Cedar Point advice!

Even though you are staying in Express, I would suggest that you go to Hotel Breakers after you are done riding in the evening and spend some time hanging out at the fire pits and Surf Lounge. The new area by the beach is really a great way to unwind with a few drinks with your family and friends.

Since this thread is here i have a question myself. My friends and I are planning (have tickets already) a trip for Aug 9-12. We live in NJ and are leaving on Sunday, Hitting Kings Island monday, then Cedar Point tuesday and Wednesday. My question is my friends and I are under 21 years old, but older then 18 and are looking for hotels. Does anyone know if there are hotels that won't let us stay or allow us to? We are looking at the motel 6 in milan, but no where does it state if there is a an age minimum

Per the Motel 6 website:

All guests registering must be 18 years of age (19-21 years of age required at some locations) and must present photo identification upon check-in.

You might want to call the Milan Motel 6 directly and ask them what the policy is at their location: 419.499.8001.

Thank you very much

I would check with Breakers Express, as a resort guest, you get an hour of ERT for Gatekeeper, Millenium, Maverick, and TTD. I think Raptor's open, too...So leaver earlier than 5, so you can be there by 9!

Cedar Point resorts is 18 yo minimum.

Now that CP has hinted the announcement for the new 2016 attraction(s) will be on 8/18 at 9pm, you picked a great date to go! I'm now planning to go that week for the announcement - assuming they will be using the coaster timeline and/or the luminosity stage for it.

Most of the great advice has been shared already. Start in the back of the park early in the day, and make your way forward. Also even if you're just going for the coasters, be sure to take a ride on the CP&LE Railroad at least once. It has a station in the middle of the park by Iron Dragon and one in the back near Mean Steak - both segments have great views and it can save you alot of footsteps if you're making multiple laps around the park.

If you are not familiar with Sandusky, I would suggest to mapquest the best driving route. If you are coming on the 80/90, there will be deceiving exits for Cedar Point. I always take the 80/90 and get off at the route 250 exit. Route 250 north is pretty much a straight shot through Sandusky, and there are signs leading you to Cedar Point

There are a bazillion hotels in the Sandusky area, but, the closer you get to the park, the less chance you have at getting a room. The hotels closer to the park will also be more expensive. I find the most reasonable priced hotels in Norwalk, ohio. Usually from around $50.00 to $60.00 a night. Though hotels tend to up their rates for the weekend guests.

And, don't be fooled, people will tell you the park isn't that crowded. But, my brother and I went one year, and every hotel room in Sandusky was booked. So, it is very important to reserve your room in advance. You don't want to play the tag and hunting game, where hundreds of other people are trying to get the same room you want. I made that mistake only once, and ended up paying $95.00 a night for a hotel that was so old it still had shag carpet on the floor, and someones underwear under the bed. And the place was filled with loud drunk college kids. Some hotels even have weekend rates of over $200.00 a night for the same $60.00 room.

Also, if you use mapquest, it will also give you a selection of hotels along your route. And you may find a decent deal on a nice hotel room. We stayed at the compfort inn in Sandusky, and the room was very nice. $90.00 a night, but, it was worth it.

As for rides, most of the coasters get the rider craze right after the gates open. M-force, Gate keeeper, and Maverick usually have lines over an hour from the get go. And, if top thrill dragster is running, expect a long wait there as well. I went on a thursday with early entry, and still waited 40 minutes for the first couple rides. Raptor had the shortest wait at only 10 minutes, and Wicked Twister was pretty much a walk on.. M-force had the longest early entry line at 1 hour and 45 minutes. It was over 2 hours almost all day, and Maverick got up to 2 hours and 45 minutes. Mean Streak was the only ride that had a short line all day. Less then 15 minutes. But, it can also be a walk on.

Timber-Rider said:

There are a bazillion hotels in the Sandusky area, but, the closer you get to the park, the less chance you have at getting a room. The hotels closer to the park will also be more expensive.

Good heavens! Has TR discovered how businesses operate?

Coming from Pennsylvania direction Norwalk is a little out of the way just to save a few bucks on a hotel.

You mean to tell me supply and demand has a correlation to how much you pay! Inconceivable!!

What!?! How can a business succeed if it's charging more based on its proximity to someplace that's popular?

It must hate poor people

Norwalk is not that far from route 80/90. With route 250, it is probably only a 15 or 20 minutes to Cedar Point. I stayed at a campground near London Ohio, and it was only 30 minutes to Cedar Point from there. I have stayed in norwalk many times, and I come from Grand Rapids, MI, which is a 6 hour drive. I know from years of staying at hotels near Cedar Point, that the hotels in Norwalk are generally cheaper than those north of the 80/90.

As for the hotel business comment. Not all hotels stay in business near Cedar Point. If I am not mistaken, many have come and gone, or are constantly being bought out by a competitor. I heard one of the reasons cedar fair decided not to open a castaway bay type hotel near michigan's adventure, is because the castaway bay hotel at Cedar Point did not do well as they thought it would, and water park based hotels in Sandusky are not doing well either. I think one actually closed, and re-opened under a different name.

Timber-Rider said:

Norwalk is not that far from route 80/90.

Depending on where you're coming in from Pennsylvania, Norwalk isn't too far out of the way.

As for the hotel business comment. Not all hotels stay in business near Cedar Point. If I am not mistaken, many have come and gone, or are constantly being bought out by a competitor.

Hm. Granted, I've only been going to Cedar Point since 1973, but it seems to me a lot of hotels stay in business, year after year. And a hotel that's "constantly" being bought out by a competitor strikes me as an endorsement of the property: why would a competitor buy a failing property?

I believe you mean Freedom Valley Campgrounds which is in NEW London, Ohio, in Huron county. London Ohio, in Madison County is between Columbus and Springfield and is more like 3 hours from Cedar Point. Just sayin', let's not lead our readers to a cheap hotel in London thinking its a quick jaunt to the park 'cause it ain't.

"Not all hotels stay in business near Cedar Point." I'm not sure what that means, unless it's that occasionally hotels near CP have closed. I think you can probably find that to be the case anywhere and everywhere, though. Once again you're missing the key to a successful business- profit. No hotel will last under any ownership in any location if it's not profitable and well managed. I lived in Sandusky for a while, I was born there, and it's definitely a seasonal town. While the many, many motel rooms can be in demand in the summertime, it sure drops off in the winter. So that leaves a hotel owner to either re-invent himself for the off season or go strictly seasonal. Hotel chains come and go and are "bought out by a competitor" because they aren't in a position to turn a profit in the winter. The indoor waterpark is a rather new, popular option for winter time vacationers and (like all new concepts) initially everyone jumped on that bandwagon. One of the laws of a competitive market is natural attrition. Some businesses make it, some don't, the cream will rise and the rest will close. I'm not surprised to see the smaller hotel waterparks do poorly in the shadow of places like Great Wolf, Kalahari, and yes, Castaway Bay. There just isn't that much business to go around and a full house during the summer isn't enough to sustain them all year.

And let's not just pick on Sandusky. You'd probably be shocked to know that even in central Florida, which runs 365, hotels and resorts are bought out all the time or even worse yet, close. Once again, even in that location, it's up to management to figure out a way to to sustain business through the lean season or they just won't be able to survive amongst the competition.

Well. Yes. RCMAC makes excellent points.

slithernoggin said:

...why would a competitor buy a failing property?

Because the old owners were a bunch of losers, I'm going to go in with bold ideas and make the place really profitable like my other properties...and I'll make it classy.

(Sorry, still haven't gotten past last night's debate, channeling my inner Donald).

If the smaller water park hotels aren't making it then it's just a simple matter of market saturation. Kalahari, Great Wolf and Castaway Bay have all become popular weekend destinations for the area within an hour or two of Sandusky over the winter.

This is the way we're going to be taking! We're going to leave Palo Alto, PA (right outside of Pottsville) around 5AM. We're hoping to get to cedar point by 12 and head straight to the water park to relax before check in at 4.