Best strategy for getting out of the parking lot?

Are alcohol sales cut off anytime before close?

Thabto said:

In the parking lot last night, alot of drivers were just plain rude and didn't give a crap about anyone else around them. I saw alot of cars just cut off other cars right in front of them, people trying to squeeze into a very tight space, and just pulling out right in front of another car regardless if they were going to be let in by another car. They were just being very aggressive. The way people were in the parking lot last night, I'm not surprised there's alot of accidents.

I also imagine "Road Rage" type vocalizations and gestures were plentiful. Many parents likely poor examples for their children as well as towards others.

Thabto said:

Parking lot is an absolute clusterf*** right now. At this rate I'll be lucky to be out of the parking lot before midnight. I'm hearing reports of an accident on the causeway. That seems to be a normal occurrence these days.

Thabto, did you at the park get any of that rain that came through NW Ohio last night? I was at the beach yesterday, got home about 8:30, and about 10:30 it POURED down rain here. I saw that big red blob was heading for Cedar Point and wondered how the rain was affecting the park.

Yes but the rain didn't hit until after the park was closed so it didn't really impact the park.

Shades said:

I am curious as to what type of accidents the non-barrier circles lead to. Is it that people do not realize that there is a circle so they attempt to drive straight through it? Or do they see on-coming traffic and stop, thus causing the person behind them to rear end them?

I think it's just a matter of the added distraction of other, irrelevant traffic when the visual barriers aren't there. Especially in the US, where we're sort of hard wired to look around 4-way stop/yield type intersections before proceeding. For roundabouts, the only traffic that matters is that coming directly from the left. And if someone is distracted by other traffic when entering, bad things are bound to happen.

Should have some interesting reports about exiting with today's crowd.

I went through a round about twice yesterday. The first time there was no on-coming car so I simply had to slow down enough to take the tight corner to enter the round about. That is as efficient as it gets. The second time there was a car coming from the left so I had to stop based on the assumption that it was going to keep going in my direction. Then the car exited the round about. If they would have signaled that they were exiting I would not have had to stop. I would guess the lack of people signaling that they are exiting is a prime culprit for the loss of efficiency.

Never rely on the cars' signal as to its' direction. There are no laws that a car must turn according to its' turn signal on. Legally it has right of way no matter what its' signals indicate.

I was going to make that point as well.

Does anyone else have a harder time seeing turn signals these days especially from a bit of distance? Maybe it is just old age but odd signal shapes, headlights are different colors and seem brighter to me than the used to.

I have two teens I wish they would get their licenses so I can live life a life of luxury with a chauffeur. Especially back to CBus from the park. :)

I hate that the white lights on the back of cars are not exclusively backing lights anymore, that's been hard to get used to. Someone unlocks their car and putzes around with their groceries or kid I come walking past and think I'm about to get backed over because I've spent my life being conditioned to get out of the way if those lights come on.

Amen!! “Never walk behind a vehicle with its backup lights lit.” Except now car makers seem to think it’s desirable to use those lights for general illumination, to the extent that backup lights don’t mean anything anymore.

And yet we still can’t make amber turn signals standard.

—Dave Althoff, Jr.

We left CPS a tad before another storm rolled in and are parked a few rows back from Magnum. Waiting out the rain before heading to the dry park. Of course CPS emptied out and the vehicles trying to leave in my row have not moved in over 45 minutes.

On my last trip to the Point (July 25-29) we stayed till close each night. In fact, since we were towards the middle or back at close, traffic had largely dissipated most nights before we got to the car. Here's what worked on the nights we were in the middle of the exodus though...

When you arrive at the park, pick one of the tollbooth lanes to the far right. This should help you get a spot close to the road that runs through the middle of the lot. If you can get between that center-lot road and the lake, that helps too (but isn't always possible). Also, if you are able to (without being too blatant in ignoring the parking flagger's instructions) try to get a space where you can pull forward to exit (instead of parking directly behind another car.)

When you get back to your car, avoid the temptation to follow the crowds towards the bayside exit road (Perimeter Road). On our visit, it seemed like most of the cars were heading that direction, as opposed to using the road that runs through the center of the lot.

As you head towards the back of the lot, I noticed there were some signs instructing you to turn left (towards the lake) to exit... I'm assuming that would take you down the Chausse. Just keep going straight instead, till you get to the end of the lot. A quick right turn there puts you at a stop sign near the tollbooth. Wait for the parking flagger to send you through and you are out. The entire time we were there, they had three lanes exiting on the causeway at closing (for the first quarter mile or so, then narrowing to two with a flashing construction arrow) so you will need to eventually merge into one of the right two lanes... but not right away.

I don't know if my experience is normal, but we were out of the lot in 5 minutes or less each night.

I don't know why everyone has such a hard time getting out of the parking lot. Today (Aug. 15) we parked in the first row behind the handicapped parking in the main lot. We got in the car to leave at 10:25 and five minutes later (10:30) we were on First St. No we did not cut anybody off and waited our turn. Last Friday it took 10-minutes to get on First St. We parked in the 3rd row behind handicapped parking. That night it was 10:15 when we got to the car.

^Because 90% of the others aren't parked in the vicinity of where you mentioned and/or aren't familiar with the good flow from there.