Opening Day 2016

CPfansite is a reliable source. I personally know some of the admins. They wouldn't post information if they knew it wasn't true.

They have an image on their site which appears to be the cover of the 2016 Cedar Point calendar. So I'm guessing they are listing all the dates as listed on the calendar.

It still confuses me why so many longtime fans care so much about opening day. Unless you are going for the festivities of the day, I don't see a huge benefit. The risk of rides not running, or colder weather is too much of a negative for me. I'd rather go in early June. I suppose cabin fever is a motivation for many.

Cabin fever and the anticipation of hanging out with people who's company you enjoy. ;)

I took last years troubles and "feng shuied" them out of my mind while relaxing in Breakers. But it definietly helps when you plan on going more than 5 times in the season. Having said that, I get being upset if it's your only trip of the year. But I draw the line at enthusiasts who know they will be back again and still complain. If you know how it's usually like, then either don't show up or don't complain.

Well......you can still complain but you asked for it. ;)

I just hope to see you in another media interview making more faces I can turn into memes ;)

I've only been to a handful of opening days, but for someone who adores the park it is a neat experience, especially when a big shiny new ride is being unveiled. Just like closing day (regardless of how many rides one actually gets in), it's neat for some people to reminisce on the idea that they were there when a new chapter in the park's history officially started, much like it's nice to look back and say you were there when a season came to an end. For a sports lover it's akin to being there on opening day for your team. Do they play as a perfectly well-oiled machine? Of course not, but you were there for day 1. (and in the case of us Browns fans they just get worse so opening day is probably the best you'll see).

I've never been one to waste emotional energy on the little bumps in the road on opening/closing day.

The Valravn preview party is on Thursday, May 5th. I would speculate that tickets will likely be in the $150-$250 range. That's a guess based on what most of the seats for Rougarou went for in the first rider auction this year.

May 6th is likely the traditional media day. I thought the change to only invite a handful of outside folks went well for Rougarou, but they might decide that no one other than media really need to be there.

The blog post doesn't mention that May 7th or 8th will be restricted in any way. I wonder if special tickets will be needed for this? I kinda expected this to be for season passholders only or something like that. Kings Island has done a soft opening preview night for passholders for many years.

They could very well have the media event during the day on May 6th, but the passholder preview will be in the evening of May 6th. I believe that May 7th and 8th will be just like normal operating days.

For me, opening day is a tradition. It's more about reuniting with my coaster family than riding. Now more than ever since I moved to Kansas. My visits are very limited now, with my last trip opening weekend 2015. I have to put much thought into when I go next year. Making the long trip just for 2 days for Premier Weekend, or wait until official opening where we can stay a couple additional days. The latter sounds like an obvious choice. But, the thought of waiting an extra week to get my Magnum rides makes it tough.

Having a few days off after two days of operation, to tweak things, is a bad way of thinking. Tweaking should be done before involving the guests. Like most of us regulars, I chalk it up as another bad opening (which is almost every season now). Anymore, it's fun to walk around and point at everything that is closed and just laugh. The park really needs to get their act together when it comes to having the park ready. I hate when I hear comments like "we had a bad winter". It's Ohio. The weather hasn't changed for the worse. I haven't seen a blizzard since childhood. Be prepared.

I think doing a preview weekend to work out any kinks is actually a good idea. The problem with opening days isn't just rides being down, it's staff having their first encounters with guests. This way, the employees get more hands-on experience before they open the park officially. I didn't really go to many food stands last year on opening day, but I heard that was one of the gripes on here. This way those workers can get better hands-on experience rather than just cut them loose and get right to work when the crowd comes in. Same goes for ride crews. They can tweak their efficiency and operation and know what should need improved after one weekend. I'm still planning on going up May 8th.

^ No one has posted in this thread in a week so I'm going to revive it. Yeah I think Thabto hit the nail on the head with his remarks. Plus the idea of the preview weekend, plus them being closed during the week like they're sister park Kings Island helps them out greatly! The fact that they're still sort of open during the week helps them prepare a little more for the long spring/summer/fall days.

"Preview" weekend or not I feel that if the park is advertising full operation they should be ready for full operation. They could easily offer a preview weekend advertising limited rides and food availability like Haunt Fridays. In my opinion, if the park is advertising they're fully open they better be prepared to be fully open and paying guests have a right to complain if it's not. Their big motto is "best day." That means any day they are open, no excuses. I may be a fan boy but i'm not going to defend the park if they can't offer something they advertise.

No excuses? What about a water main break? ;)

^ Adam I understand where you're coming from and I understand where the next guy above you is coming from. To me a water main break is unpreventable. The same can be said about a real bad storm that causes a lot of debris that might force the park to close. Those are good excuses.

For Wolf Bobs, he has valid points too. Yes we had a bad winter last year and I understand that, but it seemed like the rides weren't ready like they should have been. I was understanding about it, but still felt they could have done a better opening weekend. So I like where they're going with the soft opening weekend and then opening up regularly the next weekend.

TTD 120mph said:

No excuses? What about a water main break? ;)

I said any day they are open... so, technically speaking they weren't open that day. Or did they open and close? I forget.

Some things are out of the parks control, like water main breaks. But back to my original point, if they are marketing this weekend as 100% fully operational, compared to limited rides, etc. Then people who chose to go have a valid complaint if things aren't ready.

You can't really say the preview weekend is a soft opening if everything in the park is open and run like any other operating day, as they are advertising it is. I believe this is more about extending the season at the start than some type of practice dry run. Normally, opening day was always Mother's Day weekend, which I believe is the weekend after the preview weekend.

WolfBobs said:I said any day they are open... so, technically speaking they weren't open that day. Or did they open and close? I forget.

They were very much open that day......although for only an hour. I was there for that day but it didn't bother me. Regardless, my post was only in jest so no need to look into it any further. :)

Oh trust me.. I understand internet winky face jest. lol.

Actually, opening weekend is still Mothers Day weekend. It's just that Mothers Day is falling as early as possible in 2016 due to the 1st being on a Sunday.

To me a soft opening would not be open to the general public. A soft opening would be for invited guests or pass holders or locals with proper ID, etc. A soft opening is to keep the crowd down so the "bugs" can be worked out. I'm not sure what CP is thinking with an "open to the public" soft opening. People will not hear the "expect problems" and complain when they occur.

I think they should just do away with the season pass preview night and just have the whole weekend be a season pass preview weekend. If you are advertising a soft opening and treating it like normal operating days, it kind of defeats the purpose.