Cedar Point and King's Isalnd Lines

[bizarrofan10]

What are the lines like at these two parks between June 1-10?

I assume they are short becuase the parks just opened but you guys would know

EDIT: I just realized I have school up to June 16, and the CF Live is June 23, so I wouldn't be able to go in June, forcing me to go in July.

NEW QUESTION: what are the lines like in July?

I they are long then I would suck it up and spend the money for a VIP Tour at both parks.

 

[Hyde]

July = death.

Obviously the 4th of July is a huge holiday for amusement parks, making for very crowded causeways. The end of July can sometimes die down, with a small slump in between the 4th of July and Labor Day when many American families do their traveling.

Still, don't waste your money on the VIP tour. If you are able to properly plan your visit, you will get to ride majority (if not all) of the rides.

 

[bizarrofan10]

hyde

Thanks hyde, but I'm not flying all the way out to Ohio to ride most of the rides.

I wish I could go in June when the lines aren't bad, but with school and the Live in June that can't happen.

I would only not go for the VIP if you could promise me that during a certain 5-10 day period of time there is a 100% chance of no lines at both parks.

If it means taking a chance, I would rather be safe than sorry and get the VIP.

(and for the future, I will plan trips right, I mean right, when school gets out, but with the live I cant)

 

[Snoo]

If you are at CP for two or more days.. you will be fine no matter when you go. If you go one day.. you will have to pick and choose the rides you want most. And if one of those days is a Saturday.. well.. go to Lake Compounce.

 

[KDGrizzly4Life]

I'll ditto that post. Two days is a must for a big park like that.

 

[tomahawk]

When I went to KI in August of 09, it was serious hell. Every ride had a line, only got a handful of the credits, it was awful. My dad and I had thought we would be fine with one 3/4 of a day, but boy were we wrong. It was a Friday, and I guess school was starting the next week, and there were a lot of groups there. It was also hellaciously hot, which didn't add to the fun. I'm assuming midweek would have been fine, well not that bad, but we didn't have that luxury.

A few years before that I went to Cedar Point during the last week of everyday operation and managed to do everything but Millennium Force, which we did the next morning at opening. This also was before Maverick, so things have changed I'm sure.

 

[Snoo]

Honestly.. it hasn't. Maverick just takes away from other lines to a point.. but Mavvy always has a line.. always.

 

[ECG]

I'll ditto that post. Two days is a must for a big park like that.

I would never spend two whole days at CP. I've never been where I couldn't get everything done in a single day. We went on August 3rd last year for the Live & we rode everything without a problem. We even got in some re-rides.

 

[Hixee]

I'll ditto that post. Two days is a must for a big park like that.

I would never spend two whole days at CP. I've never been where I couldn't get everything done in a single day. We went on August 3rd last year for the Live & we rode everything without a problem. We even got in some re-rides.

I'd also like to add that we we're really having to blitz the park either. Granted, we weren't as chilled out as we were at Waldameer (for example), but we certainly weren't rushing around like mad things.

 

[bizarrofan10]

yep

Ok, you convinced me not to get the VIP.

I have dediced to spend two days riding the coasters, thrill rides, water rides.

Now I need to know:

What rides have the biggest lines? When are these lines the longest? What order do you suggest for me riding?

Take into consideration I will have early entry one hour (becuase of the CF plat pass) and I will be going EARLY JULY). Along with the coasters, please include popular thrill rides and water rides (those that exceed a 20 min wait)

 

[ECG]

You can get in Maverick followed by Millennium Force before the GP gets let into the park. Be sure to do it in that order & enter the park through the rear entrance by Soak City. Get there early because the will be quite a queue of hotels guests & Platinum Pass holders. If you're near the front of the line you should be able to get in 2 rides on Maverick with 15 minutes to spare before the park opens, which will give you enough time to walk over to Millennium Force before the crowds arrive.
After MF get in line for Top Thrill Dragster. If you're lucky you might get on just as they're starting to fill the trains to capacity & you'll actually have a chance for a rollback.
After riding those three it doesn't matter too much what you do next as long as you stay away from Raptor. Raptor is right next to the main entrance & the queue will remain full throughout the morning & early afternoon. So make your way around the back of the park hitting up Tower Tower, Corkscrew, Magnum, Gemini, Woodstock Express, Cedar Creek Mine Ride, Mean Streak, Sky Hawk, Shoot The Rapids, Mantis, Iron Dragon, Wildcat, Windseeker, Wicked Twister, Disaster Transport, maXair, Blue Streak & then Raptor. By the time you get to the invert most of the crowd will have arrived & the queue will be much shorter.
After all that you'll probably have enough time to go back & ride MF, Maverick & maybe even TTD in the dark. At least that how it always works out best for us.

 

[bizarrofan10]

^ thanks! I will be spending 2 days at the park!

So make your way around the back of the park hitting up Power Tower, Corkscrew, Magnum, Gemini, Woodstock Express, Cedar Creek Mine Ride, Mean Streak, Sky Hawk, Shoot The Rapids, Mantis, Iron Dragon, Wildcat, Windseeker, Wicked Twister, Disaster Transport, maXair, Blue Streak & then Raptor.

in that order?

Also, every ride you did not list I am assuming has under a 20 minute wait. Correct?

What about King's Island?

 

[ECG]

Yeah, in that order & what other rides? The dodgems, carousel , calypso, tilt-a-whirl, wave swinger, antique cars, troika, himalaya, matterhorn, monster, the scrambler, the pirate ship or the enterprise? Are you really going to Cedar Point to ride that kind of crap?
You can always take a ride on the train when you're heading back to re-ride Maverick after your re-ride on Millennium Force & you can also ride the Ferris wheel before or after Wicked Twister. The paddlewheel boat is also ok if you want to see TTD from a different angle.
The only ones that have long queue lines that I didn't list are the other water rides: Snake River Falls & Thunder Canyon, which you can do at the same time as Shoot the Rapids. You'll get soaked on all of them & they're all located next to each other, so don't bother drying off between each ride.

I've only been to Kings Island 3 times, so I was leaving that up to Hyde or someone else who's been there more often. If they don't chime in here soon, I'll let you know what we've done. :wink:

 

[Hyde]

Where's Kevin when you need him? :razz:

Kings Island has a weird half circle layout, with spokes running to a center point. So sadly there is not a real "back of the park", more sides that it takes crowds a bit of time to get to in the morning.

For that reason, I would say start back towards Beast, Vortex, Flight of Fear, and Firehawk in the morning, and work your way towards Racer, THE Adventure Express, Invertigo, Delirium, Flight Deck, and Drop Tower.

By this time, the park will be pretty saturated, so you can mosey around.

Luckily, Diamondback has such a massive capacity that its line will rarely go above 30 minutes. So wait until AFTER the morning rush when the line dies down to hop a ride. Also, Flight of Fear has air conditioning that is nice for a mid-afternoon break from the heat.

In all sincerity, if you do it right you will be done with KI in half a day. This is not including the water park, which isn't that large and very crowded, so you could proceed there if your heart is so inclined.

 

[ECG]

I'll add that throughput on Firehawk sucks bigtime, so I would head there first before the queue line even begins to fill up.

 

[Hyde]

^ Yeah good point. It is a statistical fact, the Vekoma Flying Dutchmen has the longest loading time and completely sucks.

 

[Snoo]

Agreed with both on all fronts. Back to front for the most part.. with sprinkles of crap capacity rides thrown in early as well.. ect ect.

 

[bizarrofan10]

thanks

Thanks Hyde and ECG. I will spend 2 days at CP and 1 at KI.

I'm just really surprised that I can do all of this in one day considering I am going in JULY.

 

[Hyde]

Well, Kings Island simply doesn't have as much to do as larger parks, which a seasoned park goer will be able to make short time of. Not a bad thing, just means you're able to ride everything!

 

[bizarrofan10]

lines

Thanks everyone.

I just have one more question for Hyde:

If I go to the back of the park first for rides such as the flying dutchman and hit up D-Back last, then what will be the maximum wait for D-Back?

Also, just confirming, hit up the coasters and major thrill rides first, then when the park dies down late in the afternoon (at around 5 about), then hit up coaster re-rides and less popular thrill rides and even some family rides.


I feel as if I should know this, but I have only been to 4 parks before in my life and only got interested in coasters last fall. At SFNE and SFGAdv I had flash passes, Disney World I had a pass, and Lake Compounce I went to B-Dash first and that was about it. I'm basically learning now how to navigagte around parks in a time-efficient manner thanks to CF! Also, I usually don't go to parks all day, just from about 10-3, so now I need to go all day and get re-rides and other rides in later on in the day!