Cedar Point Shores barely open

Not exaggerating but over 1/2 of the slides/attractions at cedar point shores were closed over the holiday weekend. On the breaker side of the magnum, only the drop slide and racing slide structure were open. No other slides, lazy river, bar, kids zone, etc.. The other side wasn't much better at all. The main kid attraction area was totally closed. I've seen it at limited functionality where it's open but only 1 slide is running, but this time the whole thing was dry.

Tons of complaints and warnings not to go in other groups as well. I asked a worker what the deal was and she said they were over 140 lifeguards short this season!

At what point does CP let people know the dismal status as a warning, or even just shut it down?

Then they wouldn’t pay to get in….

Yeah. Which is why I asked at what point does that happen? A few things not open.. ok fine. But over 1/2?

But don't worry.. they made sure to have the $52 pizza available for purchase. :|

From what I saw from Magnum not even the main / large lazy river was open? At least one is open usually and that's when staffing is poor.

This was the worst I've ever seen staffing on memorial day weekend in the park, even worse than 2021. Only the main food stands available and you could count more closed than open. No Toft's or Fresh Cuts on the main midway which are almost always open. Only standalone drinks were a handful a freestyle machines and the main midway location had a line that was nearly to the legacy bricks. Rides were running skeleton crews, and they didn't even have enough for 3 trains on Magnum.

I get that Zimmerman and Co want that cheap international labor, but at some point they are going to have to raise thew wage again especially for the shoulder seasons. When they did the $20 an hour the staffing was the best I've ever seen, and there was zero international help.

My thoughts exactly. The 140 lifeguard shortage is something that probably won't be fixed anytime soon.

I agree with the staffing this weekend, it was horrible. We didn't use our dining pass very much because the main eateries for the pass had lines stretching well outside the doors of the restaurant. When you finally got inside they were only staffing 1 side of the food service station. Saw this at all 4 main restaurants.

Yikes, they were double barrel action on opening day (at least Farmhouse and Pavilion. ). Not a good sign if they are losing more staff than gaining.

It wasn't super busy Monday (probably 25Kish) but felt busy with the poor operations. Steel Vengeance was about the only thing I saw running well (30 min line)

Anyone know what they’re paying staff this year?

I think it's $15/hr, unless you worked there when it was $20. If so, you are still grandfathered in at that rate.

I have posted on this issue and have been made fun of a lot. Some folks are all in for Cedar Point and have no objectivity. Charging full price when they know that so much will be closed due to foreseen events like staffing is wrong. You shouldn't screw over your paying guests and expect them to come back for more. All closed attractions and venues should be well posted at the front gate. Actually, it should be posted on the website. Cedar Point was never run like this decades ago and it is a shame.

Anyone have thoughts on how to ask about closures and staffing issues at the upcoming coastermania q&a? Any way I can think of phrasing it either sounds disrespectful or accusatory. It doesn't seem like a topic they'd be willing to discuss. Is there any nice way to ask that might get them to provide some actual info? Are there any other topics with unknown details to bring up or is it destined to be green train sinking again?

You're unlikely to get anything beyond canned PR responses at CM. This is a "vote with your wallet" situation, which is what we're doing this year considering Breakers' suites are going for ~$500/night in mid-June which is laughable for what Breakers offers. Then again it looks like they're not having trouble filling rooms at those rates given the low availability, so good for them.

CoasterHawk:

I have posted on this issue and have been made fun of a lot.

To be fair, I don't recall a previous instance wherein, as fritzer describes, over half of the attractions were closed due to staffing rather than weather-related issues. If what's described is accurate, then yes that is a legitimate complaint because, unlike weather, staffing is a foreseeable issue, and unlike a small handful of attractions being closed, it sounds like barely anything was open.

Generally speaking, when folks complain about a few attractions/food stands/dippin dots future plans info centers, yes, they are reminded that there is a huge variety of other stuff to do in the park, and stuff being periodically closed is part of the game, especially early in the season. But that doesn't sound like what's happening in CPS. So apples and oranges.

I wonder what the other water parks great wolf and Kalahari are paying this year? And if they’re having a problem staffing or not

They both have a large number of international students working at those places. In fact, some have 1 or 2 jobs at local restaurants on top of the waterparks.

CoasterHawk:

I have posted on this issue and have been made fun of a lot.

You post when SkyRide (or as you sometimes call it, "the buckets") is closed and question why they dare close and they should compensate you for the trouble it just because the 50mph winds coming off the lake made someone in ride operations decide to close the ride.

This is the waterpark at the flagship park in the chain operating at what sounds like less than 50% as the rule rather than the exception.

CoasterHawk:

Charging full price when they know that so much will be closed due to foreseen events like staffing is wrong. You shouldn't screw over your paying guests and expect them to come back for more. All closed attractions and venues should be well posted at the front

This is ludicrous. People generally plan their trips to Cedar Point well in advance of whatever notice the park would post on any given day and it would be asinine of the park to do so.

As far back as I can recall (decades at this point), they've always had a "no rain checks" policy. Cedar Point has never guaranteed a single attraction would be open because that's not how access to the park works.

They charge for entry into the park regardless of the status of their rides and other attractions because there is more to do at Cedar Point than their rides and attractions.

But how true is that at the water park? There's no live entertainment, no arcade, no petting zoo, no FT shops, no candy store, etc. Heck, even management realizes the water park is unique in this regard given they close it during inclement weather, which only happens during the most extreme weather events on the ride side.

If what fritzer describes is accurate, it's a legitimate complaint. Imagine a family of four with two young kids, heading in to enjoy the kids areas, paying $200 (!) to get access to the waterpark, only to find both kids areas closed. There would be nothing for them to do other than buy food. Or even forget the money for a moment, imagine spending an hour-plus getting young kids geared up for the waterpark, the stroller loaded up with all the necessary gear, etc., paying $200 to get in and realize there's nothing to do. That's not OK, and not in any way the same thing as a rainy day on the ride side of the park.

Jordan_Vanichek:

They both have a large number of international students working at those places.

Unless things have changed in the few years since I’ve been there Great Wolf Sandusky never hired internationals for life guard positions. They definitely did for the rest of the hotel and resort. But all the lifeguards were locals.

Brandon, we're on the same page with regard to CP Shores. Staffing has to be figured out, even though it has to be incredibly challenging right now.

My post was mainly hoping to dispel this notion that Cedar Point owes up-to-the-minute updates on ride closures so that enthusiasts like CoasterHawk can be rightly compensated for missing out on Sky Ride due to wind or inclement weather.

SpeedDemon, yeah I think I just assumed GWL did - it might still be locals. But Kalahari for sure does.

So Cedar Point Shores is closed today for "inclimate weather" - what exactly is wrong with the weather today?