Fast Lane

Fast Lane is worth it! We rode 20 coasters on a Saturday, Memorial Weekend!

coastergirl24 said: FL was a merging with the regular line before the ramp to the station. The worker was "corralling" everyone, FL included, and waiting until the station wasn't too overcrowded, which was an awesome move on his part).

Glad the memo of change was thought out before summer. Going back the 19th and it sounds much better then the last time I went (First station FL only day! :/ )

I just used Fast Lane for the first time today.

It was so totally worth it. I rode Millennium Force and Maverick so many times I lost count.

What I love most about it is that it's a great way to salvage a visit on an extremely busy day. I can only make it to the Point a couple of times a year, and in past years, I've often waited to go to in late August, once all of the students are back in school and the park starts get empty. Now I can pretty much go anytime I want, and if I'm willing to shell out a bit of extra cash, I can get the exact same experience.

So yeah. Big thumbs up from this guy.

I've said it before and I'll say it again...I don't like fast lane. Anyway that I look at it, it still feels like people are cutting in line in front of others. The vast majority of people don't have a wristband and to them, their wait times have just increased. This plan may cater to a small segment of people, which CP will most definitely make money from. But, in the long run I think it will alienate more people, which will hurt attendance in the future.

While waiting for Millennium to open during early entry yesterday, some clown told me he and his buddies already have six different colored wristbands collected (even going so far as to take some out of garbages near the gates where people take them off after leaving). He told me they just wait to see what color is being used each day and put that colored band on.

From the days I've had fast lane I can confirm they in no way check the fine print on the bands at the rides, just the color. Hopefully this is just a couple idiots doing this, but it's a somewhat critical error (not checking the fine prints on the bands) IMO.

Kyle2154 said:
While waiting for Millennium to open during early entry yesterday, some clown told me he and his buddies already have six different colored wristbands collected (even going so far as to take some out of garbages near the gates where people take them off after leaving). He told me they just wait to see what color is being used each day and put that colored band on.

From the days I've had fast lane I can confirm they in no way check the fine print on the bands at the rides, just the color. Hopefully this is just a couple idiots doing this, but it's a somewhat critical error (not checking the fine prints on the bands) IMO.

That kind of stuff happens at every park using a wristband. I work at a small waterpark in Northeast Ohio and there is always the couple of morons who try to pull this off. However, this kind of behavior never appears to be widespread.

All that would be needed is a barcode reader at the loading area, much like what exists before you board a plane. Catch someone trying this and dismiss them from the park.

Once the system is tweaked, I wouldn't be surprised if they installed scanners for next summer.

kevin812 said:
Anyway that I look at it, it still feels like people are cutting in line in front of others. The vast majority of people don't have a wristband and to them, their wait times have just increased. This plan may cater to a small segment of people, which CP will most definitely make money from. But, in the long run I think it will alienate more people, which will hurt attendance in the future.

Almost every amusement park has some kind of fast pass. This isn't going away, you just have to deal with it. We're lucky it took Cedar Fair this long to get a fast pass system.

bcooper said:
I just used Fast Lane for the first time today.

It was so totally worth it. I rode Millennium Force and Maverick so many times I lost count.

What I love most about it is that it's a great way to salvage a visit on an extremely busy day. I can only make it to the Point a couple of times a year, and in past years, I've often waited to go to in late August, once all of the students are back in school and the park starts get empty. Now I can pretty much go anytime I want, and if I'm willing to shell out a bit of extra cash, I can get the exact same experience.

So yeah. Big thumbs up from this guy.

Hi bcooper, welcome to Pointbuzz. I'm glad you enjoyed your experience with Fast Lane. I take it you went to the park on Saturday; I'm curious as to how long your waits were for MF and Maverick. It sounds like the FL isn't as effective on weekends for the big rides in the park and I'm curious to hear how long your wait times were for these two rides to see if it falls in line with what other posters have been saying about FL on weekends.

arw84 said:
Hi bcooper, welcome to Pointbuzz. I'm glad you enjoyed your experience with Fast Lane. I take it you went to the park on Saturday; I'm curious as to how long your waits were for MF and Maverick. It sounds like the FL isn't as effective on weekends for the big rides in the park and I'm curious to hear how long your wait times were for these two rides to see if it falls in line with what other posters have been saying about FL on weekends.

Usually 5-10 minutes tops on each. I had probably a 15-20 minute wait on Maverick one time, but it was because someone barfed all over one of the cars. (At least I'm pretty sure that's what happened.)

Honestly, I think the Fast Lane wait on MF was even shorter than Magnum's, simply because Magnum's FL line enters the general queue at an earlier point than most of the other rides.

Thank you for the reply, bcooper. Maybe the park's slight price increase for FL from a couple weeks ago had an effect on sales for FL. Or maybe it was the cool & wet weather that made for lower crowds at the park on Saturday. Were the crews at MF and Maverick limiting the number of FL users into the station per train cycle? For you to get 5-10 minute waits, it doesn't sound like this was a big issue.

99er said:
Once the system is tweaked, I wouldn't be surprised if they installed scanners for next summer.

If Waldameer can do it, then Cedar Point can do it. Or post-Kinzel Cedar Point, at any rate.

Busch Gardens has biometrics at the front gate. No need for handstamps as a pass member. Although entry is a bit slow.

arw84 said:
Thank you for the reply, bcooper. Maybe the park's slight price increase for FL from a couple weeks ago had an effect on sales for FL. Or maybe it was the cool & wet weather that made for lower crowds at the park on Saturday. Were the crews at MF and Maverick limiting the number of FL users into the station per train cycle? For you to get 5-10 minute waits, it doesn't sound like this was a big issue.

I don't think there were ever more than 10-15 FL customers in line at MF. They'd pretty much open the chain and let almost everyone in with each launch.

Maverick was slightly longer because it got delayed a few times throughout the day, but even then, the longest FL line was probably about 20-25 people. They'd let in about 7-8 FL users with each two-train launch.

The longest FL line I encountered was at TTD, but that was because it kept shutting down and the line was building up. (I think it shut down permanently at around noon; I left at 5 so perhaps it re-opened after that.) I waited for about a half-hour at TTD and only rode it once before it shut down for day day.

As for why it wasn't super busy, I was hoping that the Memorial Day crowd last weekend would result in a slightly lower turnout this weekend. The cooler weather might have contributed as well; I'm not totally sure.

I was also surprised that they weren't using scanners. Since there's a barcode on the wristband, I was expecting the FL employees to have hand-held scanners or something. I'm guessing that will happen eventually, but I would have expected it out of the gate, as it would allow CP to collect some useful data on how much the average person uses FL throughout the day.

My girlfriend and I were at King's Island the past 2 days and used Fast Lane the second day that we were there. The first day we only got a couple of rides in due to how busy it was. The lines were anywhere from a 45 minute - 2 hour wait. Luckily for Fast Lane, we were able to walk right on and skip the 2 hour wait for the coasters the second day. At first, I didn't like the idea of Fast Lane because people are basically cutting the line, but when you're on a vacation like we were, it definitely came in handy since time is an issue to get everything done. So therefore, I am torn on this idea. Would I ever get it for Cedar Point? Probably not since I'm a Platinum Passholder and go plenty of times a season.

And Kyle2154, they were actually checking the dates on our wristbands at King's Island.

Hi all! New user here -- just found your site today. My wife and I make it to CP probably once per year (we live in mid-Michigan). This year, we will be there on Thursday, July 5th -- and I expect it to be fairly busy (the site that has the "crowd estimator") has it labeled as an "Extreme Crowds" day. Since we only get to go once a year -- and only for one day -- we're seriously thinking about going with the Fast Lane pass. I had a couple of questions...

1. So far, have the passes sold out on ANY day? I'd like to wait to the day we get there to buy them to see what the weather is like and such. Depending on the weather, maybe a Fast Lane pass would be overkill.

2. If you order online for FOUR people (to get the $40 price), do you get a SINGLE voucher to print and take to exchange for the wristbands? Or does it print FOUR vouchers? I only need 2 -- so I may try to find another 2 that need them so that we all get the lower price. If I can just buy the 4 vouchers now and MAIL 2 of them to someone else, I think it'll be easier to find someone and be all set without having to meet up the day that we are there. So, does it work that way? Or just one voucher is printed when you buy online and you have to all meet up to get the 4 wristbands?

Thanks for the info!

- John...

When you order four vouchers, you get four vouchers. You can assign names to each voucher too.

JohnMI said:

2. If you order online for FOUR people (to get the $40 price), do you get a SINGLE voucher to print and take to exchange for the wristbands? Or does it print FOUR vouchers? I only need 2 -- so I may try to find another 2 that need them so that we all get the lower price. If I can just buy the 4 vouchers now and MAIL 2 of them to someone else, I think it'll be easier to find someone and be all set without having to meet up the day that we are there. So, does it work that way? Or just one voucher is printed when you buy online and you have to all meet up to get the 4 wristbands?

Thanks for the info!

- John...

I went Friday the 8th. The park was pretty packed. The lines were really long during the day, though they got MUCH shorter towards the evening.

We decided to try FL for the first time. It is a thing of beauty. 5 times on MF, 5 times on Maverick, 6 on TTD, 2 Raptor, and then once on everything else. Coulda had that count up a little higher, but a midday beer break was necessary. FL is so worth it, because if you go on a busy day, it's basically 3 trips worth of riding packed into one visit. MF is absolutely the best for FL, it is basically an under station loop to get back into the line. 5 minutes tops.

We got home and weren't as tired as from a usual day of waiting in line in the hot sun. The only way to do CP now. I only wish they had WT on the FL list. I love that ride, but it doesn't have the best capacity to wait for rerides.

I finally got a review from a passholder who went with friends who only go to Cedar Point once or twice a year.

I asked my daughter how fast lane was Saturday June 9th. They did not get fast lane, they waited in line. (My daughter was slightly bothered, but maybe because of her friends)

The friends were getting weird feelings, wondering why these people got to cut in front of them, on Mantis, Dragster, for sure. So my daughter explained that they paid 50 or so dollars to cut in line. Both friends were saying that it's not fair, what gives them the right.

Eventually my daughter was showing them who had fast lane, and who didn't. And things calmed down. Never the less, even tho there are signs everywhere; The people who go once or twice, really don't even know that it is available, and fast lane does give somewhat of a sour taste to some people, at least at first...