Opening Day Review: A Big Mess

Worst opening day EVER! I’m really surprised at how poorly today’s opening day went. ALL of the rides just kept going down. In line for Maverick, and it went down. Next to Millennium, and the train gets stuck on the lift hill. The new Funpix turned out to be a disaster with photos not showing in accounts. After hearing another attendee complaining of numerous missing photos, I had to voice a complaint to Guest Services. It turns out the problem was not the “delay” the first park employee I spoke to tried to blame it on, but the official reason finally given is that it’s a training issue and some employees are not doing the full process, so the photos never transfer and are lost unless you remember the picture number from hours before. That is on the rides where all of the cameras were actually working. Oh, and I also heard a few people complaining that the dining plans were not working at various restaurants, though that wasn’t a problem for us because the places we chose to eat never even bothered to scan our passes. We finally said ENOUGH at 8 PM when Maverick, Gatekeeper, Pipe Scream, Power Tower, Valravn, Top Thrill Dragster and Raptor were all down. Seriously? This really was a cluster f**k of a day. I waited 6 months for this?? I also didn't bother with Valravn because 1.5 hours to 4 hours was just too long to wait. Maybe some other day.

We arrived at 4:45pm, no line at parking booth at all, able to park very close to dinosaur. Upon entry noticed that over by Ocean Motion they blocked off the walkway just past it where the basketball shot used to be, Went to Dodgem to try new cars, They are shiny, clean & operated well. They no longer have seat belts that the operators must check, but rather have a bar that you lower down which does not lock. I noticed that it makes loading quicker but some smaller riders or those with penguin arms have a little trouble reaching the steering wheel. At least when holding the wheel your hands no longer get filthy with rust. While on troika I noticed Maxair was down with a maintenance person climbing the ladder to the top of the structure. Gatekeeper line was at the bottom of the stairs, I should have road it but didn't.

At 7:30 or so we walked past Valravn and it was stopped just before the station with maintenance & riders around it, They had a couple of interesting costumed characters by the throne, a king & queen maybe for pictures.

Mine Ride, Gemini, Iron Dragon, all in all a good evening.

for many many years my main issue is... we get in an hour (should be 2 hours for platinum holders and 1 hour for hotel guests) early to ride milli, Maverick, Gatekeeper, valravn and others. do you think cp can you know have them all tested and ready so we can get our short hour of rides in.... yesterday it was 9:30ish when things started running wasting 30 Minutes of precious ride time. just 1 thing to remember... this was preview weekend. offical opening weekend is next weekend.

We got in for early ride times and the line for Valravn was unbelievable, so we went to Maverick, which broke down, then Millennium, which broke down. We finally got our first ride, which was Rougarou, after 10:30 AM. So much for that Platinum Pass benefit.

And I agree about ride testing. More often than not for early ride times, they are not running until well after 9 o'clock. You're lucky to get 1 or maybe 2 rides in before general admission begins, and that's despite how short some lines are.

Rides not being ready at 9:00 was a complaint I had last year. I understand problems can occur from time to time but I don't think they allow enough time to get rides running. One day, I waited at Millennium and Gatekeeper's station while they added a train to the track. That shouldn't be happening unless there was a problem with the train and it just was resolved. I didn't see any maintenance workers at either ride. I did voice my concerns in one of the surveys I received from them.

I arrived at 4pm. We rode Magnum, Valravn, Rougarou, and Millennium Force. Stopped for fries and drinks, and took our time between rides. We were pleased when we left at about 9pm, considering the weather for the day.

I'm curious how there were so many complaints. Or do people really still think a ride is "broken" every time they stop the ride?

I got to the park around 2pm and left around 830pm when a good portion of the rides were closing due to high winds. At about 730pm when Valravn went down and had to do an evac from the brakes the temperature really seemed to drop quickly making it kind of uncomfortable. So my group decided to head out after giving Valravn and hour or so to reopen which it didn't.

Compared to last seasons opening day (and I'm sorry I don't care if they are calling this a "preview weekend" it's opening day) I felt everything was a lot better. Sure some rides were hit or miss but I actually rode quite a bit compared to last seasons.

Food service was better for the first day as well as none of the 3 food stands I visited through out the day were horribly understaffed or under trained. This is where my biggest disappointment of the evening came. The Frontier Inn. Went to try the new tenders and while they were very moist compared to the typical park tender, I felt that there was ZERO flavor in the breading. Very bland and under seasoned. And I assumed from the media reviews that the "variety of sauces" would also be park made recipes from the new executive chef, they were just pre-packaged condiments like BBQ sauce and Ranch. Over all a minor improvement to what is offered elsewhere in the park and personally in my opinion the flavor does not compare to what it replaced, even if Chicfila is a corporate franchise.

Overall, pleasently surprised for the day, went in expecting a cluster f**k like last year and I guess with lower expectations I wasn't put off and really enjoyed my day,

sdavies said:

I waited 6 months for this??

I don't go to amusement parks on opening day, I don't go to stage shows that are in previews, I don't go to restaurants right when they first open their doors, because I know that there's a difference between being ready to open and actually having customers come through the doors. There's always going to be issues that need to be worked out.

Which is why I seriously question the early May opening. There was a time when the beginning of May was used to wrap up the winter maintenance and start training the early seasonal staff. The park didn't open until the weekend prior to Memorial Day. Back in the day there was "CKLW Day" which was a buyout before the park opened for the season. A lot of bugs were worked out during that day, little complaining was heard as a lot of the tickets were either prizes awarded by the station or bought from them at a deep discount. Oh, no cars, everyone came on chartered buses.

Strange, we've had a great weekend at Cedar Point and that is continuing into today. Sure there's bugs to be worked out, ride ops still need to get into their groove etc... But all in all its been fun for sure.

Had to chime in here. The biggest issue I had Saturday wasn't even the 4 hour line for Valrvan (I almost expected that after many coaster openings of years past) but rather the Season Pass/ Platinum processing. Here's my situation. Our group has had the same platinum passes for the last 5 years. Upon trying to enter the park at 9:15AM, and having the passes paid for in full ahead of time, we were denied entry because the main gate worker said we needed our pictures updated!! After seeing the line wrap around the building for Season Pass processing, we weren't too happy about this. I feel as though CP really dropped the ball on this one, with no previous email whatsoever, or we would have handled this the week before being close by in Huron at that time. This could have been avoided.

The food stand workers I've grown accustomed to being slow and ill-prepared at the beginning of the year. It doesn't get better until after Memorial Day when the international workers and college kids get out. Just my observation over the years. The workers at Famous Dave's do get an A+ because they always seem on top of their game. Go there instead if you can or wait until Memorial Day weekend when the shows start.

Nothing but positive remarks from this guy. These past 4 days have been awesome.

Seriously though, it's opening(Preview) weekend.......this should be expected or anticipated. I'm sorry (not sorry) youre experience wasnt beyond stellar, but if you even think or feel that the park was going to be operating at 100%, youve never been to an opening weekend. And if you plan on coming more than twice this year, just avoid the first week......unless scheduling prevents it.

At the very least, take this as a reminder and just avoid opening weekend. And if you choose to come despite that, don't set your expectations so high. I don't mean to sound rude but it's just how these things go. Nothing is perfect and this weekend should prove it.

The only time I've ever processed my season pass on opening day was about 20 years ago..I had been warned about the lines, but thought "how bad can it possibly be"? Needless to say, I found out! Since then, we've always done it the Sat. Before. It's a 150 mile round trip,but we màke a day of it and enjoy the area, especially Margeritaville, Cheeese Haven and The Jolly Roger Seafood Shop. Beats waiting in line outside the gate hearing the screams of people having fun.

My experience was almost the exact opposite. I had a really wonderful weekend and thought all things considering it went pretty well. i will admit I ran into some problems with the food vendors twice, once when I ordered 2 cheese on a stick and got 2 corn dogs instead (but the supervisor fixed this by giving us the cheese on a stick and letting us keep the corndogs so technically a net gain) The other and worst was at the Fry Shack. I tried to do the fry deal for my platinum pass (get a chilli cheese fry get a regular fry free) and the kid looked at me funny and did not even bother to try to give me the deal, then I waited for 20 mins for my fries which was slightly irritating. WITH that in mind though, we are talking about 17-21 yr old kids that are mostly on their first day EVER. You could see the obvious nervousness and fear in their face so I cant complain considering no amount of training can truly prepare you for the madness of 25-30 thousand customers on "opening" weekend. This is the true definition of throwing you to the dogs annnnnd we need to remember they are still not full staffed. Some colleges are still in session and high schoolers obviously have a few weeks left so they were probably at 3/4 staff.

The ride ops we had were fantastic and I personally thought the Valravn crew was hauling some serious butt. The line before the park opened Saturday stretched all the way to cockscrew and within an hour the line had made its way only to the Blue Streak midway. But we gotta remember it was Valravn World Premiere Weekend, of course that ride is going to have a 2 hr plus wait, Im sure some remember the nearly 7 hour wait that Top Thrill had in 03 and those type of waits lasted most of the first season. Hell, Top Thrill and Milli can have 2 hr + waits even now and no one seems to bat an eye much.

Rides being down I have come expect at CP, the winds got very gusty after 4 pm and anyone that has ever walked into CP for more than 5 mins knows that is all it takes for some rides to shut down for an hour or so.

As far as Milli, Rougarou, and Magnum getting stuck on the lift hill. IT HAPPENS...it is the first full operating day of the year, lets be thankful that the safety mechanisms worked instead of at Six Flags St. Louis where the coaster actually derailed. Are delays annoying, yes but 1-2 hr delays are better than 1-2 week closures because something worse happens and injures are involved.

Overall I can totally understand some of the complaints from this weekend, food service was slow and the workers were very confused. Funpix was all over the place (again opening weekend of a program NEVER used before by the park, so bugs must be expected and they will be fixed quickly im sure), and rides going down can be a bummer. If this was the only weekend you were coming to the point then Yes I get being a lil disappointed, but no offense, but dont plan on going opening weekend if you dont like/cant handle delays and dont like some glitches especially if its your ONE trip of the year.

If your a pass holder, then seriously.....you should know what to expect and this is likely just one of several visits, your next trip will be 20x smoother. Just remember how quickly we forget the true disaster that was last seasons opening weekend. This weekend we only had Mean Streak not operating the entire day everything else was up and running with Maverick and TTD being down probably the most (shockers lol). Last year like half the park was non operational and Blue Streak had like a 30-40 min wait,so all things considering and the fact it was an opening for a HUGE new coaster. I thought it went fantastic and I can not wait to come back next weekend for the "real" opening day.

side note: Im not saying anyone that has complained is wrong and shouldnt complain, just giving my POV and do understand folks being a lil upset about some things.

A bad day at Cedar Point is still better than a great day at work.....which is were I was (and I have a pretty kick ass job). So no sympathy from me.

JUnderhill said:

Strange, we've had a great weekend at Cedar Point and that is continuing into today. Sure there's bugs to be worked out, ride ops still need to get into their groove etc... But all in all its been fun for sure.

That's because some people, like yourself, can somehow muster the magical power of a positive perspective amidst all the should-be-expected bumps in the road that occur every year at the park when it first opens.

Heck, some of my fondest memories at CP are from days (regardless of the time of season) when normal operations got taken out to the proverbial woodshed. Could things go more smoothly? Of course. I think Noggin's analogy to a stage show on opening night is about as close as it gets.

I was sitting in a three-hour graduation (so I was at work) listening to the names of 500 undergrads being read one at a time in a stifling polyester-blend robe in a hot gym. I would much rather have had the opportunity to have paid for the privilege to be walking down the midway of my favorite place on earth, but that's just me.

If you had a bad day at Cedar Point, you let yourself have a bad day at Cedar Point.

In a perfect world, every operating day from 10am Opening Day thru 8pm Closing Day would be flawless, have perfect weather, and have hearty crowds that somehow resulted in minimal wait times and no causeway traffic.

That isn't reality, unfortunately.

Despite everyone's insistence that it was not a preview weekend, it actually was. The park has declared next Friday as the official Opening Day. That said, it seems yesterday went much smoother than last year's official opening day. While everything should be A-OK for a once in a lifetime paying guest to visit on any given operating day, that's just not necessarily the reality of life. Crews and employees need training. Rides need to work out spring kinks. Plus, think of how many employees haven't even on boarded yet because they are still in school for another few weeks. They are hardly at full staff this weekend.

Are there instances where the park drops the ball and gives a horrible guest experience? Absolutely. Was this weekend technically a "preview" weekend? YES. Did they do better than last Opening Day? Absolutely.

Yes, Mean Streak wasn't ready. We don't know why, but stuff like that happens. Lots of downtimes yesterday. Some seemed related to weather and wind, others mechanical issues. It's not like the place was Six Flags Ohio circa 2000 where half the coasters were closed "just because."

If you are looking for a "perfect" experience, you should know better and go in early June when all of the offerings are up, glitches have been worked through, and employees are more comfortable. But after a long winter cooped up in Ohio, especially for passholders and folks on this site who may visit a dozen times a season, just go enjoy being outside in one of our favorite places.

Exactly right. I had, and am still having a great weekend. Wanted to ride MaXair but it was broken, no big deal, choose one of the other 70 plus rides at the park. Had a nice assortment of rides, enjoyed walking the park and had some nice drinks with friends at both TGIFridays and Surf Lounge. Excellent bartenders at both places. Had the pleasure of running into Mr. Yukon Jack from Pointbuzz at the Surf Lounge Friday night. Beautiful day today.

In the words of one of my friends, who probably heard it from someone else, "don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things".

Except for the string of breakdowns in the evening (involving Valravn, GK, Raptor, Maverick, Magnum, TTD, and Pipe Scream according to the app), most of the rides were running (MaxAir and Mean Streak being the main exceptions that I saw.) Somebody claimed there was a power issue that caused many rides to shut down, but during the last 2 hours of the day most of them came back up one by one.

They seemed more prepared than last year, where Wicked Twister didn't even have the train on the track by opening day and MF was late with getting all 3 trains certified.

If I'm to expect to not have the full park available to experience then why should said park expect people to pay the same price as any other day? The problem isn't the issues (despite the fact that until 10 years ago opening day issues were minor), its the fact that the park isn't communicating to people that they should temper their expectations for the day. The general public does not understand the subtext behind 'preview weekend', especially when immediately following the phrase is 'ALL RIDES OPEN' in big bold lettering.