Cedar point: best time to visit?

[Hyde]

How is cedar fair's fastlane haphazard? I got it last year and got straight on all the advertised rides, and several rerides. Totally awesome day and I'd recommend it to anyone and all but the lightest days!

It is the lightest days that makes it questionable. Even if MF and TDD have a 2 hour wait, the rest of the rides in the parks could very well be walk-on to 15 minutes. So in essence, you are paying $60 for the two Intamins. It is a risk that you take regardless, but a risk none the less.

The haphazardness lies in the implementation, and lack of consistency from ride to ride. Some have Fast Lane as cutting to a certain point in line, while others dedicate whole trains to Fast Lane-ers. The system progressively changed over last year as well, with a lot of experimentation on what approach works best.

I am confident that Cedar Point will be able to get the program to a certain level of efficiency in the end; but until that point it will be annoying to be a general guest waiting in line, not knowing if the projected wait time is indeed correct, and how much of a factor Fast Lane will have on my wait time.

 

[rcjp]

So, if I purchase the platinum flash pass at SFG Adventure do you think it would be better to go there on a Saturday and do Dorney on a Friday (as I'm not getting fast lane there) or will it be better to do as I originally planned (SFGA on friday and dorney on saturday)?

 

[caffeine_demon]

The haphazardness lies in the implementation, and lack of consistency from ride to ride. Some have Fast Lane as cutting to a certain point in line, while others dedicate whole trains to Fast Lane-ers. The system progressively changed over last year as well, with a lot of experimentation on what approach works best.

In june, certainly the big rides merged just outside the loading station, and I can't remember any "fast lane only" trains, although there certainly were a number of rides where fast lane wasn't necessary!

All in all - I thought it was run well.

 

[Hyde]

^ TTD has had a dedicated Fast Lane train in the past. Maverick toyed around with the concept as well. Gemini also had a "front half of the train"ish system running, using the old queue access point for Fast Lane.

So, if I purchase the platinum flash pass at SFG Adventure do you think it would be better to go there on a Saturday and do Dorney on a Friday (as I'm not getting fast lane there) or will it be better to do as I originally planned (SFGA on friday and dorney on saturday)?

Stick with the original plan - SFGA on the less busy Friday and Dorney on Saturday. Dorney park is quite astonishing with how little a crowd it often draws.

 

[rcjp]

Just one more thing: I know this might just be a silly question be I'm pretty sure I've read somewhere that if you buy the flash pass at SFGA you can't choose the row you'll be riding in. When I went there two years ago I didn't really notice at exactly what point the pass owners would join the rest of the people but I remember being able to choose my own row. Is this actually true?

 

[Hyde]

^ I believe so.

And good news! Screamscape's latest report:

In other news, I’ve been told that there will be a change to Fast Lane at Cedar Point in 2013. Instead of one Fast Land system for everyone, they will now offer Fast Lane and Fast Lane Plus, a premium version that will cost an additional $15 per person, but will also add in Dragster and Gatekeeper access. The regular Fast Lane program will not have access to these two attractions in 2013.

This gets at what I was complaining about - Fast Lane popularity being huge with MF, TTD, etc. compared to smaller rides that are included on the list. It creates an over-consumption model that inevitably increases both the general queue line and fast lane line.

Pro-rating the Fast Lane access (paying more for popular attractions) is one way to solve this crowd out scenario. I hope it ends up working.

 

[rcjp]

Right now I'm also considering buying the fast lane/track thingy for Hersheypark as I'll be going there on a Sunday (August 25). Is it actually worth it (also considering it is not extremely expensive)?

 

[Hyde]

I visited Hersheypark last year during August, and rode everything (with rerides) throughout the day - even made it to the zoo!

I wouldn't buy a fast pass.

 

[Intricks]

Fahrenheit will be the longest wait guarenteed since they run it with mainly 2 trains. Only once out of the 3 times Ive been have they done 3 train operations.

 

[Hyde]

I thought Hersheypark outlawed efficient ride operations back in the 60s?

 

[Intricks]

They did, but they have some small rebel forces that try to do their best. Trust me, beyond the one singular visit, the dispatch time was around 2 minutes for fahrenheit. Most times the train would be sitting on the brake run for a minute or so before being able to go in.

It is seriously annoying that they do that. Hell, you have to queue just to get into the wave pool and lazy river their!

 

[rcjp]

Ok, I guess I'll see how the queues are then.
By the way, the only park I've ever visited in the US was six flags great adventure and (at least back then) the only way to store our personal items was to put them in some lockers were you actually had to pay unlike some other parks I've been which have places to store them in the stations while you're riding.
Does anyone know how this works at Cedar Point, Dorney and Hershey Park?

 

[Hyde]

Cedar Point and Dorney have storage bins in the station, except for MF, TTD, and GateKeeper which have pay-to-use lockers (GateKeeper however has bins for small item storage, just no backpacks). Hersheypark has in-station bins as well.

Pay-for-use lockers are popular in the U.S. as a discreet revenue raiser.

 

[Jarrett]

Cedar Point and Dorney have storage bins in the station, except for MF, TTD, and GateKeeper which have pay-to-use lockers (GateKeeper however has bins for small item storage, just no backpacks). Hersheypark has in-station bins as well.

Pay-for-use lockers are popular in the U.S. as a discreet revenue raiser.

GateKeeper has that too? Thanks! I'd have been toast tomorrow or Thursday had you not posted that!

The bin system you described sounds a lot like the little bins at the base of Power Tower that correspond to your seats and they let me put my backpack in there, but I could be wrong. We'll definitely get a locker.

So I went to CP opening weekend with my cousin and her husband and we hung out with the other CFers at the live. However, anybody that was at that live knows just how badly that day went. XD So we rescheduled our trip for either this Wednesday or Thursday. While it will be easier if we do it Wednesday, there is a bit of an issue. It is showing 8 mph winds with 14 mph gusts going NNE. While the wind during the CF live was more than twice that (I punched the date into an online almanac and it gave me 30 mph! Yikes!), it still concerns me. What's the windiest it's ever been for you there where you were still able to ride stuff? The six creds I still need are GateKeeper, Magnum, Dragster, Gemini Red, Iron Dragon, and Junior Gemini. Anybody ridden any of these in worse conditions?

In response to the original post, definitely a weekday. We went on a Monday one time and only got on six rides. I don't even want to imagine what it's like on a typical weekend.

 

[Hyde]

Don't worry about the wind reports - you are fine. Opening day was red flag conditions on the lake, as we saw with the valleying of MF, Maverick, and Woodstock's Express. The weather will be great the rest of this week in Sandusky.

As I said, all Cedar Point rides have storage bins except for TTD, Millennium Force, and GateKeeper, which require you to get a pay-locker if you have items that cannot fit in a pocket. For GateKeeper, there are storage bins in the station for small items. (wallets, sunglasses, etc.)

 

[Jarrett]

Don't worry about the wind reports - you are fine. Opening day was red flag conditions on the lake, as we saw with the valleying of MF, Maverick, and Woodstock's Express. The weather will be great the rest of this week in Sandusky.

As I said, all Cedar Point rides have storage bins except for TTD, Millennium Force, and GateKeeper, which require you to get a pay-locker if you have items that cannot fit in a pocket. For GateKeeper, there are storage bins in the station for small items. (wallets, sunglasses, etc.)

First off, I do remember seeing (and filming) Maverick being pulled out of the valley and seeing MF being pulled out from the top of Mine Ride, but we rode Woodstock Express. Did it valley beforehand or something?

We should go tomorrow! Thanks! I can't make it to the live do-over but I'll cram myself into Woodstock Express and scream like a girl again for you guys! Thanks so much!