easily find faster/better service for even higher volumes of people and families.

It’s nice the park had been addressing these issues in recent years and I hope they continue to provide higher quality and better facilities for their employees as well.

EXACTLY

What amazes me in this whole thing is how much lower the quality is at Cedar Point in terms of food than it is at most of the other parks in the chain. I've gotten some really good meals at KD, KI, Carowinds and CW over the past few years but the food at CP is never that amazing. The park did step it up a notch in Frontier Town in 2018 with new offerings at Ms Keats and some of the other stands when open.

I wouldn't mind seeing one of those Blaze or Pizzafire franchises. Pizzas take about 90 seconds to cook in their ovens and they're set up for high volume through put. I think it would be perfect in the park.

Shades said:

I don't eat a lot at parks but the idea of eating shrimp at an amusement park does not sound appealing to me.

I think you should give it a chance. I had the coconut shrimp at Crystal Rock Cafe over the summer, and it blew me away. I do wish the portion was just a little bigger, but the shrimp were large, and incredibly tasty.

No matter how good a deal it may turn out to be, this is why I will never buy the dining plan at CP. There are few foods in the world worse than the chicken strips, coasters burger, etc. Dry, bland, not even hot. Just plain disgusting. Yes, there are some decent offerings but they are too few and far between and like to eat when I'm ready to eat, not go hunt down better food on the other side of the park.

Then again, being on a Keto diet now there isn't a lot for the wife and I to choose from anyway. But it's just hard for me to fathom how they can serve such horrible food at such high prices. I don't even mind the prices. It's the quality, or lack of.

I agree about the keto options. The lady at Panda Express wouldn’t let me get double chicken in place of rice. I was even willing to pay an up charge. I don’t know of any keto friendly options in the park at all tbh. Maybe Famous Dave’s chicken with no BBQ sauce, but that’s no fun.

Perhaps they won’t cater to what they consider “fad diets”, but whatever. I’ll just keep bringing my own lunch.

^^^ I really like shrimp, but my brain has been conditioned to know that if it is at the park it is going to be fed the traditional park junk food. And my brain is happy with the junk food.

^ Same. I have never really understood the screams for “better park food!!!” The junk food that the park serves is as good as any other junk food that I’ve had. Fries, chicken strips, corn dogs, ice cream, burgers. It’s all very very standard amusement park fare. If you get something that is cold, send it back. I think a lot of you are confusing food service with food quality. The service I can agree, needs improvement.

CPVet said: I think a lot of you are confusing food service with food quality.

There’s no confusion.
Crap like this that the park purposefully chose to carry is just one example of the substandard food.

http://cpfoodblog.com/review-cedar-point-stockade-refreshment-bosco-pizza/

The food service industry carries a wide range in quality of foods in all categories, vendors choose what grade they want to provide their guests.

The proof that the park lacks direction in its food services department is that the food trucks brought in each year provide substantially better product, selection and service. And this is done in extremely confined spaces with very limited resources and much bigger logistical challenges than the parks food services.

But also remember the folks who work those food trucks have it down to a science, because they have to. It’s not a matter of collecting $10/hr or whatever CP pays food workers; it’s a huge investment for the operators and if they aren’t on their game it affects them personally. So they HAVE TO provide outstanding food and service. Johnny Student doesn’t have that personal investment in making cheese on a stick and it shows with their turtle speed ahead attitude. As for CP offering crap food and allowing Johnny Student to perform that way, I don’t have an answer there.

I really disagree with that sentiment though.

As a ride host, we had to have everything down to a science. It was so fully ingrained that everything we did was basically automatic. We were judged by supervisors, managers, corporate based on capacity, cleanliness, etc.

I'm not sure how food service runs, but Cedar Point has been at this for almost 150 years. They should have it down to a science, just like other parks in the chain.

Part of it might be incentive, though I'll say I made minimum wage and stayed in the dorms and I was still motivated to outperform the other rides in our area. I know, that's anecdotal and probably not representative of every Cedar Point employee, but there has to be a way to tap into what makes food service that much better at KI, KD, Carowinds, etc.

Was mentioned earlier, Crystal Rock Cafe shrimp is indeed very good. Anything from the Crystal Rock Cafe is worthwhile, it never disappoints. In my opinion the best place to use the all season dining plan at.

I do not know how the Crystal Rock Cafe does it so well, I really wish the main park would have a similar place.

Sparty42- As good as CP’s ride operations are, a lot of their food operations are that bad. I worked in all kinds of restaurants from McDs to steakhouses for 13 years, both front of house and back. I see a lot of good staff at CP that would not last very long in a restaurant outside CP...

Shane Denmark said:

Sparty42- As good as CP’s ride operations are, a lot of their food operations are that bad. I worked in all kinds of restaurants from McDs to steakhouses for 13 years, both front of house and back. I see a lot of good staff at CP that would not last very long in a restaurant outside CP...

Yes, the food can suck. That's why I'm happy that I have the dining option. If it sucks, I don't get it again. My favorite @ CP is Coasters, especially when they're busy. The burgers and fries are usually hot and the service is OK. I always have soda in my car cooler as well. Ice water is my go-to beverage (aside from a beer); I wish the cups were larger (always ask for two or three cups).

2018 was the first year I'd categorize as "good" for my CP in-park food experience. 8 days visited, 7 where we used the dining plan 2 times (the other was the SV first rider benefit). We didn't have any bad meals, and indeed Buckaroos and Crystal Rock I'd classify as VERY good. Chick Fil A was fine, as were the new Foldovers (very large). Miss Keats was ok (Crystal Rock oddly much better) and the Perch Sandwich outside of GateKeeper wasn't bad. Even had a decent burger at the Roundup. Had good food at Carowinds (love Harmony Hall) Dominion and Wonderland. Actually our worst food experiences came at Kings Island. Their new bbq place was our least favorite of the year. The bright spot at KI was Tom Chee, very good. I think these parks are making improvement, but it started from such a low bar that there is still a long way to go.

Tom and Chee is wonderful, always go there when I am at KI. Harmony Hall is fantastic at Carowinds, easily a step above the Crystal Rock Cafe for me. The turkey leg there and a side (which is on their dining plan there) puts a CP Corral Pizza slice and bag of chips to shame in terms of portion size.

Turkeyyyy. I really wish CP'd consider doing the same with their own bbq turkey leg- I only had it once and it was delicious, but I tend to stick with whatever's on the all-day dining plan since they put it into effect. (I haven't tried the foldovers for the same reason- they look so good but they're not cheap and it's kind of silly to pay for food when you can get something else for 'free'. )

I thought one or two foldovers were on the dining plan, though.

The Frontier Foldovers were included in the dining plan . Had them several times last summer and thought they were very good . They included 2 foldovers in the serving .

I enjoyed the fold overs. I would have loved a few more options (whether it be like self serve or on the menu).