First trip to Cedar Point/King's Island

[Drewbie]

For those of you that don't know me, I'm a recovering theme park addict from Minnesota that calls Valleyfair! home. I've been to many other theme parks, but not too many general amusement parks. I've tried in vain for years to plan trips to places like King's Island, Magic Mountain, Holiday World, and Cedar Point, but I've never been able to make them work.

Well this summer, that changes. I'm finally taking my wife, leaving my kids behind, and hitting up both Cedar Point and King's Island in one long weekend of rides and fun.

What I'm curious about is what my expectations should be for trying to see and ride all that the parks offer in one day. Cedar Point will be on a Thursday towards the end of June, with King's Island on a Saturday. Should I expect crazy crowds on both days and prioritize my ride plans so I can hit the high spots? Can I reasonably expect to ride everything?

Any tips and advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Antoine]

At Cedar Point on a Thursday if you arrive early enough, MAYBE. I don't think it is doable at Kings Island on a Saturday though. Kings Island can have some ridiculous crowds sometimes. I mean Cedar Point can be the same way, but for some reason it is more noticeable at KI. I have never personally covered all of CP in a single day, so you are pushing it there. Maybe it can be done on a Thursday, who knows. If it was me, I would plan two days at each park. If that is not feasible, ensure you get there before the place opens. That way you can get a jump on all the popular rides and then slow down as the day goes on.

[Thunderhawk]

I may become the villain of thrillnetwork with my suggestion, but, I'm going anyway. Fast lane. I was at Cedar Point and KI two weeks ago and got Fast Lane at CP. I think the longest wait I had of the day was for the front row of Millennium Force at the end of the day... a total of 15 minutes. It would have been approximately 75 minutes if I had waited in line. It basically gives you station waits only for the majority of the rides, and they keep the stations pretty empty (most likely to prevent long waits for fast lane users).

I would also suggest taking advantage of early entry into CP and KI. At CP you can reasonably expect to ride Maverick, Millennium Force, and Raptor before 10 am. (If you get fast lane, go to Wicked Twister at 10 am as it is not on fast lane and the waits can be atrocious.) You need to be a Cedar Fair Platinum Pass holder or a CP passholder to enter early, or you need to stay on property. I also recommend strongly skipping disaster transport and windseeker if you do not have fast lane and there is a wait.

[Brian H]

I also suggest an early Mantis ride as it isn't exactly a people eater. And from the mantis lift hill, you can get a good idea of how long the wait is for TTD, plan 1/2 hr for each section of the line, and 15 min from the ramp into the station. Maverick has consistently been my hit or miss between its long line and down time.

At kings island, go to the left side first. Expect longer waits for Firehawk, Invertigo, and Flight of Fear in that order. You should be able to get everything in KI without the fast pass, many will be enjoying the waterpark until it closes. If you are a credit hog, there are 3 1/2 coasters in the kids area.

[Austin]

For Kings Island you can do the park in a day, but you'll be there from open to close. Start with Firehawk first because its the worst capacity ride, then while your there you can get a ride on Flight of Fear before the line gets pretty long. Do Invertigo whenever, I'd say whenever you do Flight Deck. I usually try and do Stunt Coaster after I do Firehawk and Flight of Fear because we've always had a decently long wait for it. The longest wait I had last year at Kings Island was on WindSeeker (during haunt so crowds would be higher) so If you see a short line (the line I waited in was out to the Dinosaurs Alive entrance so anything in the queue is good) and it's something your interested in riding you should do it.

[Brian H]

Forgot about stunt coaster. When I've gone, it hasn't had a very long line.

[Drewbie]

I do have a Platinum Pass, but my sister won't. She's joining us and I'd hate to say, "go wait in the car." That said, she won't be with us for Cedar Point so we'll use it there for sure.

Good tips all. Thanks for the advice. I'll try to remember to do a trip report when I get back.

[Steven]

If you find some time to hit Holiday World, I definitely recommend it.

After a major coaster drought myself, I finally hit Holiday World last year after a lot of poking, prodding, and eventually retiring from actually running the site before I went. That park is definitely doable in a day. You may want to start out in the water park for a bit (get Mammoth and Wildebeest done with), then maybe hit the coasters afterward. I went again this year, on my own accord.

Voyage was rough last year. But with the re-tracking (and the re-profiling of the turn in the back), it was much more bearable this year. Legend is meh (a bit rough), and Raven is pretty good.

I still can't get over how you get up-close and personal with the owners of the park... how you see them in the TV ads and all. Yet, at least Pat Koch (and sometimes Dan as well) is around the front of the park to greet guests in the morning. Very nice lady.

During hot days, they do have two flavors of Gatorade on tap for their free unlimited soft drinks. I suggest sticking to those.