Went on 8/30/2020 - some thoughts

Hi all,

So I haven't been to CP all year, but the weather was gorgeous yesterday so I thought, what the heck! And made the 1-hour trip to Sandusky.

I showed up about 1:15 p.m., so getting in was a breeze - drove straight up to the gate, walked easily through the health screening tent, and likewise no line at the front turnstile.

On a crowd scale of 1 to 10 it was about a 5 - busy but not crowded.

A few thoughts:

I was wearing a paper mask and had no problems until I'd been there a few hours. It was sunny and warm and by the time I was walking back through Frontier Trail the inside of the mask was damp and uncomfortable. My advice: take a bunch of masks so you can get rid of the ones you've sweated into.

I didn't ride any rides, and a good thing too because it looked like the line for every ride was enormous. Even the train had a huge line, because they were only running one train and it seemed like they only let about 30 people on at a time. I was at the end of the line and after figuring it would be an hour before I boarded, I skipped it and walked.

Mask compliance at the front of the park was 100% - because there are numerous security guards watching you. I noticed that toward the back of the park, specifically on Frontier Trail, there were lots of masks pulled down and hanging off one ear. Moral of the story: When nobody's looking, a lot of people are taking their masks off.

A lot of the food places were closed, resulting in very long lines at the ones that were open. Every year CP has a problem with this, and this year is no different.

When you leave the park, be aware that the way they have you exit makes it impossible to stop by the restrooms just outside the entrance gate without having to walk all the way around and go through the health screening tent again. The health screening tent contains a VERY LONG maze of lane dividers that you have to walk through, so even if nobody's there it takes you a good five minutes to navigate through the tent.

The way the park solved the social distancing problem on the Wave Swinger was to remove about 2/3 of the swings. The ride currently looks like a plucked porcupine.

The deeper you go into the park, the less people seem to care about wearing masks and social distancing. I sensed a definite attitude of "Nobody's watching, so let's do what we want." Walking up the main street in Frontier town I saw a LOT of families sitting down with their masks off or pulled down, not eating or drinking but just hanging out. Nobody in charge seemed to notice, or if they did, they didn't care.

I poked my head into the French pastry place but there was a long line and the donuts were $7. Has anybody eaten there? I thought that was pretty pricey for a donut!

If the families hanging out without masks were sitting away from everyone I don't really see it as an issue. The reason for the rule (people not breathing on strangers) is more important than the rule itself. If someone has their mask off while they sit off to the side it really does not bother me. I've had to do it myself in the front of the park because I was overheating and the mask free zone up there is in the sun with no shade. I just found a shady corner away from everyone.

Out of curiosity, any positive thoughts?

Glad to hear the weather was nice...

We were at the park also on Sunday. We saw very few people without a face mask. I'd say less than twenty. We ate at the Backbeat BBQ, a little after five, and there was no line at all. We walked right up and were served. We even found a table in the shade. The longest line was to use our drink plan. If it took you five minutes to walk through the temperature tent, you are a very slow walker. If anyone complains about stands or attractions being closed, because of lack of help, then they should apply for a job. CP is always hiring and they have housing on site. We had a very relaxing and enjoyable day and are looking forward to next weekend.

Plenty of restroom opportunities near the exit before leaving the park. Next to Raptor Photo, next to Ocean Motion. Try to plan ahead if possible, but sometimes ya gotta go when ya gotta go. For example, we were waiting in a very long SkyHawk line, were about one group away from loading when the little boy in front of us had his mommy pull him out of the line. She turned and said "Nature called".

Kevinj said:

Out of curiosity, any positive thoughts?

Glad to hear the weather was nice...

LOL, sorry, I guess I was a little light on the good stuff. The weather WAS great, though, that was the main reason I went. I really just wanted to take a walk around the park and enjoy the sunshine. The park was very clean, all of the employees were helpful and courteous, and the flowers and greenery was all kept in tip-top shape. :-)