first trip with 2 * 13 year old boys Thur 8/16 - Need advice

I have not been to CP since the mid 80's. I am taking my son and his best friend tomorrow (it is my birthday), they have never been. They both love big rides.

I have reviewed the board for a few hours the last few nights and still need some advice.

We are not at all interested in the "days of thunder" event tomorrow, so we plan on parting in Soak City to enter via the rear of the park. How much will this increase the crowd on the coasters? Does this sound good?

I signed up for the newsletter, how soon before I get the offer for $25 tickets?

If I do not get $25 tickets is the Refresh work $10 extra?

Based on being a thurday, mid aug, good weather predicted and "days of thunder" Does the Fastlane make sense? How many extra rides do you think it will get them? We are driving three hrs and need to leave by 8 pm.

Any other tips are greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Weather could be a problem but should hold off to the west until after 8 pm I would think, but not by much. Parking in the Soak City lot should be fine.

I went on a Monday a little over a week ago and a Monday a couple weeks before that and both days would have been good days to buy a fast lane pass if you wanted to spend the money. I didn't buy it, but I also didn't have full days either day at the park.

Either way all three of you should have some fun. The park has changed drastically since your last visit.

Not sure on the pricing.

If you want to get in a lot of rides, than I would suggest that you go for Fast Lane. I used it a couple of weeks ago, and it was great.Here are what the wait times were for me with Fast Lane:

Millennium Force:Early in the day, I was able to walk on. Later in the day it was anywhere from 15-30 minutes, with the regular line being about 2 hours.

TTD: Only got to ride it once, because it was down a lot for some reason. Wait time: Around 20 minutes.

Maverick: 15-30 minutes.

Rest of the Coasters: Anywhere from a walk on to maybe 15 minutes.

All in all, I think that FL is well worth it. But no guarantees, so don't come hunting me down:-)

The crowds are always unpredictable. Since you are driving 3 hours to get to the park and are leaving by 8 I would definitely suggest the Fast Lane, especially if this is your only day going for the year. Can you manage to get on everything multiple times without FastLane? YES. It is nice to have though.

Thank you very much for the information. I will be purchasing the fastlane tickets later tonight.

Does anyone know where to get a good map, I can review before arriving onsite?

Cedar Point's website has a park map you can downoload:

http://www.cedarpoint.com/plan-a-visit/park-map

Hope you have a great time!

Thank you very much but that map has no labels on it. I need one with the names of the attractions.