Cedar Point Adventure Weekend – Our Tips, Hints and Experiences

This past weekend we packed up the vehicle with our niece (who is 9) and our nephew (who is 13) and hit the road for a 3.5 hour journey to Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky Ohio. Casting back in our memory bank, both of us had visited Cedar Point when we were in high school and it seemed like such a long journey on the bus – but truthfully it is only 3.5 hours in good traffic which isn’t bad at all.

Add in a couple of stops for treats along the way (mmmm….Sonic Drive-In’s slushies were our favorite on this trip….1/2 between 2:00pm and 4:00pm each day) and we arrived in Sandusky safe and sound.

We did not stay in a Cedar Point hotel the first night, so we were not able to take advantage of the 1 hour early ride time that hotel guests enjoy. However, when we did enter the park at the 10:00am opening time we were pleasantly suprised to find that the lines were not crazy awful (even though it was a holiday weekend).

Our niece was delighted to find Peanuts characters out and about first thing that morning. They were friendly and easily approchable for photos. We loved that!

We made our way around the park to various rides including Millenium Force. Everyone but Kelli rode that ride and they loved it! The line moved pretty quickly and as Kelli sat and reviewed the park map and the thrill level for the ride (it was classified as a double diamond #5 – the highest thrill level) she was a little concerned that her niece would not like it. Wrong – she loved, loved, loved it!

One of the things we love about this park is how clean it is. Even with all the people that wander about, you will be challenged to find any trash laying around. There are always workers sweeping and cleaning.

The weather was beautiful during our stay, but it did get quite warm. Cedar Point does an excellent job of providing shaded spots near almost every ride which is especially valuable to those family members who choose to wait while others ride.

We took advantage of the detailed park maps and made sure to plan the day’s adventure with that in mind. The park is big; really big. If you don’t plan your day you could find yourself walking from end to end several times criss crossing to hit the specific rides. Check the map!

And if you find that you need to hit another side of the park take advantage of the Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad. You can hop off the train 1/2 way through the loop and this is a great step saver. You can also hop on the Sky Ride to eliminate walking from the front to the back of the park.

The two new rides for 2014 are the Pipe Scream and Lake Erie Eagles. Jim and Mackye went on Pipe Scream and enjoyed it. The line moved very fast because the ride accomodates many people. Mackye enjoyed it so much that she chose to ride it on day #2 in the park as well. She also loved Lake Erie Eagles (she rode that 3 times).

This line does move fairly slow as there are only 8 “eagles” on the ride. Parents can ride with younger children.

We made sure to hit the Dinosaurs Alive! exhibit that is at Cedar Point. Do not miss this! Admission is really reasonable, starting at $6 per person and dropping to as low as $2.50 each if you buy 4 or more. Expect to spend an hour or so wondering along the shaded tree laiden path checking out the dinosaurs. We all enjoyed this, and it was a welcome change of pace in the day. Coming face to face with life sized animatronic dinosaurs was fun!

There are over 40 dinosaurs that move and make sounds; some of which you can control. The lush setting offers a plesant stroll and the educational information is presented in a fun and easy to digest format.

And there is a kids area where they can dig for bones!  (And other family members can rest on benches in the shade!).

This attraction appeals to all age groups and we really recommend you add it to your day at the park; it is really something to see.

After about 8 hours at the park the kiddos were tuckered out, and so were we. We left the park and checked into our hotel room at Breakers Express. This property is the most budget friendly of the Cedar Point lodging options. The outdoor pool was nice, the rooms were clean and the hotel was quiet.

When we had booked the rooms we received an email from Cedar Point that we could visit Castaway Bay Indoor Water Park for $10 per person. We decided to make the quick drive there (literally it took about 2 minutes to get there) and check it out. They allowed us a 10 minute guest pass to go inside the water park and see if it was something we wanted to do. The kids were sold within 10 feet. At $10 per person it was a very reasonable fee for the amount of adventure!

There was a great set of water slides, a water coaster, a big wave pool, several areas for small children to play as well as a nice sitting area for those that would rather relax (Kelli). We ended up being in the park for nearly 3 hours, and we all had a really good time.

On the second day we woke early and hit McDonald’s for breakfast in the car; not the most delicious choice but we were concerned with convenience and time that morning and McDonald’s and Dairy Queen are right next door to Breakers Express. Because we were guests at a Cedar Point property we were allowed into the park 1 hour early for ERT (Early Ride Time). This was a huge benefit especially for Jim and Stone because they were able to get onto GateKeeper with no line! Pipe Scream did not open at 9, but opened at 9:30 so Mackye took that opportunity to ride it a second time while the boys were on GateKeeper. Top Thrill Dragster was another ride the boys wanted to go on and after GateKeeper they decided to wait in line for that ride until it opened at 10:00. This was a smart decision as they were in the 2nd car for that ride.

One tip for taking full advantage of the ERT is to plan ahead which ride(s) you want to hit. The hour goes quickly, and you don’t want to waste time walking to a ride only to find out it doesn’t open until 10:00. The lobby of the hotel had a list of the rides that were open during ERT.

Eating in the park is not cheap, as expected. Just like any amusement park, you’ll want to choose carefully to save money. We ate one larger meal at lunchtime and that was enough to last the day. The quality of the food was good and the portions were ample. Our kids shared a fry and it was more than enough along with their burgers. We left around 6:00pm, but had we stayed longer we would have ended up eating another time. One wonderful money saving Cedar Point tip is to buy the drink bottle!

1 bottle is $14.99 when bought in the park but you can refill it for free all day long. In the sun and the heat, it was a great relief. There are a bunch of refill stations in the park; our kids loved the ones with the fancy machine that lets you pick from over 100 different flavors. We bought 1 cup and shared it. If you buy more than one the price drops to $13.99 or $9.99 if you buy 3 or more. If you buy the drink bottle online before you visit you can save money; they are $10.71 online. As a bonus, when you visit the park again (as we did on day #2) and bring the drink bottle back you can get refills for just $0.99.  You can also buy the bottle at Cedar Point online before your visit and save a bit of money.

While at the park you will notice that the park has rides for kids of all ages.  There are 4 wonderful areas devoted to smaller children within the park:  Camp Snoopy,  Planet Snoopy, Kiddy Kingdom and Gemini Midway Area.  Even though our niece is 9, she still liked some of the rides in these areas and the lines were super short!  She could walk right up and ride on many of them, even on this holiday weekend.  In Camp Snoopy and in Planet Snoopy there are areas where characters come out several times a day and it is a perfect spot for cute photos.  In Camp Snoopy we happened to catch Peppermint Patty and Sally singing and dancing.  they encouraged kids to come up and join in the fun, which our niece enjoyed.  This is a great spot to hang out (with shade) if other members of the family are out riding other rides.  It was super easy to find each other once the boys were finished on the roller coasters.  (After Millenium Force our niece decided she did not want to ride any more of the “big” coasters).  You can view a full list of kids rides.

Our adventure at Cedar Point was fun. We laughed and explored and most of all we created memories.

You can find out more information about Cedar Point and plan your own family fun vacation.

Disclosure:  We were provided with complimentary admission to Cedar Point in exchange for our honest review of the park.