Any suggestions for my CP trip?

[CartersCoasters]

On August 4th and 5th, I will be visiting Cedar Point for the first time, and I will be staying at the express hotel. I will be using my all park passport for entry. Does anybody have any tips on where to eat, and how to make the most of your day?

[Tr0y]

if you’re able to cancel your stay at the express hotel at no cost, I would. You’d be better off at or the Holiday Inn, or Castaway bay for the right price.

Backbeat BBQ is the best restaurant in the park in my opinion. The brisket, Mac & cheese with cornbread is delicious! My second favorite location has to be The Grand Pavilion, the menu changes so I can’t tell you exactly what to get but the food is good and the view of the lake is even better.

I have All Season Fast Lane so I might not be the person to tell you which ride to ride first. I’d imagine TT2 has the longest line in the park, followed by Sirens Curse. So hit up one of those first.

[robintodd]

The Hotel Breakers, while a little pricey, is in my opinion the ONLY place to stay while going to CP.  The staff is always very helpful and does their best to make your experience the best it can be.  The time saved alone in getting on and off the causeway is worth it in my opinion, not to mention walkable access to your room.  We always go up and take some "adult beverages" and once we park in the Breakers parking lot, we don't drive again until we are ready to leave.  One big tip on the Breakers is to take a small kurieg coffee maker as there are none in the room.  You also get easy access to the early entry at the rear of the park near Magnum which gives easy fast access to Steel Vengence and Maverick if they are offered as early rides.  Another bonus is the ability to go to the room and leave any "loose objects" when planing to ride the bigger rides and to go back and get them after the ride, taking away the need for the pay or free lockers.  You also can go to the room, change and go to the beach easily.  One of my favorite things to do is get up at dawn and watch the sunrise over the lake and take a walk to see the park "wake up" especially walking down the boardwalk toward the parking lot to see GateKeeper get started up.

There is a breakfast offering on the dining plan at the Grand Pavilion, The Farmhouse is also fantastic.  Tomo's inside the Hotel Breakers is a fantastic hibatchi grill that is reasonably priced and a blast.  For a little higher dining experience Bay Harbor Inn is a favorite of my wife and myself (we go to CP 3 times a year).   And, of course Famous Daves BBQ is off property and is now located at Castaway Bay.  It's good, but not worth leaving the property in my opinion.  

Don't miss the shows (especially the Red Garter rock show).  The rock show is consistently the best show in the park in my opinion, such great talent.

All in all it's a great park.  One thing to know is that most of the rides are people movers, meaning that the line may look long but they do move quickly.  Take note of all the signage around the park telling you about the history and make sure to take time yourself to enjoy the beauty of the park and the beach that people have been enjoying for over 150 years.

Have a great trip, and let us know how it was!

 

[CoasterJack]

I've had lovely times at Castaway Bay, Breakers and Express hotel. While I agree with what was mentioned above, it can be quite pricy and can definitely double the price of the trip. You'll have a great time at the Express, and if you really enjoy it, could always come back again someday to experience the Breakers.

As for the park itself, obviously the two new (one mostly new) attractions get quite the wait, but also people entering the park tend to flock to the rides near the main entry of the park. So obviously get your early ride times in, but my recommendation is afterwards, head to the back of the park. Steel Vengeance, Maverick, and Millenium Force tend to garner longer lines. Hit things like Valravn, Raptor, Bluestreak, and Wild Mouse later in the day, as their wait will normally decrease over time as people will spread out to the back of the park.

Early Entry includes:

-GateKeeper

-Iron Dragon

-Millenium Force

-Top Thrill 2* (TT2 was added and then removed from the early entry lineup list, as they had issues getting it consistently open at 9. HOWEVER, it's recently been opening between 9-9:15, giving some good opportunities to ride in the morning).

Also note that CP early entry starts at 9, not 9:30 like KI. So don't miss out on those extra 30 minutes 

[Diamondback_Is_King]

7 hours ago, Tr0y said:

Backbeat BBQ is the best restaurant in the park in my opinion. The brisket, Mac & cheese with cornbread is delicious! My second favorite location has to be The Grand Pavilion, the menu changes so I can’t tell you exactly what to get but the food is good and the view of the lake is even better.

That's exactly what I get lol! Couldn't agree more. GO HERE!!!

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NOTE: these suggestions were when TT2 was down and Siren's Curse wasn't there

I'll break it down for you so you don't have to read an essay lol:

• Get there for Early Entry and maybe even before that. Early entry is a perfect opportunity to get lots of rides in. REMEMBER: Early Entry at CP is an hour, not 20 minutes like KI. Early Entry coasters are GateKeeper, Millie, and Iron Dragon.
• As soon as they let you in, get to GateKeeper. We rode it two or three times because it was a walk on. Recommend  left-side back row or right-side front row
• After your two or three GateKeeper rides, walk fast to Millie. Pass Iron Dragon. Not that great, not worth the ERT.  We got two rides in on Millie, but it depends on how fast you walk. You want to be done with Millie between 9:30-9:45.
• After Millie, you now should have 4-6 rides done (3 GateKeeper, 2 Millie for me). After that, again walk fast to Maverick and wait for it to open. Ride Maverick twice, and head over to Steel Vengeance.
• Ride that twice if the line isn't long. After Steel Vengeance we had 9 rides done by 10:30! We needed some water after that lol
• And then after Steel Vengeance, maybe do a Magnum ride or Cedar Creek Mine Ride if you want. Your early morning execution was a success if you made it this far! We did it one Friday morning (May 17 of last year) and did everything I just listed. After this, it's up to you on what you want to do next. The lines will be longer at this point, but the lines are usually worth it for these world-class roller coasters.

Now this doesn't account for TT2 or Siren's Curse. I haven't been there this year yet, so does someone know what has higher capacity TT2 or Siren's Curse? I'd probably say you have three options after riding Millie for ERT:

1. Do what I did before TT2 or Siren's Curse and head to Maverick/Steel Vengeance. They get really long lines, get them out of the way first
2. Head over to TT2 and try and get on that just as the park opens. The ride tends to break down a lot, so getting on it early can be good. BUT-you run the risk of it not being open right at 10:00 kinda like FoF at KI. It's a high-risk high-reward situation.
3. The same could be said for going to Siren's Curse. Somewhat lower capacity. They're still working out the kinks and the maintenance issues.Unreliable just like TT2 at the moment. Once again, high-risk high-reward. You won't be the only one going here though.

If you do decide to go to Siren's Curse or TT2 after Millie, I'd recommend riding the other next. There's no point in running back to Maverick or Steel Vengeance, the people have already gotten back there. You'll have to wait it out on those lines.

 

Hope you have a great trip, and let me know if you have any further questions!