Cedar Point Tips on July 21st and 22nd

Hi! I'm going to Cedar Point on

1) I have a Cedar Fair Platinum Pass, so I get the early entry/ERT. I heard that they don't actually open the rides for the people during this time, its more for testing. Is this true?

2) I heard that the weather at Cedar Point is wacky. Coming from a California Boy who sees it rain like once a year I will surely not know what to do if does start raining. Would you suggest waiting it out in line for a ride? Going to an arcade or something simular? Or going back to the hotel and wait it out?

3) I heard that parking at the Soak City parking lot is the best. I get free parking, so can I still park here? *I have not been to CP before*

4) What are the rides that are worth waiting the extra time for front row?

5) What rides, if any have lockers for rides? I am bringing my camcorder, and at Six Flags parks they usually make me put them in a locker. If they have lockers how much are they?

-Thank you! :)

1) Not true. The ERT rides all run an hour before the park opens to the general public, unless down for maintenance.

2) Depends on the weather.. CP has a really strict rain policy, so even if it's drizzling they'll most likely shut down the coasters. If it's a good-sized storm, you may want to check out a flat ride or a show. Otherwise just wait it out.

3) Yes, anyone can park in the soak city lot. It's a very good tactic.

4) Dragster really is amazing in the front row, but the lines are absurdly long. Raptor and Mantis are definite front-row rides IMO, because the 4-across seating makes the wait not very long.

5) Millennium Force and TTD have lockers, as do the water rides. Other than that, they have bins to place loose articles.

^Thanks, but how much does it cost to use one of the lockers?

It costs $2 for a small, single use locker at the entrances to Millennium Force, Top Thrill Dragster and Wicked Twister.

My recommendation would be to dedicate an hour or two to taking video and not riding. Go around, take the video you want, and then go put it in a locker or your car. Then you can ride without having to worry about shelling over 2 bucks or leaving it in an unsecured bin.

On the other hand, if you shoot first and ride later, you'll miss the best time to ride in the park -- early in the morning, when crowds tend to be sparser. My recommendation: ride first. Then, when crowds are at their worst in mid-afternoon, go out to your car, grab your cam, and shoot all the footage you want. Then either take it back out to the car or plunk down for a locker, and finish the day riding.

I have a question to add... which rides are usually open during ERT? I plan to head for Millie or Mav, but I was wondering if anything else is open in that time.

Millennium Force, Raptor, Maverick, Iron Dragon, and the rides of Planet Snoopy.

Wow thanks a lot for the tips guys!

Is there any close restraunts? Like right outside of the park?

And the locker idea is great, but my mom is probably going to be bringing a purse so...yeah...we will be forced to get a locker.

Because the park is on a peninsula, you would have to drive for 10 minutes or so to get to a restaurant area. However, Famous Dave's and TGIFridays are both located outside the park, but still on the peninsula. Both are highly recommended by folks around here. You tend to get more for your money than at the food stands in the park.

You can keep things in a locker for as long as you want. When my family has used them in the past, we tend to get one and then come back much later in the day. If you are going in the gate near Magnum, you can get a locker just inside the gate. We tend to use those, then we can get what's in the locker when we are heading back to the car, etc. It's a pain when you have to walk across the park just to get back to your locker, which is why we try to get one near our point of entry.

For the Soak City parking lot, use the parking booth on the far left. If you tell them you want to go to Soak City they will then direct you to follow the road around the park. Otherwise, you'll have to cut across the other lanes, which can be a pain at busy times even with flag men.

^I have no idea how Cedar Point/Soak City is laid out. So would the Magnum Entrace be located near the Soak City Lot?

So you can use the lockers all day, is it one of the ride locker ones? Or one of those really big lockers? And can you open the locker as many times as you wish?

Yep, it's close to the Soak City lot.

Only the lockers at the front of the park are unlimited access (i.e., they can be opened and closed multiple times throughout the day). Those lockers run more, I believe $5 for the small ones and more the larger size (but don't quote me on the exact price; I seldom use them).

The other lockers mentioned -- indeed, all the rest of the lockers inside the park -- are one time use only. Each time you open the locker, you have to pay again to relock it.

X2 said:

Is there any close restraunts? Like right outside of the park?

There's McDonald's, Thirsty Pony (sports bar) and East of Chicago Pizza Buffet right on the causeway. Anything else is a bit of a drive.

there is perkins and fridays in hotel breakers

and famous daves by the marina

My family just returned home from a three night/two day ride and slide trip at Cedar Point.
It was so much fun. Yes expensive to some degree but worth it. I will list the pointers that we found very useful.
1) We stayed at the Breakers Express. Arrived on Saturday and did the parks on Sunday and Monday. Spent the night Monday and checked out Tuesday. We called the front desk Tuesday morning and requested a late check out (1 pm) so that we could rest a little before returning home. Breakers Express was not as bad as some reviews make it out to be. For the $400 savings over the course of three nights it was worth it to us to stay there.
For the package price we received a resorts parking permit which made life EASY!
2) With the parking permit we were able to access the Soak City parking each day...totally beats the regular lot. We had early entry and got front row parking near soak City/Challenge Park. This made things so nice when it was time for cooling off at Soak City...easy access to the car!
The first day we visited Soak City after 5 pm at this time their lockers are deeply discounted. We endulged in the large locker, normally $21 during the day, but only $7 after 5.
3) As for early entry---TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT! We arrived around 8:20 day one and 8:40 day two. Went in the resort entrance near Challenge Park. Got in the park after they played the National Anthem and headed straight to Maverick both days (this is also a great time to get the front seat---amazing!!!) Also did Dragster early.
4) Refreshments---do take advantage of the large drink bottles for $10 plus $5 for unlimited refills! We bought two for our family of four. They let you take them in the next day and purchase the $5 unlimited refill again! Worth it to stay hydrated! And you don't have to fill it with fountain beverages...they will also do ice water if that is what you want.
5) On day one we spent $42 on lunch in the park which was not the best food, so day two we went back to our car and drove to Famous Dave's at the Marina for real food! We left our car there and went back in the park at the Marina entrance.
Yes, by doing this we list our great parking spot at Soak City, but this didn't matter because by the time we were planning to go to Soak City it was later. Went back to the car by the Marina and drove back over to Siak City (again after 5pm) and found plenty of spots close to the entrance.
6) I can't give any great opinion on the fast pass.
We opted not to buy it since we were able to enter the park and also because we were able to take in the park at a slower pace since we were there two days. We never stood in a line more than 45 minutes, but did see some lines over 1.5 hours at peak times. We just avoided the lines at those times.
7) Last note for parents with beginner riders who aren't sure about the coasters; my nine year old daughter thought she'd love the coasters...after roller coaster #1 for her---Maverick---she was terrified for the rest of the first day. She finally warmed up to riding and found the Iron Dragon to be her favorite and ended up riding 10+ times in the two days we were there!
Hope this helps some I'd you out there!
HaVe FuN!!!

^What are the large drink bottles this year? Last year they were WindSeeker.

Same. Mostly pink available for sale.

Hey MariB, I will be going in September and staying at Breakers Express.

How is the traffic getting in and out of the park? Do you avoid a lot of the nasty parking-lot traffic by parking in the Soak City lot?

Thanks!

We had absolutely no traffic issues.
I have no idea how the traffic is within the regular lot, but we never sat in traffic waiting.