Opening Day 2018

I had a blast this weekend for sure. Only complaint was that Melt wasn't open :(

We did eat at Pink's and although the line for that could compete with the SV line (lol kidding but still), food was amazing. That place never disappoints.

MichaelB said:
I didn't have anything to go off. I haven't been to Cedar Point on opening day before.

Well... I mean, for over 6 years you've been a member of the go-to place on the Internet for all things Cedar Point-related... :-)

I'm the last one to make excuses for the park - if they're open, I expect them to be fully-functional, period; their staffing issues are not paying customers' problems. But there's a reason you won't find me there on opening day.

Does anyone know if melt is open this weekend?

I did notice that many of the flat rides had signage stating those rides would be open for select hours only. It seems as though the park is combatting staffing issues by only allowing rides to be open for parts of the day. Again, not ideal, but it is early in the season so maybe that will change.

djDaemon said:

MichaelB said:
I didn't have anything to go off. I haven't been to Cedar Point on opening day before.

Well... I mean, for over 6 years you've been a member of the go-to place on the Internet for all things Cedar Point-related... :-)

I'm the last one to make excuses for the park - if they're open, I expect them to be fully-functional, period; their staffing issues are not paying customers' problems. But there's a reason you won't find me there on opening day.

I agree wholeheartedly. The least that could’ve been done was discounted admission. I still don’t understand why they can’t staff the park.

If they did that how would they make a Platinum Passholder feel whole? I already have meal plans, drink plans, FunPix. I know, a complimentary FL+. Yes, then I would feel very whole. :)

They can’t staff the park becuase CP has a set of policies in place they don’t want to/can’t compromise on and a labor pool that that obviously does not find compensation package and other policies compelling enough to work. Or they are in school still. When I was in college there would have been no way in hell my employer could get me to work a 30 hour weekend right before finals.

I think they should start calling it a "soft opening" weekend, because that is clearly what it is. Call it a "Passholder Park Preview" weekend, in addition to the OSU and employee family days. Advertise it as exactly what it is - "we're going to try to have most things open, but don't expect it to be smooth."

That way no one is paying full admission for a half-assed product, and they need not hand out exit passes and the like.

Urumqi said:

Does anyone know if melt is open this weekend?

Yes, I remember on sign on the door that, I think, said opening on 5/11.

Cargo Shorts, you wouldn’t be able to get me to work ANY hours the weekend before finals due to my constant work load each semester. I’m just basing that statement off of what MichaelB said about how Carowinds was ready and had their act together, but CP is having a hell of a time.

Staffing has declined immensely since the Kinzel area (I can speak from experience). I wonder if management just has a different/more strict way of managing.

Employee housing is another issue too that I could talk about for days.

Well, Carowinds is very close to a major city. Cedar Point is not.

Part of their problem with staffing early in the season is the lack of a large enough base of employees locally.

The year I worked at Cedar Point, I had just started working in a bookstore. They very kindly let me take the summer off and brought me back on staff when I returned. I'd guess that many employers wouldn't be that generous.

When it comes to staffing, especially at Cedar Fair parks, I think it's better to look at the population centers surrounding each park.

Kings Island is in a suburb of Cincinnati, Carowinds just outside Charlotte, Kings Dominion near Richmond and DC, Dorney near Allentown, etc.

Those all have bigger pools of potential employees to pull from. If Sandusky, Toledo and Cleveland's residents have decided that seasonal employment at an amusement park isn't for them, particularly this early in the season, then of course full staffing levels won't be achieved.

noggin said:

Well, Carowinds is very close to a major city. Cedar Point is not.

Part of their problem with staffing early in the season is the lack of a large enough base of employees locally.

The year I worked at Cedar Point, I had just started working in a bookstore. They very kindly let me take the summer off and brought me back on staff when I returned. I'd guess that many employers wouldn't be that generous.

Sadly not. I would LOVE to take the summer off and work at CP, even once (I've been mistaken for an employee on several occasions, I swear it's meant to be), but when I floated the notion to my manager I was told I would probably NOT have employment waiting for me when I came back. :C

djDaemon said:

MichaelB said:
I didn't have anything to go off. I haven't been to Cedar Point on opening day before.

Well... I mean, for over 6 years you've been a member of the go-to place on the Internet for all things Cedar Point-related... :-)

I'm the last one to make excuses for the park - if they're open, I expect them to be fully-functional, period; their staffing issues are not paying customers' problems. But there's a reason you won't find me there on opening day.

Damn, 6 years... time flies.

I feel sorry for anyone who paid full price for admission. They got like 5/8 of the park. Should definitely be discounted, or at the least let guests know up front what will or won't be open.

I wasn’t too upset, because I took advantage of their $45 for admission and drink plan deal. But the guest services line was massive.

Went on Opening Day and felt ripped off. Being a former employee I expected ride downtime but all rides to be staffed at low levels not what we seen last Saturday. I bought fast lane plus for SV and well that didn't work out! Also wanted to ride Valravn since I never been on it and wasn't open when we left at 5. As a guest you should definitely be informed before you enter if most rides wouldn't be opened. They gave me free admission for my next visit but not a fast pass even know most the plus rides were closed.Ridiculous won't be getting my money anymore.

So they comped your ticket, but you're still mad because you purchased Fast Lane Plus prior to entering the park to see how the lines actually were? Sounds to me like a you problem.

If I set my expectations higher than the results I receive, why shouldn't I get something for it? If I expect a movie to be a masterpiece and it's not very good, I should make the theater give me my money back after I watched the whole thing. And by the way, my dinner wasn't very good, but I ate it, and I want my money back anyway.

The point I made is the FL plus rides weren't even open. It would have been a whole different situation if I had a regular one, I bought these in advance weeks ago its not like I was in there and purchased it.

And they comped you admission, which is valued higher than the difference between FL and FL+

Nothing says they owed you anything.

Park apologist? I thought that was Tony’s job.