Closing Early

Maybe an annual "Sleepover at the Point" Day, where it opens later and stays open all night, would work. I think it'd be a cool idea, but I wouldn't go. I don't think staying up 'till 12 or 1 on regular operating days would be practical, as many people said. The park is always dead at closing time at 11, so I think staying open for two more hours would be a waste, except for those enthusiasts at Top Thrill and MF.

-S. Eagle

Perhaps the only time they would consider this is during CoasterMania. I've heard people pull a 19 hour day for that event before with its current set up. However, I don't see this ever coming to fruition because if they were going to do it, I think they would have done it in their glory days of the mid to late 90's.

Mr Scott, sorry to hear about Doohan, is probably correct. If you look back three or four years ago, cp used to be open till midnight on July and early August weekends. They no longer are, maybe weren't making enough to stay open the extra hour.

Electricity and labor are not cheap. Also consider that insurance in the industry is written based upon how many hours the park is open. If the ridership sufficiently slacks off late in the evening, then it quickly becomes uneconomic to stay open late.

Although the park may close at 11:00 during July and August, a busy Saturday may have some rides such as Millennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster running until 12:30 or later. It then takes security a while to clear the park of guests who may still be collecting items from lockers, etc. meaning that the park is often not cleared until after 1:00am.

By that time there are maintenance and cleaning crews waiting to come into the park to begin overnight work. They can not move equipment onto the midways until the park has been cleared of guests, meaning that they can not begin their trash removal, restocking, cleaning, landscaping, etc. until all of the guests are out of the park. Ride maintenance, cleaning, and inspections also take place during the nighttime hours and continue well into the early morning.

These crews need to have all equipment off of the midways before guests are allowed into the park at 9:00am for resort guests. They are working up until the very last minute trying to make everything perfect for the next days guests.

The park is really alive 24 hours a day, but these overnight crews need those precious few hours that the park is empty to take care of some of the more important tasks that help Cedar Point keep its reputation as the #1 amusement park on the planet.