Early Entry

Ok I’ve got to vent. Today we went to CP and made sure we got to the park for early entry. Cedar Point made it seem like they didn’t expect anyone to be there that early. Took me 30 min just to get thru security then entrance to the park. The girls scanning the tickets and passes looked clueless. Paper ticket don’t scan well so why don’t they go back to the old fashioned tickets where they rip one side off and off you go. Ridiculous.

Then get to SV and closed so decided to go to Maverick and it was already over an hour wait during early entry. Made it to Millennium and waited 30 minutes.

Wow early entry got me ONE ride.

Then TTD wasn’t open (go figure) but a line was forming so we decided to give it a whirl. They started testing and the line started moving. But they only were filling the first three rows of each train! Six riders max. The line was well over 1 1/2 hour. Complete waste of time.

I’m sorry but have been a pass holder for the last 20 years (I know some of you hate hearing that) and it seems every year the staffing is getting worse and all Cedar Fair is concerned with is cramming as many people as they can into the park so they can rip you off with concessions.

If I were a person who bought a ticket just for today I’d be pissed. It almost seems like they purposely run one train short on rides like Magnum an Millennium just to get people to purchase the fast pass. Wouldn’t surprise me one bit if that’s their motive.

All they seem to hire is foreign exchange students who half the time do t understand what your asking and some you can’t understand when in the station and their talking over the loud speaker.

Sorry but had to vent. I love CP always have and always will but they need to look at this and come up with a better plan. As busy as it was today ALL cars of each coaster should have been operational. Understand SV being down you can’t control that but Magnum and Millennium both had two trains running that’s it and the park was packed. The announcer on a Magnum was even making fun of it by stating “you know what the 2 in 200 is for? Only two trains, ha, ha, ha...”

Come on Cedar Point your better than this. Kings Island which I frequent a lot is doing circles around you. Their crews are on top of it getting riders on and off in precise order.

Alright I’m done venting.

Staaber said:

I’m sorry but have been a pass holder for the last 20 years...

While it sounds like you had some bad luck along with some heavy crowds, you seem to have remarkably poor planning skills for someone who's been a pass holder for 20 years and a member of this site for almost 7 years.

• Never assume SV will be open for ERT. Buy FLP for that ride.
• Never get in line for TTD expecting to ride it.

On the bright side, you got to ride MF with a wait of only 30 minutes. That's something most people visiting this time of year aren't able to accomplish (without FLP).

On the flip side of this, I've also been a pass holder for the last 20 years and my family and I did the park Saturday.

Early Entry was probably one of the best experiences we've had in a long time. Everything was open on time. We were able to hit Steel Vengeance, Maverick and Millennium Force before the park opened to the public. Granted, we made sure to get in a bit earlier than 9 to make this work. We zipped passed parking due to few people entering, we parked by Gemini, zipped through security and the park entrance over by resorts and that made the start of our day pretty amazing.

Another group that met us for lunch decided to arrive at the park at 10:30 and enter through the front gates and it ended up taking them a long time to get through the parking, get through security, and ultimately get into the park.

I think your timing on entering the park, your luck (or lack thereof) on having Steel Vengeance open for early entry, and how you attacked the park didn't go your way.

This isn't meant to criticize or apologize for the parks faults, but the biggest thing is timing. Hopefully you can take your experience and find out what you can change to maximize the early entry thing. I think early on (think 2001 - 2004 ish), when early entry was new and not very well known, we all got pretty spoiled by it. I still miss the days of Joe Cool Club and their special early rides.

Wasn’t mad about SV they had a lift by the chain lift. I get mad with TTD! It always needs to have issues. But the line today showed it’s popularity.

CP I’m sure will figure it out they always do. Just frustrating today was my first early entry in some time. Must have been just my bad luck today!

Hope nothing serious with SV. Love that ride.

Also, it's pretty common knowledge that TTD always starts its day by loading the first 3 rows for a while, and slowly adding rows until it can run full trains. That ride in particular is a complex machine, and if they load full trains from the get-go, it is very prone to rollbacks, which result in downtime. Unfortunate that SV was closed, but it's hard to blame the park for big crowds in late July.

The other disappointing item I forgot to mention was the coke free style machine on the MAIN MIDWAY didn’t have ice right after open!!! Seriously!!! No ice!!!

Oh well just not my day I guess. For future reference don’t go the day I go!! Lol...

Venting is important.

Sounds like you need to get comped a beer with the Tan Couple. Just hold onto that Platinum Pass if you do...

Whether you agree with this guy or not, the perceived guest experience really does matter. It is a question of expectations vs. what was delivered. If expectations were unrealistic, who's fault is that? You could make an argument both ways. But at the end of the day, if people aren't happy, then financial performance will inevitably, at some point, suffer.

Taking this further, who is anyone on this message board to say that a user's expectations were unrealistic? None of us, that's who. Those expectations were formed by, in this case, many years of actual experiences. I fall into the same category. People vote with their wallets. I did not renew my passes this year after MANY years (not quite the 20 of OP) for a basket full of reasons. None of them were deal breakers, but add them all together and I'm spending my money elsewhere. Dumb ass security theater, slow entry for early entry, understaffed rides, escalating resort/campground prices, and a host of other reasons. Oh and hey, I miss all wheels extreme!

In short, the OP is entitled to his opinion and patronize the park, or not. Arguing otherwise is a waste of time.

No one in this thread has argued at all against Staaber's self-proclaimed venting at all. In fact, all 4 of us were supportive in our own way.

Dude had a bad morning. It happens. One of the fun things about being a frequent visitor of a park like Cedar Point is that you catch it at its best and its not-so best. And guess what? Every park (or business of any kind) everywhere is exactly the same.

I love Cedar Point. I must say I’ve had way more god experiences than bad, guess just not used to bad!

I can say today it was mighty hot in the park unless you were close to the lake, then there as that really nice breeze.

Cedar Point is the best hands down. We’re spoiled to have this great park in our back yards.

Hope SV is alright! Want to ride it again and again!!!!

So what determines if they run 2 trains or 3 on Magnum or Millenium? I wouldn't think it requires additional staff to run the 3rd train. I believe Magnum runs 2 if it is raining but that was not the case earlier today. Curious as to the decision process,

Magnum currently requires 3 on load and 2 on unload to operate 3 trains.

Staaber said:

Took me 30 min just to get thru security then entrance to the park. The girls scanning the tickets and passes looked clueless. Paper ticket don’t scan well so why don’t they go back to the old fashioned tickets where they rip one side off and off you go. Ridiculous.

First world problems..

The "girls" scanning the tickets are paid a low wage. I don't expect much of people in low paid positions nor should you. I expect there are financial considerations in play that neither you or I are privy to regarding what kind of ticket media is used.

Staaber said:

I get mad with TTD! It always needs to have issues.

Then why get in line for it expecting to ride it? I'm not being flippant. TTD's unreliability (along with it being rather underwhelming in my opinion) is why you'll almost never catch me in line for it, unless the lines are remarkably short.

Staaber said:

The other disappointing item I forgot to mention was the coke free style machine on the MAIN MIDWAY didn’t have ice right after open!!!

All of the Freestyle machines were out of ice? If so, yeah, that's a legitimate gripe.

MaverickLaunch said:

Whether you agree with this guy or not, the perceived guest experience really does matter. It is a question of expectations vs. what was delivered. If expectations were unrealistic, who's fault is that?

It is absolutely the fault of the customer. I mean, how is this even a question? If you go to McDonald's expecting a 3-star Michelin-level experience, you're going to be disappointed, with no one but yourself to blame.

...if people aren't happy, then financial performance will inevitably, at some point, suffer.

Right, and Staaber's experience is simply not the norm, so it has virtually no impact on the bottom line. The fact of the matter is that the overwhelming majority of guests have a positive experience at the park. A typical guest in line for TTD when it breaks down doesn't rush to a message board to vent. They're disappointed for probably 5 minutes until they move on to their next adventure in the park.

I tend to agree with the point of view that enthusiasts overestimate how much a typical guest cares about things that Staaber experienced. Heck, most guests probably don't even notice 2-train ops and the like. They go about their day, and if at the end of the day they are happy, that's all that really matters.

Those expectations were formed by, in this case, many years of actual experiences.

For me, the "many years of actual experiences" is precisely why the venting is kind of over the top. Anyone who's been visiting the park for 20-plus years and been a member of this site for the better part of a decade should know what to expect this time of year. Which is why we schedule our visits for May and June. :-)

Staaber said:

If I were a person who bought a ticket just for today I’d be pissed. It almost seems like they purposely run one train short on rides like Magnum an Millennium just to get people to purchase the fast pass. Wouldn’t surprise me one bit if that’s their motive.

I can't speak for Magnum, but I do know for for a fact that Millennium was only running 2 trains from Sunday mid day until sometime Monday afternoon. They took the yellow train off because of a mechanical problem with the last car. There were ride mechanics working on it quite a bit through Sunday afternoon to Monday morning.

Before people start putting out unjustified conspiracy theory's out there, maybe the park has a reason for doing what it does and it doesn't include trying to piss off customers or get every last dollar out of them.

haiderodes01 said:

Magnum currently requires 3 on load and 2 on unload to operate 3 trains.

Sorry for this side question, but could you explain this a little? If the train loads and unloads in the same place, why does it require more staff for 3 trains vs. 2? Recently on Facebook there was a discussion about Phoenix at Knoebels requiring more staff to run 2 trains, and I had the same question.

@djDaemon

Valid points. I just seem to have bad luck with TTD. Always seems to be temperamental the days I’m there!

We've just made it a family rule to never wait more than 15 minutes for TTD. If it goes down while we are on the platform we just leave. We were actually asked to get off and return to the platform once so we just don't invest any time in it so that we won't be disappointed. If I went to early entry and only got to get one ride in that time I would be disappointed too but since I hate getting up early I don't have to worry about that either. Last time I attempted it by the time we walked to the back of the park Steel Vengeance already had an over 1 hour line so we just don't bother.

I guess it all comes down to expectations. I'm satisfied if I get one ride in during ERT. And happy if I get more than one. Though admittedly my priorities have changed since kids have come into the picture.

Staaber said:

Always seems to be temperamental the days I’m there!

That's because you made the mistake of visiting on a day that ends in "y".