My Four Hours at Cedar Point

I wasn’t intending to make this a series, but a few hours at a theme park is always better than none. If your “5 to 9 after your 9 to 5” can be spent on a roller coaster, it should be. Hopefully, by seeing everything I got done, you’re inspired to do your own short trip to your local park!

Arrival – Parking – 6:50 PM

Being at the end of the day, we were able to park close to the gate and squeeze in where the early arrivals had left, cutting our walk to the gate down when every second mattered.

Ride 1 – Raptor – 7:05 PM

Part of this trip was to try and fill out my coaster credits for Cedar Point, Raptor being one of the larger omissions. We only spent about 5 minutes in line and had our ride photo already by 7:19.

Ride 2 – Iron Dragon – 7:30 PM

Another missing credit, I loved this The Bat-esque journey! But, because it’s a bit more family, I think that made the line one of the longer ones. If you already have the credit, it may not be worth the time. I thought weeknight crowds would be more teens/college and fill the larger rides, but it was more elementary age families filling the medium level.

Ride 3 – Woodstock Express – 8:00 PM

If you’re sensing a pattern… yes this was a missing credit. But, due to the late hour, was a complete walk-on. No brainer! Now, if I could just get on Wilderness Run…

Gemini Loading Station

Ride 4 – Gemini, both tracks – 8:15/8:30 PM

UNDERRATED! We did both the red and blue tracks, walking off and walking back on. “Lost” the race both times, which was a win in its own way as it confirmed that every ride is a little bit different.

Ride 5 – Wild Mouse – 9:00 PM

Say it with me everyone… a missing credit! Absolutely the longest line we had all evening at around 35 minutes. Interestingly, this stayed at 35 minutes from arrival to close, not seeing any sort of dip as it got close to park close. I expect this for the high thrill rides, but not the semi-new family coaster!

Treats and Exit – 9:45 PM

I couldn’t NOT grab something. The snickerdoodle cookie definitely had drier edges, but the middle was a soft and chewy DREAM! Don’t need to get it again, but it satisfied the sweet tooth before park close at 10:00 PM.

Worth it?

This short trip functioned because of luck and a realistic agenda. With the confidence from this trip, I tried to do a repeat, but got different results, only making it on Bluestreak, Sirens Curse, and Rougarou. Granted, Sirens Curse being new means a longer line, but we were bummed to only do three rides versus six (counting Gemini as two). I also wanted to get soft serve in the front of the park as my treat, but fifteen minutes to close, there was a line out the door! Luckily, I was able to walk up to old reliable Dippin Dots.

All in all, I stand by the fact that being at a theme park is always better than not. But, I would caution you to go in with an open mind. If you are okay just walking around and seeing where the night takes you, even if that means little to no rides, you’ll still have a great time.

Most importantly, just remember that your “5 to 9” is YOURS.