October- Trip from los angeles to Cedar Point, first time.

Hello, I am writing from Los Angeles, I am thinking about heading to Cedar Point for my first trip to the park on October 14-17 (friday to Sunday) what is the average wait time I can expect from the best rides in the park this time of Year, mid october?
If TTD is still closed I may postpone the trip till May, although any information about what I can expect Mforce wait times to be in mid october would be great (obviously there are many factors which will affect the wait times although any Cedar Point veterans would have an idea of what to expect)
Thanks so much for your help!
-Noah

Friday will be much less crowded than Saturday, or Sunday but keep in mind that on Friday not all the rides are open. I haven't gone to Halloweekends on a Friday recently, so I am not sure I can give you line estimates. For Saturday and Sunday, lines can get pretty long. Raptor I would guess might reach an hour, or maybe an hour and a half. Same with Mantis, maybe a little shorter. Millennium Force could reach as much as 2 hours on Saturday, but it should be shorter, especially if you run there right when the park opens. TTD, which will hopefully open by the 14th, should have around an hour wait, maybe an hour and a half. The rest of the rides should have minimal waits, less than an hour. Of course, I am just estimating and you may go to the park on an empty weekend, or you may go to the park on a full capacity weekend. Whatever the crowds, with 3 days you should be able to get everything done. You should also try the haunted houses, but lines for Wherewolf Canyon can get exceptionally long, sometimes up to 2 hours. I wouldn't reccommend Wherewolf Canyon, but the rest are all pretty good.

Ok friday nights are usually not bad, but Saturdays do not expect to be riding much that place is packed on Halloweekend Saturadys. Sundays do not get too bad though. I am going the same weekend as you. That is the weekend I always go. Last year though we did not go Friday night insted we tried to go Saturday morning and the traffic was backed soo far out that it was backed all the way through Sandusky and down the Turnpike a little ways. I don't remember riding much that day. I remember we did some small things like trokia and chaos and the giant wheel and during the busy part of the day the only roller coaster we rode was the iron dragon. But as it gets later people start to clear out. So later that night I rode the Dragster and only waited about 45 minutes.

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Cory Marshall

I remeber the busiest saturday I have ever seen when going to the point was during Halloweekends.

Traffic was backed up so far. The main parking lot was filled including the overflow. And soak city parking lot was filled. Everything was at least a 45 min wait. Needless to say I people watched most of that day.

Thanks for all the info, I guess if Top Thrill Dragster is going to remain down till May, I might just postpone the trip (since it is a far way to travel to not experience all the major attractions) hopefully it will reopen. If it does I think I may make the trip unless you all think May would be a better time to experience it all.
What would you say to a first timer traveling from CA? October or May? :)
Thanks for your help!

If you really want to postpone it, I would recommend May, especially the weekend around the 24th. I always go on the Monday because it's a holiday in Canada and our school always goes and there aren't many people there at all.

However, you will really be missing out on Halloweekends, when Cedar Point is at its best.

Any recommendations for local cheap hotels, I was looking at the BestWestern and the Breakers Express, except Breakers Express and all the CPoint hotels are not open sunday night with monday checkout, which I was thinking about doing so I dont have to drive back to the airport at 9PM sunday. Are there any non Cedar Point properties that still have early entry?
-Noah

No. You could stay a Cedar Point resort for the early entry and then switch to another hotel for Sunday night. Depends on if it's worth the trouble.

Thanks, I have been adding up all the fees and it looks like I am looking at a minimum of $500 for this trip for one person, I might be best just waiting till May when I can get a week of the park being open all day, then rushing it for not even two full days. Especially since I am starting to hear more talk that TTD will probably not beable to reopen before end of season. Bummer, I was looking so forward to finally checking out this park!

Now don't say that noahk...There is a large possibility that Dragster will reopen before the season ends. I (as well as others) have been emailed by CP that the part is on its way and that it wont take long to fix. It could be up by this weekend or next weekend. But I can understand why you would want to cancle a trip if you can't get a chance to ride the best that the park has to offer (though my reason is because Im a huge Dragster fan:)).
So I would say to postpone you trip till May. That way Dragster will be open and there will be another new ride (maybe even 2) for you to get on.

*** Edited 9/28/2005 9:03:56 PM UTC by TTD 120mph***

noahk, if you are going to the park just to experiance rides, I would definately postpone. As said above, there might be another ride or two for you to go on, and the crowds will be much lighter. Usually, the middle-end of may isn't very busy. If you want to experiance Halloweekends, definately go because it is worth it. If I was choosing to go to a park for the first time though, I would probably not go during Halloweekends and choose a date, like May, when the park is in normal operation.

Thanks so much for all your very appreciated information!
I think I am going to take Top Thrill 182's advice and wait till Mid May with the park at normal operation and perhaps even a new ride or two. Holoweekends does sound fun although I am not a huge Holoween in the Parks fan its just not my thing, the rides is what I am all about. I cannot wait to finally experience Cedar Point, the worlds best park from what I can gather. I have mostly been to California parks and we do have some nice rides for sure but it does seem that cedar point is going to blow my ideas of a great roller coaster out of the water. I am counting down the months till I get to ride Mforce and TTD as well as all the other winning attractions. I will have to say to those who have not yet had a chance to visti the CA parks, I will say that the ride "X" at Magic Mountain is truly an incredible prototype roller coaster that must be experienced by the serious roller coaster enthusiast, regardless of your thoughts on the other aspects of the parks operation I think it is truly a incredible ride that is very unique and not found anywhere else. With that said thanks for your input and I look forward in checking out the point in May! As bummed as I am about not being able to ride the Force before then :( but it will be worth the wait I am sure :) *** Edited 9/29/2005 6:12:20 AM UTC by noahk***

Good luck finding GForce at Cedar Point ;).

:) whoops, I meant to say MagnumXL, :) my bad
thanks for clearing it up.

noahk, I was lucky enough to go to California over last March. X is absolutely amazing! I had to wait 3 and a half hours for it, complete with line cutters, but it was fantastic. I was a little dissapointed Vu was closed at sfmm, but I got to ride it at sfgam and it was great. Knott's is good too. CA has some great parks.... Anyways hope you have a good trip in May.

TopThrill:
Glad you got to check out CA, X is cool, the wait time is rediculous but what can you expect from a Prototype ride that would probably never have been built if they would have known how low the capacity and load times would have been. If you pick the right day and time of the year and the stars align properly you can get there on a low capacity day and ride 10 times in a row which is a real treat! I cannot believe that actually happened to me although it did, empty que, I could not stop riding just based on principal that there was 0 wait time. I am sure the same is true with the Point on the magic days of the week and season when attendance is low, I imagine you can get very lucky and have a very low wait on Mforce and TTD, what is your best experience with that?

My first trip to cedar point 2 years ago during halloweekends was extremely busy on a Saturday. It was almost comparative to a mid summer day so i would plan on being there when the gates open. This year i went on opening day then 3 weeks ago which i had the opportunity to have low wait times even on millennium force, have a good trip.