In-park survival pack

Hey, yall. I am planning a trip for next Sunday. Been planning it for almost a year (yay Gay Days). My gf and I are going with another couple and their kid, and I've been trying to get a solid plan in place because I'm all logical like that. So, I know I wanna bring a backpack in with some snacks (will leave a cooler in the car with a more substantial lunch), a change of clothing including some sandals and swimsuits for the water rides, a big ziplock to carry all our ride photos we pick up, extra sunblock, and I was HOPING to bring in a 1/2 gallon water jug.

I know their policy says "unopened water bottles," but I thought it'd be worth asking if you thought I should try to bring it in anyhow. Also, would anyone recommend picking up an all-day locker? I know it'd be nice for not having to store it in the bins on all those rides and dealing with those that don't have bins....

I'm also trying to put together an attack plan for the rides. With early entry, I am thinking of heading to Magnum, then MF, then straight to TTD as several have recommended on here previously. Thought we'd wait for the water rides till after lunch, work our way to the front as twilight approaches to hit raptor at the end of the day, then when the park closes, I understand challenge park is open an additional hour, and we are planning on hitting ripcord and possibly skyscraper since I have coupons for both rides.

Lastly, I asked before, but didn't get a really solid answer. Can anyone confirm the prices of on-ride photos (also where we can find the camera for the sake of posing would be great) and the price of a full body two-person color caricature? I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks all. I've been looking forward to this for a long time and have a big surprise to report when we get back. :)

Whoa. You are a serious planner. Don't stress too much about the hour-to-hour planning. Your plan is fine, however. Keep in mind that CP offers free water at pretty much any food stand, so perhaps it isn't necessary to try to bring in extra water. Your call. Anyway, early entry does not include Magnum or TTD. It only includes the following:

• WindSeeker (must be 52" tall to ride)
• Millennium Force (must be 48" tall to ride)
• Raptor (must be 54" tall to ride)
• Maverick (must be 52" tall to ride)
• Iron Dragon (must be 46" tall to ride)
• Planet Snoopy (seven rides - height requirements vary)

Most on-ride photos are $10, but I believe they are $12 at TTD. They are in different places on different rides, but ask any ride and I'm sure we can tell you. Lockers will be a necessity on TTD and MF where they do not have bins. Actually, I would have purchased a souvenir cup this year if I didn't have to buy a locker every time I wanted to ride a ride.

firefox15 said:
Anyway, early entry does not include Magnum or TTD. It only includes the following:

Right, I meant Maverick, not Magnum and then at the tail end of early entry, get in line for TTD so we don't have to contend with the 2 hour wait times they have later in the day. Thanks for the pricing. That helps a bunch! It didn't even occur to me to ask the ride-ops. Thanks for the tip!

Can anyone confirm challenge park is open till 11 on Sunday and that 1 hour would be enough time to hit up ripcord and skyscraper? Thanks!

I totally forgot about gay day being on Father's day. I almost planned a trip for that weekend. Thank goodness. My kids don't need to see that. We were there last year and there was some highly inappropriate behavior in public areas.

I went last year and didn't see much of anything out of the ordinary. What was happening?

IMO, i would skip rip cord, but ride skyscraper. It is way better than ripcord, plus it's cheaper and lasts longer!

graized said:
Can anyone confirm challenge park is open till 11 on Sunday...

Indeed they are. Challenge Park is open 1 hour after CP closes.

firefox15 said:
I went last year and didn't see much of anything out of the ordinary. What was happening?

Actually, I did see some inappropriate behavior: an obnoxious old man was taking pictures of my queer friends kissing, then played it off as wanting to show it to cops later (you know, because kissing your partner is awful), then proceeded to cause a scene until a security guard came along and told him if he didn't knock that crap off, he'd be ejected from the park. I can't believe people can stand there and claim they think "that kind of behavior" isn't appropriate for children, then starting a fight with a stranger over it (hint: the fighting is inappropriate for kids; the kissing isn't)

djDaemon said:
Indeed they are. Challenge Park is open 1 hour after CP closes.

Thanks! Would you say that one hour is long enough for ripcord and skyscraper?

I would think you'd have enough time for both, especially on a Sunday at the end of the day.

You'd definitely have time for both, most nights the last hour at Challenge Park is fairly slow (but not always). Just make sure you leave yourself enough time, as they probably won't sell you a ticket for both rides if you walk up to the window at 10:59. If there's no wait, each ride only takes about 5 minutes, so if you're there by 10:40 or so you should be fine.

The backpack could be a little cumbersome, I've never enjoyed lugging something like that around all day. Most rides do have the bins, and there are all day lockers you can rent, but they're only available next to the front gate. It could be a bit of a hike if you plan to walk all the way up there to stash the bag each time you want to ride one of the non-bin rides. The individual bin-less rides do have one time use lockers near their entrance. I believe it's $2 for a small locker and $3 for a large, depending on how big your bag is.