Cedar Fair Reride Policy

I love Cedar Point. It is quite well-managed and can put through a lot of people with its selection of high-capacity and/or well-operated rides. But for all the things that I like about Cedar Fair, there is one thing that I dislike, and that is the reride policy.

Reriding will refer to being able to stay on a coaster train if the row that you are sitting in has no wait and there is no wait being "grouped" before the station. It can also refer to moving to a row that has nobody waiting for it. Cedar Point has one of the most draconian reride policies of any park that I've seen. I sometimes cannot reride on Iron Dragon, Corkscrew, Mean Streak, or any other coaster that happens to have no line at the time. I've been told that they are worried about somebody else perceiving it as line jumping.

When I can reride, the policy is typically convoluted, as in not being able to re-ride more than once (two rides total.) When a similar situation occurred at Kings Island on The Bat (former Flight Deck/Top Gun) earlier this season, they replied that rerides are prohibited because some rides are too intense and cause grey-outs. I guess the same rational applies to the rule of not riding more than twice.

The thing is, the rule is enforced at coaster enthusiast events. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the park for the events, but it is very annoying to have an empty station near you and having to repeatedly walk around to reride.

Cedar Fair isn't always consistent, even within parks - some ride ops on some rides are more forgiving at CP itself, while some other CF parks (like California's Great America) allowed me to re-ride essentially everything without a wait (except the Vortex stand-up coaster, where they enforced the 2-ride rule.) Six Flags, while infamous for their inefficiency, allows rerides at enthusiast events and during normal operating hours. For example, I rode El Toro (the famous, ultra-intense4 wooden coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey) countless times in a row during an ERT only going around once to wait for the front. I just stayed on most of the time (or I was just getting off to switch seats.) In contrast, at Cedar Point, the recent Fall Freakout event prohibited more than 2 rerides during Magnum ERT, and even more recently, during general hours, I could not reride Iron Dragon when only the front row had anybody in line. (This led me to joke to my friend "So we can ride El Toro 20 or so times in a row, but not Iron Dragon twice?")

So here are my solutions-
-If the worry is line jumping - Then have people step out of the seat to the exit side and be able to board again when the gates close and the last-second people have rushed in. This would not work efficiently on GateKeeper, so the alternative here is to open the gate separating the exit ramp and station during very non-crowded ERT (this is done sometimes, and a similar act is done at MF ERT, although not TTD, which is unfortunate.)

-If the worry is about intensity - Is there any conclusive evidence that rerides will injure riders? If a coaster is that intense that re-riding it can cause permanent damage, I doubt that it would be able to operate in the first place. Six Flags almost always does unlimited re-rides, and they work fine.

-The double reride rule - Same as above - if somebody can ride El Toro a crap-ton of times without injury, I think most other coasters will be the same.

TL;DR - CP's reride policy is in need of change - rerides or seat moving should be allowed whenever there is no wait for a row, and the two-reride policy should be reconsidered and (hopefully) discarded.

One thing I've noticed this year between Kings Island and Cedar Point is that they are extremely inconsistent in terms of re-rides. From what we heard earlier this year on this site and elsewhere, corporate policy is supposed to be that you may re-ride once and then have to walk around. This is for the reason you have mentioned, about rides being "too intense". Whether I buy that or not is a discussion all its own. However, it is never the same from one day to the next or even one op to the next. Sometimes we'll ask to re-ride and be allowed to the first time but then rejected every other time. Last Friday, during GateKeeper's HalloWekends Party ERT, we at least had a sympathetic op, but she still made us go back around.

I do not know if different ride crews are making up their own policies or the official policies just are not being communicated to all ops. I do not mean to complain as I do appreciate all the ERT events. However, it also seems extremely wasteful to dispatch trains with <= 25% seats filled while making guests walk back around. Above all, some consistency would be nice.

I had one problem at the Challenge Park go karts. There were some people who bought multiple tickets to ride and they just let people go again when there were several cycles of people waiting in line. I think if there are people waiting, they should get back in line and wait instead of making everyone in line wait. I almost just said forget it and left.

^Blech. That go-kart incident can't be corporate policy, can it?

Consistency. That's what is lacking.

Sometimes, Skyhawk will allow unlimited re-rides if the que waiting is minimal (ie, less than the number of open seats). Other times, as was the case this past Sunday, you could re-ride once, before walking around. I actually don't mind this rule, because it keeps people from sitting there for an hour to the point that nobody gets to re-ride due to the que getting more full.

Sometimes on Magnum, over the past few years, they will close the que on the second from last car. But if you ask nicely, they will let you sit there for as long as you like, over, and over and over again.

Diamondback has almost always allowed re-rides, even if it's just getting up and finding an empty seat. They don't mind at all.

So within the chain, and even within the park, it's up to ride operator discretion. I don't like that, cause sometimes they are just dicks, for the sake of being dicks.

I've even rode Maverick, FRONT SEAT, 12 straight laps (in the rain) without having to get up. I only got off because I had to go to the bathroom. For those that don't know, Maverick is one of the hardest rides to re-ride, with one of the longest walk-arounds.

I've done the same on Mean Streak, front seat. Later in the season always seems easier. I almost hate going in May, and Coastermania time now, because the new ride ops are strict.

I'm not saying this because I think I'm entitled to re-rides. All I ask is for a policy, ANY policy, and for it to be consistently applied. At least within the same park, if not across all CF parks. But apparently that's too much to ask?

On Mean Streak, they always let me stay on- even in the front seat, or they let me move back. On Gemini, there were only people in line for the 2 front seats, and the operator at the booth had to ask the Team Leader if I could re-ride, and he said yes. Skyhawk usually lets you move to the other side, but they only let you do it once. Iron Dragon would not let me re-ride in the very back seat, when no one was in line for it. Blue Streak didn't let me move back. Mine Ride usually lets you move back.

^^I don't think its that entitled to be able to re-ride when the train is practically empty. Even Six Flags parks, infamous for inefficiency at the most inopportune times, do it!

GigaG said:
^Blech. That go-kart incident can't be corporate policy, can it?

That wasn't the only problem that day. The guy in line in front of me timed the ride and they weren't going the full circuit. Then he complained to the ops and the next cycle did the correct time. I still hate that they made everyone in line wait while letting people re-ride.

It does seem like a waste to have to walk around when the station is empty. I think we got a reride or two last year on Mean Streak. The only coaster I've gotten them on with any regularity is Blue Streak shortly before closing. In the last half hour before the park closes they sometimes let you stay on if nobody is in line for your seat multiple times. A couple weeks ago I think we rode 4 or 5 times without ever getting up. We stayed on until the ride closed for the night.

Earlier this year I went to the park when it wasn't busy and rode Wicked Twister. I rode it 5, yes, 5 times in a row without exiting and re-queuing(I changed seats each time for a different experience, there wasn't even people in the front).

Yep... Totally inconsistent. Sometimes, no re-rides. Other times, one re-ride and then walk back around. Still other times, as many re-rides as you want. :(

I just assume there won't be any and consider myself lucky when it happens.

Thabto said:
I had one problem at the Challenge Park go karts. There were some people who bought multiple tickets to ride and they just let people go again when there were several cycles of people waiting in line...

Thabto, I had the same experience in early August. Our group of four got in line around 10:30pm and there were 4 people waiting in line in front of us. There were 15 middle aged drunk people in matching light blue tshirts (perhaps a company outing) driving on the track. After a while the worker told us that ALL of them bought two rides. They were going to stop them and then let them go again...but we would go next. I asked, "If I bought a dozen tickets, could I ride for hours without exiting?" She said that there is a limit of two consecutive rides...even if people are waiting in line.

The workers brought them into the station, made them sit in their karts for 5 minutes (why?), and then sent them out again. They were behaving belligerently, yelling, bashing karts, and spinning out every 20-30 seconds. The workers would stop everyone, fix their karts, and then restart them. By the time they finished their arduous second turn, it was 11:15 pm. I can't believe the workers didn't kick any of them off of the karts with the way they were bashing them and behaving in such an obviously drunken fashion.

This is the part that had me fuming. Despite the fact that fifteen people just got out of karts, that we were told we would be in the next race, and that we waited patiently for 45 minutes for our turn while the same people were driving...they decided to shut down nine of the karts. This meant that the four people in front of us and only two of my group of four could ride...unless we wanted to wait another 20 minutes. The karts were not damaged or shut down for mechanical reasons, it was basically hinted to us that the workers were tired and it was easier for them to deal with six karts instead of eight, and they didn't care if we were told we would be next.

We gave up in disgust, not only at the situation but by the poor attitude shown by the ride workers. We got a refund and played mini golf instead. We had a really great day in the park and it was such a disappointment to end our day (and our vacation) on a sour note.

Historically, I believe the policy has been affected by how riders are counted on each ride. Cedar Point has turnstiles on every ride which are used to count riders. This is then supplemented by special cases as counted by the ride ops (parent swap, handicap access, and re-rides). I wouldn't expect the policy to change much unless the turnstiles are eliminated.

A couple years ago, I asked several Cedar Fair parks what their policy was for re-rides. All of them responded with a different policy.

On a side note, when I was a kid back in the 70s, CP had absolutely no rerides. Even if only one person was on the ride they had to get off, exit and walk to the entrance if they wanted to ride again. The policy today seems very liberal to me compared to what I grew up with.

I think the different policies come from the fact that they different parks were operated by various companies before the CF purchase and previous way of doing things still exists today in the various parks.

Except that, as I mentioned, the policy as enforced varies within a park from one ride to another and from one day to the next. Sometimes from one op on the same ride on the same day. The official policy, if it's one re-ride followed by a walk around, that's great. We'd just like them to enforce it with some consistency.

The thing about the reride policy is there isn't one..It's subjective to that ride op/crew at that time. Sometimes I'd let a reride, sometimes I wouldn't. It depended on variables like how many were in the station if any, time of day, etc.

If you get a reride, enjoy and have fun, if you don't, you know what going through the queue is like, just go do it again, no big issue.

^this.

I've had sympathetic ride ops (on the Iron Dragon event) saying that either no rerides or one reride is policy.

How can policy be both? Doesn't make sense. Policy can either be no rerides or one reride. Can't be both.