First Trip to Cedar Point - Handicap Policies?

Wow! I've been lurking on these boards for the longest time, it's great to finally register and start posting. I've lived in Florida practically my entire life and have been to every major theme/amusement park in the state (Disney/Universal/Busch...etc) more times than I can count. I'm now a college student at UCF (right in the heart of Orlando) and recieve a huge student discount on tickets to all the parks. It really is a sweet setup but there are only so many times you can visit Disney/Universal before you're ready for a change. That's when I decided that it was finally time to make my first trip to Cedar Point.

My Mom and I have always been the coaster enthuisasts in the family so needless to say, it didn't take much convincing when I asked her to come along. We just purchased the plane tickets tonight and I couldn't be more excited. We will be departing from Tampa on June 23rd and flying into Cleveland Hopkins that afternoon. The plan is to spend all of the 24th and 25th(Tuesday/Wednesday) in the park and then fly back on the 26th. The catch is that my Mom permanently walks with a cane due to a life threatening allergic reaction she suffered 7 years ago. Questions:

1. Will her cane be a problem when it comes to any of the rides? At all of the parks we've been to here in Florida, they have been great when it comes to this situation. They either take her cane after she has sat down and have it waiting for her when we arrive back in the station, or they allow me to set it off to the side and retrieve it myself upon returning. I would assume Cedar Point would be similar but I just want to make sure.

2. Will there be a parking lot attendent that can direct us to the handcap parking or is it relatively easy to find?

3. Does Cedar Point have any kind of policy for those that are disabled to skip the regular lines? My mom is usually always a trooper and has no problems standing in the normal lines, so this question is more out of curiousity than anything.

I apoligize for the length of the post but I wanted to cover all the bases. I cannot wait for June 23rd to arrive. I'm sure I'll be posting here like mad leading up to that point.

I've been to Cedar Point countless times and I've seen many people who are handicap go to the exit to not have to wait in lines. So you should try that with your mom when you go there.

I think they should accommidate her as far as the cane, they should put it off to the side or something so she can get it after she gets off the ride.

As far as parking, there is handicap parking right up front (as long as you have a handicap sticker or some proof of that).

There are things on the Cedar Point website regarding handicap rights at www.cedarpoint.com that should answer most of your questions. Also the hours are listed for the dates you are going.

Hope this helps.

When you drive up to the parking lot booth turn on your headlights. This will let the parking lot attendents know to direct you to the handicap parking spaces. It would help if you have your handicap placard for your review mirror if you have one. I imagine you will be in a rental car without handicap plates, so bring the placard (tag) with you from home.

In terms of rides...

Upon your arrival, you should first stop at the Park Operations Office. There they will asses what she can safely ride. They will then provide you with a Special Access book that notes the attractions and the number of guests in your party. The book is used for all major attractions, including nearly all roller coasters and many major flat rides. What happens is that you choose which ride you would like to ride first and take it to the ride host at the ride's entrance. They will not the current time, and the length of the line, and based on this, give write a ride time for you to come back in ride in your Special Access book. In the meantime, you can wait on the midway, grab a snack, or ride a smaller attraction that does not utilize the Special Access system. Once it is your time to ride, you will return to the ride's exit (entrance at Maverick) and a ride host there will be waiting to accommodate you. The thing to note is that you may only have one boarding time at a time; basically you can't be "waiting" for more than one attraction using the Special Access program at a time. This system allows you to not stand in line, but requires you to wait the same amount of time as everyone else.

A more detailed explanation can be found here.

Thanks for all the help guys! Hopefully the lines won't be too outrageously long and we can just wait with everyone else but that is definately a helpful policy. Another question....since we will be there for two days can we buy the Ride & Slide pass and use it to get into Cedar Point for both days, or do we have to use one of the days for Soak City?

A ride and slide pass will allow you into CP for both days. You get two CP tickets and two Soak City tickets. You do not have to use the soak city tickets, but if you do not use them on the same day you use the corresponding CP ticket, the Soak City ticket becomes void.

Thanks Ralph. I was starting to think we would have to buy 4 individual tickets so I'm glad to hear that's not the case. Does anyone know if late June is usually crowded? We chose that time period because Cedar Point's website said June was one of the months with the least attendance, but I would have thought that June would be relatively crowded seeing as how it's during summer and school's are usually out.

June usually starts off kinda slow, but then ramps up as the month goes on (and school finishes up).

I visited CP for many years with two children in wheelchairs, and I rarely encountered any problems. Here are a few additional notes:

1. It shouldn't take too long in Park Operations, but you should bear in mind that it may take 15 minutes or so. Our experience with the assessment procedure was that it was pleasant and painless in that it involved a brief disucssion in order to arrive at a mutual understanding of the rider's limitations with respect to the various rides. We were then given a sheet of paper that noted those rides that our children could not ride. That eliminated the need for the ride operator to make some kind of an awkward judgement call and avoided any arguments. A less severe disability will probably be even more straightforward and quick. To the park's credit, they retained the paperwork from year to year which made things even easier after the first time.

2. Keep your Access book visible - don't be afraid to give it a little wave if you don't think the ride operator has noticed you. The ride operators didn't always notice us standing at the exit gate right away - especially when others were standing around waiting for their friends and family. This was more of an issue with the smaller "spinny" rides.

3. We generally didn't have to wait to get on the smaller rides - we were usually boarded within one or two exchanges.

4. All employees may not be completely familiar with the ride policy (especially earlier in the season), so be patient and good-natured.

5. Clevelandkid mentioned that you should turn on your headlights, but I thought that we were always instructed to put on our flashing hazard lights. I haven't been there for a couple of years, though, so I could very well be mistaken. Regardless, we always asked the attendant when we entered the parking area just in case the policy or parking locations had changed from one year to the next.

The hazards makes more sense than headlights. Many cars nowadays operate with day-time running lights.

Worst case, say something to the toll-booth operator when you pull up and they'll let you know what to do.

Thanks for all the answers/tips guys! I really appreciate it.

I agree the hazards would make more sense due to cars with daytime running lights. However I've always used the headlights. I've done this dozens of times. I know the first time I had the need to park in the handicap section (2005) they told me to turn on the headlights, I've done that ever since. Plus, I always open the window incase they questioned me which they never did. I always got waved through to the front.

Maybe you can use either, it might vary depending on who is in the booth. I would ask the booth attendant when you enter.

Hey guys. I just thought of another question. We will definately want to sit in the front row on a couple of the coasters (Dragster, Magnum, Maverick, and Millenium to be specific), but can we request to sit in the front with the special access policy? Or do the ride ops just put you wherever there is an opening?

Under the old policy, you would tell the host at entrance that you wanted to wait for the front seat, and they would add some amount to your reservation time (for TTD, for example, it was usually about 15 extra minutes). However, the park has apparently re-done its Special Access policy for this year, so I don't think anyone knows exactly how a lot of things are going to play out this summer.

^ I think you just made it more confusing. You only purchase tickets once, on your first day. They give you two sets of tickets (CP & SC Day 1, CP & SC Day 2) and you go on your way.

Yeah I was under the impression that the Ride and Slide tickets were valid for any two regular days at either Cedar Point or Soak City. Therefore it would be cheaper to just purchase two R+S passes at around $143 rather than 4 individual tickets which would be $171. I don't know where you heard that from adidasman12 but the Cedar Point website seems to reinforce the idea that the tickets are good for 2 days.

http://tickets.cedarpoint.com/shop/shopping_general_admission.cfm