What Makes Cedar Point the Best

If you haven't checked out the following places in Sandusky, it's worth a visit. Zinc, Crush Wine Bar and Small City Tap room in downtown are all nice places for a nice dinner and/or some beer and wine. The Dockside Cafe in the public marina on West Shoreline Drive is a great place to sit on the waterfront patio for a drink and some food and watch the activity on Sandusky Bay, especially at sunset.

Bret said:

As my son once said, "The smell of sunscreen and roller coaster grease!"

How true. Not to totally nerd out, but smell is the sense most strongly tied to our memory.

To this day, whenever I am near a railroad...on a run, walking within a close proximity, etc...I am always instantly transported back to being a 7-year-old walking the midways at Cedar Point. I'm not exactly sure what it is I am smelling near the tracks but I'm sure you all know that "railroad" smell I am talking about.

What everyone else said, and for myself personally it's a lifetime of memories that continue to be created with my own kids. Like all of us, the park is constantly changing, and this consistent state of growth is another aspect that makes Cedar Point what it is. There's no place quite like it.

The question should be-"What DOESN'T make CP the best?"-my answer would be NOTHING. Like many others-anticipation 1st, then sight & sound! Move into pure joy/excitement as you park or drive to a specific resort area on Perimiter Rd. & seeing the 'outside the fence' beauty of the park! Get me in the gate PLEASE! Satisfaction & feelings of accomplishment set in-you made it! The smells, sounds & unique variety of guests greet you with amazement & happiness! I get that feeling EVERY day when I drive home to my family AND to CP! It does feel like a 2nd home to us as we have the opportunity to frequent quite often (from Akron), and wouldn't have it any other way!

I know without a doubt that Cedar Point is currently the world's best theme park, but I'm interested to hear from you guys - what would make a perfect theme park? If you could change one thing about Cedar Point, what would it be? If you had unlimited money and could build your own theme park, what would you do differently?

For me, I think that if I were to build a theme park, I would use more extensive theming and a collection of only five-star coasters. Maybe a bit more landscaping, like at Busch Gardens.

Edit: As Sollybeast pointed out, a five-star coaster is all relative. If I made my own theme park, I would make the following changes to their coaster collection:

• Put in a small GCI coaster like Thunderhead at Dollywood instead of Blue Streak
• Put in a themed coaster like Verbolten and take out Cedar Creek Mine Ride
• Replace Corkscrew with a B&M looper like Kumba at BGT
• Put in a racing RMC like Twisted Colossus instead of Gemini
• Replace Iron Dragon with a small Vekoma suspended coaster
• Replace Magnum XL-200 with a B&M Hyper
• Replace Mean Streak with an Intamin prefab like El Toro at SFGAd
• Replace Raptor with a newer invert like Banshee
• Take out Wicked Twister
• Build an extensively themed dark ride

And then, you'd have a pretty perfect theme park.

Well, five-star is subjective, isn't it? Every ride will have its fans- even Mean Streak has its collection of die-hards who'll tell you how great it is till the bovines get back to pasture.

I do agree with you on theming, though. If there's one thing I would change about CP it'd be to give it more of a department dedicated to the upkeep and maintenance of theming. Does anyone remember what Disaster Transport was like the first season it was open? It was SO COOL. Imagine if it could've been kept that way up till the very end.

I would love to have a coaster like Verbolten at CP, but with the way things are currently, I'd give it two seasons before the inner portion of the ride started to fart out. Tops.

So many things...

One of my favorites though, is that Cedar Point spans generations. My grandparents took my mom when she was young, she took my sister and I, and this summer my nephew will take his first trip to the point. Three generations will be going this time, and I love that everyone will have fun.

I also love seeing the rides as you first drive up to the park. That the weather could range from crazy hot to freezing cold. Indulging in park food, yum yum. Halloweekends!! And of course, the lineup of coasters.

Don't forget, there's also some of the best people-watching available! I love watching and listening to people while in line, you see just about every type of person enjoying the same place!

Pulling into Cedar Point on a Friday afternoon with the wife, dog, and my Fifth-Wheel camper. Grilling burgers outside for dinner, and then off to the park for the evening of nonstop coasters. Picking up a nut-covered caramel apple at Sweet Spot, walking back to the campground via the beach boardwalk. Excitement all along the beach, the pools, and the new fire pits. Finally pulling out the folding chairs, a beer, and watching the park and the parking lot close down for the evening from the campsite. And right back up in the morning to do it over again Saturday! There is nothing like camping onsite with the park in view. This to me, is what makes Cedar Point the best!

Theme Park Press said:

I know without a doubt that Cedar Point is currently the world's best theme park...

CP is actually a pretty crappy theme park, seeing as how there's very little theme going on outside of FT. But it is a pretty good amusement park.

With the exçeption of the Frontier Trail and Frontier Town, I get rid of all theming and let them do what they do so well, which is be a great amusement park. Oh- and improve the food.

One of the greatest things about CP is the location. Surrounded by water on a peninsula, it gives a great feeling of escaping the everyday world because the water insulates the park from all the mundane things that grind on us in everyday life.

And no, Cedar Point is not a theme park in the modern sense. But it is a classic Lake Erie summer resort, modernized of course. So that could be it's theme, but better than any artificial theme because it is not contrived, it is real. The Europeans like to say they are on holiday when on vacation, and that is what Cedar Point gives, a strong feeling of holiday. It is very unique in it's history, beachfront, resort hotels and atmosphere. There is really nothing else like it.

Heehee. Cedar Fair should pay us for this kind of endorsement. XP

Hey, Meanstreak, you still on the fence? We can really keep going on like this- it really is THAT great of an experience. But no matter what we say, no matter how glowingly we talk about it, it's gonna pale in comparison to doing it.

Come on up. We've got Intamins and fried cheese.

I'm here Sollybeast, and I have been reading all of the replies and there are some really traffic stories about Cedar Point and it does make me want to go. I like what you said about Cedar Point being an experience, I have only been to Six Flags Magic Mountain, Over Georgia and Great Adventure as far as theme parks go, so I hope that I can make it out to Cedar Point someday if not this summer then maybe next summer or the following summer however I definitely see a trip to Cedar Point in my future I have been wanting to visit this place for a long time, I have heard and read a lot about this place and reading some of the stories on here gets me that much more excited. So hopefully I will get to come someday!!!

Theme Park Press said:

• Replace Magnum XL-200 with a B&M Hyper

That's crazy talk!

Although I grew up going to Cedar Point and they are home to some of my favorite rides, I don't know if I would automatically call them "the best." Something being "the best" is extremely subjective, and what one person considers the best another will not. Making a definitive and strong statement about how Cedar Point is "the world's greatest theme park" is kind of silly to do, not only because of personal preference, but because parks grow and change from year to year. I think the overall Cedar Point guest experience has grown by leaps and bounds in the last five years, and the park has proven that shiny new rides are great, but an overall positive guest experience is better. That said, I can think of some places that don't necessarily offer the same in quantity, but offer a heck of a quality experience that is on par or better than Cedar Point.

I also wouldn't make any of those crazy changes that have been suggested, because everything that is there is what makes the park the park. I don't want a new Banshee style B&M inverted coaster, I want Raptor. I don't want a themed speed coaster, I want Mine Ride (my knees, on the other hand, may tell a different story.) Not every ride is perfect, but it's the collection that makes the park unique and what it is. Older rides like Mine Ride and Gemini and Magnum combined with the newer rides make the place fun, updated, and nostalgic all at the same time. No park will ever be a perfect park, and that is part of the charm.

Most parks, you turn off the expressway or road, find a parking spot and walk to the entrance.

There are two parks that have just spectacular "approaches". Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. Whether you're arriving by launch or by monorail, watching the entrance to the park grow ever closer is exciting.

And of course, Cedar Point. That narrow strip of road carrying you to that skyline. It's like the Emerald City at the end of the yellow brick road.

And I completely agree about memories. Such memories I have: how excited I was the year I was finally tall enough to ride Jumbo Jet. The day a torrential downpour hit and my friends and I were huddled on a bench under an awning (and Kathe refused to move as where she was sitting was dry). My visit in 2012 with my parents, the very last time I would be able to enjoy the park with them due to their age and health.

It is a special place.

Cartwright said:

I also wouldn't make any of those crazy changes that have been suggested, because everything that is there is what makes the park the park. I don't want a new Banshee style B&M inverted coaster, I want Raptor. I don't want a themed speed coaster, I want Mine Ride. Not every ride is perfect, but it's the collection that makes the park unique and what it is.

Agreed. I definitely wouldn't want Cedar Point to make those changes, but I said I would do those rides differently if I made an amusement park. I was trying to make the point that Cedar Point isn't quite perfect.

For me growing up Cedar Point was my Disneyland. It was like Christmas day in the summer. We only got to go once a year, so it was the best day of the summer! Coming across the causeway and seeing the skyline, just pumped you up even more. I have been going to Cedar Point since the early 70's. Watching the park transform into what it is now has been amazing. The sights and smells are always my favorite part of park. The rides are great but that is only part of what makes it the best.

Historical footnote: back in the 50s, after their plan to tear down the resort and build 1,000 houses was met with massive pushback from the public and state government, Roose and Legros announced they would instead make the park the "Disneyland of the Midwest."

Kevinj said:

To this day, whenever I am near a railroad...on a run, walking within a close proximity, etc...I am always instantly transported back to being a 7-year-old walking the midways at Cedar Point. I'm not exactly sure what it is I am smelling near the tracks but I'm sure you all know that "railroad" smell I am talking about.

Likely the smell of creosote from the railroad ties.