CoasterMania! 2009

Raven-Phile said:
7 AM? You're a bigger man than I. I'd probably skip morning ERT altogether. You'd see me rolling in about 10 or 11 :)\.

PM? ;)

RideMan: This is because most, if not all Sandusky hotels are now owned by.....

....you guessed it, Cedar Fair.

Cedar Fair bought a bunch of them out because they knew they would be able to jack up the prices.

What a fantastic rumor that has no basis on fact in any way, shape, or form...lol I also heard that Cedar Fair owns the McDonald's just before the park...but they don't.

Not very close, but the Motel 6 in Milan is probably my favorite cheap hotel I have ever stayed at. It's just off the Turnpike, about 15 minutes from the park. Last time I went, I paid about $40 a night!

BuckeyeCoasterFreak said:
RideMan: This is because most, if not all Sandusky hotels are now owned by.....

....you guessed it, Cedar Fair.

Cedar Fair bought a bunch of them out because they knew they would be able to jack up the prices.

That is not even remotely true. In fact, nearly a fourth of them are owned by one guy and/or his family.

Just a question about registering for the event. Do you think if I show up sometime before 10pm on Friday they will still register me for CoasterMania? I have a Platinum Season Pass and also my coasterbuzz club membership. And if so where are they doing the registration? The main gate, or somewhere else?

^

Yes you will be able to register. There was NO pre registration.

There will be a specialy marked booth at the main gate.

As previously noted, the only hotels that Cedar Fair owns in Sandusky are the ones on the peninsula, Castaway Bay, Breakers Express, and I think they own a marina just East of the park. And yes, I am well aware that most of the hotels in town are owned by the same people...and that includes some of the best and some of the worst. Because this particular owner doesn't seem to believe in putting any money into fixing up seasonal property.

The real shame of it is that Cedar Fair owns most of the best hotel rooms in town, and charges for them accordingly...and gets away with it not because there is any shortage of rooms, but because renting a room from anybody else is such a crap-shoot. If the allegedly-chain-affiliated hotels were even close to the standards for those chains, it would level the playing field and you'd actually see the prices for the Cedar Fair rooms come down to a level competitive with the other hotels. As it is, you pay a premium for staying in what you know will be either a decent room, or will be right at the park.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

We have an extra ticket cause someone backed out... anyone want it? (2 day pass!!)

And Cedar Point hotels are way too much for what they are, with the only redeeming quality being that they're mostly on-property. In many cases you can stay at one of Universal's on-property hotels for less, and those are all AAA 4-diamond. Heck, I've stayed at The Venetian for less, one of only a hundred 5-diamond hotels nationwide. I suspect if Breakers ever applied for a rating, it would get 3 at best.

I will be posting more about this later. But having been there tonight, I can say that the new format for Coastermania is an Extreme disappointment. With Maverick ONLY from 11PM-Midnight, you were lucky to get 2 rides in. The wait time for Maverick was completely ridiculous for an "ERT", it was just like being at the park regular hours on a busy saturday. Magnum from 10:30 or so -11 wasn't much better. It was supposed to be 10:15 - 11 but it started late.

All I've heard is that the previous format was better where they had a few different rides open at the same time, instead of keeping ONE ride open for an entire hour, and having the entire crowd flock there, making it a 45-min or more wait. I might as well not have even come to ERT at all, because what was accomplished there tonight could eaisily have been accomplished in a regular day at the park. A free t-shirt and some appetizers are what I got for spending $20. Ummmm yeah thanks for the shirt.

Unfortunately, I will not be attending tomorrow's festivities. 6AM - 9AM with both MF and TTD perhaps would be better than what happened friday nite, but why do those so early in the morning. In terms of saturday night, who cares about the freaking blue streak?? (usual walk-on anyway). And Raptor will also be EXCLUSIVE, meaning the entire enthusiast community will be battling it out for maybe 2 rides each of that.

I will be leaving CP some feedback in regards to this, and would urge others to do the same. (Keeping it respectful and polite, of course, but stating how disappointed we are in the new format).

Coastermania has never been that "exclusive" when it comes to ERT. Ever. I think most people use it as a chance to meet up with people they don't ordinarily get to see.

Having a big enthusiast event and then having only one ride open at a time really defeats the purpose of ERT. Why pay extra to go to a CP event when you can go to Holiday Nights and ride any of the 3 rides 15 times in a row?

I walked by Magnum at 11:15 last night and it was still going strong, with what looked like little to no wait. I didn't interview anyone, but with the chanting and laughing on the ride, I didn't get the impression that anyone was disappointed.

Jeff said:
I think most people use it as a chance to meet up with people they don't ordinarily get to see.

Or stalk people you rarely get to stalk.

Dan Linden said:

Why pay extra to go to a CP event...(cut)..

I dont recall paying extra, unless you count the $6 all you can drink. If you dont have a pass I guess you do, but in that case consider it an day in the park with a few extra hours tacked on.

eh.. I had a good time regardless of the extra wait.. We just did Magnum this morning.. no wait.. Used last night to ride Maverick and socialize.

I'm a member of a coaster club. I deserve ERT. I deserve it now, and often.

I'm jealous! You guys are at coastermania and i am stuck at home working this weekend! I usaully have been to CP by now but have not gotten a chance to go yet this year. Our boy scout troop (I am an adult leader) is going the 10th and 11th next week. I am dying here from CP withdrawl!

LostKause said:
What a fantastic rumor that has no basis on fact in any way, shape, or form...lol I also heard that Cedar Fair owns the McDonald's just before the park...but they don't.

Not very close, but the Motel 6 in Milan is probably my favorite cheap hotel I have ever stayed at. It's just off the Turnpike, about 15 minutes from the park. Last time I went, I paid about $40 a night!

It's one of my favorites as well, and where I usually stay when I am in that area. They aren't that cheap nowadays, though. :( The cheapest I found for this weekend was about $89 a night. I priced a lot of the other motels and they were about the same if not higher.

I didn't go to Coastermania this time but it's amazing how fast they can jack up the prices! I know it's the weekend and it's June but geez! Even the crappy motels (like the Budget Host and Rodeway Inns) were pushing $90 this weekend!

-Tina

ridemcoaster said:
Or stalk people you rarely get to stalk.

Or get people in trouble with their wives for revealing precious industry trade secrets!

Jeff said:
Coastermania has never been that "exclusive" when it comes to ERT. Ever.

Well, some "veterans" I spoke with in line for Maverick said they NEVER remember standing and waiting in line like that for a CM ERT, ever.

Gemini said:
I didn't interview anyone, but with the chanting and laughing on theride, I didn't get the impression that anyone was disappointed.

Had you been at the Maverick line at around 11:30, you might have gotten some different opinions buddy. I chatted with quite a few people and I wasn't even remotely the only person disappointed with the new format.

What Dan Linden said above perfectly sums it up.... i couldn't have summarized it any better.

Even two marquee rides open for ERT at the same time would have been all I asked, that way the lines would have been a bit shorter.

Raven-Phile said:
I'm a member of a coaster club. I deserve ERT. I deserve it now, and often.

Give us ERT now!

I still don't understand why parks put up with enthusiasts.