Visiting CP for the first time...

You're gonna have so much fun I'm jealous!

The CP hotels are definately worth getting in the park early. My boyfriend and I went for then same amount of time last August -2.5 days- and Dragster was the first ride each full day we were there, so we beat the crowds.

Granted August was probably busier than May but it's still worth it-- I agree.. take your time and just have fun- take lots of pictures- and don't ride MF at dusk unless you want bugs splattered all over you =)

~Cara

If I had 2.5 days at Cedar Point this would be my strategy:

1. Enter the park.
2. Pick a ride.
3. Wait in line.
4. Ride.
5. Reride, or pick another ride.
6. Repeat steps 1-5 until I'm hungry.
7. Go to hotel at park close.
8. Repeat steps 1-7 on second day.

Anything more detailed than that means you're overplanning ;)

I'm also a proponent of the "start in back" method.

Enter through the Magnum/Soak City gate. Do Magnum, Gemini, Jr. Gemini & Woodstock (if so inclined) and CCMR. Grab a ride on something that interests you nearby (the Antique Cars are a good choice :) ) and head back to Mean Streak. It should be just opening for the day or opening shortly.

After Mean Streak, start head back towards the front via Frontier Trail. You should have just under and hour to make your way to MF/Mantis for the Freeway stamps. Take the time to catch a flat or two and explore Frontier Trail, maybe get an early bite to eat.

Get the MF and Mantis stamps then do Wildcat and Iron Dragon (it is only now that you should start seeing lines and crowds) - if you still have time before your Freeway stamp catch Corkscrew too.

Do MF and Mantis with your Freeway stamp.

By now it should be between noon and 1pm and you already have 11 coasters and a few flats under your belt and have seen Frontier Trail.

From there start exploring the front of the park and hop in lines based on your judgement. Usually Blue Streak, Disaster Transport and Wicked Twister can be done is short time leaving you a whole half a day (summer hours) to catch Raptor, TTD and bigger flats like Power Tower, Maxair and Demon Drop and with that much time, lines won't matter and you'll be able to just have fun without worrying about squeezing it all in. (and those are some of the lines I personally enjoy waiting in if I'm going to have to wait - something about the excitement and anticipation and watching the ride makes it go by quickly and the vibe is good)

We just kind of stumbled onto that method over the years and later found that it's an approach many worried about efficiency use. I can't remember the last time we weren't able to easily hit every coaster at CP in one day.

It's not a hard and fast "we have to do this" type of plan, just look at lines and use common sense and it won't be work at all. It's a natural flow that works against the crowd instead of with it.

Of course, Moosh's plan is a nice one too. :)

*** Edited 4/21/2005 7:22:07 PM UTC by Lord Gonchar***

Anytime I get to a park NEAR opening, I certainly try to head for the back of the park FIRST, then work counter to the flow of traffic. I also don't eat at "normal" times, cause if I'm gonna wait a half-hour to see an employee, it'd better be a RIDE attendant!

I'm not sure I agree with the "back of the park" method. Rides like Gemini, Mean Streak and Magnum (at least in my experience) typically have shorter waits throughout the day.

I say start with Dragster only if you see it testing before the park is open. If not, make other plans rather than waiting it out.

If Dragster isn't available, head for MF. Considering that Dragster gets some nice capacity when its running, I'd venture to say that MF may average the longest lines of the day.

And thats all the planning I'd really recommend (just pick the one ride to start the day). With 2 days, you will have MORE than enough time to ride everything several times. I've gone to CP in May the past two years, and the crowds have been light, though not non-existent.

Well put Gonch, thats what we tend to do when we are there early enough. Only we enter through the main entrance and stop at doughnut time! Thats if we arent staying at the resort.

Just don't try to do Raptor before 4pm. I'll never understand why people do that. The ride eats people, yet they'll queue for an hour at the start of the day for no other reason than it's in the front of the park. Come back near dinner and nearly walk on.

Every time I go to CP with a large group of people, I try to tell them, "Wait! Let's ride Magnum first! There will be no line! We'll have to wait an hour to ride Raptor! There will be no wait later! STOP FOR GOD'S SAKE!!!" but no one listens and they all file into the huge Raptor line over my protests.

Stupid sheep mentality.

But Den, those folks are WHY I go directly to the back of the park....not a CP thing, but MOST parks, assuming I get there near opening...;)

People also tend to navigate parks in a clockwise direction, so going counter-clockwise can also be helpful.

This is what i did last year. Sprinted to TTD. Rode. Went over and rode milly, after i got off it was about 11 so i waited to get my hand stamped. then do the rest of the back of the park. After 6 or 7 raptor is a walk on the rest of the night. The reason i always do ttd first is because usually it runs best in the morning then as the day goes on it wears out so to say. And magnum is never more than a 20 minute wait no matter what day

We decided to take the Hotel Breakers Package for $191 for a lakeside view :). We are going to be there May 17th, and 18th, and I am also hoping to hit light crowds. Are all the coasters open 1/2 hr early, or only some of them?

Thanks to everybody here for my previous Kennywood questions too.

i know raptor mf, ttd are running for sure. That is a good question cause i am getting my joe cool membership this year.

I'd say it is definitely worth it to stay on property. I stayed at Breakers with a lake view room last May, around the same time you are going, and the park was not too busy in the mornings, so we could do a lot.

In the afternoon it got busier, so we left and went back to the room, did things in Sandusky or Cleveland, or at Challenge Park, and came back in the park to ride again after dark, when crowds seemed to have disapated a bit.

Enjoy your trip!

Beast Tamer - they started opening Raptor for Joe Cool every day last year because it was always questionable as to whether TTD would open on time.

My strategy is always to knock either Dragster or MF off first since they will probably be your longest waits. I'd go for Dragster if it's running because you never know when it is going to go down and not open back up. MF usually runs pretty consistently. Whichever one you don't hit first, you can hit 5 minutes before park closing. As long as you're in line, you will ride. This way, you waste less of your day waiting in those two lines.

After you finish riding your first ride, either MF or Dragster, go to the back of the park and work toward the front. Definitely do not try to ride Raptor much before 4 or 5. It always gets a long line early, but it has great capacity and will be a near walk-on in the evening.

Also, don't wait in a huge line for Mantis. It's not worth it. If you can get a freeway stamp for it, consider that. Otherwise ride it in the evening.

Moosh: Really? I've always heard that folks tend to start Disney Castle parks in tomorrowland, and go counter-clockwise from there...

*** Edited 4/22/2005 12:35:34 AM UTC by Brian Noble***

If you're with a big group of friends, start a line behind a garbage can. People will get in it.

As a Huge MF fan I can not explain just how much I agree with eightdotthree and Ride of Steel on ridding MF.

As important as it is to ride MF first thing to avoid the lines. Make certain to ride the force at night in the back row! It is a different experience, much faster and more intense. The best experience out their to me.

If you ride MF in the front row first thing the first day. And you ride MF in the back row at night it will be a different experience.

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Jeff said:
If you're with a big group of friends, start a line behind a garbage can. People will get in it.

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LOL ;) That is really funny.

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SFGamNut68 said:Are all the coasters open 1/2 hr early, or only some of them?

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It depends, I have seen all the big ones open at 9:00 and I have waited for MF to open to well after 9:30 and one train operation to about 10:00.