Cedar Point advice!

Hello gentlemen (and ladies),
My names Cody and I'm pretty new to posting on the site so please be kind as I settle in! I'm from Pottsville, PA (Yuengling beer and the skooks), and my hometown park would be knoebels. I have been to Hershey, Dorney, knoebels, and SFGAdv, but I am going into my senior year at Kutztown University and I have finally scrounged up money to make my first trip to Cedar Point!

This is where I need some of your guys help!
1.) I have a budget of 600$ for the two days I will be going! My dates are august 18-20. Tuesday and Wednesday I'll be visiting!
2.) I have no idea what resorts are my best bet. I'm gonna be stingy and tell you I want cheap, but not terrible! Help me out?
3.) I will only be with one other person! Help me out with shortcuts and any other advice to really enjoy my time.
4.) I will not be buying any type of fast pass!

I'm also wondering if anyone can tell me the attendance trend with the park during the week. I know no one will be 100% correct, but is it just as busy during the week as it is on the weekend?

Thank you guys and definitely drop any advice about the park as possible to be! I could really use your help and guidance!

Thanks again and I can't wait to meet everyone!

Welcome. :D

I like either Motel 6 near the park, but I normally only look for a place to sleep. There is one in Milan, just off of the OH Turnpike, and there is one in Huron, just East of Cedar Point. I like the one in Huron best. It has a nice indoor pool and hot tub. Both are about $60 or $70 a night, and a quick ten minutes from the park. Neither one offer a resort feel, but if cheap is what you want, they are nice enough. They are both the Motel 6 new "recently remodeled" style.

A lot of other people here have their favorite cheap hotels in the area as well.

A lot of people will suggest starting at the back of the park, and working your way to the front. I agree with this method for practically all parks.

Tuesdays and Wednesdays seem like good days to visit to me.

The Comfort Inn in Huron is nice. I stayed there opening weekend this year. And starting at the back of the park and working your way up front is very effective. The line for Maverick gets worse as the day goes on while Gatekeeper and Raptor are practically walk-on in the evening.

If the Maples Motel is still open, I'd recommend it as well. I've stayed at the motels LK and Thabto recommend and endorse them.

And yes, beeline to the back of the park. Most guests will enter at the main gate and hit the first rides they see. If you start at the back and work your way to the front, you'll avoid the longer lines.

Thank you guys so much for the quick responses! I really appreciate them. I may sound stupid, but is there only one park entrance?

Yes, there are several gates to get in the park, but there is only one major roadway into the park, Cedar Point Drive. There is Cedar Point Road which also leads to the exact same place, but it's technically a private drive for the residents of that roadway.

I would look into Breakers Express. It's a park owned hotel, so it seems like its a bit more but when you factor in the discounts for park tickets and the free parking, it might outweigh the cheaper hotels down the street.

I can't stress enough how important it is to avoid the front of the park early in the day. Especially if it's your first time, Raptor and Gatekeeper look sooo inviting when you first walk into the park, but the lines drop from an hr+ early to near walk on (on an average day) later. Meanwhile, for the first hour, the back of the park is a ghost town.

Breakers express is showing $377 for 2 people with tickets for both days. I would jump on that. That leaves you with a couple hundred bucks for food gas and Beer!

Another thing to keep in mind, if you stay at Breakers Express (or any other Cedar Point hotel) you can get into the park 1 hour early. That is a valuable tool to knock out rides on Maverick, Millenium Force, and Rougarou before the crowds get too large.

I'm yet to see Rougarou exceed 1 hour wait times. It's high capacity and keeps the line moving.

I don't stay at hotels since I live close enough, so I'm a lost cause there.

However, the back to front plan of attack really does work well.

Tuesday's are generally a slower day of the week as are Wednesday's. Depending on when school starts, which is right around that time in Cleveland. That may also help you out as the park may see kids going back to school that week.

With food being quite pricey in the park, go to a grocery store in the area and load up for picnicking. They provide shelters near blue streak and gatekeepers turnaround. That can save you some money if you want to go that route.

If you are going strictly for rides, I would hit all of the coasters provided they run, which with anything mechanical may have downtime. Also flat rides to hit are maxair, Skyhawk, power tower, cedar downs, windseeker, and check out the beach and breakers while you're there. Really is lost in the fold with shiny rides everywhere, but really cool nonetheless.

Mostly have fun and enjoy yourself.

You asked if there was only one entrance to the park. There are two ways to get to the park, but stick with the main road. More lanes, higher speed limit, and a great view of the dramatic skyline.

As for entrances into the park, there are four. The main entrance is used by most. It's at the front of the park and is located near the main parking lot. It is the most crowded.

Driving around the park on Perimeter Road, you will first pass the entrance on the Marina side, which enters close to Millennium Force. If you enter here, you may need to park in the main lot and walk to it, which could be a pain in the butt. This entrance is mainly for those entering the park from the Marina, arriving at the park by boat.

Perimeter Road ends at Hotel Breakers and Soak City. There is an entrance for those staying at the "on point" hotels in this area. This gate enters close to Magnum. I recommend parking in the Soak City lot and entering through this gate because it is the closest to the back of the park. Once you enter the park through this gate, hang a right and walk past Gemini and across the train tracks to get to Maverick, which I would recommend riding first.

The last entrance to the park is near Gatekeeper and Windseeker, and is only accessible by walking along the beach from Hotel Breakers.

I would suggest familiarizing yourself with the park by looking at some maps and satellite images.

If you are coming by the turnpike you will be going through Sandusky on Rt 250 to get to the park. If you are taking Rt 2, coming from the east, you will either get off at Rt 250 just like the turnpike or earlier on Rye Beach Rd. I suggest Rye Beach Rd. to save the traffic of going actually through Sandusky unless you get a hotel there or need to shop on your way in then Rt 250 has pretty much everything you may need. The back way in, Cedar Point Rd. is a unique drive with the lake on one side and a bay on the other and some very interesting houses so you may want take it in or out of the park at least once during daylight just because it's pretty cool and you happen to be there. It is technically private but guests do enter that way, mostly locals because there is no sign to guide you anymore. The park prefers you to come in the front. The road is narrow, no passing, and definitely stay under the posted 35mph limit and be very observant because people do cross the road from their houses to their private beaches on the other side of the road or stand right at the edge of the road fussing with their landscaping quite often. You need to sort of treat it like a school zone.

I will second Travis's advice and say park in the Soak City lot. Not only is it closer to the back of the park, but the drive there is cool (the beach/lake on one side, coasters on the other), and the lot is so small that even if you're in the back rows, you don't have much of a walk.

And the best advice? Have SO much fun.

Also depending on where you park in the Soak City lot you may not be far from small,treed, grassy areas where you can eat your lunch picnic style if you want to.

Buy one all-day meal plan per day and share it with your friend. It costs <$40 per day and you can get a meal every 90 minutes. Makes for a cheap way to snack throughout the day, and opens up $$ for drinks or a nicer dinner later on. We get one wristband and split it between myself, my wife, and my son. It works great.

^ You may want to see the debate over at Pointbuzz on that right now.

I'll check it out. I haven't been to PB in a while, the conversation seems to go in circles (with a few exceptions) this time of year.

Oh, it's going in circles alright. Apparently, sharing food on a dining plan is akin to sharing fast lane plus, which is an offense punishable by removal, revocation of passes, and a ban from the park.

I don't agree, and don't have a problem with food sharing, but it's still a fun little debate

Raven-Phile

That's a pretty interesting debate... With the ADDP, I'm of the mindset that I pre-paid for 8 meals. What I do with them is irrelevant. The FastLane is different because it is UNLIMITED front of line access... If I go to Red Lobster for All-I-Can-Eat scrimps for $14.99, I can't share or take any home. But if I order 45 scrimps for $9.99, I can share them as I please.