Why so late? (Opening date)

I was just curious as to why CP opens in the middle of May? It just seems late compared with other parks in the same weather patterns. Usually the middle to the end of April seems to be the norm.

Here's the difference - some parks open earlier than CP ON THE WEEKENDS but most of those don't start daily operation until WEEKS after CP does. For example, PKI, a huge park, doesn't start daily operation until the Memorial Day weekend. Most parks even in the South do the same - i.e. Six Flags Over Georgia, Paramount's Kings Dominion, etc. All in all, I bet CP is open more days than almost any seasonal park (exceptions that come to mind - Kennywood and Knoebels).
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Age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill.
Another reason is weather. April on Lake Erie can be a very unpredictable month. You can have 70 degree temperatures one day, and 3 inches of snow the next! The weather doesn't really stabilize until May.

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Timothy A. Bretz
"Remember to pillage before you burn"
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/tabretz
ShiveringTim's avatar
Let's not forget the biggest reason, staff. To run an amusement park you need bodies to man the food stands, rides, shops, etc. Since most of CP's seasonal staff are college students on summer break and since most colleges don't go on summer break until the end of April or early May CP doesn't open. Other parks that are open now, such as PKI, hire local high school students for seasonal staff and can therefore operate weekends in spring.

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Scott W. Short
sshort@mediaone.net
http://welcome.to/midwestcoastercentral

Jeff's avatar
It's totally about Ohio weather and waiting for the kids to get out of school (college). Another difference with Cedar Point is the considerably lower number of high school kids that work there, and none of them work rides (I think). That's a real change from the Six Flags and Paramount parks.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
"And he says 'I'm goin' crazy up there at the lake...'"
Jeffrey Spartan's avatar
Remember too...There open an extra weekend too with an extra halloweekend..With it being my favorite holiday..Thats OK with me to open a week later!!

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http://www.msu.edu/~armbrus9/cp.html

Jeffrey Spartan and Proud New PAPPA
ACE
MSU SPARTANS 2000
Jeff's avatar
Now why do I have to be in Hawaii on my honeymoon for Halloween this year? :) Oh wait... tropical paradise or unpredictable Ohio weather. Now I remember.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point
"And he says 'I'm goin' crazy up there at the lake...'"
Jeffrey Spartan's avatar

I'm sure they celebrate Halloween in Hawaii Jeff...:)
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http://www.msu.edu/~armbrus9/cp.html

Jeffrey Spartan and Proud New PAPPA
ACE
MSU SPARTANS 2000 CHAMPS
Let me put it to you this way, as I work for a private University in Columbus, and we are on a semester calendar:

Our semester ends on May 2.

Exams begin on May 4.

Exams end on May 9.

Cedar Point opens on May 13.

Our Commencement is on May 14.

Now, Capital University does not provide a large percentage of the workforce for Cedar Point. But Capital is also not the only Institute of Higher Education that uses the semester schedule; there are a quite a few schools that have a similar schedule to ours, and that particular schedule is about as early as any of the schools finish up. Just be glad Cedar Point doesn't wait for quarter-based schools like Ohio State to finish for the summer!

--Dave Althoff, Jr.
Dave,

We are on semesters here too. My last class day is the 5th of May, finals start the 8th and finish the 11th. CP opens the 13th. There we go!
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I WILL ride that big blue rollercoaster!
Quarter system is a terrible blasphemy. I am not processing in until June 11 becuase of it. I believe the same weekend as the OSU employees can start.

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Natalie
ATL Zone 3 Sweeps 2000


But, remember that those of us on quarters (which includes me at Ohio State) don't go back to school until later than other schools. Here at OSU we don't start until around the 21st of September which is a month later than most of the semester schools.
Here at Virginia Tech classes end May 3rd and exams run from the 5th to the 10th. I'll be at CP on the 15th and 16th! Lucky me!

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