Our Summer With Cedar Point Gold Park Pass With All Park Passport

In the past our family has taken 3 large vacations to Florida.  We went to Universal in 2016, Disney in 2018, and Universal again in 2022.  With our kids getting older I wanted to explore going to theme parks with more serious coasters and of course going to parks that are closer.  Cedar Fair parks are an obvious choice, but in what manner to go was not so obvious.

Cedar Fair parks has a round a dozen parks, however 3 of them are in driving distance for us.  Michigan Adventure is about 90 minutes away,  Cedar Point is 3.5 hours and Kings Island is about 4 hours.  Cedar Fair parks has multiple season pass options and I had to do some digging to find the correct one for us.

Cedar Fairs as a whole doesn’t offer season passes; the season passes are offered by each individual park, and have differing costs and levels of benefits.  When balancing the cost against the benefits the Cedar Point Gold Park Pass with All Park Passport was the best option, even though Michigan’s Adventure is closer.

Why?

Michigan’s Adventure does not have early access hours, so even though it is a slightly cheaper pass, getting the Cedar Point pass allows us access to Cedar Point an hour before the park opens. I also found out that our Cedar Point Gold pass also gives us early access at Kings Island.

What all does this pass include:

• Access to ALL Cedar Fair parks (Including the water park at Cedar Point which is an extra charge if buying daily tickets).
• 1 hour early access to Cedar Point
• Free General Parking
• 10% discount on in park food and merchandise
• Bring A Friend Discount Tickets

Getting A Deal on Cedar Point Season Passes:

The best time to buy a season pass is in late summer.  In early August Cedar Fairs starts a promotion for discounted season passes purchased at the end of the season.  When buying at this time the pass is active for the remainder of the Fall and for all of the following calendar year.  This deal was launched the day after I bought daily tickets to visit Kings Island on our way home from my parents house in Ohio, so I missed out on a good bit of value there.

We paid $100 for each Gold Cedar Point pass, plus an additional $100 for each All access park pass.   For our family of 6 with all taxes and fees included we paid $1,299.  The tickets are also able to be financed with no interest charge.  I paid $339 for a down payment on September 3rd and then $96 per month with the last payment being in July.

This is less than half the ticket cost of what I paid for 7 people to go to Universal for 5 days in 2022.

All of the Cedar Fair parks have a season pass deal, but the reason I chose Cedar Point specifically to get ours through is that the Cedar Point all season pass specifically states it includes access to the Cedar Point Shores Waterpark.  The other passes do not clearly state this.

For an average of $216.50 per person we had access for the remaining of the 2023 season and all of 2024. Effectively if the plan is to spend more than 2 days at Cedar Fair parks in a year, the yearly pass is worth it.

Compared to daily tickets:

Currently:

• Cedar Point: $52
• Cedar Point Shores: $61
• Michigan Adventure: $52
• Kings Island: $72

Parking

• Cedar Point Parking: $30
• Michigan Adventure Parking: $25
• Kings Island Parking: $30

Going To The Parks:

I missed the late fall park season, as my busy season at work had started, so we did not make any trips during the bonus time at the end of 2023. My work season wrapped up at the end of April and we took our first park trip on the kids last day of school.

Michigan’s Adventure: 

Michigan’s Adventure will likely be visited much more often than the other parks.  The park is a straight shot up the highway from our house and can be an easy day trip, without any hotel stays required.  The park doesn’t open until 11AM, so it is really easy to wake up, have a normal morning and drive to the park arriving before they open.

Michigan’s Adventure is on roughly 200 acres wit a good chunk being undeveloped, has 4 real roller coasters, and a surprisingly large water park.  We tend to go to the parks on Wednesdays because:

1.  Mrs. C. and I don’t have jobs this summer.  I am off work for the remainder of the year, and Mrs. C. hasn’t had a W2 job in 5 years.

2. My oldest has a full time job and his days off are set as Wednesdays and Thursdays, making Wednesdays a really good day for us to all go to the parks.

3. Wednesdays are of course also the least busy days of the week at theme parks, especially small ones like Michigan Adventure.

Our first 3 visits were on Thursday June 7th, Wednesday June 13th, and Thursday July 11th. On the 7th we only had 2 hours to spend at the park as the kids had a half day of school.  On the 13th we spent the full day there from 11AM to closing at 7PM, and on the 11th we were there from 11AM to around 5PM.

On both days in June most of the rides were walk ons.  The longest we waited in line for a real roller coaster was about 10 minutes, and that is probably generous.  The longest line we waited in was for the Tunnel of Fear at the waterpark, which was at full capacity.  This took probably 15 to 20 minutes to get on.

When we visited on a Thursday in July we waited around 30 minutes for the Wolverine Wildcat.   They were only running 1 car.  Later in the day the wait times were much lower.  My middle kid road his favorite Thunderhawk about 7 times in a row because there was no line.

Michigan’s Adventure unlike Cedar Point has a TON of room to expand. There are roughly 60 undeveloped acres on the main parcel, another 44 acre parcel to the east, and they have 15 acres across the street.  MA also has a massive parking lot that could have a parking garage added and dozens more acres freed up.  With the Six Flags merger, it is possible some parks will close down and their rides will get shipped elsewhere.  This is how MA got Thunderhawk originally which came from a closed down park in Ohio.  It is about 10% of the cost to move a roller coaster than to build a new one.

Tips and Tricks:

Go on a weekday: Weekends are bad.

Download the MI Adventure App: The app shows the wait times for rides as well as provides a map. The app also stores your season pass tickets, which you show to get in as well as for scanning if you have a drink or dining deal pass.

Pack a lunch: Theme park prices are always crazy, but MI Adventures food is topping Universal Studios.  They sell a large pizza with a half dozen breadsticks for $55.  It is really easy to go out to your car at this park. It’s even easier if you have season passes, since they don’t need to take your picture for reentry. All 3 days we packed lunches and ate in the car.  The round trip walking was maybe 5 minutes and getting back into the park was seamless.

Don’t sit in front of the wave pool right at the entrance to the water park. This is what everyone does.  Go over the steps towards the lazy river and there is a seating area there that is often overlooked.

Ride the “real coasters” first.  When we first arrive I go straight to the back of the park to ride Wolverine Wildcat and Shivering Timbers.  Both typically have <5 minute wait at park opening.  I then go to the other side of the park for Thurderhawk which by then is around a 10 minute wait.  For corkscrew I wait until later in the day.  Corkscrew is the first thing people see when they walk in the park and it tends to get a long line right at the start of the day.

Cedar Point: 

We took our first trip to Cedar Point on Wednesday June 18th and I was pleasantly surprised with how things worked out.  My memories from going to Cedar Point as a child were filled with waiting in long lines.  When I was a kid we would go for a single day and it was likely on a Saturday, as my parents had normal corporate jobs.  I remember waiting in line for the Raptor when it was a relatively new coaster for 2 to 3 lifetimes.  OK it was probably 90 minutes, but it felt like FOREVER to a 10 year old with ADHD.  We also went Pre Youtube and pre internet so it wasn’t like my parents could really research ride wait times and strategies and learn from others. There was no app to show what rides had low wait times. Another factor is that Cedar Point had fewer total rides 30 years ago.  With more rides means the crowds can be spread out better across them now then historically.

The people interested in coasters were able to ride several coasters with limited wait times (Gatekeeper, Mad Mouse, Iron Dragon, Gemini, Mine Ride, Corkscrew, Blue Streak, and Steel Vengeance).

We did not end up being able to ride Rougaru, Valravyn, Raptor, or Millenium Force. We left at around 6 PM due to a consensus of people being hot and tired.  Had we stayed until closing or even until 8PM I’m sure we could have got at least 2, if not all 4 of these rides in.

So here’s where we had big advantages:

1. It was a Wednesday.  Stay away from the weekend.
2. We had early access to the park.  This is well worth it. You get 1 hour early access with the season passes.
3. We arrived to our early access early.
4. The weather was not good. 90+ degrees mid day meant many people decided NOT to go to the parks.

We went to CP again for a Wednesday afternoon and Thursday day at the end of July.  This was much better weather.  We were able to go on all the rides we wanted to with the exception of Millennium Force and Maverick.

How to “Win” Rope Drop At Cedar Point:

We have the season pass gold tickets with all park passport which allows for 1 hour early entry at Cedar Point.  For 2024 the early entry rides are : Gatekeeper, Crazy Mouse, Iron Dragon, and Millennium Force.

Pre-game: Know what attractions are open and how busy they are throughout the day. I used this website for a general indication of when different rides had longer and shorter wait times. Also have a good breakfast prior to arriving at the park.  This will delay the desire for food until after 11.

Arrive Early: We arrived at the parking lot at 0840 (20 min early) and this was not early enough.  10 minutes sooner would have put us in line better.  Here’s what happened.  We got in line and were backed up about 50 people in our line, one of 6 or 7.  They started letting people in around 0850.  Everyone but our line.  The far right lane is for premier pass holders and the far left lanes did not open.  be in lines 3 through 4 from the right.  Then at 0900 they stopped letting people in and played the national anthem.  This gave us a 2 minute delay while the competition was already in the park.  You want to beat this. On our 2nd trip we were able to get through and then jogged to Millennium Force, we would have been in the first or 2nd train if the ride was not shut down.

Proper Ride Strategy: Go To Millennium Force.  This is a half mile walk.  Gatekeeper is a fantastic ride, but throughout the day it tends to have low wait times.  We walked on Gatekeeper 3 times in the afternoon and evening, but Millennium Force held a 45 min+ wait time all day long.  Ride Millennium Force, ideally with no wait, then hit Iron Dragon which will also have no wait.   Plan for Gatekeeper for the end of the day. Once off Iron Dragon get in line for Steel Vengeance. It should still be well before 9 50 when they start letting daily ticket buyers in the park and it is a full mile walk to Steel Vengeance from the front gate.  Unfortunately the day we were there Steel Vengeance did not open on time and they didn’t know how long it would be.  It was hours. Steel Vengeance is an amazing ride. It is unlike any other coaster in this park, or any other I have been to. We left the line when they announced it was not opening, and circled back later. I ended up waiting around an hour later in the day.

Ride together and plan together: We had a group of 7 people.  The first subset waited for others to figure out what they were doing before getting on Gatekeeper.  Then 1 of our party decided after watching them ride to ride it, adding to time spent.  Another subset went to Wild Mouse, which opened late :(.  We left the front of the park around 0930.  We then went on Iron Dragon and from there saw that the line for Millennium Force was substantial and chose to go wait for Steel Vengeance instead (which then didn’t open.)

Plan for Once The Hour is over:

Did you know not all rides open when the park opens? I sure didn’t.  I planned to ride Steel Vengeance and then go to the Mine ride followed by Gemini.  The Mine ride doesn’t open until 1100 and Gemini doesn’t open until noon.  I walked to Magnum and got right on it.  Rougaru also doesn’t open until 1100 either.

The best strategy here is be on one of the first cars for Steel Vengeance, then bite the bullet and wait for Maverick. In a perfect world you can ride Steel Vengeance and get in line for the Maverick before the masses get to the back of the park.  Maverick is busy all day, but is not the #1 coaster for most people.  After Maverick the mine ride should be open, hit that, then go to Magnum XL.  Now rest for a minute.  You won the first 2 hours!

Tips:

Don’t trust the posted signs outside the rides. This is for both directions. They are all lies.  We went to Corkscrew and the sign was at 45 minutes.  It was a walk on. The first visit we couldn’t get the app to show the wait times properly, but on the 2nd visit it worked.

Buy an all day dining pass to cover 2 to 3 people:  The portions are pretty decent and certainly 2 people can share meals.  The break even point for spending on a meal deal is 2 meals.  The all day meal deal allows you to get a new meal every 90 minutes.  Food places open at 1100 and the park closes at 10.  Perfectly timed you could get meals at 1100, 1230, 1400, 1530, 1700, 1830, 2000, and 2130. Realistically to maximize this and get 8 meals throughout the day would mean spending more time in line for food than going on rides.  Planning for 4 or 5 meals is about accurate.  But certainly share.  Cedar Point is NOT Michigan’s Adventure.  Getting back to your car is a major PITA. Cedar point is over a mile deep from the front gate.  It is not easy to go have a picnic lunch here! The lines move really fast at most of the food places.  Getting 5 meals that will keep 2 people fed all day for $33 is $6.60 per meal and around $16 per person for food for the day.

An add on to the meal plan idea:  Do not plan to get food right at 1100 when the restaurants open. Unless you start waiting in line at 1045 it will be a packed mad house at any restaurant. Get through the rides, then hit up food closer to noon.  I think a roughly every 2 hour plan, provided people eat quickly makes sense, so Noon, 2PM, 4PM, 6PM, and 8PM for eating on site.

Even if you think a hot day will scare people away, it isn’t worth it.  Be scared away.  95 degrees is terrible.  I can handle walking miles and miles, I can handle being really cold.  I can’t handle scorching heat with minimal shade.

Bring a wagon: We used to have a double stroller when the kids were little. Now we bring a wagon with several different colored water bottles (1 for each person), cooling towels, beach towels, phone charges and cords and a few other misc. things.  Mrs. C.  doesn’t like coasters so she stays with it most of the time, but we have no problem parking it to the side, people aren’t gonna mess with your stuff.

Creature of Opportunity: We often went on rides solely because there was no wait.  Prioritize lack of waiting. Typically on all 3 days we visited the following rides had 15 minute or less waits for most of the day: Gate keeper, Rougaru, Blue Streak, Corkscrew, Mine Ride, and Gemini.  Magnum and The Wild Mouse ride were both steady at around 20 minutes.

Maverick stays at an hour plus, as does Steel Vengeance.  Occasionally mid day SV would dip to around 35 minutes.

Skip The Water Park On Hot Days:

On our first visit the water park was miserable.  There was very little shade, only 1 place accepts the meal plan, and the lines are stupid long for everything.  Every bit of design of this place screams “We hate our customers”. Shade sails are really inexpensive and the water park could use a lot more.

My overall indictment:

1. This is on me: We went to the water park on a 90+ degree day.  The water park is also a sold separately attraction, so many people come just for the water park.
2. Also on me: We went to the waterpark at Noon, 1 hour after it opened.  We left Cedar Point through the Magnum XL gate, then got in line to enter the water park.  There was no shade and we were in this line for 30 minutes just to enter the water park. I should have had us turn back, as a line this long to enter means it will be stupid crowded.
3. Lack of shade: There are a few small umbrellas that will cover shade for a handful of people.  You won’t get this.  The only remaining shade is under the water slides.  Michigan Adventure has FAR better shade with giant umbrellas throughout. MA could still use more of these, but CP is severely lacking. This isn’t as big of an issue if your visit is on a day when the sun is not trying to kill you.
4. Restroom signs:  When you first get into the water park there are restrooms and family change rooms. These have a massive line and everyone stops here once they enter.  Turn to the right and walk for a couple minutes and there is a larger restroom and change area.   It would be nice if this were advertised.
5. No Posted wait times: Wait time tech is super easy.  Cedar Point is operating in the 80s.  There is no reason to not have real up to date wait times physically at the ride entrances (as well as on the app).
6. Not enough tubes: The tube slides consistently had lines of people waiting for tubes.

If you MUST go to the water park:  Ensure everyone in the group knows the time limit and has a watch.  Plan for 1 or 2 slides, the wave pool, or lazy river. Go to the water park later in the day. We did this on our 2nd visit and it was immensely better.  We went to the water park at around 4PM and stayed until it closed and it was much more enjoyable with shorter lines.

Saving On Hotels:

When going to Michigan’s Adventure we don’t stay at a hotel because the park doesn’t open until 11 AM, so leaving our house at around 915 gets us there at rope drop.  They also close at 8PM, so we can be home at 930 even if we stay all day.

For Cedar Point we use Choice Hotel Points for room stays.  I saved up a ton of points using my Choice points credit cards.  Many rooms in the area redeem for around 10,000 to 12,000 points per night on weekdays.  This is the other advantage of going on weekdays, the point redemption value is much higher than on the weekends. The same rooms are often 50% to 100% more points on the weekend. The redemption values are also better earlier in summer, so going in June and early July is better than late July and August.

For travelling with a larger family I highly recommend Quality Inn Milan Sandusky for value.  This is by no means a 5 star hotel, so if you are picky and uppity, then this place isn’t for you.  For value though it can not be beat.  They have a room that has 4 double beds that sleeps 8 that is 16,000 points per night. Normally we have to get 2 rooms.  It also helps to book these well in advance because they only have a few of these rooms.

Conclusion:

This summer we will end up with having taken at least 4 trips to Michigan’s Adventure, 2 to Cedar point, and 1 to Kings Island.  We will likely go back to Cedar Point for a fall weekend day before our passes expire.  The fun per dollar has certainly been worth it already.  For next year I don’t plan to renew our passes because of the amount we have gone this year and my work schedule is extremely busy for 2025.  For 2026 I would like to do a big Florida trip with the kids. Ideally this would be in November.  Perhaps in 2026 or 2027 it will make sense for us to get passes again.  With the Six Flags merger a lot of changes may be coming and it will be interesting to see what happens with how deals are offered, what parks may close, and what parks may get new attractions.

If you are interested in a deal on Cedar Fair Parks Annual Passes, keep an eye out starting in early August!