Cedar Point Dethroned: Golden Ticket Awards 2014!

I actually disagree that the sit down places need less improvement than the walk up places. Have you been inside whatever is right over by The Palace Theater? I can't remember what the place is called, but we went in there once this year to see what it was like, and we walked out before eating anything. It was disgusting. Everything looked like it had been sitting out all day long, and it looked along the same quality as crappy college cafeteria food. YUCK. We left and went across the way and got chicken fingers.

Chickies and Petes has been a major disappointment this year. I loved Game Day Grille, and C&P has by far the worst service in the park, plus the food outside the crab fries is mediocre. It sounds good on the menu, but the cooks don't seem to know how to cook it properly.

The walk up places could use a bit more variety throughout the park, but I think that's about it. Go to any of the big parks and thats the typical type of food that they have.

Any thoughts of the outcome of this year's awards being different, if Cedar Point were to announce a fantastic addition for 2015 prior to the voting?? The only thing Cedar Point announced prior to the voting, was the closing of Mantis... Which IMO didn't help it's chances!

Best Amusement Park is in Germany.

Cleanest park, best steel coaster, best landscaping, best water ride, best food, best shows, etc. - all in the US.

Yeah, that totally makes sense. Maybe it's a good thing CP didn't win. Being the "best" park apparently means being less than the best at everything.

Not surprised at this. Check out the website for Europa Park. Notice that it has alot of theming and dark rides. Something that CP is sadly missing.

rjacek1 said:
Not surprised at this. Check out the website for Europa Park. Notice that it has alot of theming and dark rides. Something that CP is sadly missing.

So does the Mouse, and it never wins. Maybe the mouse needs to up its advertising budget for Amusment Today magazine. :)

This just in: after a recount of votes similar to Florida during the presidential election, the new winner is "EUCLID BEACH PARK"!

WishfulThinker83 said:
Any thoughts of the outcome of this year's awards being different, if Cedar Point were to announce a fantastic addition for 2015 prior to the voting?? The only thing Cedar Point announced prior to the voting, was the closing of Mantis... Which IMO didn't help it's chances!

I don't know this for sure, but I think the voting is usually done by the end of July.

Chuck Wagon said:
Game Day Grille was in the Chickie & Pete's building for many years. You are probably thinking of the Chuck Wagon Inn which serves rotisserie chicken. It served pizza for a year or two, then switched back to chicken.

There was the Chicken Patio located next to the Mill Race, It was a red building themed to look like a barn and it served some pretty good fried chicken. The building was razed years ago.

! said:
I honestly don't get why everyone on this site always complains about the food. Nobody ever says anything positive. My "home parks" that I visit the most (Kennywood and Knoebels) that are known for their food, and CPs food is just as good IMO. It's not like I get annoyed or anything by the complaints or anything; it's just that I honestly don't see what's so bad about CPs food.

What about elephant ears, Johnny Roskets, fresh cut fries, the big snow cones, the food truck, and all the other restaurants?

You know, I have to agree with that. The infamous Potato Patch fries at Kennywood were a disappointment to me, not nearly as good as the fresh cut fries at CP.

Most of the walk up food stands on the midway serve food that is pretty much comparable to the national fast food chains when it comes to burgers, fries, pizza, etc.. The elephant ears are fantastic, the Toft's ice cream is great, corn dogs and cheese-on-a-stick are totally addictive and great tasting. I also like the cookies at Toot Sweets and the Montgomery Inn Ribs at Chuck Wagon. Also, I really enjoyed the addition of Starbucks.

If the food was bad I certainly would not have purchased the season dining plan. I more than got my money's worth from the plan. I really enjoyed coming to the park knowing that I able to get two "free" meals each visit.

! said:
My "home parks" that I visit the most (Kennywood and Knoebels) that are known for their food, and CPs food is just as good IMO.

Those parks aren't very close together. Do you live equidistant from them? CP has great fries, but that's pretty much as far as I would go. Your parks are generally better. The SeaWorld/Busch parks are even better, and while Disney counter service is mediocre, their table service restaurants own the industry, no contest.

Regarding Johnny Rockets, the one at Cedar Point is the best one I've been to out of a handful in prominent locations, though honestly, once you strip Johnny Rockets of the 1950s theme and presentation, it's actually a pretty plain and unremarkable menu. Even Culver's has better burgers, desert, and variety in general.

CP is the only one where I've ever seen the waiters really embrace it and do the dancing wait staff schtick, and once you take that away it's again, a pretty nondescript burger joint.

I guess another argument is that it's kind of hard to have any sort of 'regional specialties'. Even compared to Pittsburgh there's not a whole lot of interesting regional food that stands out in NE Ohio. Even Pittsburgh has more quirky local things. CP has the lake perch, which is fine as a token item, but again, not everyone eats seafood.

It's awfully hard to get a unique food identity for an amusement park aside from just 'park food'.

Got to be honest... The awards are losing credibility with some of these results! Nothing to do with CP not getting best park, but some of the runner-ups and winners in other categories, just aren't right!??

I love knoebel's, but c'mon LOL they're nothing but a collection of carnival rides! I'm sorry it's a nice park and a good overall experience, but as runner-up in the same conversation as Cedar Point?? LOL

How does Flying Turns one-up Banshee?? Nice addition to Knoebel's but once again does not belong in the same sentence as Banshee, or any state-of-the-art B&M!

Knoebel's has it's section as a family park in the GTA's, but being in the sentence for Best Park?

This may not be a popular statement with the die hard fans, but I think one of Cedar Point's biggest challenges (and for that matter, Cedar Fair too) is that there seems to be a lack of imagination when it comes to environmental design.

Being amused and entertain isn't just about manipulating forces on the body, its also about stimulating the mind. That requires that the designers put some thought and creativity into what guests see and feel during the ride.

The tunnels on Magnum and Millennium Force are nothing more than corrugated steel and they look downright boring and ugly. Magnum I can understand to a degree, but MF? They couldn't do something to make them look a little more compatible with the station? And as cool as the keyholes on Gatekeeper are and as much as it enhances the entrance, overall that ride was basically just plunked down in the park.

Maverick is a great example of how a little bit of design can go a long way toward enhancing the overall experience. Going forward it would be nice to see Cedar Point step it up a notch even beyond that with actual design elements instead of "here's a ride, have a nice day."

The tunnel on Millennium Force has a rock face that blends in pretty good with the theme of the Frontier Trail. Having a tunnel that blends with the station would look ridiculous on the Frontier Trail, there is absolutely no tie in.

You're thinking of the pedestrian tunnel. I'm talking about the tunnels that you pass through during the ride.

No, I'm not thinking of the pedestrian underpass. The tunnel has a rock face. After the tunnel the track rises up to the top of the "Magnum Hill" and the underpass for the Trail is a timber structure. All of the tables for Toot Sweets and the Coke Market Place on the Trail are next to the tunnel, you sit by the rock face.

If you're talking about the inside of the tunnel, yes it is steel, but who cares? It is the outside that has to blend with the surroundings, not the inside.

Ok, I know what you're referring to now. I believe that is a wall that provides a visual screen between that area and tunnel. Either way, my original post was about the rider's experience. The tunnels themselves look like an afterthought. There was a lot of opportunity to do something neat there. Even a fake "mountain" would have been a lot more interesting albeit maybe not in keeping with the theme (which isn't saying a lot since there isn't much of one.)

Please stop quoting the previous post. I'm just going to start deleting and stop asking.

My apologies. Often I do not quote the post that I am responding to, and in the middle of typing my response 2 or 3 other people will reply before I have a chance to post mine. I've seen this happen in other threads as well where the discussion appears fragmented to the point where I have no idea what a person is even talking about.

Your house, your rules. The Dude abides. My posts have been edited to remove the quotes.

WishfulThinker83 said:
The awards are losing credibility with some of these results!

It's hard to lose much of what you have little of to begin with. :)

I love knoebel's, but c'mon LOL they're nothing but a collection of carnival rides!

The results, according to AT's website, reflect the "database of experienced and well-traveled amusement park fans around the world" they send surveys to. Knoebel's has lots of fans. Knoebel's get lots of Golden Ticket love.

I am shocked, SHOCKED to hear it suggested there may be a correlation between the amount of advertising a park has bought in AT and the success that park has in the rankings....