Cedar Point Discounts / Info

[huskies90]

When discussing our trip this August to take my daughter to school in South Bend, IN, we realized we will be driving right past Sandusky, OH. If we can swing it, I would love to check out Cedar Point. Any info on discounts or tips? We have never been there. TIA

 

[Fire14]

Meijer ( local Grocery Chain) will be selling discount tickets starting May 27th.
I'd expect Coke to have discount coupon on Cans in coming months.
You can request a planning guide from Cedar point website and in past there has been coupons for admission in there, hotel discounts.

AAA offers discount on Tickets but I honestly think Meijer will be cheaper.

There are hotels on Milian road which are fairly close to CP without high prices

There is a lot of Chain Chow places in general area.

It was December but I stayed at a La Quinta and it had really nice Breakfast and was fairly close to Cedar Point. I would so stay there again, I swear we had entire back building to ourselves ( who other than runners would be up in area in DEC).

 

[Barzeski]

Yep. What the pp said. Also, there are forums for the parks. It really helps with planning!

 

[jemmi]

If you end up going to Cedar Point they have a nice picnic area right outside the park. We always pack a lunch/dinner and use the picnic area. It's a nice break from all the rides and saves some money on food. Also if you go start at the back of the park and work your way to the front, that should help with lines.

 

[lovin diz]

We are going to cedar point for the first time in August as well. I have found something called their Christmas in July sale. Last year tickets were $25 or $30 (can't remember). They are for sale for this price one day only--July 25th. I am going to buy our tickets then.

We are giving Disney a break until fp+ gets straightened out. Cedar point has always been on my bucket list.. We can't wait!!

Not sure what we will do about their front of the line passes though ??

 

[ThisIsJason]

As a Fire14 wrote: Meijer will be selling discount tickets (though the prices Meijer lists online are the same as gate pricing).

https://www.cedarpoint.com/contact-us/request-a-brochure

In the past it has been a nice brochure. Normally has one page dedicate to it with all different types of discounts in it.

http://pointbuzz.com/Forums/

One unofficial forum.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Its $15 to park the car but if you eat at Famous Daves right outside the park and take your parking stub with you they will deduct $15 off your bill.

You can get to Famous Daves by using the park exit (AKA Marina Exit) by the Cadillac Car ride. So you don't even have to drive anywhere. Its about 5 minute walk from the exit. You get to sit down in the A/C and relax and enjoy your meal. We find the prices at Famous Daves are not overly inflated compared to other Famous Dave places. They are about at $1 or $2 higher.


http://www.famousdaves.com/cedar-point

 

[mcgregml]

No guarantees, but last year coke rewards was offering tickets to all of the Cedar Fair owned parks (including Cedar Point) for 1,000 points each. If you have coke points and if they run the deal again you can save quite a bit.

 

[elaine amj]

Its $15 to park the car but if you eat at Famous Daves right outside the park and take your parking stub with you they will deduct $15 off your bill.

You can get to Famous Daves by using the park exit (AKA Marina Exit) by the Cadillac Car ride. So you don't even have to drive anywhere. Its about 5 minute walk from the exit. You get to sit down in the A/C and relax and enjoy your meal. We find the prices at Famous Daves are not overly inflated compared to other Famous Dave places. They are about at $1 or $2 higher.


http://www.famousdaves.com/cedar-point

That's what we did. The food was good and saving on parking worked out great. Later we had a platinum pass with parking included. We STILL preferred to park at Famous Dave's when possible. You're not encouraged to park in that lot, but accessibility to the park entrance (midway through) is great.

If you are planning to do a WDW-type rope drop, my fave spot is at the back of the park. I park by the waterpark and enter through the back. I am that much closer to the mega-attractions where lines build up immediately and last until the end of the night. I usually race straight for Millenium Force (the best coaster ever LOL) and get on with a 5-10 minute line. Sometimes I get off and go right back on. This is ONLY if you get early entry (season passes or stay onsite). By the time the regular folks are allowed in, I think the line is usually about 30+ minutes long.

Maverick is also at the back of the park and is amazing - I typically did it at the end of the night and wait about 30-60 mins.

What I like about the park is that even on busy days, there are rides that will still have short lines. We spent several days over July 4th there and with some strategy, barely waited. One caveat to this - Halloweekends in September. Its just insane all month. Did it twice and no matter what, there are lengthy lines.

Back to your original question - discounts. We found the best discount through my husband's work discount program. When that was inconvenient, the 2nd best prices we found was at the Meijer closest to the park. (The ones further away were a little bit more expensive). That said, I don't live in Sandusky and I believe there are sometimes better discounts.

Have an awesome time - we loved Cedar Point

 

[la la limon]

Sorry to highjack this thread but it's related! Looking to go to either Kalahari or Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky in June and I've had a hard time making these affordable. Any ideas, locals?

Thanks!

Amy

 

[elaine amj]

For Kalahari - try their e-newsletter. Sometimes they send good deals. Also, I've been intrigued by their Choose Your Own Adventure special on their website for some time. If it suits your family's wants, it sounds like a very decent deal.

 

[Fire14]

I'm of no help in Water Park resort Dept. I don't have kids, CP doesn't fit my body type and Disney spoiled me.

I believe Kalahri has had several health code violations and I'm not talking little stuff.
Great Wolf from what I've heard is better for younger set ( 7 and under).

Cedar Points Castaway Bay looked like fun when I was up there in Dec. for a race.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Some in this thread have asserted the lines at Cedar Point are short. That has not been my experience. Sometimes I've had luck when visiting in the middle of the week, but generally the lines are pretty darn long. I love the rides there, and I've come to accept several hour waits for the good ones. I tell people who complain about Disney ride waits about the time I waited in line 5 hours in the hot sun for a ride which, literally, lasted 20 seconds. We wouldn't normally have bothered, but we'd taken the trip there solely to ride this one ride and were not going to be deterred when it broke down...repeatedly.

I've never done their front of the line pass thing, it seemed too expensive for what you got.

 

[elaine amj]

Some in this thread have asserted the lines at Cedar Point are short. That has not been my experience. Sometimes I've had luck when visiting in the middle of the week, but generally the lines are pretty darn long. I love the rides there, and I've come to accept several hour waits for the good ones. I tell people who complain about Disney ride waits about the time I waited in line 5 hours in the hot sun for a ride which, literally, lasted 20 seconds. We wouldn't normally have bothered, but we'd taken the trip there solely to ride this one ride and were not going to be deterred when it broke down...repeatedly.

I've never done their front of the line pass thing, it seemed too expensive for what you got.

It's true - you CANNOT compare the lines here to Disney. This is your typical amusement park where lines are longer. BUT - I will be the first to say Cedar Point is relatively efficient at processing lines. Nothing like Disney, but a far sight better than most places. Their staff are pretty good and many bring some energy and fun to their jobs (some ride crews are much better than others).

The main rides all have insane lines that are normally 2-3 hours long. I've waited up to 2 hours for Top Thrill Dragster before. I would never wait in such a long line at Disney - but at Cedar Point, it's pretty normal to wait like that. We even waited an hour for the Ferris Wheel once (timed it perfectly and watched the July 4th fireworks as we circled the sky!)

On the other hand, Cedar Point has SO many rides that plenty often have only a short wait (15 min or so) if you time it right. e.g. I stay away from the front of the park from opening to the afternoon. Once it's the afternoon, the front of the park is pretty empty and lines are short. In the morning, those rides are usually an hour+ wait.

The front of the line pass is crazy expensive and we have never splurged for that.

 

[Paisley]

The lines can be long, but as with Disney, if you get there when the park opens you can get a lot of rides in before the masses come in later in the day. We stay at the Hotel Breakers so we can get into the park an hour before it opens to the public. We've walked right on Maverick and Millennium Force.
We ride as much as we can before the waits get too long, then we take a leisurely lunch either in the park or out (like Friday's or Famous Dave's). Then relax at the hotel pool, then head back to the park around 4 or 5 and stay until closing.
We love Cedar Point and we go every year!

 

[twinnersmama]

I have taken DDs the past two years to CP right after school was out. We've had really good luck with lines -- 30 min wait was average. We rode the Mantis one evening -- we were the ONLY ones on the whole ride! Not sure about August though. We usually do a package with one of the CP hotels that includes park tix and do a two day park. Meals in the park can be expensive.

I don't know if I would spend the $$ for the fast lane pass.

Some of the older coasters (yet still good coasters) usually have very low lines.

 

[runwad]

If anyone plans to go to Cedar Point this summer before June 15, 2014, below is information on how to purchase discounted tickets (discount of $18.99) and support a great cause at the same time.

Cedar Point Supports Walk to Cure Arthritis The Arthritis Foundation and Cedar Point are AGAIN partnering this year for THREE great ticket promotions to raise funds to support children and adults who live daily with arthritis pain. America’s Roller Coast is offering pre-season tickets for $41.00, an amazing $18.99 off the gate entry price. $3 of every ticket sold benefits The Arthritis Foundation’s Walk to Cure Arthritis.

Tickets can be purchased now through May 31st online at Cedar Point. At the prompts, please use the following:

Username: arthritis (all lowercase) Password: 2014

You will be sent to the page to purchase your tickets at the discounted price! Your special ticket pricing shows up under the “special events” tab on this page. Tickets are valid any day at Cedar Point from May 10 through June 15, 2014. Questions? Please call 614-876-8200 or email mkiley@arthritis.org!.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Sorry to highjack this thread but it's related! Looking to go to either Kalahari or Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky in June and I've had a hard time making these affordable. Any ideas, locals?

Thanks!

Amy

For Kalahari follow them on Twitter. On occasion they will tweet $89 Sun - Thur sales or $109 for the weekend for Sandusky location.

But check for bedbugs.
http://www.bedbugregistry.com/hotel/OH/Sandusky/Kalahari-Resorts

 

[darwyn]

I work for Cedar Fair so I tend to go to Cedar Point quite a bit. I have never managed to go at a time when the lines were short, so I do buy the front of the line pass. I love it! it is a bit expensive, but it saved me soooo many hours standing in line last year.

For some of the longer lines, they have DJs in the middle of the que playing music- they try to make it entertaining.

And, because I have to, I am going to trow in a quick plug for Ohio's other awesome park- Kings Island. Banshee is pretty amazing