What food items would you like to see added to the parks menu?

Cedar Point needs to add a side dish in the Frontier Inn and Midway Market. They need to add a small cup of Blueberries. I would buy that every visit!

Blueberries. YES. I have been known to absolutely destroy any container of blueberries that finds its way into the fridge- a cup of blueberries to snack on or have with lunch sounds fantastic. (Perhaps an addition to that nifty little fruit stand they have on the Trail. I LOVE that place.)

Also- more fried cheese. Better fried cheese. A Variety of fried cheese! Swiss, cheddar, pepperjack, gouda maybe. Mmmmm. Fried cheese. :Homer Simpson drool noise:

Sollybeast said:
Blueberries. YES. I have been known to absolutely destroy any container of blueberries that finds its way into the fridge- a cup of blueberries to snack on or have with lunch sounds fantastic. :

My friends know me as a Blueberry maniac! Lol

I know it might be rehashing what I said earlier, but having a nut allergy at the park sucks sometimes. I really can't figure out why they still use peanut oil at so many locations. It cuts down on options so much. I will never have the fresh cut fries unless they change the fry oil. Yes I eat in the park, but when you come from out of town, you budget for that.

Peanut oil gives a nice flavor to the fries and probably the number of people with nut allergies are small enough so sales are not impacted.

Peanut oil is also a healthier frying oil to use, especially relative to cost. That on top of the flavor as Pete mentioned are the reasons they use it. I like peanut oil used in frying and am glad the park uses it.

JUnderhill said:

I would have liked to see some side dishes other than tater tots and fries as well.

I had the same thought. I was excited that I got my prediction and wish of hand-breaded, fresh chicken tenders like the ones at KI, but why doesn't Cedar Point have a better variety of sides than fried potatoes (and usually awful, frozen, generic ones at that)?

There are so many side options that should be simple to do around the park....mac & cheese, coleslaw, potato salad, baked beans, green bean casserole, corn bread, etc..

But....it's those generic fries with just about everything. Believe it or not, the pizza meal at most Cedar Fair parks includes a slice of a pizza and a side of fries... Disgusting.

Well, Tony's blog post on the list of items did say "and more". I'd like to see some baked beans and potato salad myself.

Ffej said:

JUnderhill said:

I would have liked to see some side dishes other than tater tots and fries as well.

I had the same thought. I was excited that I got my prediction and wish of hand-breaded, fresh chicken tenders like the ones at KI, but why doesn't Cedar Point have a better variety of sides than fried potatoes (and usually awful, frozen, generic ones at that)?

There are so many side options that should be simple to do around the park....mac & cheese, coleslaw, potato salad, baked beans, green bean casserole, corn bread, etc..

But....it's those generic fries with just about everything. Believe it or not, the pizza meal at most Cedar Fair parks includes a slice of a pizza and a side of fries... Disgusting.

There is no way that you can prepare any of these side dishes at the counter service locations with the space and culinary talent available on the spot.

To be fresh and tasty, every single one of your suggested side options would need to be prepared on a daily basis in a central kitchen / commissary with all of the ensuing logistical problems, and would be subject to either huge amounts of waste each day or stock-outs at the point of sale.

You want the multinational crew serving burgers under the Sky Lift to properly store and ensure the food safety of refrigerated side dishes in a poorly temperature controlled environment? Do you want hours-old macaroni and cheese, baked beans, or green bean casserole? How do you keep them at serving temperature without reducing their quality? How about luke-warm potato salad and cole slaw? They can do the fruit cups because they are prepackaged.

Fried foods are standard because you can cook them on the spot and they are freshly made.

I think if KFC can do sides, so can CP. Prepared sides kept in a temperature controlled environment is what they do at Midway Market and I have no qualms about food safety there. They can do the same at Frontier Inn.

^^There is a way to prepare those side dishes at amusement parks, because the ones I listed were pulled from other parks I've visited. And we're not talking Disney. The BBQ stand at Six Flags Magic Mountain had 6+ meal side options alone, including baked beans, mashed potatoes with gravy, corn on the cob, coleslaw, cornbread, and BBQ kettle chips.

All of the sides I tried were great for an amusement park, and none should have required a culinary expert to make. I'd imagine most of those sides came pre-packaged and were simply dumped from a container into a warmer / chiller, and it worked just fine. I wasn't expecting sides made from scratch at Six Flags.

I should also note that Six Flags had an entire stand devoted to vegetarian options, which was a huge relief for my friend. Veggie meatball subs, veggie chicken fingers, black bean burgers, wraps, and salads.

Then, I went to Knott's (this was two weeks ago). The food was a glaring weakness after visiting Magic Mountain (Mrs. Knott's Chicken was closed). It was basically Cedar Point dining plan 1.0 food. I got one of those same forgettable burgers with the filler fries. Then I got a slice of pizza, which also came with the same fries. I asked the employee if I could have anything else, as fries with a slice of pizza sounded so unappetizing. She offered a bag of Lay's with my slice of pizza, which didn't sound any better. She then found a bag of whole apples and gave me one, which at least didn't sound nauseating.

Anyway, I know Cedar Fair / Cedar Point is working on improving their food, and I have confidence that it will get better. But, I'd love to see Ouimet pay $16.99 out of his wallet and receive a meal consisting of one slice of pizza with fries (and a drink). I'd think that would be a wake-up call to roll out some changes even faster.

Give me the option of Mac n cheese, coleslaw, potatoe wedges, corn, baked beans, potatoe salad, and macaroni salad. I'll be a very happy camper haha

Potato salad, mac salad, coleslaw, pasta salad, etc should all be easy enough. Have them made & pre-portioned at a central location and then kept in a refrigerator at the different food stands in the park. I would even set production pars to intentionally run out each day late evening. If one stand runs out and another has extra, how hard is it to transfer product between stands? Or I bet there's a food service company out there somewhere that already offers them pre-portioned in single serving containers.

...how about fried mac n' cheese bites?

Lol, I'd get some of those for sure.

Now where's that guy who was asking for healthy stuff...

I was wondering if there is any good burger places in the park? There is a place here in North Canton called Smoke The Burger Joint and their burgers are to die for. Their BBQ burger was incredible! I would like to see someplace in the park that makes more than just basic burgers with ketchup, mustard and pickles.

And on another note, I would like to see Frontier Inn sell some Mac & Cheese, Mashed Potatoes and cole slaw as side dishes. I'm sure I'll eat there at least once in 2016.

^ I'm betting we go there at least three times!

I think the burgers at Famous Dave's are pretty good, I know its not "inside" the park but it's right outside the gate. They have more gourmet style burgers than the generic food stands in the park. The one I usually get has bacon, swiss cheese, one of their spicy sauces, and pieces of brisket in the hamburger meat, I think its around $10.

Haven't read the full thread, so forgive me if this has been mentioned before. Other Cedar Fair parks carry these items. It seems to be a regional thing but certainly not out of the realm that CP can serve them as well. Barq's Red Cream Soda and Rita's Italian Ice.

I know this means nothing, but Tony tweeted about a Melt going to CP or would like to and Melt responded back. That would be a perfect restaurant to go into the park. I like the one new one that just opened in Fairlawn.