Fathers Day at CP 2023 (This is Part 3)

As always, press play for the full effect.

Happy to be Home

If you read parts 1 and 2, you might not be surprised to learn that after getting home Thursday night the last thing on my mind was hitting the road again. After driving through that storm for two straight hours I just wanted to crawl into bed for a day. Or two. That said, Father’s Day was happening on Sunday, and I was just looking forward to relaxing. Then on Friday, after we finally woke up, my wife asked me what I would like to do for Father’s Day, and she came armed with an idea I couldn’t say no to.

The plan?

Head to Cedar Point for Father’s Day and open and close the point, and this time instead of pitching a tent…

....As I was saying, this time instead of pitching a tent we would book a room somewhere close by, and on the way home on Monday we would stop at Boston Mills (Cuyahoga Valley National Park) to take a family run and have a picnic. Yes, we take family runs. Also, since we enjoyed the dining plan so much (see Part 2), we would get a plan for Mom and Dad, and a plan for the 2 girls so we could really enjoy all the food all day. This will become somewhat important (and/or amusing) later.

OK wife, you convinced me. Happy Father’s Day to me!

Father’s Day

Truth be told, Father’s Day at Cedar Point has quietly become somewhat of a tradition for us. While we don’t go every year, we have spent numerous Father’s Days at the park.

We love the pride-vibe going on at the park and the crowds are typically great as far as Cedar Point goes. We snagged a great deal ($135) for a night at Breakers Express, so the plan was in motion. Father’s Day at CP did not disappoint. Since we had the dining plans we started the day at the Pavilion with some good food and a Bumbleberry for me. There are two wonderful bartenders on the second floor named Vic and Hunter who know their stuff. Hunter added some blue & blackberries to my Bumbleberry without me even having to ask. Pics or it didn’t happen:

With the light crowds, we did a lot of riding, and with our dining plans we did a lot of eating. I’m still a little shocked that the food has leveled up as much as it has. Park was open from 10 am to 10 pm, and we were well on our way to having a full fun day at the park

The Dark Side of Churro

I know, it’s Churro. He’s adorable. But about five minutes after this picture was taken he proceeded to repeatedly spit food at my daughters and a small group of kids after throwing an angry tantrum in the pen.

Two kids cried and screamed and ran away. My girls thought it was funny at first, but then the 15-year-old (Kylah) got all introspective and mentioned that maybe we would get pissed off to if we were locked in a little pen and made the center of attention. I probably would spit my food at the audience every once in a while too.

She wants to be a vet.

Stuck in the Middle

There is a first time for everything. During parts 1 and 2 of our adventure there was one ride we were never able to ride, and that ride is Maverick. So much downtime. My girls love it, my wife can take it or leave it, but I also love it so during this surprise return trip we had one goal; ride the Maverick!

After a disappointing morning of it not working, it finally opened after a lap on Steel Vengeance. After a 30- minute wait we were sitting in the train ready to ride, which at that point seemed like a minor miracle. It was a great ride. Until…

We rode into the tunnel and the train noises started as usual. After about 10 seconds or so, the sound effects stopped, and my wife looked over at me and said, “Is this new?”. I laughed it off and said “Maybe”, but then we quickly realized we were stuck in the middle of Maverick. Of course for my family this was now a running inside joke, but after about 20 seconds of silence I loudly stated…”Well, we got to ride half of Maverick!”. The joke killed, and the train laughed. Until 10 more minutes went by and we were still stuck in a dark and pretty hot tunnel.

Eventually a worker came in and said that we would eventually be launching. He was good at working the disgruntled train (even though I’m pretty sure my kids thought this was fun, which to be honest so did I). He also said that this was the third time this had happened today, and that the launch from a complete stand-still would be even better than the normal tunnel launch.

He wasn’t wrong. After about 20 minutes he gave us a countdown from 10 (of course launching us at around the number 7), and that was hands-down the best Maverick tunnel launch I have ever had.

What’s funny is that in over 4 decades of visiting Cedar Point this was the first breakdown I have ever had on a roller coaster. Fun times, and goodnight, Cedar Point. After this we rode and rode and ate some more until we were all ready to head to Breakers Express by around 9:00. The pool awaits, after all, and that’s what the kiddos really want.

Breakers Express (or, “It can’t Hurt to Ask”)

If you remember the plan (above), we wanted to hit the road and go for a family run at Boston Mills the next day. That said, we were exhausted from a full day at the park and, to be honest, still tired from our earlier adventure. So I asked for a late checkout. That’s all I asked for. I was expecting a kind “no”, since this is Cedar Point, and they are likely booked, but it can’t hurt to ask.

Somewhere in the conversation I mentioned we were also celebrating our anniversary that week at the park, and the front desk worker (Andrew) said he wanted to go speak with his manager about the late checkout.

OK.

Within a couple minutes, the manager (Brianna), told us she would be more than happy to help us with late checkout, and kept going on about how happy she was we decided to celebrate our anniversary and Father’s Day at the park. She and Andrew then said they wanted to make our visit even more special and offered us 4 individual all-day-dining-passes and 4 all-day-drink-passes for the next day. What?

This is going to sound beyond sappy, but I’ll just put it out there. Cedar Point is more than just a place for us, and this was an awesome reminder of how a simple gesture from the park’s employees can remind one of that. While our kids were splashing around in the pool we decided to say “screw it” to our earlier plans and agreed to go back the next day (Juneteenth). I had to go to the lobby to get a new t-shirt (I didn’t pack for an extra day unlike my wife who always packs for the apocalypse), but we ended Father’s Day on a surprising gift for the park.

I only asked for late check out.

Juneteenth

Armed with our bonus dining and drink passes, the Meyer family spent an unexpected bonus day at the park. It was really busy, which meant long lines on most of the big rides, but we had a blast as a family slowing down (whether or not RCMAC believes it or not!) and just taking in the atmosphere of our happy place. I’ll just leave these pics here of our girls having the time of their life, which is about as good as it it gets.

Time is fleeting.

My girls are growing up.

Thanks for giving me an extra day to play with them, Cedar Point.

The End.

Enjoy these years! It's amazing how fast they go by. My oldest one is going to be 29 next month. It seems like he was just riding the kiddy rides a few years ago. Last year my daughter and I did a roller coaster vacation together. We hit 4 amusement parks and ended up at Cedar Point for a few days. I knew this would be one of our last trips together especially once she has a full-time job in her field. She is now 25 years old.

My daughter turns 1 in a few days, and this is making me excited for her to get to an age where she can enjoy the park. Great report Kevin!

Kevinj:

Time is fleeting.

My girls are growing up.

Thanks for giving me an extra day to play with them, Cedar Point.

As a father of daughters aged 6 and 10, and watching yours grow up via your trip reports over the years, this hit hard, Kevin. I don't feel ready for mine to grow up. The only solace is that I've never really felt "ready" for any of this whole parenting gig, but we keep figuring it out.

Thanks for these trip reports, they're uniquely wonderful. I just need to learn that I shouldn't cut onions while reading them...

Wait until you are 54 days away from driving your youngest to college.

I wish there was some way to slow down the calendar.

Egads, Shades.

Indeed, we always try to live by "the days are long, but the years are short." So far I think it has served us well.

Great Report! I also understand the whole "please time slow down". It was just yesterday we were taking our 3 girls to the Point...setting up lunch in the covered picnic areas. listening to the all to familiar buzz of the Kiddy kingdom rides. Now we have 10 Grandchildren ages 1 to 11. Dang I used to even have thick dark brown-almost black hair, Now My wife likes to remind me of my mostly silver and really thinning hair by giving me the occasional "Benny Hill" smack.

Thanks for the comments. I know the words "time flies!" is about as cliche as it gets. I think we do as good of a job as possible as savoring the moments. Like Brandon said, "days are long, the years are short" is probably every parents' mantra. Interesting as well, Brandon, that our girls are the same years apart (15 and 11 here).

What's also interesting is the spectrum of the replies; Haydn12's daughter is 25 and off on her own journey, DVO's daughter has yet to begin enjoying the park, Brandon's daughters are right smack in the middle of that sweet-spot of childhood, Shade's youngest is off to college eagerly awaiting a career in the chicken tender industry, and imadj is talking about grandkids.

I know my trip reports are left-of-center; glad they are enjoyed. :)

Kevin I try to avoid politics online but I did want to respond to your left of center comment.

In you writing that out I can see it. But something that's stood out to me about your trip reports and other conversations both here, other sites I'm on, and in person with people in my family, at work, and out in public. There's something to me that just is above politics when sharing memories or good interactions with children or grandchildren.

I love hearing grandparents and parents stories, the good and the painful, it seems to mostly exist outside of partisan politics in my interactions and I really appreciate and enjoy it. Especially as that's something that's more and more on my mind of late as I continue my walk with Abba and see what the future holds for me with family being a very large part of what I'd like to do in life. I'm a bit old school in that way but it's these memories and conversations I get to follow and hear that really remind me of that.

All that to say thank you for sharing, each and every one of y'all.