There is no doubt that Cedar Point, located in Sandusky, Ohio, is one if not the best theme park on the face of the planet. I can safely say this after four successive years of traveling to this massive, fun-filled park with my family. But, like any other vacation spot you’ll venture to, there are certain things to keep in mind when you’re traveling there to make the most of your well-deserved getaway. Speaking from my experiences there, here are a few helpful tips to make the most of your stay there:
First off the bat is your actual stay there; for those of us who have to make it a multi-day trip, you need to find a good place to stay and crash during the nights when your feet are tired from running all around the peninsula. There are plenty of hotels to chose from, but when it gets down to it I recommend paying for one of the cheaper rooms within the park’s own hotel, the Hotel Breakers. Sure, there’s absolutely nothing fancy about these rooms; a room with two large beds, a television, its own bathroom and a few other accessories for around $170 a night. Sounds pricey for the simple accommodations, but the benefits of staying on-sight are well worth it. Those who stay in the Hotels both within the park or the ones at the entrance of the peninsula are allowed into the park an hour earlier than the general public, and if you stay at Hotel Breakers you can be waiting at the gate for the 9 o’clock opening and get to do your favorite rides (only specified, popular rides are open for the first hour usually) without the massive lines. Also, it makes going into and out of the park a breeze throughout the day, since the Hotel Breakers is but a stone’s throw away from the park entrance. My family has always had a great time with these benefits, so I highly suggest staying there if the park is going to be the center of your attentions while you’re in Ohio.
Secondly, always make sure the weather is going to be suitable for an enjoyable day within the park; this year proved to be a good lesson for us that no rainfall doesn’t necessarily mean the trip’s going to be perfect. When I first heard that the temperatures were going to be high (in the lower nineties) I wasn’t phased much, just glad that they weren’t predicting torrential rainfalls for the days during our trip. But the searing heat turned out to be a rather large downer for our trip this year. Of course, the rides were a blast as they always are, but the intense heat made some parts of the day very unbearable. Cedar Point is heavily paved like most parks, and the heat radiated terribly off of it, so waiting in lines was usually sweltering. Also, many of their rides don’t have a lot of protection from the sun (some of their older rides actually do have shade, but their newer or popular ones like Top-Thrill Dragster and Millennium Force, unfortunately, aren’t exceedingly covered.) When you’re planning for your trip there, always take into consideration that excessive heat can be just as bad as rain or storms in putting a damper in your trip.
A good tip as well for planning your trip is to make sure that you visit this park in the middle of the week; try to steer clear of going into the park on weekend days (primarily Friday through Sunday.) These tend to be the days when there’s the heaviest amounts of people there who are off from work (in other words, more local people are free to come to the park.) The three best days to shoot for are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; during our last stay there, we never waited more than 45 minutes for a ride, even for their popular roller coasters and attractions. If you can’t avoid going there on those days, try and get into the park as early as possible and hit the rides you really want to try first, so you can avoid the crowded rides that come later on in the day.
Since Cedar Point is so massive, I suggest planning at least part of your day ahead, especially the first things you do. Try and get your hands on a map of the park so you get a feel for the quickest paths to the rides and a feel for the layout of the park itself. This can save you time moving from one ride to another and help get you in lines quicker, and so you can make the most out of your day. If you don’t use a map, you’re likely to get lost. There are signs posted that point the way to the rides, but there are sometimes multiple paths to them and you can easily get lost with how huge the park itself is.
Also, as alluring as the park itself is, I highly suggest you try their water park, Soak City. Though it can be crowded on warmer days, they have a lot of decent water attractions that are well worth your time, including a lazy-river featuring random waterfalls and other ways to get soaked, several body slides and several fun tube slides (single riders only.) If it’s a grueling, hot day, going into the water park can be a saving grace from the heat; if nothing else, you can enjoy either of their lazy-rivers or use one of the several pool areas they have.
These are only a few of the things I’ve learned from going to this park routinely, but I hope that these tips help you make the most of your visit to Cedar Point. To those of you heading there soon, I hope you have a fun time and everything goes great for your trip!
