No, qnzzvg, I DON'T want fries with that!!

Kevinj said:
All this thread reminds me of is why we (as a family) would 1) never consider a dining pass for any reason, 2) spend very little money on food at CP, and 3) why daddy will happily drive off-point to bring food back to Breakers after (or during) a day at the park.

Let me put it this way; the word "dining" is not part of Cedar Point's DNA.

I wholeheartedly agree with you, we had dining plans the first couple of years, never again. The food on the plan is mostly inedible and we would just not use it.
There's so many good unique options off point in town that there's no reason to 'dine' in the park. It baffles me that the food and service is so subpar especially with corporate offices literally within walking distance. I guess that no executives leave the ivory tower to experience what guests experience.
That being said, I am looking forward to checking out the changes made to dining this year.

^^Dining options at KI, Carowinds, Dorney and other CF parks are the only reason I still invest in the dining plan. Point's options have improved this year but compared to other parks in the chain they're still a rung or seven down on the quality and taste ladder.

I'm bummed that the new Famous Dave's stand does not have a meal plan option yet, but that could change sooner or later.

To the main point of this topic, I agree, most of the quick service stands have disgusting fries and I would much rather a entrée only option, even with using my dining plan I wouldn't mind an entrée only option as I hardly ever eat the fries they serve. Mostly just pick through and find the ones that are cooked reasonably well.

Speaking of the new Famous Dave's BBQ Shack, here's the one meat combo for $17.99 (options are ribs, brisket, or chopped pork). Comes with two sides - in this case, double fries. The famous fries are a better option than typical quick service french fries, even though I normally wouldn't order them at a full service Famous Dave's.

The amusement park markup doesn't seem egregious. In the restaurant, Famous Dave's sells a Texas Beef Brisket sandwich with a side for $10.49. No sandwich-only option available there either. I will say, though, that the markup is a lot easier to handle for one meal than it is when you're talking about a family of four.

More new for 2017 food photos here: https://pointbuzz.com/Photo/Album/793

Everytime the topic of food comes up in relation to Cedar Point I cringe. This is just one area that the park outright sucks in. I dont get it. Even when they've added things like Panda Express or Chic Fil A they still figure out how to bring the quality down. While I'm excited for Melt I was very disappointed to hear that CP employees would run it, my expectations now are much lower. We have had the dining plan for three years now, but it's the same crappy options. A burger and fries, chicken strips and fries, there has to be better options. Supposedly they brought in a new chef two years ago but I've yet to see any changes. When basically every other park is getting food right, there's a problem. I get it, amusement park staple food has it's place, but don't try to push Cedar Point as a multi stay, you can't do everything in one day park with subpar food.

Having never been to a Melt and reading all the great things about it, I will not let CP Melt be the first one I go to. I'm going to Cleveland in July and I will definitely try one there or Maybe sooner if I get near one. After I experience a real Melt, I might dampen my expectations and try the one at CP.

Other than slightly higher prices, I fully expect the Melt experience at Cedar Point to be as great as it is at any of their other locations.

I have to agree. I'm actually really looking forward to trying it out, and I've been to Melt.

It's not rocket science to cook at Melt. We have a Melt University run by the food service employees at the school and the food is about the same as in the original melt locations. I expect the CP location to be the same. The grilled cheese is actually not grilled, the bread with cheese is placed on a conveyor belt pizza oven and then the grilled or fried protein is placed on top of that after the bread comes out of the oven. Very simple prep.

mgou58 said:

Even when they've added things like Panda Express or Chic Fil A they still figure out how to bring the quality down.

The Chick Fil A was actually run by Chic Fil A employees, not CP employees I believe. I'm not a big fan of Chic Fil A (I'll take McDonald's over it) but how can you reduce quality? It just chicken out of a fryer, the CP stuff was exactly the same. You can't mess up putting something in a fryer for 5 min. The "grilled" Chic Fil A stuff I believe is grilled off site and just reheated at the restaurant. About the same "freshness" as Subway where half the food sits in vats on the prep table for half the day.

The CP Panda Express is fine, I don't taste any difference when compared to outside Panda Express locations.

Those little wedgy fries look really good, Walt!

That actually looks like the perfect kind've thing I would pick up and split with my wife and girls.

I enter each year with brand-new neutral expectations, and this year is no different; I'm always hoping to be pleasantly surprised.

Part of the "charm" of the Melt experience is the employees. Laid back, tattooed, facial hair on the fellas, wearing whatever jeans they have, etc. I guess in it's place will come fresh scrubbed college kids who may or may or care about the business or how fast they move.

Surely real Melt manager types will be present at the location for training, quality and brand control, maybe even cooking when pressed into service. How they're gonna keep em out the front of the house is I don't know.

Haircuts for everyone!

Sollybeast said:

...wait, does Five Guys count? I never really thought of them as fast food, being a better breed of burger joint. Same with Smashburger, who ALSO has wonderful fries (shoestring cut, with olive oil and rosemary. Yummmmm.)

No, I would categorize those differently. Five Guys, Steak and Shake, Smashburger, B Spot, etc. are different from fast food that I compare McDonald's too, although I think the McDonald's fries are still competitive. I would compare McDonald's fries to Burger King, Wendy's, Arby's, KFC, Chic Fil A and the like - traditional fast food. Typed while having breakfast at McDonald's :)

Kevin, I wish I could give you ten +1s for that. :)

^Oh my how that actually does seem like Cedar Point & their old facial hair policy.

I guess it prepared me for the military well, but that's exactly the problem with their policy. Clean shaven, 90+ degrees & humidity = sweat, and alot of razor burn, because it "looks good"

Hell, I won't ever go back to being baby faced. Trimmed down clean beard sure, but I'm never taking a razor to my face again lol.

Kevinj said:

That actually looks like the perfect kind've thing I would pick up and split with my wife and girls.

Splitting that meal 4 ways means 1 bone for each. I guess your family doesn't eat very much:)

RCMAC said:

Part of the "charm" of the Melt experience is the employees. Laid back, tattooed, facial hair on the fellas, wearing whatever jeans they have, etc. I guess in it's place will come fresh scrubbed college kids who may or may or care about the business or how fast they move.

Someone who "may or may not care about the business or how fast they move" seems to fit perfectly with the term laid back.

And if people are not supposed to get uptight if their server has a tattoo why is it OK for people to get uptight if their server doesn't have a tattoo?

It's funny to me that they call what Walt had on his plate "double fries." To me it looks like one side of fries. I'd consider buying that plate at $13.99 tops. At $17.99, I'll keep walking. Then they go from $17.99 to $24.99 to add a meat. I'd buy a two meat plate at $18.99 or $19.99.

We buy one meal plan for the four of us and use it and maybe the occasional fry deal for pretty much snacking and tiding us over until we go to Chet and Matt's or back to the cabin for dinner or whatever. There simply aren't enough options that I'd want to have a full meal or two at CP every time I'm in the park (which is normally two or three consecutive days each time I visit). Maybe if they put the BBQ place, mac and cheese place, etc on the meal plan, I'd buy another one. I can't ever see all four of us having one unless they become Busch Gardens or Dollywood food service one of these years. We simply don't like the food enough currently.

And while I'm piling on about CP food - they still have hardly anywhere inside the park that you can get more than one food type in a single location. Sometimes, they even have places right next to each other, but you have to wait in one line to get one thing and then wait in line again and make a separate transaction to get another thing. They've figured out how to do it right at KI, Carowinds, etc. Busch Gardens in Virginia has at least three or four places like this (Festhouse, Marco Polo's, the place in Ireland, etc). Dollywood has multiple buffets - all you can eat for the same price as Walt paid for that rib/fries snack. :) CP needs a big indoor, multiple entree kind of venue in foods desperately.

Fair enough.
I'm not trying to say I'm uptight about any lack of tattoos, but anyone who's been to any Melt location might notice a glaring difference.

And I see laid back as more of an approach, not necessarily a lack of work ethic. Servers at our central Ohio Melt locations seem dedicated to the job, the concept, and are there to make a living wage. Which is something you don't *always* see from Cedar Point food service workers. Anyway, not to dog the attempt here. I'm looking forward to trying CP Melt if they're open next week.

I'm glad typical Melt touches like the mural are in place. (The Short North Melt's mural is made up of portraits of anyone famous who's hailed from Ohio, and they're depicted having a fun day at an amusement park. There's a list of their names for a seek n find game while you wait) Hopefully the bar will have the nostalgic neon and those plastic holiday porch ornaments. Another fun thing they don't do at Melt is take your name for the waiting list. Instead, they have you reach into a bucket and draw a name. It can be anyone from history, show business, or whatever. And from then on that's your name. (Table of four for Beyoncé? Beyoncé? Table of four?)

But the emphasis is on the ginormous sandwiches. Pro tip: either split or be prepared to carry half in a take out box around CP with you.

My wife and I took my sisters and a friend to the park on Saturday and the only time we bought food in the park was at Pink's (which I love).

For lunch though, we bought and brought the Jimmy John's Mini's. 12 half-sandwiches in a cooler, a couple bags of chips, water, and some oranges. About $45 for 5 people and it gave us a break from the cold/wind.

Food at Cedar Point CAN be great. I really like Pink's, Famous Dave's, and will more than likely enjoy Root's and Melt. But places like Dragon Inn are not anything I want to go near ever again. It's expensive, slow, and low quality food.

I'm hoping this is an area that Cedar Point realizes is a weakness and is one of those things that will eventually be fully fixed, like other areas of the park in general.