Cedar Central's Weekly Cedar Point Tip

Tip #2) If you plan on visiting Cedar Point many times, make sure you get a Platinum Pass. A Platinum Pass is basically a Season Pass with many more benefits. A) The Platinum Pass works at every Cedar Fair park. So, from Cedar Point, to Carowinds, to Knott's Berry Farm, you get all of the benefits. B) Free admission. Well, of course, this is probably the number one reason to get a pass to the park. You get unlimited admission to the park all year, including HalloWeekends. C) ERT and Early Entry. Every day of the operating season, you will be allowed to get into the park an hour early, with several rides such as Millennium Force and Maverick running. This is a great opportunity to get a lot of rides! There are also special dates where rides are reserved for Platinum Passholders, usually after the park closes for the day. Pretty cool! D) Discounts. The Platinum Pass will get you many different discounts throughout the year. E) Snazzy free stuff! Sometimes if you buy your Platinum Pass during a promotional period, you can get cool stuff. Like last year you got a snazzy "Cedar Fair VIP" windbreaker, perfect for cooler days in the park. When you bought a 2009 Platinum Pass, you got free admission to HalloWeekends (Well, if you didn't have a pass already!). F) Free parking. When you show your Platinum Pass at the parking booth, you will never pay a dime for parking.

So, a great tip for any Cedar Point fan is to get a Platinum Pass. The benefits will go on and on, and it is definitely a great buy!

Thanks!

Brad

Another Big Amusement Park Trip!

Next week I will be heading up to Cedar Point, and later on to Carowinds again. This will mean that there may be limited posts throughout those days (Well, with finals for school there have already been limited posts), but I will try my best to keep the blog up-to-date. I will be away from the 9th through the 18th, so it's a long time, but I will make posts using an iPhone app whenever I can! I'll see some more of Starlight Experience and Carowinds, so I'll have some exciting stuff!

Also, I do plan on typing up more trip reports from Carowinds and Cedar Point, but I have a habit of making them very long, so I will type them as soon as I can!

Thanks!

Brad

Starlight Experience

Last Saturday I walked through the long awaited Starlight Experience, Cedar Point's most highlighted attraction for 2009. The Experience opened last Saturday, May 23, and a small preview was shown before it opened. I have one word to describe it-amazing. When you walk through during the day, you don't see much, but at night, you certainly do! The entire trail is covered in extremely bright LED lights, and there are other lights to illuminate buildings and trees, and some cool lights in Millennium Tunnel. Lots of lights. If you start at Millennium Tunnel, you first enter winter, and go through fall, summer, then spring (I guess I went through it backwards!), or if you start at Snake River Falls, then it is the opposite. There are numerous cool special effects throughout the trail, and I won't give it away, so make sure that you check it out the next time you are in the park.

The show started around 9:00 PM, and on the 23rd, the trail closed at around 8:35 PM to set up parts of the show. Since then though, the trail is closed for a much shorter time, and some people have noted that people are allowed through the trail, as long as it stays organized, although I can't confirm this until the next time I see it. There are new signs up by the entrance to Millennium Tunnel and on top of the new Frontier Trail sign that I described earlier. Overall, it was great experience and it will be something that I will try to get through most nights that I'm in the park. I was oohing and ahhing all the way!

Thanks!

Brad

New Poll!

Our May poll ended a few days ago, featuring our readers' favorite thrill ride (or flat ride) at Cedar Point. Now, the results are in, with Skyhawk being 66% of our readers' favorite thrill ride. And I must agree that Skyhawk is an incredibly awesome ride. Congrats, Skyhawk!

Our new poll is now up, asking the question "What is your favorite children's section at Cedar Point?" Over the recent years, Cedar Point has become increasingly focused on families, and now with three children's parks, we want to know what your favorite is.

Have fun!

Brad

Check Out the New Webcams!

Cedar Point recently updated their Webcams page on their website. Now all three of the webcams are up and running. The current line up is the PagodaCam, DragsterCam, and the new TrailCam. The TrailCam provides an image of the Frontier Trail, from above the Candle Shop facing Millennium Force's over banked curve. It will provide a nice view of the Starlight Experience at night. It also appears as if each of the webcams were slightly moved, and it looks like you get a better view than before on all of the webcams.

There is also a new webcam viewer, which allows you to change the size of the image.

Thanks!

Brad

Cedar Central Update

Okay, so it's been a while since I last updated what's been going on here at Cedar Central. Well, things are going well, and the complete network should be completed soon. At the blog, there has been a lack of posts due to a lot of travel and school throughout May. I think I am back on track now. The website is getting pretty far, and could be uploaded to the server anytime soon, so I'll notify you on the blog. The widget is still being reviewed, and so I don't know when I'll release it. Pretty soon though. If you would like the widget, Version 1.0 is still available. I will have a post outlining the new features pretty soon.

So, May was a slow month, but with a lot of time opening up in June, next month should be pretty big.

Thanks!

Brad

Dragster Stuck... Again!

As of 2008, this event only had a 1:53,000 chance of occurring. What's the only thing better than a roll back on Top Thrill Dragster? A complete halt on the top! Yes, if the ride launches just right, the train can remain perfectly balanced at the top of the hill. So, a maintenance worker heads up the tower and pushes the train back to Earth. While I wouldn't want to be the one pushing it, I would love to have a complete stall! Well, my dream may never come true, as I have yet to even get a roll back.

The last time this happened was October, 2008.

Thanks!

Brad

Cedar Central's Weekly Cedar Point Tip

I have been going to Cedar Point for a long time now, and over the years, I have discovered the best ways to get through the park in one day. Every week, I will be posting a tip, and by following these tips, it will be much easier to get in an "all 17" day.

Tip #1) Rides don't quite close at 10.

Or closing time, that is. A common thing I hear at Cedar Point a half hour before closing is "No, the line's over an hour long, and the park closes soon, so there's no point in waiting and being kicked out of line. We had better just head back to the hotel room." Well, if you have the time, and won't fall asleep, this isn't true. If you get in line for a ride and the park closes, they can not kick you out of line. The ride will keep running, all night if they have to! Just get in line before closing, and your day will be greatly extended!

Thanks!

Brad

Millennium Force

Unfortunately, Millennium Force has been facing mechanical issues since this morning. There are problems with the cable lift, but there haven't been any details from the park. I am expecting the ride to be down for a few days after today, but I'm sure the park will get it fixed up and ready to go as soon as possible. As seen on the PagodaCam, there is already a crane on site.

Tonight's Platinum Passholder ERT on Millennium Force will be moved to a different day. Tonight, the ERT is now Magnum XL-200 and Dragster.

Thanks!

Brad

Do You Remember...?

Do you remember... Top Thrill Dragster's Old Trains?

Yes, this is an odd "Do you remember...", but I was thinking about this the other day. Top Thrill Dragster used to have a spoiler and large tires on every train. These special parts made the trains look like real dragster cars. Unfortunately, due to a not very serious incident where a tire became loose on one of the trains, this scenery was completely removed. Today, you can tell it was there because of the round, black part on the back of the train.

Thanks!

Brad

Poll Reminder

Remember, there are only 10 days left to vote in the May poll! This month's question is, "What is your favorite thrill ride at Cedar Point?" It looks like our reader seem to be S&S fans, because right now, the only two rides that have votes are Skyhawk and Power Tower! Well, I am a huge Skyhawk fan too! But remember, if you want your ride to win the poll, make sure you get out and vote!

There will also be a new feature beginning next week!

Thanks!

Brad

Cedar Point 2009

I visited Cedar Point for Opening Day 2009, and I made a few observations, some of which have already been noted of and some that haven't. Here are some interesting things I saw at the park. (My trip report will be coming soon as well.)

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New Causeway Sign

This has been talked about a lot by Cedar Point fans over the winter, and I have to say it looks great, especially at night. It is nice and colorful and the LED is bright and crystal clear. Very attractive!

New Entrance LED Signs

This too was very popular discussion in the Cedar Point community. Cedar Point now has many LED displays in the main entrance. Once again, they are very bright and colorful, and look great.

New Garbage Cans

I know that we all love Cedar Point's famous garbage cans, so it was cool to see a new style of garbage cans in the park! There are a few new bins around the park that are grey and have a much thicker looking plastic. They are very similar to the old ones, but the top part with the four openings sticks out and is wider than before. It's hard to explain, but I like them!

New Hand Dryers

One of the coolest things I saw in the park was actually in the bathrooms! Cedar Point got new Dyson AirBlade hand dryers. You put your hands in this area, and then a stream of fast moving air moves across the opening. When you pull your hands out, the water gets pushed off and drained. They called them the "Fastest, most hygienic hand dryers available.", and I must agree with that statement. These dryers are fast. Even faster than the Xelerator dryers that pushed your skin away from your hand! Well, luckily, these aren't as powerful, but they still perform better. Unfortunately, I didn't see these at every restroom yet though.

New Midway Fountain

This was really nice. The area looked nice around the fountain, and the water was very refreshing. It actually squirts out at anytime or in patterns, so you never really know when you'll get wet if you're running through. It's pretty fun to watch, too.

Brick Pavers

Throughout the front of the park, there are a lot of new brick paver midways. These are around the fountain, along the main midway, and at the entrance. They look really nice and durable, and it's a nice alternative to concrete.

Train Crossing Areas

The areas where the CP&LE Railroad passes through the midways just got a little facelift. Instead of concrete, there is now asphalt around the tracks.

Family Dryer

A more recent announcement from the park was that there was going to be a new "family dryer" near Snake River Falls. This dryer, also called a Haystack Dryer, can dry a total of five people for five dollars. It's going to be nice not having to walk around wet all day after riding Snake River Falls or Thunder Canyon! I didn't get to try it out yet, but I will soon!

Maverick Screen Gone

The LCD screen in Maverick's queue line is now gone. I am not quite sure why it was removed, but it was probably prone to vandalism.

Park Banners

The new banners hanging around the park look great. This year, there are "Magnum XL-200 20th Anniversary", "Ride On", "Ride Warriors", and several banners with just rides on them. Also, there are some banners with Cedar Point logos on them near the midway fountain, and they look really nice.

Magnum Sign

There is a new sign right outside of the entrance to Magnum XL-200's queue. It looks really cool, and fits the ride really well.

Magnum's Tunnels

I'm not sure if this is true, but in the tunnel on Magnum, I thought I could smell fog, an effect that hasn't been used on the ride permanently for a while now. This could mean that it might be restored.

New Energy Drink Stand

There is now an Energy Station near Gemini. It sells energy drinks and soft drinks.

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If I forgot anything, I will make sure that I post it in this post later on. I saw a lot of new stuff at the park, and the park looks great. It looks like 2009 will be a great season.

Thanks!

Brad