Cedar Point Trip 10/20

[LongLiveTheSmurfRide]

Wow.

I had never been to Cedar Point when it was so crowded before. Even on a Saturday in the Summer I've never seen it so bad. I'm not sure where to begin.

We drove 3 1/2 hours from Dayton and we were able to park back in the Soak City parking lot around 2:00. Everything seemed alright. I expected crowds since it was a nice day, not too chilly, not too warm. But I've been to Halloweekends on Saturdays for the last 5 years and this one took the cake. The Magnum was over an hour wait so we passed. Gemini's line was out the gate with all queues open, so we passed. Maverick was full and had a line out the midway a mile long (we were told it was a 3 hour wait) so we passed. Even Mean Streak, arguably the worst wooden coaster in Ohio, had over an hour wait.

So I think in the first two hours we got a ride on the train, Wildcat (line wasn't horrible, but they were running less trains so it was slow) and Cedar Downs. Then we got to the food. Oh man. We get in line for a hot dog. All lines for food were long but they weren't only long, but they were slow. We waited for 25 minutes to get to the hot dog guy, I then noticed that they didn't take cards there and I had $5, so I had to get just one dog for my fiancee and I to share. So we hit the ATM and go get in the separate line for fries.

I'll pause here to say, they need some kind of way to link the food lines. They got a big sign in lights for corn dogs and pizza, yet under that sign they only sell hot dogs. Then there are lines for deserts, then there are pizza lines, then at the other end of this building are the corndogs. So if you're in one line for the big building and want a hot dog and a corn dog, they can't do it because they're on the opposite ends; though all of the rooms are connected. You'd think the hot dog and corn dog rooms could be joined at least since they both include the basic ingredient of a hot dog. But no. You have to wait 20+ minutes for a hot dog, then go to the other line (which is at the same building) and wait another 20+ minutes for a slightly different item.

It probably wouldn't have been so bad if the lines were faster but they seemed understaffed for the enourmous crowds that day. So we're in the fry line now and we waited, I kid you not, 45 minutes for fries. I wouldn't have waited so long, but we were starved after sharing a hot dog and everything had the same length of line in the park so we couldn't really find anything else to hit that would have been any better.

Everything had a line. EVERYTHING! The ATM had a line, the men's restroom had a line, to get out of the park - there was a line! Even the leather shop had a line. Who goes crazy for their leather fix at Cedar Point? It's like people were so sick of lines that if they saw something, ANYTHING, that didn't have a line, they ran to it so they could at least be able to do something. Then that caused a line.

So I thought it'd get better as the night wore on and people started doing spooky stuff; but no, I think it got worse. We finally bit the bullet and waited for Maverick. It took all of 3 hours to get to it and it was when we were next in the station that they decided to finally put the last train on the track to help the line move. This was at 10. I suppose they thought that the line was just too long at that point. Pshhhh. The wait would have felt worse but we met a lovely Michigan family that we talked to for pretty much the whole 3 hours. I was conflicted being an OSU fan and them being Michigan fans, but we found common ground and stayed away from topics that may have started a war.

After that we were pretty much done, but we had to do something scary, so we walked through all 3 scare zones. The Fear Faire was the best, the Fright Zone was about the same as normal, and CarnEVIL was pretty lame with the least amount of scares being dished out.

We left at around 11, because I had to be here at work in the morning. So in the 9 hours we were there we rode 2 coasters and some flats and waited for food and other various things. Kind of a pointless trip, but Maverick was worth it. That's a fun coaster. I think it's the first new coaster I've ever ridden at night before trying it durring the day first, so that was cool.

All I know is that every year CP's Halloweekends seems to get more and more crowded on Saturdays so I think this was my last one. I'm only going Fridays from now on. It also gave me a new perspective on how crowded a park can get. The only time I've ever seen KI get close to a day so bad was on "bring a friend free" days, so I'll be thankful to get back to KI and their relatively soft crowds this Friday.

Oh, also, CP's park was the least decorated that I've seen since I've been going to Halloweekends. KI really set a high bar this year for me as far as decorating. Though I still have beef with KI's "Scare Zones" compared to CP's (their scare zones were the ONLY thing without a line); KI definately has a better scary feel to the park overall.

Thanks for reading.

[GrimReaper]

man, im glad i went for Halloweekends in September, but even then on Saturday I thought it was busy, but it wasn't nearly as busy as your trip, that i am sure

[Neon]

Everything had a line. EVERYTHING! The ATM had a line, the men's restroom had a line, to get out of the park - there was a line! Even the leather shop had a line. Who goes crazy for their leather fix at Cedar Point? It's like people were so sick of lines that if they saw something, ANYTHING, that didn't have a line, they ran to it so they could at least be able to do something. Then that caused a line.

Oh my gosh! What a nightmare! Imagine something like that in Kings Island!

[ClevelandRocks10]

I also went Saturday, IT WAS HORRIBLE. I cant take the lines

[LongLiveTheSmurfRide]

I also went Saturday, IT WAS HORRIBLE. I cant take the lines

I'm usually pretty cool with lines, but what happened yesterday was an exercise in patience that I almost couldn't handle.

[raptor]

Yes when I went to Halloweekends this year I did something I never would have imagined I would ever do, wait in line for the corkscrew for and hour and 15 minutes yikes, Halloweekends is crazy

[BoddaH1994]

I went to Halloweekends on their first Saturday of operation. I like Cedar Point, but I think Halloween Haunt is a much better event. We waited for about 3 hours for Maverick including a bit of downtime.

[The Interpreter]

And how long have you been waiting for Maverick at Kings Island?

[House]

I went to Cedar Point on the 6th. We got in 3 coasters and one flat. Raptor, TTD, then Maverick. We got off the maverick right before midnight and were able to slip in line for the last ride of the night on the Skyhawk.

[Touchdown]

Thats a shame House, I was there the 6th too heres what I managed to do:

-TTD

-Magnum (x3)

-Gemini (x2)

-Tilt a Whirl

-Train

-Maverick

-Fright Zone (x2)

-Cedar Downs

-Calypso

-Blue Streak

-Fear Faire

-Lair of the Vampire

-Pharaoh's Secret

-Troika

-CarnEvil

Sometimes you have to be smart about what and when you pick to ride. I waited in one 3 hour line (Maverick) but thanks to me being there at their opening (TTD, Lair, Pharaoh's) I polished off three major attractions all with a <30 min wait. Only choosing to do TTD, Raptor, Maverick and MF on crowded days when the lines are huge is a sure fire way to have a bad day. There are many other quality rides at CP that dont have 2+ hour waits the whole day.