If you didn't make it out to Cedar Point's Opening Day today...

[ytivarg]

Be glad.

It sucked.

From a spoiled local's point of view, anyhow. I really, honestly thought that the weather yesterday, and the predicted cold today, would have kept the masses at bay.

But no, they were there by the busloads. Before I left for the park, we checked the webcam... barely any parking was filled up. Looking to be an amazing day ahead of us.

Had to make a run to H.R. to pick up new badges and tix for friends. Get into the park and everything is crazy. All day I only rode, in order:

CP&LE Railroad (Main to Frontier)
Mine Ride
Top Thrill Dragster
Millennium Force

Granted, I spent a lot of time just wandering the park not wanting to wait in the crazy lines. 1 3/4 hours for Raptor. 45 Min for Magnum. On opening day? I think not. I'll walk on those in a couple days. I'm surely not waiting for them now.

Maverick was running empties when we arrived in Frontiertown via train. Maybe coming up from some Opening Day hiccups? Awesome, let's go check it out. Doesn't look good, so we go hit Mine Ride, come back and hang around a bit more. I guess it'd been down since 3pm for pretty much the remainder of the day (or at least what I saw of it). I stood outside later in the day and ate up at least an hour and a half of watching them cycle more empties.... but got fed up and headed over to Millennium, which ended up being the end of the day for us. Left around 8:20pm.

I'm glad I'm close and can be picky like this.. not many people can do that. But, for me... a big thumbs down simply for the huge crowd today. I just wasn't expecting it at all, and it was a real downer for the day. Can't say I blame anyone though.. it was a gorgeous day as far as the weather went.

No Maverick all day, one of the things I was really looking forward to. I certainly hope this is all fixed up soon. Meerkat will be disappointed, I know, if it's not running for his visit... and so will I. :down:

No signs of life ANYWHERE at maXair. Disappointing. :down:

Skyhawk looks to only have 2 full-height swings now. Wasn't there 3 full-height swings last year? Didn't get to ride it, but stood in line for about 15 minutes watching them cycle empty and fumble with a seat sensor ("It's red! It's Green! over the PA system). Disappointing :down:

Millennium crew seemed to be running well, the line was moving and took around an hour. Didn't want to wait an hour, but I wasn't leaving without at least a Millennium ride.

Speaking of Millennium, saw a Tshirt up in Park Plaza (right next to Demon Drop's entrance) with "Millenium Force" on it. Seriously, guys? Can't we have someone check these things before they're printed by the thousands? Also, check the height 'pillars' that list the rides at the entrances. Look at the 52" listing for "Top Thril Dragster" Someone in that park needs Spell Check re-installed.

The train now has a spieler. But, the speakers in the train are terrible at best... and not loud enough to hear what the spiel is. I wouldn't want them any louder though, because the quality is so horrible, I was kinda glad I could barely make it out. Some rambling nonsense about Lake Erie and the states that border it? Thanks for the geography lesson, CP. I guess it would be a nice touch to the ride, but needs much better execution.

Planet Snoopy is really, REALLY cool. The entire area looks SO much better. The bright, vivid colors and paint everywhere are a nod towards KI's Nick Universe almost. The rides and backdrops are adorable.... and Jazz-Hands Snoopy at the entrance is a photo hot-spot, as well as the Snoopy & Woodstock bench.

I almost didn't recognize Main First Aid with the new Family Care center added to the front. Again, looks great.

[Maylene]

That sounds like bad time sorry to hear that.

[KingVeveraine]

TBH, thoes queue's would be what I would call Average. I would be glad for a 45 min queue.
But opening day? That is unsual, parks ussually have like 5 min queues then. But will it really get emptier for the next couple of days?

[p8ntball]

I really really want to take a trip to CP this year. I haven't been in such a long time!

And I dont remember much at all, but how long at most would you say waiting for certain rides are worth? Say.. Millenium Force, is it worth a 2 hour wait or more? etc..:)

[ytivarg]

Well, my max wait times are a bit skewed. I work for the company, and I live 5 minutes from the park. When I can go on days where everything is pretty much a walk-on, with 15-20 minute waits for Dragster and Millennium... I don't want to ever wait more than that. ;)

[p8ntball]

Well, my max wait times are a bit skewed. I work for the company, and I live 5 minutes from the park. When I can go on days where everything is pretty much a walk-on, with 15-20 minute waits for Dragster and Millennium... I don't want to ever wait more than that. ;)

Ahh, perfect! I didn't think CP would ever have walk ons, even during the week. Shows what I know.:p

[Tylor]

I don't think you mentioned it, but there are no longer cubbies at Six Flags Parks. Well, at least Six Flags New England. There are one time use lockers at each individual ride. You have to pay one dollar to use one, otherwise you have to hold on to your stuff during the duration of the ride. It is very upsetting. :down:

[ytivarg]

I don't think you mentioned it, but there are no longer cubbies at Six Flags Parks. Well, at least Six Flags New England. There are one time use lockers at each individual ride. You have to pay one dollar to use one, otherwise you have to hold on to your stuff during the duration of the ride. It is very upsetting. :down:

Uhm. I didn't mention it. Because I wasn't talking about Six Flags whatsoever.

[Cedar Point]

I'm lucky (for a Chicago-er) and get to go twice this year, but I'm expecting HUGE crowds. I'm going in mid-July (bleh) and again in mid-August (less bleh than July, but still bleh).

Oh, well. :heart:

[~LoveTulie]

Ah, opening day? Really? That sucks. If I was going, I would have expected no lines at all, too. I looked on the webcams... it looks like it does in August, the parking lot.

Glad I didn't go that day, or today. Was raining all day over there. Can't wait to go tommarow, though. Expecting no crowds really. The only thing I'm worried about is the weather.. hope it doesn't rain in the afternoon.

[Cedar Point]

Glad I didn't go that day, or today. Was raining all day over there. Can't wait to go tommarow, though. Expecting no crowds really. The only thing I'm worried about is the weather.. hope it doesn't rain in the afternoon.
You're not going to school tomorrow? Lucky. :pout:

[fathorse]

I had an okay opening day, better than last year at least.
Started the day on Millennium Force, then over to Maverick. Maverick had a LOT of rollback issues. It took my train 3 tries to make it over the first hill. Then Skyhawk broke down as we were getting on (this became a recurring theme). After waiting longer at Donut Time than we did for Maverick (including breakdowns and rollbacks) we hit Wicked Twister and then worked our way back. There were a lot of groups there again this year, but not as many as last year. maxAir apparently won't reopen until near Memorial Day. No idea why.

[Hemmy]

I have actually noticed this trend at various parks right when they open.

I went to Worlds of Fun opening day and again last week, and things improved a lot.

[ytivarg]

Cedar Point's opening day for the past several years has been really dependant on the weather. With the cold and rain the day before, I really thought it would keep some tourists home. But, with the astronomical amount of busses that were there, they were gonna be there rain or shine.

The two weeks worth of weekdays after opening day are the best possible time to go. Weekends are iffy, leaning towards obnoxiously busy.

[SnooSnoo]

4.5 hours for Maverick.. and I didn't even ride.

But other then that, a rather average day at CP. Lines weren't incredible, but more then I thought.

I was disappointed overall.

[RoyT]

You know you're spoiled if you live 5 minutes from the park, work at the park, and still complain about a measly 45 minute wait.

[cpkidOH]

Crowds were what kept me away on opening day. I went on Sunday, and although it was cold and raining, I managed to get in rides on every major coaster execept TTD and Gemeni. Got on the first trains of the day on Raptor and Maverick (which was around 2:00). The park was deserted the entire day, so everything was walk on once the rain ended.
All in all, it was a really great day:up:.

[ytivarg]

You know you're spoiled if you live 5 minutes from the park, work at the park, and still complain about a measly 45 minute wait.

Yep. Which is why I started off the thread with 'from a spoiled local's point of view'.

Why on Earth would I want to wait 45 minutes when I can go 2 days from then and wait 5-10 minutes?

[Cedar Point]

Yep. Which is why I started off the thread with 'from a spoiled local's point of view'.

Why on Earth would I want to wait 45 minutes when I can go 2 days from then and wait 5-10 minutes?
Because you're a tough cookie.

[Harpo]

Well, I was at the park for a 3 day opening weekend -- Saturday through Monday -- and I had a great time.

I don't have the luxury of living 5 minutes away, so I had to deal with the waits on Saturday. However, since the weather was nice, the waits weren't really all that bad.

On Sunday and Monday, the weather wasn't particularly good, but I still managed to ride everything I wanted to ride (with the exception of maXair and Space Spiral).

From the rumor department, I heard that maXair was awaiting some parts that had to be ordered from overseas, with a rather long lead time, hence the reason it wasn't open.

Early ride time is a wonderful thing. On Saturday, I rode Maverick first, followed by Millennium Force -- both finished before 10 AM. I managed to get on all the "big boys" that day, including Raptor, Mantis, Magnum, and Mean Streak.

I managed to get my wife on SkyHawk. Ordinarily, she doesn't like swinging rides, but she decided to give it a try. She's now sorry that she waited so long -- she really liked it.

Sunday early was really miserable weather, so we went to Castaway Bay for a couple of hours -- $10 for a day pass when you've got a Platinum season pass.

[RoyT]

Oh yes, Castaway Bay is awesome. I think they need to add-on though.

[~LoveTulie]

Yeah Harpo, I must agree the weather (well, we got there at 12) was fairly bad. Not great, but at least it wasn't pouring rain.

Monday was pretty good though, except for a few things. We got on all the rides, except for Maverick. For some reason, it looked like it was closed for the day (*sigh*) was really looking forward to it too, was sure there was gunna be no wait. Some of the things that bother me though is that like on Magnum and Gemeni and Meanstreak... there was the littlest line.. yet, it took SUCH a long amount of time just to get the station... Mag and Mean were the real only ones running 1 trains. Although, Gemeni DID have 2 trains on the red side, but for some reason, took them quite a long time to load. Like, the train would be in the station for like 3 minutes, then they'd finally started to load. And to be honest, if they have 2 red trains, I'd suggest just having the red and blue racing, one train on each course, because IMO, Gemeni gets boring if it's not racing.

And Grav, I remember last year, Skyhawk only went up on it's highest height one time each and both sides. Kinda sucks, such a short ride then.

Millenium was amazing though. Walk right on station, two trains going. Got right on. Twas lots of fun, as usual. Same with Raptor and Wicked and Mantis. One thing I did notice though, is that Mantis seems a little more rough than I remember from last year.

But all in all, great trip. Got on everything I wanted to, okay weather, so yeah. :D

[The Dave]

I have been much confused. :bored: Why would queues be less on an opening day? Surely that's when they are highest right?

[Darth Gilbert]

Harpo, I saw you on Saturday evening. I was exiting Ocean Motion and you were standing near the gate. You were in conversation with Sally so I didn't interrupt you. Nice to see you, anyway. hehe

We arrived at 3PM on Saturday and amazingly only waited 10 minutes to redeem our season passes. Much nicer than the 4 hour wait 3 years ago. After checking into Hotel Breakers, my spirits were riding high and I'm glad we decided not to skip opening weekend. We rode favorites Magnum and Millennium Force and some other stuff that day.

Early Sunday was very rainy, but we managed 3 ERT rides on Millennium Force, the third being in the front seat during a steady rain. That was freakin awesome! My face was completely numb when I got off the ride from getting pelted by all the raindrops. My son covered his face, but I kept my hands up and my smile wide throughout the entire ride. We spend a bunch of time in the arcades and stores and over an hour at Midway Market, as we waited out the rain, but eventually it stoped for awhile. Lines were short and we rode just about everything Sunday, including a 15-minute wait for Maverick. Dragster was the only ride we really missed out on this weekend. We'll get her when we go back in 11 days!!!

[Harpo]

Yeah, Sally's been a friend since even before I worked at the park in 1986. When my family stayed at the Hotel Breakers in the 1980's, Sally was one of the people who worked at the old key desks. Those key desks are long since gone. Some of the key desk people, such as Sally, moved into positions within the park.

I'm sorry you missed Dragster. Kim and I rode it in the back seat on Sunday.

For me, no visit to Cedar Point is complete until I've been on all 16 of the coasters that allow adults sans children. (In other words, everything except Jr. Gemini.) When I'm at the park for 3 days, as I was for Opening Weekend, I'll usually also ride most of the non-coasters, as well, with the obvious exception of the kiddy rides. (This time, I skipped Dodgem, the Kiddy Kingdom Carousel, and the antique and turnpike car rides. Because they were closed, I also missed Space Spiral and maXair. Oh, and because I was avoiding doing my Human Popcicle impression, I skipped Thunder Car Wash and Snake River Falls. Otherwise, I did 'em all, and also caught the show at the Red Garter.)

On Monday, May 19, I'm going to be starting a new job, leaving the company I've been with for almost 16 years. I'm excited about the new opportunity. I'm just hoping it doesn't significantly impact my Cedar Point and other amusement park visits -- time off is likely to be at a premium for a while!

There was one point when I was heading towards the Breakers on Monday where I thought I heard someone call me, but, looking around, I couldn't find a caller. Whoever it was, if you called and I didn't respond -- Sorry about that! I tried looking, but just didn't see you!

[SnooSnoo]

I have been much confused. :bored: Why would queues be less on an opening day? Surely that's when they are highest right?

Last year, the lines on opening day was significantly less then on Saturday.

[Darth Gilbert]

Cool info about Sally. I've spoken to her a couple times, but don't really know much about her. But I always look forward to seeing her at the beach gate.

Good luck with the new job!

[pnkfloyd12]

On Monday, May 19, I'm going to be starting a new job, leaving the company I've been with for almost 16 years. I'm excited about the new opportunity. I'm just hoping it doesn't significantly impact my Cedar Point and other amusement park visits -- time off is likely to be at a premium for a while!


Just curious, does leaving have anything to do with the announcement that HP was buying the company, or is that just a coincedence?

[Cedar Point]

I have been much confused. :bored: Why would queues be less on an opening day? Surely that's when they are highest right?
Nevah! The lines on OD (judging from past trip reports) are moderate to minimal. The main people going on Opening Day are locals like Grav, or the occasional "outsider" like Harpo. ;)

Families or schools generally don't go on OD. Most of May is a dead month, for that matter. The kiddies (like me) are still in school, and most of the geezers (like bio :noob:) still have to work.

Like I said, this is based off previous TRs, not personal experiences.

[ytivarg]

^ Generally, that's how it goes.

But there were TONS of school busses this year. It was a disappointment, really... just because of the sheer unexpectedness of it all.

[Harpo]

Just curious, does leaving have anything to do with the announcement that HP was buying the company, or is that just a coincedence?

My thinking is that EDS decided it just couldn't go it alone without me, hence they decided to sell the company to HP. :D

My decision was made before I heard anything about the HP acquisition, so, unless they really didn't think they could last without me, the timing was probably just a coincidence.

As for Cedar Point's opening day... it was a mixed blessing for me. I like to have small crowds on nice weather days when I visit, but, as a Cedar Fair shareholder, I like to see large crowds spending oodles of money!

(I had to say something that would keep the post more-or-less on topic!)

[TheFreshEffect]

I miss Cedar Point, I had so much fun.

:(

[RoyT]

Speaking of, I heard that there were people there trying to sell timeshares to people outside of Magnum's entrance. Apparently, they were pretty aggressive in their tactics.