Wait Time in May

I am going to Cedar Point May 24th (which is a monday) through the 26th (which is a wednesday). I know that schools wont be out yet when I go and no, the school science day or what ever isnt that week (i already checked). Ok, so how long did you wait to ride TTD during week days during may? I wouldnt think it would be that long since everyone is at work or at school. Also, how long would the wait be for other coasters in the park? Is everything else pretty much a walk on?

How would anyone know what the wait times will be for anything? Last year was so unusual, it couldn't even give you the slightest idea of how long you might wait this year. Will Dragster be as popular this year as last year? Will the ride's capacity improve? Will it rain the day you're there?

Honestly, even if you did know, would it stop you from going? In three days, you'll be able to ride everything you want. If I could accurately predict that Magnum will be a 15 minute wait, a 30 minute wait, a 60 minute wait, or a walk-on ... what difference would it make?

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Walt Schmidt
Virtual Midway
*** This post was edited by Gemini 3/25/2004 4:02:45 PM ***

Don't listen to Walt. I happen to know that the wait time during those days will almost certainly exceed four hours, becuase all the people who couldn't ride it last year are coming back to do so again, and they all have strangely picked that week.

So, my best advice is to stay away from the park entirely.

Actually, I hear that July 4th will be a great day for getting walk-ons on Dragster. If you can't make that, July 17th is probably your second-best bet.
*** This post was edited by Brian Noble 3/25/2004 4:18:52 PM ***

Four hours?!? Are you kidding me?!? I dont think you have the slightest idea what you are talking about. I went on a Saturday in July last year and waited three hours, and you are trying to tell me that I am going to wait four hours when everyone is in school, it is in the middle of the week, it is still pretty cold and how could you know that everyone who diddnt ride it last year is coming that week to ride it?!?

In my original question I was wanting to compare that time from last year to this year and what it will possibly be like.
*** This post was edited by CP 14 3/25/2004 6:16:54 PM ***

Sounds like you already have your own idea of how long the wait will be. If you don't know, how do you know he's wrong? I heard Brian has used a time machine to take a peek. I'd say he's pretty dead on. If you want to compare this year to last year, you probably should wait until this year happens.

Where is Duane with his top secret formula, anyway?

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Walt Schmidt
Virtual Midway

*** This post was edited by Gemini 3/25/2004 6:19:31 PM ***

CP, Brian was being a wise guy, and Walt actually hit the nail on the head (how can any of us predict wait times). The days you picked IMO assure minimal wait times, compared to a weekend, but you never know what groups will be at the point that day. Furthermore, dont forget the weather - if there are high winds, the ride may not be open at all.

Bottom line: your dates make sense to make the most out of a CP trip.

Tom

Yeah, you really never know. It will probably not have as long a wait as a weekend, but I've seen some weekdays even busier than weekends.

On May 1st, Sandusky has it's annual "Seagull Day". It is something like what happens Feb. 2nd in Punxsutawney, PA with a groundhog, but this time the seagull will determine the attendance/weather/wait times, and maintenance issues for CP for the coming year. Be sure to check out the Sandusky Register May 2nd for the results!

I do have to apologize though, I keep forgetting the seagull's name.

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Beer and golf Thursday thru Monday, Cedar Point & beer, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Between 0 and 1440 minutes.

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Eddy the retard is awesome.

Like fish in a barrel!

Lets see, the longest I had to wait for dragster last season was two and a half hours..that includes the nice 45 + minute delay for 'mechanical reasons'. Dragster will be running at a near top capacity (crosses fingers) this season. But as everyone else has said, you can't predict wait times at anytime during the season. It could be a really nice day out out a crappy week and a ton of people show up at the park. I came back from school last october on my fall break to go to the park and it was the busiest it was all season. I believe that was Oct. 11. You just never know. Just realize that you will have to wait to ride most of the coasters, but its not like there will be an hour wait on magnum or a 3 hour wait on MF. But don't forget the park closes at 8 in may so your day is shorter then if you were to come in june or july.

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Monster/W.W. Crew '04
Monster/W.W. Crew '03

CP_14

I've been going to Cedar Point for more years than you've been walking this earth. Heck, I've got kids who have been going longer. I remember a guy named Boeckling (this goes a ways back) coming up to the Point of Cedars, as it was called in those days, and buying the patch of land. He turned to me that day and said, "DB" (that's what I went by in those days) "DB", he said "I'm going to turn this here peninsula into an amusement park with thrill rides, roller coasters, and cotton candy."

Well, I didn't know much about thrill rides and roller coasters, but I did know that some feller down Nashville way invented some device earlier that year that heated sugar in a spinning bowl that had little ol' holes in it. Back then, it was called "Fairy Floss", which you'll still find on the Point every Father's Day. But I digress.

Looking over the history of the Point's attendance in the month of May -- and paying particular attention to the Monday before Memorial Day -- we see what appears to be random attendance. BUT... it only appears to be random to the untrained observer. Let's examine some mitigating circumstances.

May 19, 2003 - This, of course, was the opening year of Top Thrill Dragster, so the attendance of 42,366 (don't ask. I just know) was higher than any other May 19 in the history of the park. Lines that day were 2½ hours for TTD (look it up), but that was only because of the number of people in line ahead of you.

May 20, 2002 - The moon was waxing (or was it waning? I can never remember which is which) but at any rate, it was going from half to full. During this phase of the moon, crowds are always lighter. As fate would have it, I was at Cedar Point that day. As I recall, the lines were almost non-existent. I attribute that to the fact that we were waiting on the spot that is now TTD, but waiting for something called "Dodgem". It sure was a popular ride. So much so that there was another one over on the other side of the park. Despite that, waits were never more than 45-50 minutes.

May 21, 2001 - Rain. All day. Millennium Force was making its debut and we were getting pelted with cold raindrops at 93MPH. Despite that, the attendance figure was still in the high 30's. Unfortunately, so was the temperature that night. On the bright side, I met up with a guy named Pete. Pete had a boat and some sort of rotgut that tasted like the moonshine that we used to brew back in the hills of Fayette County in Pennsylvania. I slept 'til Thursday. Darn near missed my one day of work.

I could go on, but I'm not going to because this is too long already. I guess the point that I'm trying to make here is that there are several factors at work. Weather, new rides, waxing moons, even the people ahead of you in line. Taking all this into consideration for May 24, 2004 - you will wait in line 1:27 for Top Thrill Dragster. I promise. All you have to do is get into the line at precisely the right time and this will happen. Guaranteed. CP_14 - listen to me. Someone is going to wait exactly 1:27 for TTD that day. I promise. Why not you?

And in conclusion, some will ridicule you for asking a question like this. They will tell you that it is impossible to predict attendance or lines. Ignore those people. I've been on this board since almost the beginning (quick - what is rollercoaster.nu?) and I can honestly say that of the thousands of questions that have been asked over the years, yours is most certainly one of them. I mean that.

Later,
DB

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Duane Cahill
http://www.RavensSuck.com
The only thing other than CP that Steelers and Browns fans agree on

Hahahahaha. For all of the Duanelessness the past few months, that was worth waiting for.

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Jeff - Webmaster - GTTP - My Blog
Blogs, photo albums - CampusFish
What time does the water show start?

By the attendance numbers, opening day generally isn't ridiculously busy. I'm sure more of the kinks have been worked out on the ride, so I doubt the wait will be terrible. I'm guessing maybe an hour and a half or so, quite possibly quicker.
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'02, '03 Foods Area Sup (area 3)
'04 Head Area Sup?

Duane's comment was certainly enough to pull me out of dormancy. It goes on my list as one of the most thought provoking and entertaining posts to date...

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Current Coaster Count: 101

DB, there were NOT 42,000 people in the park opening day. 42,000 people means you're waiting for MF for a good 3 hours at all times and that the midways are absolutely packed. Maybe you got your hands on a cumulative, but attendance numbers did not approach anywhere near the 40s in May.

Edit:

I agree with the rest of your post and from my experience there's a lot of truth in what you say, but your numbers are very skewed.

Edit2: Stress "cumulative," but there were not 42000 people in that park all at the same time.
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'02, '03 Foods Area Sup (area 3)
'04 Head Area Sup?
*** This post was edited by arearew 3/26/2004 2:42:17 PM ***
*** This post was edited by arearew 3/26/2004 2:54:10 PM ***

I believe Duane.

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Walt Schmidt
Virtual Midway

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there were NOT 42,000 people in the park opening day

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*sigh*

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June 11th, 2001 - Gemini 100
VertiGo Rides - 82

I'm not going to argue it, I had actual first hand access to those numbers. Everything else that's been said here I fully agree with, I was just trying to correct something. Even if I didn't have those numbers, I could tell you what our highest attendance was with a ballpark figure, and opening day was really not that busy. You don't have to believe me if you don't want to, I was just contributing.
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'02, '03 Foods Area Sup (area 3)
'04 Head Area Sup?

Obviously you're not getting the joke.

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Jeff - Webmaster - GTTP - My Blog
Blogs, photo albums - CampusFish
What time does the water show start?