Cedar Point: Day 2. Sunday July 28th. Cedar Point Hell.

bjames said:

Timber-Rider said:

"A trip that ended up being 7 miles longer than the signs said."

"The road leading into Cedar point was bumper to bumper cars, going all the way back to the McDonalds on the mainland."

"With a 40 minute wait."

Magnum just after early entry. The wait after that. 1 hour 45 minutes.

"which was a 40 minute wait"

Iron Dragon, with a line going out of the queue...closer to 50 minutes.

"40 minute wait."

Mantis. Was actually the shortest regular line in the park.

"It ended up being a 20 minute wait."

Mean Streak.

"bout 20 minutes"

Top Thrill Dragster

"Another 20 minutes"

Top Thrill dragster, after first break down

"Waited another 20 minutes"

Top Thrill dragster at the second break down. Still in the same place that I was 40 minutes earlier, without ever moving a foot. As, they were allowing Fast lane riders on the ride, and holding the main line back. Still with two full sections of queue to go, which was probably another hour wait. With yet another rain delay. That's why I left the line. So, almost an hour in line for nothing.

Several hours of waiting for several minutes of fun. What has humanity come to?

You guys may think it's funny. But, to me, it's a tragedy. There is simply no reason for them to close every ride in the park over a sprinkle of rain. That would never happen at a Carnival, and I have ridden rides at carnivals in pouring rain, and their insurance liability can't be any different than a theme park. It's just ridiculous.

To give some perspective of why I was so upset with my Sunday visit. Let me take the time to compare the two visits, and you tell me how you would feel. I'll start with Thursday.

Thursday July 25th. Ride list.

Gate Keeper: 2 rides

Raptor: 2 rides

Maverick: 1 ride

Gemini: 1 ride

Top Thrill Dragster: 1 ride

Power Tower: 2 rides

Mine Ride: 1 ride

Corkscrew: 1 ride

Wicked Twister: 1 ride

Blue Streak: 2 rides

Millennium Force: 1 ride

Mantis: 1 ride

Wind Seeker: 1 ride

Other rides ridden: Wave Swinger, Enterprise, Cedar Downs, troika, and the Calypso, Matterhorn, and the Cable cars. I might have even left one or two out. I pretty much rode everything. From 9 a.m. until my last ride on Millennium Force, getting in line at 9 p.m

Sunday, July 28th. Arrive just before noon. Left at A little after 5.

Magnum XL 200: 1 ride

Mean Streak 1 ride

Power Tower: Drop side 1 ride

Iron Dragon: 1 ride

Mantis: 1 ride

Tilt-a-whirl

Himalaya

Matterhorn

Wave Swinger

That is all. Nothing else was open once the rain started. I had Wicked Twister on the list, but I did not ride it on Sunday. It was one of the rides that was closed due to the rain. I only rode it once on Thursday.

Comment if you want.

So weather ruined one of your days there, big deal, it happens. You were there for 4 days. On my most recent trip the rain killed my last few hours at BGW and as a result I did not ride Verbolten, Darkastle, Pompeii, Alpengeist, or Griffon. Parks have a policy on rain, and its for good reason (speaking as someone who was there on Maverick's Opening Day.)

Next time the forecast calls for rain, get there at opening. You have no right to complain about long lines when you show up to a park 3 hours after you could have started riding.

I actually checked the forecast Sunday morning before I left the campground, and there was only a 10 percent chance of rain. It was supposed to be sunny and 77 degrees all day. There was no indication that it would rain at all. That is one of the reasons I went the park to begin with. I was also waiting for another guy who wanted to go with me, but he changed his mind at the last minute. That's why I did not get there early. Had to wait for him to wake up first.

It was actually very nice when I got there at noon, not a cloud in the sky. It didn't start raining until around 3:00, and then it was just off and on sprinkles. It wasn't raining hard at all. It would sprinkle for about 10 or 15 minutes, then stop for about 2o minutes, then start again. No thunder, no lightning, just a very light rain. It was not raining when I decided to leave.

There just wasn't anything to do. Though I'm sure they got hammered by the storm that blew through when I was on the 80/90. Just after 6:30.

It was on again off again rain with no lightning the day Magnum crashed too (and pretty cold.) That event is why CF is so strict on their rain policy, the most strict of any chain. Given the unpredictability of weather on the peninsula and recent history I dont blame them for the policy.

I was there Sunday as well and got right to the turnstile at the top of the steps when it started to rain and they closed down Magnum. While we were standing there in the rain we talked the ride op who identified herself as one of the team leaders for Magnum. According to her, OSHA has gotten very strict about how they can run the rides in the rain. She said they can run Magnum in rain however where they used to be able to run two trains in the rain, OSHA will now only allow them to run one. Because Magnum's transfer track is only meant for one train, she they have to winch one all the way back on the track in order to get the other one on. Because this is a long difficult process (she said it would take up to an hour where rides like Millennium can do the transfer fairly quickly) they only do it if it's forecasted to rain all day. I can't speak to the validity of this but she seemed to be pretty knowledgeable on the subject.

Not sure what running rides in the rain would have to do with employee safety, which is what OSHA would be dealing with. It's possible the call came from elsewhere (I still blame insurance companies) and she just got the wrong acronym.

Hey CoastRlover. I'm curious as to what time you were in line for Magnum when it was closed down. I rode it on Sunday, my first ride of the day around noon. But it was sunny at that time, and the wait was 40 minutes, and it looked like they had all three trains running.

When I left the park after the third burst of light rain around 5 p.m. Magnum was temporarily closed with and 1 hour and 45 minute wait time posted at the gate. Lots of people waiting at the queue entrance, just like they were over at Top Thrill Dragster. And the queue was already partially full. And, I went out through the Soak City gate, so it wasn't more than 15 minutes, that I checked both queues before gave up on hoping for something to open.

When I left at 5, all the rides I passed were closed. Even the enterprise was closed. The only coaster that appeared to be running was corkscrew, which had a huge line of over an hour. Gemini was also closed. I had just left Gate keeper before walking to the back of the park, which was down, as was Wicked Twister and Raptor.

Wicked Twister doesn't need a transfer track, so why close that? And, enterprise is not a coaster. So, why close that? Pretty much everything was closed. The only ride I saw running was Max Air. And, it seems to me that it would be a huge lightning rod. So, why keep that open?

I just seems like over kill to me.

If you would have sprung for a fast lane it would have been a great day. I was also there on sunday and rode Maverick 6 times, TTD ,raptor, gatekeeper 5 times MF 3 times. No line over 20 minutes. (note I rode maverick early because that gets busy even with FL)

Having a lousy experience at Cedar Point is not a "tragedy". A tragedy is when your four-year-old son dies of leukemia or your mother has to have her legs amputated to diabetes. All you suffered was a crappy day that didn't match your rosy expectations.

Oh, and Cedar Point, just like that McDonalds in Sandusky, is on the "mainland".

Cedar Point used to be an Island, Ensign Smith. The causeway was added so that more people could get to Cedar point by car, instead of by boat. So, when I said mainland, at one point there was a difference. Besides it was just a location refference, so people would know just how far the traffic was backed up. But thanks for the tragedy education.

I will never understand a person who says they are having a horrible day at any park. You are at a park. If you can't have fun there (even while not on a ride) where-the-crap can you have fun?

I once went to Holiday World and did not ride any rides for three hours and still had an enjoyable time just looking, hearing, smelling and just being there in the midst of it all. Granted, I have been there a million and one times, however I just don't value the time at a park as the number of rides I can get in.

So you only rode eight rides on Sunday? Big deal! Why did you not spend less time complaining about it and more time having fun with your friends and living in the moment without lamenting about what you could be doing, but can't.

Actually, Timber-Rider, in recorded times Cedar Point has always been connected to the rest of the mainland. It was just a lot sandier and more swampy, which made building a connecting road difficult and prohibitively expensive. And the Chaussee preceded the Causeway by decades. The latter was built not to reduce boat travel but rather to improve road access to the property.

Timber-Rider, I didn't have my phone or a watch on me so I can't tell you the exact time but I'm sure it was sometime around 5. Once they finally reopened the ride we made it on in just enough time because as we pulled back into the station it had started to rain and they closed Magnum down once again. Like I said, this is just what I was told by the ride op on Magnum and I can't speak to the validity of it. Standing there in the rain on the steps, I didn't know what other rides were closed so it' not exactly like I could ask her about them, sorry.

Sometimes when park crowds are insane and I just don't have the patience - I bail out and head to a nearby beach, a nice restarant, a pier, etc. (Waterpark lounge chairs also provide a nice place to take a snooze.)

Sometimes it's just best to call it a day, cut your losses and try again at another time.

I don't get too many days to just go out and enjoy myself so I try to make the most of each opportunity.

Andy, your post reminded me of the time I went to Kennywood with my mother and daughter. Rained cats and dogs (living together) from virtually the moment we got in there. Didn't get a single ride and left when the park closed early. And you know what? It was awfully fun just being at Kennhwood in a downpour. I had a blast.

That is exactly my point! Amusement parks are more than just food, games and rides! They are places for family and friends to gather to have a good time with or without those things. Granted without those things, no one would likely gather there!

When I go to a park, and things are not working out there, I try to remember that, "At least I am not at work."

It's a little difficult though. I don't get to go to parks as much as I want to, because of lack of planning and where I live, mostly. Park visits are precious to me. It takes a lot of time, money, effort, planning, and energy to be able to go on a ark trip, for me anyways. When something goes wrong, it can seem like the end of the world to me, until I realize that I can try to have a good time anyways. The only thing people are in complete control of is how they think. It takes some practice though.

As for family and friends, most of mine don't like to visit parks, or they find it too expensive to make it something that they want to do as often as I do. I usually end up going by myself. That's why I like CoasterBuzz so much, because I get to talk to people here about parks. No one in my real life really cares about stuff like this.

Your point about gathering at parks with family and friends is a good one a_hoffman50. But, I always go to the parks by myself, so I am not gathering with anyone, but me, myself, and I. I enjoy going to the parks alone.

My most memorable visits to parks was being solo at Indiana Beach. I have gone there with friends before, and they always want to leave after a few hours, when I am just starting to have fun. As they, don't see the point of riding the same rides over and over. Or, staying all day, because they want to go into Indy, and check out the boring malls. Or, go to bars, where they never buy a drink.

I went to Indiana Beach on a picture perfect day, arrived at 10 a.m. and closed the park, with a nice sunset ride on the Shafer Queen. I rode all the rides I could stand, spent hours in the water park, ate at the Skyroom, and watched one of the bands play.

No crowds, no closed rides. Just a fun relaxing time. I have also had a few great solo trips to Cedar Point. This just wasn't one of them. As for rain, I was at Cedar Point during a torrential thunderstorm, and almost everyone was running for cover, while I was skipping through the puddles. I was totally drenched, but I was smiling.

I wasn't the only one skipping in the rain, I passed three young guys who were linked arm in arm skipping in the other direction, singing lions and tigers and bears Oh MY!! Grinning from ear to ear, and soaking wet. The best entertainment.

Was it Gonch, Raven-Phile, and RCMAC doing a dress rehearsal for Beastbuzz?