Early Entrance?

Ralph Wiggum said:

I just can't see it being an issue where they would think they're getting ripped off.

Well, when we were there in August we were all a little bothered that nobody bothered to check our resort passes. We paid $200 a night for a room and the one thing that they touted as being "resort guests only" really wasn't. It took one trip to CP for the four of us to figure out that they don't bother to check at the Magnum gate...how many others have realized this as well?

JuggaLotus said:

^^ - part of the issue is that I would LIKE to be asked for my resort pass. Even if you can already see it. Why? Because then I, as a guest who has just shelled out 100+ bucks for my room, know that you are actually checking for this perk that I'm paying for. If you don't ask me, then I'm assuming you're not asking the guy 3 behind me who just pulled up in his car and payed 50 bucks that night to stay off-point.

If everyone at that gate gets in early, then why am I bothering to spend the extra money to stay on-point when I can stay off, and just park in back and go in that entrance?

EXACTLY! I could not have said that better if I tried. We're planning a trip for 9 people next summer, and that thought has come into my mind more than once.
*** Edited 2/20/2007 4:22:57 AM UTC by marvina1216***

Even if those who figure out that the card is not needed and stay off property the next time they come, the room they would have occupied isn’t going to be empty. There will always be someone to fill a room. So until they see a decline in hotel reservations, I doubt they will look into the situation to much. Is this bad business? Sure, but that isn’t going to stop other people from coming to Cedar Point even if they hear about what is going on.

Even the both of you have said you might stay off property the next time you come. So their still getting your business. Their still filling that room. The cash is still coming in.

That's not true at all in the slower months.

I have to agree about the slower months. I don't know for sure about Cedar Point, but I do know about Hersheypark. The Hotel Hershey and the Hershey Lodge both are rarely full during the week days of May, early June, and September. Cedar Point and Hersheypark are similar destinations to the average family park goers; I can't see that their attendance patterns would be that different. In that case, the money spent by two rooms full of people would make a difference.

dj makes a good point. But I think the higher cost of a booked room in July makes up for the couple weeks of a slower attendance in May. Still not enough of a cash loss to make a differnce.

*** Edited 2/21/2007 4:56:36 AM UTC by 99er***

So what do you do when you are there early, but can't get in early, say the park opens at 10 and you arive at 9:30? Do you just wait outside until it is 10, and then enter?

You can go into Donut Time and have some coffee.

Do they let you into the park, or do you stand outside and wait until 10?

In the past Joe Cool and Resort Guests were admitted at 9:00, and the general public at 9:30. The park was set to open at 10:00, but anyone in the park, whether they be Joe Cool, Resort Guests, or the General Public, can ride what is open once they're permitted into the park. If you arrive prior to the time when you are able to be admitted, yes, essentially, you would be either waiting outside the entrance, or within a gated area just inside the entrance.

As for this year, we don't know yet. In the past it has depended on which entrance you were at as to whether you waited just inside the entrance or outside the gate.

And surf the web.

Thank you. I have never got there before like 11, since my grandparents have to stop at like 5 rest stops, but this year they said we will leave really early so we can get there before the park opens.

Next year I'm getting a JCC membership though:)

Oh, and to get back on topic, I would want my JCC or resort pass to be checked. I would know that spending my money was worth it.
*** Edited 2/27/2007 2:15:16 AM UTC by raptorTC***

I think they should start doing late closings for resort guests. I'm at WDW this week and the Magic Kingdom was open from midnight until 3:00am last night for resort guests. It was AWESOME!!!!! And, it was just certain rides.

That'll be the day... when Cedar Point stays open for Resort guests and Joe Cool club members until 3:00am...

Ok, I'm planning on spending two days at Breakers in August and I plan on getting a Maxx Pass through Dorney because I live in the NY-area. Am I still going to have to go to guest relations each morning to get in or can I just do it through the hotel?

If they are still using the same pass system as they were last year then you will have to go through guest relations, as the only pass other than CP that was scannable was Geauga Lake... if they have updated the system then you should be able to just have it scanned at the gate.

I don't know about other park passes at Cedar Point. Last year, I used my CP season pass at both Dorney and Knotts and had to go to guest relations both times.

*COUNTER DISCLAIMER*

*No inference that previous rules for pass usage will apply equally in present, nor indeed in any future/alternate universes in which said circumstances would present themselves, is suggested, implied, or inferred. To wit: what is good for the Michigoose is good for the Michigander. No peninsular people were harmed in the production of this post, despite their alarming shortage of articles and/or championship football/basketball/lacrosse teams. And anyway I thought I had a Heisenberg Compensator once, but now I'm not so certain. Long live the glorious people of the Kazakhstan! Nanoo, nanoo.

Last year my family and I stayed at Breakers Express and we had to check in at Guest relations every morning with our passes from Dorney. Even though we were told we could enter through the Marina entrance. This caused quite a headache the first day. But once your in with your resort ERT card you just walk by all the people waiting to get in.
And last year for Halloween the people at the main gate were checking the ERT card. The guy even checked the number of people in our party. Staying on the point is worth the money if you don't have the Joe Cool.

^If it was during Halloweekends at the front gate and they were checking the number of people in your party, "they" was probably me. :)

The other gates (other than the front gate) will admit non-CP passes, although I think crowds and staffing levels play a role in whether they do it or not. At the other gates, there are clip boards with sheets on them to record the pass numbers of other CF passes. Clearly, if there are only two people working the gate and a huge crowd trying to get in, they may send the passes from other parks to Guest Relations. I've never worked any gate but the front one at opening time, so I don't know what their standard operating procedure is, but I know at other times of the day it is what I described already.

At the three gates other than the Front Gate all sister park passes are written on a clipboard, hopefully they have upgraded it because doing sister park passes is a pain in the butt.

^^ we always go in through the Magnum gate, and it seems that its the person selling tickets that will buzz us in and take our info.