I SURVIVED Cedar Point on July 4th.....kind of!

Hello Coaster Fans Who Are Plotting Their Next Night Ride,

There is a few disclaimers here...but interesting ones:

My trip WAS on July 4th.
But I visited on the operating day of July 3rd...read on!

Cedar Point had one of those VERY VERY rare 1am closes...but I had to work at night. Could I close my establishment and get to the park?

I SURE DID!!

I arrived at the park at around 12:10AM!!

It was VERY VERY VERY packed...I could see people parked in the grass by the tool booth.

It was SOooooo hard to get IN TO the parking lot because of everyone LEAVING the park. It took about 10 minutes for me to get to a place where I could start "weaving" in and out of the parked cars to get to the front... literally I'm driving in and out of all the cars trying to get to the front, so I can avoid the mass exodus.

I arrived at the front gate at 12:35AM.

Showed my pass and got some VERY weird looks. My goal was to go to Millennium Force for a night right.

I fought my way to Raptor through the HUNDREDS of people leaving. It was a 15 minute wait. Could I risk it? Sometimes those signs are wrong at this time of night, especially with all these people. I got in line, it was a exactly 15 minute wait. Back seat...it was awesome. BUT it stopped in the breaks....NOooooo A lady came back and walked to the third train behind us did something and then we pulled through.

I had 10 minutes now to get to MForce!!! I know with a brisk walk, that's what it takes... assuming no train.

People looked like Zombies leaving the park right now...very odd and scary.

I arrived at the line at exactly 12:59AM!!! And got in for the final ride of the night!!!

When I got between the stations they took the yellow train off...seems kind of a weird time to take it off. Why not wait a few minutes? But I know CP's all about the weight of the trains and the crowd is thinning out.

I got a back seat ride, at night, at 2:15 AM!! AWESOME! It was INTENSE EJECTOR air at this time of night/morning!!

It's also worth nothing that Windseeker looked AWESOME with it's SWEET American LED show it was putting on.

So I took my time leaving the park as everyone else did too...What a great time even if I got to the park at 12:30AM!

-RollerCoasterGod

Sounds fun. One of my favorite things about Cedar Point is the way they leave the lines open that late. I remember MF's opening year I was there with my friends staying at Breakers Express. We got into line really late, waited two hours and then was able to get BACK into line again to ride again well after the park closed.

It sounds like you parked in the main lot, yes? As someone who's done what you did before (albeit at 11:30 rather than 12:30) -- if you do such a visit again, try to hang a left and go back to the Soak City lot. I too witnessed the endless string of cars leaving, but after about 5 minutes of waiting to turn left, I got over to Perimeter Road and it was smooth sailing to the back parking lot.

Oh, you're Bryan Bird! Great job on the CFK fundraising so far! If I'm not mistaken, you have the second or third highest total. Congrats!

Sorry to hijack the thread, Roller Coaster God.

^ Thanks! I received a very generous donation from a friend (which will be doubled once his employer matching is confirmed). I'm still hoping some folks who gave last year will come through again too.

Anyway, back to July 4th. ;) I believe it was 2 years ago that I did the on-a-whim late night stop because I happened to be driving Route 2. I got on 3 coasters and Skyhawk in under 2 hours, and it was kinda neat to be there so late with the die-hard fans.

Yeah...I was trying to get to left and go around the park...at least that was the original plan.

Problem was all those pull out lanes on to the road if you're going to the back...All I could see was stop headlights as far back past the blue streak...so I opted to try to go up on the right and hug the shoreline by the old Demon drop side.

Rough guess it would have taken about 20 to 30 extra minutes to try to get around to the back which is where I usually park.

But yes, it was a blast with everyone at the park after close!

I almost think its useless to ride MF in the morning. In fact when people tell me it's overrated I generally start out by asking them "at what time did you ride it"? It's just that much better at night. I cannot imagine what it's like at 2:15!