News: New Cedar Point experiences announced

This might not directly fall directly under the topic here, but it relates to updates for 2022. I saw CP Food Blog post the Early Entry line-up, and there's a few glaring omissions (Maverick & SV). The list of rides is below. Given SV's reliability in the mornings as well as the "weekends only" approach, I'm not surprised that's not on the list. But Maverick is surprising to me.

Dodgem
GateKeeper
Iron Dragon
Kiddy Kingdom (11 rides)
Magnum XL-200
Matterhorn
Millennium Force
maXair
Scrambler
Valravn

Oof that EE lineup.

So it appears they will have the security stanchions across the two routes to the Frontier Town area. After exiting Millenium Force on the one side and after exiting Manum xl200 on the other.

What for? I feel like I missed a detail?

Maybe so people don’t go back there during early entry since nothing at the back is open.

How do you all feel about early entry these days? I'm not a morning person, so I don't generally take advantage of it. But my sense of late has been that early entry is pretty crowded--with lines nearly as long as they are for the rest of the day. I'm not sure if that's accurate or not. (But it makes sense to me since I don't expect there are many guests on any given day who aren't at least a Gold Passholder...)

I'm not a morning person either. I typically visit after work so I prefer the later closings to early entry. I usually try to get a couple early days in just for the experience. There's a different feel first thing in the morning.

Thinking about it reminded me of the passholder night ERTs though. I don't remember hearing anything about those in a long time. Has there been any statement whether they plan on bringing them back this year, or ever?

^^If the rides open on time, early entry is still pretty good. I've been able to get 3 rides on MF and then get in line for a fourth ride before the GP gets in the park. Or alternatively get a few rides on Maverick, or invest in a short SV wait. I do agree that there's a different feel to coasters at the beginning of the day, but there's certainly still value to be had in the short waits.

Having workers man some kind of border patrol blocking off the back of the park would be a complete waste of valuable resources. Who cares if nothing is open? Maybe they just want to stroll back there or spend their extra hour making sure they are one of the first riders on Steel Vengeance or Maverick when they do open.

What purpose would blocking it off serve?

In our experience the ride-wait times for early entry are no where near the line waits during the day. In a typical morning we usually did Valravyn, Millennium, and Maverick before the park ever opened, with perfect timing to head over to Steel Vengeance.

I know what the park needs, in my opinion, the waterpark needs a giant twister or pro-slide. CP shores is one of the few parks in the US that doesn't have one.

Given how the Early Entry lineup is rarely, if ever, fully open and ready at 9am, it's not worth it to me most of the time.

That said, lowering expectations but then being able to consistently deliver on those expectations may be good in the long run. Maverick has a tendency to #intamin itself, and we all know Steel Vengeance usually doesn't even make 10:00. I'd rather not have the expectation but then have the bonus of a ride potentially being ready at 9:45 as an unexpected bonus. I know that often is the case with Raptor opening during EE.

Kevinj said:

What purpose would blocking it off serve?

My guess would be saving money on staffing. If the back of the park doesn't open until an hour later, then the staff for that portion of the park can report to work an hour later. That could be a lot of hours saved over a season.

Kings Island does a "staggered" opening every day. The gates open at 9 letting people into International Street. All other areas of the park are roped off until the national anthem plays at 10. I always thought this would be impossible at Cedar Point since it has 4 gates instead of 1, but I guess they are trying it with the only area of the park they could.

Kevinj said:

In a typical morning we usually did Valravyn, Millennium, and Maverick before the park ever opened, with perfect timing to head over to Steel Vengeance.

Does this hold true post-Gold Pass?

Yawn....

^ As far as our experiences go, yes. For context, we more or less do the same thing season by season; 4-5 night stay on Point in early(ish) June, a shorter stay (couple nights) mid summer, and then Halloweekends.

I can't say I noticed any real differences with early-entry (as a resort guest) from 2020 (yes, we went then) or 2021. Heck, it even worked this past year on a Halloweekends Sunday with me and a class of 25 students.

But I don't go to the park 30 times a season, so take it for what it's worth.

And I don't get why you would need to staff the back of the park if nothing is open. Is there some kind of harm in letting guests (who are aware there is nothing open) wander back there? Most will flock to the rides that are open anyway.

Cedar Point likes control and they like rules.
I’m sure they’d rather post an employee and maybe a policeman at two points of the midway rather than several throughout an area that’s closed, just to make sure people stay where they’re supposed to be. And if this were to happen, remember that Frontier Town and Trail will be staffed, but in prep for the day. But maybe just an hour later than usual. And those employees could have an easier time with carts and vehicles, cleaning, testing, etc without the general public lurking around as well. Also keeping people out may reduce complaints. “We walked around Cedar Point for an hour and there were no rides whatsoever. And we couldn’t even get us a drink or anything to eat!!! NOTHING was open, blah blah blah…”

Kevinj said- “And I don't get why you would need to staff the back of the park if nothing is open. Is there some kind of harm in letting guests (who are aware there is nothing open) wander back there? Most will flock to the rides that are open anyway.”

Because people are a-holes and bad things tend to happen when nobody is around.

I find that list of rides interesting. Most the rides are at the front of the park, which is fine. But why is Raptor excluded? Is this a ride that is difficult to get going in the morning? Never thought it used to be. It does say rides are subject to change, so perhaps as staffing increases in June a ride or two might be added. This isn't wishful thinking and not saying it will happen, as I am aware most likely these will be the rides they stick with for the entire season.

The people I feel bad for are the hotel guests. Not only are gold passholders allowed in for the hour early entry, but now the resort gate proves no advantage except to ride Magnum or go to the back of the park and wait for Maverick and Steel Vengeance to open in an hour (if they allow them to walk that direction). I'd imagine the Windseeker gate is going to see a lot more resort guests this summer at 9am.

Fair points about the public being...well...the public.

Curious if perhaps the park might do something that would incentivize the resorts. They could allow resort guests only to use the resort gate, and have SV and Maverick available to them for Early Entry (in addition to the other rides). The front half rides would be for normal passholders.