Best time to go???

In everyone's opinion, when is the best time to go to Cedar Point? I am not a big crowd person and my children are not good in long lines but they LOVE thrill rides. They are 13,9,7.

I was thinking a weekend in September. What are your opinions? Thanks

Trisa

http://www.pointbuzz.com/faq3.htm

MrScott

I heard the Boat Show in September is usually dead.

What is the boat show in September?

How is labor day weekend typically? I know we go to Kennywood every memorial day weekend and it is usually dead (except this year... it was 85 degrees and it rained the whole week prior) Thanks. Trisa

4th of July typically has the lowest crowds of the season. Be sure to go then, especially if it's your only trip this year. ;)

They have a big boat show at the marina every year in September, they have the dates on www.cedarpoint.com .

I'm surprised no one caught the boat show thing yet.

I was being a jerk that day, the boat show in Sept. has become one of the busiest days of the season. I don't have the heart to continue to lie.

I was there on that weekend about 4 years ago, new first hand about how busy it is, just didn't want to piss on your Cherios Gomez. ;) And I am pretty sure MD's comment was tounge in cheek also.
*** Edited 6/9/2006 7:25:54 PM UTC by Grady***

We go for a few days every year mid week at the end of August. last year my longest wait was for TTD, 3/4 hour at peak of day. Most rides were walk on or 1/4 hour. Rode Magnum 6 times in a row and the train wasnt even full a couple of times. Hit the ejector seat twice in a row, I was a bit shook up.

OK Grady and Gomez... What a crappy thing to do to a newcomer... If I would go on that day, after trusting everyone here, I would've hunted you down!!!!

Now, back to my questions... how is Labor Day weekend, since the boat show is the weekend I was planning on attending?

How much time do you normally need in the park? We were thinking of doing CP on Friday/Saturday and the Indoor Water Park on Sunday before heading home... which brings me to my next question, how do you rate the indoor park. Good for 7-13 year old kids?

Thanks a bunch. And no more joke playing on me!!

Ok, sorry ;), Labor day shouldn't be to bad, all depends on the weather. You should be able to cover the park pretty well in 2 days, will you be there all day Fri.? Castaway Bay is a good choice, stayed there with my kids, ages 5, 12, and 14, at the time, last year, they had a ball. We are staying there again next week, Wed. and Thurs. and everybody is looking forward to it. They have a TGI Fridays right in the hotel, they have a deck on the water where you can eat outside, they also have a nice arcade and the water park is a lot of fun.

As a local passholder, it's sociologically interesting to watch the group behavior that transpires. The perfect day is one where it is raining between 9-10 am. Around here rainshowers seldom, if ever, last all day.

When it clears up, you can walk on pretty much anything, since tourists don't want to pay the admission price for a shortened day and will ususally write the whole day off and go do something indoors.

I used to wait tables on the Route 250 strip when in college and it's kind of comical. On nice days, every tourist in the place would rush from their tables at approximately 9:45 believing (incorrectly) that they could be first in line if they got there at ten. Conversely, on rainy days, many people would be looking at movie listings. You can learn a lot by eavesdropping.

were goin on wendsday when everyones still in school...hopefully no one will really be there

That's nice.

thanks to everyone who gave advice. I really appreciate it. I enjoy reading when people have been there and when they plan to go in hopes of it not being so crowded, however, Michael Darling, I think your comments are alittle uncalled for. Why even take the time to write such sarcasm as "That's nice" or maybe go on the 4th of July... "We still DONT CARE when you are going" (according to your signature) and maybe you should change your name to something other than "darling"... GROW UP!

^ maybe the darling should be dick head

So far this season it seems like
1. Saturday - most crowded
2.Tuesday, Friday
3. Sunday
4. Thursday
5. Wednesday- least crowded

I don't work on Monday so I have no idea about crowd size on that day.

I think its pretty much a gamble, because everybody seems to want to beat the crowds and most people think that the 4th of July is going to be horrible. So people probably don't prefer to go that day. I think I did go once because I was told that they day usually has the lowest crowds, but when I went in 2004, I arrived at 1 PM and parking was in something like 73K, which I didn't know existed. It was an area all the way at the end of the parking lot next to the booth workers. It was hilarious, people were also double parked on top of the pedestrian sidewalk.

Maybe go on a day that it is expected to rain, most people will try to avoid it and hopefully it won't rain all day and you can still enjoy the park. Now that I think about it, it did rain on that 4th of July I went, horrid rain, but I still got stuck in dead foot traffic when the gates came up from the Railroad track between Mantis and Millenium.

The trick might not even be when to go, it might be how you visit the park. Start in the back and work towards the front, and you can avoid long lines except for Millenium Force and Top Thrill Dragster, they always stay long. It would be okay, but Joe Cool's Club and resort visitors get first dibs half an hour before everyone else. But Raptor would start the day at 2 hour wait and dwindle down to a posted 45 minutes and end up actually being around 15 in the evening.

Millenium Force is fun early in the day when the track isnt warmed up, its alot slower and its a weird experience if you know what the ride is capable of doing at full force. But it'll be my favorite roller coaster no matter how fast or slow its going.

Thanks. That is a great idea to start from the back of the park and work your way up.

I live 10 minutes from Kennywood and Sandcastle Water Park and we will always go on Memorial day and it is not busy. If we miss that day, we go when the weather looks dreary and rainy because that scares everyone away but since I live a few hours away from Cedar Point, we have to plan ahead of time. I think we are going to come Sept 8th and 9th and avoid the boat show on the 15th and just hope that it is not too crowded.

This will be my whole families first time at the park so I wanted to make it a memorable one. Thanks again to everyone who gave advice.

Trisa

I think that I just got lucky today, but I really can't say since I haven't been to the park much this year. But it was empty for a Friday. The longest line was 2 hours for Raptor, which is natural early in the day when its the first big ride that people see and pour into.

But I started in the back with magnum, which didn't have a wait, I went straight up to the station and it was about three minutes. Gemini was less than fifteen, Mean Streak I walked on, I waited fifteen for the new Skyhawk which cycled people rapidly, Top Thrill Dragster was a little over half an hour. I went to eat and the wait for Johnny Rockets was the longest, being half an hour. It was so hot that everyone sat inside instead of outside, yet they don't let you sit on those empty chairs out there. I can't understand why they don't want customers to be happy when there are obviously tables that aren't going to be used. After that, Millenium Force was just under half an hour, Wicked Twister and Disaster Transport was just under fifteen and I was done for the day. It was about 86 degress outside with no clouds and the heat was unbearable. It doesn't help to have black hair. Caps just got sweaty and uncomfortable. Fans with water mist evaporated before reaching queus.