Cedar Point 10/8

One thing I will never do again is wait in a multi-hour long line. I waited 4 hours for Shockwave in 1988 because it was on 1 train operation when it first opened, and around 3 hours for Batman the Ride when it debuted in 1992. Both revolutionary coasters at the time. Both also at SFGAm.

Never , EVER, AGAIN!!! :)

I can remember seeing a line of cars stretching out past the mall. I want to say it reached nearly to the toll road but this was -- I don't know, 30 years ago? -- so my mind may be fuzzy on the details. We decided to go check in at our motel instead of waiting through all that to get to the park.

In 2000, when millennium force made its debut, me and five friends from highschool paid two hundred dollars for a round trip to Cedar Point, on a old white rusty school bus. The trip was organized here in London, Ontario by a small group of people. They were not associated by fundraiser, charity, sponsorship. Nothing! They organized pretty much by word of mouth and flyer. I found out later they stopped organizing trips because there were too few people interested. Shame! The day was Saturday, June 10th 2000, and I will never forget it. Me and my dearest friend Jessica waited 4.5 hours. Everyone else choose not to wait, and boy did they miss out.

I am not a line person, either. ERT permanently spoils you. I generally avoid crowds and heat, which is why I like visiting my (local) parks in the Spring in Fall. Then again it depends on where I am going and who I am with. If it's a coaster I like and I am by myself, I will generally wait about 20 minutes tops. If I am with someone else I can wait longer. I know a lot of parks can get insanely crowded during Halloween events, but you have to expect that. :)

If it's a favorite event like HWN or PPP, then I generally don't care about waiting at all. Black Diamond was my first (new) coaster in a long time, and having a ton of friends around made the time fly by. I think we may have waited an hour tops. :)

I think the most I have waited for ANY ride is 3 hours, and it was probably the "Backlot Tour"at the (then) MGM Studios at Disney when it was brand new. I also remember waiting 2-3 hours for a lot of coasters during their opening year including MForce, Dragster, King Cobra, Vortex, Kingda Ka, etc. I also remember waiting for The Beast past 2 hours in the 80's. I think I waited about 2 1/2 for Son Of Beast it's first year. Capacity also has a lot to do with it. A moving line never feels like a long line in most cases. ;)

I have seen Cedar Point's causeway lined up but only about 1/4th the way back from the booths. The fact that they were parking cars beside of Mean Streak is insane! I would never visit one of my (local) parks with those crowds, but that's just me. I would of probably turned around and went back to the motel and tried the following morning for the early entry.

If it's my first visit to a park or if I am with a newbie that has their heart sat on it I would definitely stick it out the lines and crowds, otherwise it's not worth it. I will also stick it out if it's a favorite park that I rarely get to. :)

-Tina

The longest line I have waited in was for Son of Beast in 2000 during the Spirit Song festival, a 2.5 hour wait. Back then, it was worth it.

CoasterDiscern said:
Me and my dearest friend Jessica waited 4.5 hours. Everyone else choose not to wait, and boy did they miss out.

What did they miss out on? Did they give out prizes or a free hotel night or something?

What do folks do in 4.5 hour lines when they have to pee? Or get a drink of water? I wonder if they had porta potties set up or something.

I don't think I waited more than an hour for Son of Beast in 2000, but back then it wasn't even worth a 5 minute wait.

I haven't really been anywhere on an extra crowded day (yet), so the most I've ever waited was 75 minutes for both Hades and Maverick. Maverick because of its popularity on a hot summer day... and Hades because of the slow, one train operation at Mt. Olympus.

^^^ At that time, I was only 16. The chance to ride the worlds biggest roller coaster, and be one of the first people of millions to do it was well worth it. It was an experience like no other. Mesmerizing even. I guess it defined me as an enthusiast later. The fact that I valued the experience and opportunity so much, I had to wait in line. For my other friends, it must not have been so important. Four hours for any ride is a very long time.

^I hear ya, CoasterDiscern. I was kinda making fun of the ride, but I understand. I did the same when rides such as Shockwave (Great America), Magnum, Z-Force (!) and Mean Streak (!!!) opened.

Years on, and much older than 16, it just doesn't work for me anymore.

CoasterDemon said:

What do folks do in 4.5 hour lines when they have to pee? Or get a drink of water? I wonder if they had porta potties set up or something.

I can speak to this when I worked at Paramount's Great America full time the year Stealth opened. Where the extra capacity queue ended and the normal queue line began, security guards were positioned to hand out "passes" allowing guests to leave the line and return should they need a bathroom break or other issue. I would think that most parks, in general, do think about this issue and try to do what they can to help deal with these issues.

The longest I waited was for Volcano its opening year. It was 3 hours due to the operation of only one train at half-capacity (each car only had 2 seats installed instead of its normal 4, for a total of 8 riders every eon) and a few breakdowns. It was brutal, and the only reason I waited that long is because wait times weren't posted, and the queue is mostly indoors and separated into different rooms and hallways making the wait time impossible to predict.

Never again. I probably would have forced myself to wait that long for Millennium Force the year it opened because it was my most anticipated coaster and I rarely ever get out to Cedar Point (I haven't been there since 2000), but I made a point to visit during the week which helped considerably. I think of my three rides on it spread over two days, the longest wait was about an hour and a half...which is too long for me anymore.

I waited for Kingda Ka for 4 hours once. I think the line was about 1.5 and the two or three breakdowns accounted for the rest. Maybe this is sad, but I really had nothing better to do that day. I had just graduated, was waiting on some job offers and was living with a family from my church. The alternative was to go home and play video games by myself so I just hung around and enjoyed being outside.

Nowadays with kids, family, job, and a million other important things to do, my time seems like it's much more valuable. I don't think I'd even get in a line listed at 1.5 hours (I'd gladly pay to skip if if I cared enough).

It's funny... when you live in Orlando anything longer than 15 minutes seems unreasonable and a reason to skip a ride. It's just funny how the off-season makes you a "line snob." (Or the fact that if you know someone you don't have to wait during peak?)

CPJ said:
It's funny... when you live in Orlando anything longer than 15 minutes seems unreasonable and a reason to skip a ride. It's just funny how the off-season makes you a "line snob." (Or the fact that if you know someone you don't have to wait during peak?)

This is very, very true! As much as I can and don't mind waiting in a line, I generally don't for the above mentioned reasons in Orlando any more. Busy season there is when I do my people watching and picture taking. Although I will still wait in Soarin's line for anything 60 min. or less. That is one attraction that is totally worth it to me.

CPJ said:
It's funny... when you live in Orlando anything longer than 15 minutes seems unreasonable and a reason to skip a ride. It's just funny how the off-season makes you a "line snob." (Or the fact that if you know someone you don't have to wait during peak?)

Or Maver.... I mean, or Mind Bender 80 times in 4 days :) Spoiled, indeed.

We have standards!!! ;)

No worries CoasterDemon, I get impatient after just twenty minutes looking at all the annoying people in line. Back in the day it was cool for us, but now its too much . I'll start whining like all the little kids.

I waited in the line for Diamondback opening day. (3 hours maybe?) It was a great time as I spent it with awesome people and we had a great conversation.