Season Pass Holder Appreciation Weekend

I will be bringing the wife and child up for this on Friday and Saturday staying at The Breakers. Who else is going?

This will be our first visit to the point with our new Platinum Passes. We purchased them from the CP website but processed them at KI. Will we have an issue using them for the first time at the Beach Entrance?

We intend to get to the causeway by 8:30, park in the Breakers lot and proceed to gatekeeper as soon as the gates open for ERT. Is that still a viable plan? Does the Gatekeeper line open right at 9am for early riding?

How late will the park be open on Friday Night? I realize it closes for the public at 10pm, but I am unclear how late it will stay open for Season Ticket holders.

45Wheelgun said:
Who else is going?

Me. :) Though we had our visit planned weeks ago. Appreciation Weekend ended up being a nice surprise (or not, depending on how it affects crowd levels).

Will we have an issue using them for the first time at the Beach Entrance?

Probably not, but you may want to use the main gate just in case, so you'll be closer to Guest Services.

Does the Gatekeeper line open right at 9am for early riding?

That's their goal, though weather and mechanical issues can arise.

How late will the park be open on Friday Night?

The park closes at 10:00PM. After a short time, they'll reopen the line for passholders, and stay open for 1 hour.

Will they scan our passes prior to 9am and allow us to stand near the entrance so we can insure they work prior to 9am?

The GateKeeper line forms toward the main gate. The longer the wait from the beach gate (whether it's slow processing or late opening), the greater the distance between you and the end of the line. Would be interesting to hear actual experiences from guests using that entrance.

Thanks Walt. I was thinking the beach gate would be closer to Gatekeeper helping us to get more towards the front of the line. Sounds like it will be better for us to use the main gate.

Anyone here enter from the beach gate for early entry yet?

I've used the beach gate in past seasons and its been my experience that they open promptly. I think if you make it early enough to be close to the front of the line at the gate, the beach gate works well for Gatekeeper. You should be able to get to the ride while the queue is still being filled so there should not be a line down the midway yet.

Also, the beach gate never seems to have that big of a crowd. Most guests seem to head to the Challenge Park gate, the beach gate seems to mostly get guests from only Breakers East. That may change this year because of Gatekeeper, but Maverick is still a big draw so maybe it won't be a drastic change.

We usually use the Soak City entrance but decided to use the beach gate on Saturday. The line was pretty long and they did not move people through as quickly as the Soak City entrance just because its smaller. The staff opened it on time and moved people through as quickly as they could. If people are wanting to get to Gatekeeper quickly, I would suggest the main gate. The beach gate will get backed up because it doesn't have the capacity to move people through quickly.

Keep in mind that the drive to the Breakers may take 10 or more minutes- between getting through the booth, stop signs, and checking your name off at the Breakers parking lot. It seems to take forever to get there when you are so close! If you do park there- park towards the back at the Convention Center so you can walk right through that hotel entrance and onto the boardwalk towards the beach entrance.

We'll be there this weekend too-it's our usual weekend to go!

Bumping up since this starts tomorrow! Have a great weekend!
We'll be there since this is a family tradition to go this weekend in May- I'll be the pregnant mom watching her 4 yr old ride with my husband - taking tons of pictures! But my parents and brother are getting a pass- especially since they will have the option of the extra ride time this weekend and planning to go to other parks this summer.

Saturday is looking like a very bad day weather-wise. Going off of past years, does anybody have any clue how many people to expect?

Saturday doesn't look bad to me. Low wind speed, 30% chance of rain ("few showers", says The Weather Channel).

Beach Gate worked out well for us on Saturday.

On Friday we hit the parking lot by 8:10. Based on our discussion here we went to the main gate, got our VIP jackets and stood first in line at the gate. After the National Anthem the race was on. As one of the first into the park I was surprised to see quite a line at gatekeeper when we got there. All coming from the Beach Gate. The line went north past Wicked Twister towards the beach gate. As more people arrived from the front gate it got longer. They didn't let us into the ride until almost 9:30, first car left the station at 9:40. We managed several rides before the 10am folks arrived. At that point the line went down the MaxAir midway towards the gate.

On Saturday we entered via the Beach Gate. At 8:50 the line was past the first Breakers pool. They opened the gate at 8:50 and let us gather behind a chain just inside the park. As soon the final word of the Star Spangled Banner was sung, the chain dropped and we were off to the races. The line was already to Wicked Twister when we saw the first runners arrive from the main gate.

As a side note, I was very impressed with the crowd at the main gate on Friday. Complete silence during the National Anthem (except for those singing along) with 100% of the crowd facing the flag. The gates had gone up behind them and absolutely no one moved towards the park. It was very respectful. At the end there was a round of applause and then everyone turned and headed to the park. A very class act that made me proud to be an American. The crowd at the Resort Gate on Saturday kept talking and basically ignored the Anthem. I was disappointed.

I was at the main gate for the start of early entry on Friday as well and was also noticed your observations. I think the gigantic flag in the new front gate area has something to do with it in terms of having a focal point for the National Anthem that may not have been as obvious in previous years.