I need advice on an upcoming trip...
OKay, we'll be at CP this weekend. We arrive Friday and are staying two nights at HB, but only going into the park on Saturday. The original plan was to go ahead and fork over $460 on 4 Fast Lane Plus passes so that our one day in the park wouldn't be dominated by waiting for well over an hour in the hot sun for the best coasters. However, almost $500 is a lot of money, especially in additon to all the other money we'll be spending. So, I was thinking an "alternative" would be to buy 4 Starlight tickets for Friday ($150 total) and spend those 8 hours (the park's open to midnight so we'll have from 4 - 12 am) strictly waiting in line/riding the best coasters. We won't have to contend with the heat and we know we'll be able to ride the best coasters at least once. On Saturday we'll actually then have two little kids with us and we'll be focusing on kid's rides etc for part of the day, but if we were able to ride the best coaster the night before it wouldn't be a big deal to skip a couple on Saturday that aren't "worth the wait." I figure it's a good way to save over $300. Am I crazy or does that sound like a good plan? I haven't been to CP in about 5 years, what are wait times on the best coasters typically like on a Friday night? Any and all advice/personal experience is appreciated! (I REALLY wish the Fast Lane passed were, like, an extra $40 and the Fast Lane Plus an extra $70....that would be good!)
MayB -
Another option, depending on when you arrive on Friday and when you're leaving on Sunday is to buy a two or three ride and slide ticket. This gives you admission to CP and Soak City for either two or three days for not a whole lot more than the twilight ticket alone. For example, the twilight ticket will cost you $64, a two day ride and slide is $76 and a three day one is $87. In addition to enjoying the lighter crowds in the evening, you could take advantage of extended ride time on Friday (if you're getting there super early) and/or Sunday morning. Plus enjoy Soak City as well.
We were there last week and used early entry one day to ride Gatekeeper, Raptor and Rougarou before 10 AM (entering at WIndseeker gate) and the next day to ride Millennium Force and Maverick (entering at Marina gate, take the shutttle from Hotel Breakers) before 10 AM. Good luck and have fun.
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Answers
I was there last Friday and Saturday, and Friday was a great day for riding. We rode Maverick twice within a half hour around 11:30. Could've gotten one more ride in but I tried to book it to MF and it was closed early for some reason.
You'll get a TON of riding in during those 8 hours on Friday, even if you're just focused on the biggest and best rides. Make sure you ride Skyhawk when you're in the back by Maverick!
I've been to the park the past two Friday nights, arriving about 7PM both nights.
On July 31, I was by myself so I was able to save a few minutes on some rides because I hopped into an empty seat created by groups of 3, etc. I rode Gatekeeper, Wicked Twister, Dragster, Magnum, Skyhawk, Rougarou, Power Tower Up, Power Tower Down, Dragster, Gemini (at night), Skyhawk, and Millennium Force. The longest waits were 40 minutes for TTD (the first time) and about 45 minutes for MF. Everything else were station waits or walk-ons.
On Aug 7, I was with my daughter. We rode Gatekeeper, Wicked Twister, Matterhorn, Power Tower Up, Power Tower Down, Corkscrew, Magnum, Gemini, CCMR, Skyhawk, Mean Streak, and Wave Swinger. We got in line for TTD about 10:15 and the power went out about 10:55. She was hungry and tired at that point and so we got some Platinum fries and left. With the exception of the TTD wait, the longest wait for those rides was Gatekeeper at about 20 minutes. My guess was the MF line was about an hour when I looked from the top of Power Tower.
So, to answer your question: Yes, you can get a good amount of rides on a Friday night.