Fast lane passes

I remember running into the park to get our Wicked Twister hand stamp, and then trying to keep track of the time to get back to the ride at the right time. Glad we don't have to do that anymore, but hey, it was optional and free!
And back to the main topic, I would wait until you are in the park or a few days before to get your fast passes, and not buy a month early. Weather could be terrible, depending on the day/time of year, you might not really even need them etc.

Just going to drop this here to try and get this thread back on topic. https://www.cedarpoint.com/tickets-passes/fast-lane
Anyone surprised by the pricing? I figured the prices would have been even higher since they have a big new ride and they still seem to over sell them.

I'm not really surprised. FL prices have always been set based on economical reasons (as with everything else at CP, but that's besides the point). I think CP knows that even with SV opening, the park won't see exponential growth rates in attendance and is doing very well financially, unlike another chain I know *cough *cough* Seaworld *cough* *cough*, so the FL prices won't have to significantly change.

Curious why Gatekeeper is on FL Plus, as opposed to Millennium. I feel like Fastlane in general is rarely needed on Gatekeeper, much less added to the upcharged version.

^^I was once told that by keeping Millennium on FL it motivates people to buy that level who may not be able to afford springing for the FL+. It's a huge attraction still and there are plenty of visitors who don't mind parting with say $75 for a FL but may not be able to afford or be willing to part with say $100 or more for a FL+.

Pretty much "hey we can go for the cheaper option and still get MF and we can just suffer with waiting in line for those other 5 rides." Essentially MF sells the FL band lol.

djDaemon said:

noggin said:

I don't think getting a gun needs to be a lot harder.

You have to go through far more to obtain a driver's license than you do to obtain a semiautomatic assault weapon (in most places).

You have to be 3 years older to drink than you do to obtain a semiautomatic assault weapon.

That just seems... off. And I'm a pro-2A, multiple gun owner.
.

No argument here.

Politics should be about compromise; each side meeting somewhere in the middle, getting most but not all of what each side wants. In the past decades, Republicans (and yes, a few Democrats) have refused to compromise their paid for by the NRA principles.

Someone posted on Facebook that they had sent a donation check to their senator, but instead of a dollar amount it read thoughts and prayers, the Republican go to message after each massacre, and I do not like that we have to refer to a latest massacre.

The thing with the fast lane list price on the website is that’s the cheapest it can be. I chose a random Saturday in July and fastlane plus was $155. Thats $6 more than last year, which isn’t really too much, but still. I wouldn’t drop $155 on fastlane.

In my experience, I've learned that FL and FLP is only worth it if the prices are between the minimum and maximum offered throughout the year.

One of the biggest aspects of FL that not too many people talk about is that your actual wait times are dictated completely by the ride queue structure, not the crowds. Rides like Maverick and Valravn (and probably SV) have FL queues that are completely separated from the main one until you get right to the station, effectively making it a "skip-the-line" pass. However, other rides like MF and Rougarou have the FL queue merge into the main queue before the station, giving you a 15- to 20-minute wait, making it a "skip-most-of-the-line" pass.

I tried FLP on the Tuesday after Memorial Day last year. I got a walk-on on Maverick during Early Entry. The rest of the lines were only 15- to 20-minute waits. I thought that by getting FLP, I could get walk-ons on everything, but that was virtually impossible based on how the queues were set up. Therefore, I will never buy FL again when the park is mostly dead.

However, a FLP on a Saturday in July is too much because of one single reason: if the day you chose to go to CP was a Saturday in July, you probably weren't planning to ride many rides anyway. If it's not your home park and you can only make it once a year on a July Saturday, then I would understand, but otherwise, forget about it.

Therefore, I've come to the conclusion that FL is worth it when the crowds are decent ONLY. The park isn't empty, but it's not full. The actual amount of people in the FL queues are slim to none. That's when I feel that I'm getting my money's worth throughout the day. That's why I'll stick to FLP on my birthday (June 26); the park is decently crowded, but not horribly, I get to skip a good chunk of lines, and I have the flexibility to do anything I want throughout the day.

I go the park often enough where no FL is worth it. I would consider getting it for a sister park on a busy day, however.

Ken P said:
My point was more that believing more gun control and background checks are going to magically fix or prevent this is the illogical conclusion....
More gun control laws without addressing the 7 years that led up to this is a reactive, last-ditch effort that sounds good in a tweet or campaign rhetoric but won't deliver meaningful results by itself.

First, no one thinks that sweeping gun regulations will solve everything. That said, there is very strong evidence that it would make a significant impact. What you typed sounds like the political soundbite that is what the NRA pays our elected officials for. “The gun is not the problem”, right?
More guns leads to more gun-related deaths. Reduce the number of guns, reduce the number of gun-related deaths.

It’s a bit of a read, but…

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/4/16418754/gun-cont...ngton-post

It has never been a question of whether or not gun regulation can be effective. It can. The real question has always been, could it work here in America? Are people in the United States willing to do this?

https://www.click2houston.com/news/this-is-why-gun-owners-are-destr...-on-camera

As a mental health professional, I have spoken to children under the age of 10 who have attempted suicide. When we work with such a child (in a clinical setting), the first question asked of their parents is always the same; are there guns in the home? If so, get them out. Now. Even if you think you have it locked up. Even if you think the ammo is secure. Even if you are a trained Navy SEAL (there is a tragic story behind that one); GET. RID. OF. YOUR. GUNS. Please.

Even then, in the face of their own child facing a real tragedy, most were arrogant enough to believe that they knew better; they were trained, their kids were even trained. Many learned that the gun inside their home made that home qualitatively more dangerous, and their children are now gone.

I am typically an optimist, but the NRA has their tentacles so deep inside our political system that I am hesitant to be hopeful that any meaningful laws could be passed.

But I do know one thing; if we could get there, we would be taking a significant step towards a much safer society.

I’m going to tear apart this post and try and find the relation to Fast Lane..... Nope, I can’t find the relation.

I apologize if I’m coming off annoying trying to change this subject, but if I wanted to read about politics, all I would have to do is login into Facebook. This is a place where were all supposed to share a common interest. Amusement parks. Specifically Cedar Point.

Kyle,

From time to time, discussions at Pointbuzz take directions that go beyond the park. You may open a thread about Hotel Breakers and find yourself immersed in a 10-page discussion of gay marriage rights in the United States. Likewise, you might open a thread about Fast Lane and find a side-discussion about gun control.

You're not coming off as annoying, just as someone who hasn't been around here very long (relatively speaking).

No worries; if the discussion is deemed inappropriate for the site, there are mods watching to make sure your stay here at Pointbuzz is an enjoyable one.

I was gonna say, I don't think Kyle's seen the Chick-Fil-A thread. :P

I'd contribute to the conversation, but you're saying pretty much what I had in mind, only better than I could probably say it. I will add that I do not like guns- furthermore, I wouldn't begrudge a rifle to a hunter or a handgun to someone who felt they absolutely needed one for protection. (Concealed carry laws make me all kinds of uncomfortable, but that's a whole other kettle of fish.)

I do not see why ANYONE would need assault-grade weaponry.

The only reason I can think of to have an assault grade weapon is to use the second amendment as intended: to revolt over a tyrannical government if one is established.

One thing that is shocking is the amount of mental illness presently in this country. I understand the reaction people have to these school shootings when asking for gun control but unless the root cause is remedied, gun control is like taking tylenol for a headache caused by a brain tumor, it is not a solid solution to solve the problem. I'm convinced that these incidents are so prevalent now because of the degeneration of mental health and the degeneration of family values for many of these kids.

Back in the day when I went to school, schools were wide open with no security and guns were much easier to get. Yet, we did not have school shootings. The most horrible thing kids did was maybe put a tack on the teacher's seat.

Until the root cause of why these kids commit these crimes is solved these shootings will continue. Look at how effective the "war on drugs" has been. Illegal drugs are easy to get and their use is widespread. I don't think people addicted to crystal meth find it any harder to get after the government tried to limit manufacturing by making pharmacies log purchases of products like Sudafed. Gun control is much the same way as restrictions will make it harder to obtain weapons for legitimate use, while people trying to acquire guns to commit crimes will find a way.

Pete said:

. I'm convinced that these incidents are so prevalent now because of the degeneration of mental health and the degeneration of family values for many of these kids.

Back in the day when I went to school, schools were wide open with no security and guns were much easier to get. Yet, we did not have school shootings. The most horrible thing kids did was maybe put a tack on the teacher's seat.

Well stated Pete. And most families had two parents and they spent time with their kids.

Agreed Pete, and well stated.

It's not that it isn't a piece of the puzzle; it certainly is, but pointing a finger at mental illness is a bit inappropriate. And I work with kids. In the field of mental health.

To put it simply, kids with mental health issues are much, much, much more likely to be the victims of violent acts than the perpetrators. One seminal study of mass shooters found that only about 20% of these individuals suffered from a mental illness:

http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/vio.2015.0006

This has been backed up by subsequent research as well. And, by the way, that 20% is about the same percentage of any sample of any population currently suffering from mental illness. It's about 1 in 5.

Kids need much better access to mental health services, we all do, but there are two very unique things about our society; these horrific incidents that involve guns, and the ease of access and sheer insane number of guns in our culture.

Nearly 90 guns per 100 people. 90.

You know what the next closest country is? Yemen. About 55 guns per 100 people.

Americans are 4.5% of the world's population, and have 42 percent of all the world's privately held firearms.

USA! USA!

The research could not be any clearer. More guns, more gun deaths. And now people actually talk about arming teachers. Why don't we just all have a part of our income go straight to the NRA?

No, gun regulation is not the answer. It's just a part of it.

What I like, however, is that the supposed "lazy youth" of this country are actually taking some action while the adults sit on their asses. Go kids!

So great. Let's talk about mental health; whatever god you pray to certainly knows we need it. Let's talk about family values and talk to our kids. But let's also not ignore the elephant in the room that we turn a blind eye to every time something like this happens.

It’s simple, like what has been happening in European countries, the attack will just take a different form, until you address the cause and not the symptom.
Instead of a gun, it will be homemade pipe bombs, acid attqcks, pressure cookers, machete attacks, Cars driving into masses of people, fertilizer truck bombs, poisonous gas attacks like England and Japan... etc. those bent on doing evil will find a way to do it. It’s that simple.

But one thing that will not change anything is attacking people’s beliefs on Pointbuzz, it also won’t change anyone’s mind.
So maybe leave the posturing for someplace you can really make a difference: facebook.

You don't have to contribute if you don't want to. It's simple; no one is trying to attack beliefs. I'm pretty sure Pete doesn't feel "attacked". I'm also not trying to change his mind.

I like hearing what Pete and DJ and Ensign and all the rest of us have to say about complex things. Especially when we disagree.