Cedar Point Preview Night 5/6

[Diamondback2112]

I just attended Cedar Point's preview night and let me say i am very disappointed with the park. My family and i arrived at the marina gate about 4:00 and were the first people in line. About 10 minutes before 7 another guest approached the marina gate and informed all of us that they had already let the other pass holders at the front gate into park 15 min early. 

 

Needless to say everyone in line was extremely ticked off about this. The two attendants at the marina gate would not let us in until 7 pm. By the time we got into the park, the line for Valravn was already out into the midway out past the entrance for Raptor. This really sucked as we had waited in line for 3 hours before being let in. I expected there to be a significant line after the gates opened but to let other pass holders into the park early is absolutely ridiculous. There needs to be some communication and consistency especially with events like this.

 

I was told by Tony Clark to go to guest services to inform them of this issue which turned out to be a waste of my time. They told me there is nothing they can do about it and that it was a decision by upper mgmt. to open the main gate early. I wasted a total of seven hours attending preview only to ride 1 ride (Valravn). In my opinion, their best day ever promise is a crock of sh**.

 

 Does anyone on here have any input as to how i can get Cedar Point to actually address my concerns instead of just brushing me off? If there is anyone else on here that was part of this fiasco please chime in with your experience tonight.

[malem]

The park's bigger fans are typically the ones lining up at the marina gate; it sounds like this wasn't handled well at all. Granted, a new coaster opening at Cedar Point is going to be crazy on many levels.

 

Did that Valravn line last as long as the park was open to the public tonight (4 hours)? How was your ride?

[firstnline]

First of all I feel bad for you. I hope you get a lot of rides in this season. But as far as I'm concerned this all falls on upper level management. Lots of traffic, angry guests, weak customer service and what I call opening day jitters just doesn't help the situation. Yes upper level management owes ALL season pass holders an apology and it should be a public one at that with someone apologizing behind a camera admitting we screwed up. I went on just about all the Facebook pages that has anything to do with Cedar Point and the gripes are there for everyone to read. I'm sure CP management is now well aware of this.

 

They should have some sort of a day later in the season just for SP holders to make it up to you although they probably won't do that. Here I am 600 miles away,  guzzling coffee and being angry at CP at 5:30 in the morning and feeling lots of sympathy for those who attended or tried to attend.

 

I talked to some enthusiasts out my way and the way we would have done this would be to get there at noon and tailgated. Bring food, sandwiches, chips dip and beverages to kill the time away instead of being absolutely miserable sitting in traffic. Yes it would be a long wait but chances are you would be at the beginning of the 7:00 pm entry line at the main gate.

[Diamondback2112]

The line for Valravn was still over two hours long at 11:00 when the preview event was due to end. Like I said, I went to guest services and they basically told me they are NOT going to do anything for me. I also had an issue at Hotel Breakers... lots of Ohio State alumni were partying in the room next to ours and needless to say, we didn't get much sleep. When we checked out this morning I brought this up and once again I got the typical Cedar Point response "I'm sorry but we cant do anything for you". Very disappointed in Cedar Point right now.

[electricsun]

While this may not be of much help, yesterday was Ohio State Day at Cedar Point (https://www.osu.edu/alumni/activities-and-events/events/2016/ohio-state-date-at-cedar-point.html). While I wasn't there, I would hazard a guess that 15 minutes of passholders entering early didn't create the massive lines but the fact that the park was already open for that special event. 

But that certainly doesn't fix the inconsistency of opening gate times. 

 

I stay in a lot of hotels for work. In the future, if you ever have issues with rowdy guests next to you, call the front desk at that moment. Don't wait until morning. This gives them the chance to correct it for you so you can sleep. Typically they will come up to the offending room and tell them to quiet down. Sometimes the other guests aren't aware of how loud they are being or how much their sound carries. If that doesn't fix it, call the front desk again. And keep doing so if the room doesn't stop. Ultimately, if that doesn't work, there can be consequences for the other room such as fines or getting kicked out or they will move you to another room so you can get some rest. Once the morning arrives and you've done nothing, there isn't much they can do to make the situation better. 

[Beast Gal]

I am sorry you had a bad time, you spent a lot of money for bad service.

[Captain Picard]

Every preview night I went to was mess. Things like closing because of weather without a cloud in the sky or half the rides not running. After many years of it we accept that this is a normal preview night.

[vortexfan]

 It seems like the biggest screwup on Cedar Point's part was combining OSU day and "preview" night.  If there are going to be opening day jitters, they will just be exacerbated by huge crowds. And I'm sure the crowds are even worse with a new coaster opening.  

[Diamondback2112]

So when I went to guest relations to talk to a supervisor about the gate issue,  he admitted that they let the front gate pass holders in 5 minutes early. I kept telling him that is not true, it was more like 15 minutes as I have a credible source. I found this post on point buzz basically contradicting his statement.

 

 

Dennis Urban

 

Today, 1:51 AM

We(the front gate passholders) were let in about 6:45,Valravn sign was indicating 1 3/4 hr wait. Went to MF(1/2 hr) instead to start the day. Marina entrance 'waiters' were very upset that front gaters were let in early and got to Valravn before them.

 

So armed with this information along with hundreds of posts on facebook about preview night, do you think I should escalate this issue as no one from the park seems to want to make this right?

 

 

https://pointbuzz.com/Forums/Topic/56-preview-night

[malem]

Put enough people in front of a gate, and planned opening times can be thrown to the wind.

 

Giving out skip-the-line passes to everyone inconvenienced by another group of guests getting in early wouldn't be a good precedent. CP has no way to know which guests were lined up at the marina gate hours in advance. Some lining up at the marina gate may have been doing so in an attempt to jump the crowd at the main gate.

[bkroz]

So when I went to guest relations to talk to a supervisor about the gate issue,  he admitted that they let the front gate pass holders in 5 minutes early. I kept telling him that is not true, it was more like 15 minutes as I have a credible source. I found this post on point buzz basically contradicting his statement.

 

 

Dennis Urban

 

Today, 1:51 AM

We(the front gate passholders) were let in about 6:45,Valravn sign was indicating 1 3/4 hr wait. Went to MF(1/2 hr) instead to start the day. Marina entrance 'waiters' were very upset that front gaters were let in early and got to Valravn before them.

 

So armed with this information along with hundreds of posts on facebook about preview night, do you think I should escalate this issue as no one from the park seems to want to make this right?

 

 

https://pointbuzz.com/Forums/Topic/56-preview-night

 

 

What, I wonder, can they do to "make it right?" Honestly... What would you hope to ideally happen next?

 

You can email more people if you'd like and maybe you'll get a free ticket or a free Fast Lane pass for Valravn. If that would make you happy, keep pressing it. The problem in my mind is that you were admitted to the park at the advertised opening time. Sure, it doesn't seem "fair" that they were let in earlier, but I'd guess it was either a mistake / oversight, or like malem said, an attempt to "level the playing field" so that guests in-the-know waiting at the marina gate don't get the jump on everyone at the main gate. 

 

It would upset me if it happened to me, too, but (and I mean this in the least judgmental way possible) the park doesn't really owe you anything, you know? Yeah, if I were in your shoes, I'd probably call the park and politely, calmly explain the issue to the call center representative and ask to be forwarded to someone who can help me understand why it happened to help make sure it doesn't happen again. Certainly being told "too bad" isn't a professional reaction, and I hate hearing that that's the message you were given over and over. 

 

5 minutes, 15 minutes... It doesn't really matter and isn't worth arguing with a front-line part-time guest relations person about it. According to electricsun, it wouldn't have made much difference anyway given the special event that had already packed the park. If you're going on a preview night for the premier of the new roller coaster, you've got to expect some headaches. You're lucky the ride wasn't plagued by constant downtime, splayed cables, or overturned ride vehicles... or delayed altogether due to too-intense inversions not discovered until testing.

[KIDB]

The reviews about this issue are heated on CP's facebook. I don't really know what they can do to rectify the issue but an apology is definitely in order. The early gate opening really doesn't seem to be the issue so much as letting the OSU event go on past 7. I see why Valravn would be a problem because that lines was probably hours long for the whole event and you aren't really

Going to be able to kick those folks out at 7PM. Setting up two events on the same day like that was a terrible idea, I'd venture to say they've learned their lesson.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Spectrum91]

The reviews about this issue are heated on CP's facebook. I don't really know what they can do to rectify the issue but an apology is definitely in order. The early gate opening really doesn't seem to be the issue so much as letting the OSU event go on past 7. I see why Valravn would be a problem because that lines was probably hours long for the whole event and you aren't really

Going to be able to kick those folks out at 7PM. Setting up two events on the same day like that was a terrible idea, I'd venture to say they've learned their lesson.

 

And how would you recommend having the thousands of OSU guests leave while the thousands of passholders simultaneously enter?

[rcwizard13]

The OSU event should have ended by 5, with certain lines like Valravn's shutting down even earlier if necessary.

[IBEW_Sparky]

I just attended Cedar Point's preview night and let me say i am very disappointed with the park. My family and i arrived at the marina gate about 4:00 and were the first people in line. About 10 minutes before 7 another guest approached the marina gate and informed all of us that they had already let the other pass holders at the front gate into park 15 min early. 

 

Needless to say everyone in line was extremely ticked off about this. The two attendants at the marina gate would not let us in until 7 pm. By the time we got into the park, the line for Valravn was already out into the midway out past the entrance for Raptor. This really sucked as we had waited in line for 3 hours before being let in. I expected there to be a significant line after the gates opened but to let other pass holders into the park early is absolutely ridiculous. There needs to be some communication and consistency especially with events like this.

 

I was told by Tony Clark to go to guest services to inform them of this issue which turned out to be a waste of my time. They told me there is nothing they can do about it and that it was a decision by upper mgmt. to open the main gate early. I wasted a total of seven hours attending preview only to ride 1 ride (Valravn). In my opinion, their best day ever promise is a crock of sh**.

 

 Does anyone on here have any input as to how i can get Cedar Point to actually address my concerns instead of just brushing me off? If there is anyone else on here that was part of this fiasco please chime in with your experience tonight.

I have to say that, I can absolutely guarantee you that A)Talking to Tony Clark about it was a complete waste (Im amazed he didnt give you someone to talk to, and then someone else, and the someone else, to finally get you to someone else in order to keep up his trend of announcements of announcements) and B)there is absolutely nothing that will make CF address any of this in a way you will find satisfactory, with the exception of MAYBE getting the things that bkroz mentioned in the way of a possible free admission ticket or free FL wristband.  With what I saw at last years CoasterMania.... and no not the silly lack of giveaways that some thoosies were whining about..... in the absolutely inexcusable park operations ranging from ride ops to inept security, you can rest assured that everything you brought to GRs attention will be "taken under advisement" aka laughed off completely.  Now, in all fairness to CP (more fairness than I feel the park deserves) the points also made by bkroz in his post are honest and true.  This is a case of comparing it to what people with the KI meal plan are experiencing... they already have your money.  You have to take a hard and honest look at this experience and decide to yourself if it will change your mind on renewing your Pass for 2017.  Only you can make this choice.

[APE]

whether it was on time or an hour late for you to get in you would have had about the same wait. OSU people didn't leave and the ride maintained a long line the entire day. Also as the line seemed to stay at the main midway all day the shorter walk to the line would have been from the front gate as well. You had a bad experience it happens, happened to me on opening day at Kings Island this year. File your complaint and move on as letting it continue to bother you will do no good. Perfect weather and a new coaster having its first big day very long lines are to be expected. 

[KIDB]

The OSU event should have ended by 5, with certain lines like Valravn's shutting down even earlier if necessary.

Totally agree. Other than that, separate days for two very large events in a new coaster opening.