Cedar Point
General Information
Directions - Cedar Point is located in Sandusky, Ohio, right on the shores of Lake Erie. For your mapping website of choice, use the address
1 Cedar Point Drive
Sandusky, OH 44870
There's lots of convenient signs in the general area, but be warned that some of them trick motorists into going a longer way (to spread the traffic out). Nothing like seeing a sign that says "Cedar Point 3 miles" followed by a sign that says "Cedar Point 4 miles."
Park Operating Schedule - Cedar Point has closed for the 2007 season. We expect the park will reopen in May of 2008. Once the 2008 schedule is finalized, we'll get it up here for you.
Ticket Prices (2007 prices listed)
Cedar Point Funday (ages 3-61, over 48 inches)
$42.95
Junior/Senior Funday (over 3 but under 48 inches and over 61 years old)
$12.95
Cedar Point Starlight (good after 4 or 5 pm, depending on when the park
closes) $25.95
Ride and Slide 2-day (ages 3-61, over 48 inches) $70.95
Ride and Slide 2-day Jr/Sr (same requirements as the Jr/Sr Funday)
$30.95
(kids under 2 are free)
Accommodations (onsite)
Cedar Point boasts several onsite resorts. Staying at these locations provides some amenities that you will absolutely not find off the peninsula. Chief among those amenities is early-access to the park. Each morning, several rides are opened an hour early exclusively for resort guests. Normally at least two major attractions are included in this offering. This enables the guest to knock out a few rides before the lines get too long and to queue up for another attraction before the general public is admitted in. Park admission is offered at a reduced rate for resort guests, and they also have access to the beach areas. Not a bad deal, really.
Hotel Breakers (pictured above) was originally opened in 1905. Since then, there've been multiple expansions (note the building on the right doesn't quite match the central hub). It's ideally located very close to the Magnum entrance of the park. A boardwalk can also be utilized to enter the park near Wicked Twister.
Sandcastle Suites, located on the northernmost tip of the peninsula, is a lakeside resort consisting of 187 suites, including three Grand Vista Suites (I don't know what that means, but it sounds expensive). It's a little further from the park, so I'd imagine the setting there is a little less noisy than Hotel Breakers.
Lighthouse Point consists of cabins and cottages. Each unit has a microwave, refrigerator, two televisions with cable, telephones and an outdoor grill. The centerpiece of this area is the historic Cedar Point lighthouse, which dates back to 1862.
Camper Village is just what the name implies. We don't have an RV, so any further explanation on this from me is sure to be tainted with ignorance.
Breakers Express actually isn't located on the Cedar Point peninsula. This "value" hotel offers the same amenities as the other resorts, but at a lower price. Of course, you can't just walk to the park from the Breakers Express - there's no foot traffic allowed on the Cedar Point Causeway. Shuttles do depart from the hotel to the park at regular intervals, however.
Castaway Bay is an entirely different experience. An indoor waterpark that offers all the amenities of a spa, this is Cedar Point's latest luxury resort. Oh, and the waterpark is ONLY for guests of Castaway Bay. Can you guess that it's not cheap?
Accommodations (off-site)
There's a lot of hotels in the Sandusky area, ranging from the usual suspects to smaller "motor lodges." Yes, Sandusky still has motor lodges. We haven't really spent a lot of time in the area gauging the different hotels, so you may want to check with a hotel-review website to get the straight skinny on what's good and what's bad. We recommend http://hotel-guides.us/ (hey, it's a website out of South Carolina. We support our peeps)
Tips for Maximizing your day
- Hitting the park in the middle of the summer is a recipe
for disaster. Try to plan your visit *before* Memorial Day weekend or in
late September/early October. Also try to aim for weekdays, never
weekends. And for the sake of argument, go ahead and consider Friday as
part of the weekend. Tuesdays and Wednesdays seem to be good days.
- The early entry offered for resort guests really can help out. But it's
no good whatsoever if your lazy butt can't roll out of bed in time. You
need to be standing at the gate, tickets in hand, at least 20 minutes ahead of
time. And you need to know exactly where you're going.
- The longest lines in the park will be found at Maverick, Millennium Force, Top
Thrill Dragster, Maxxair, and Skyhawk. These are the ones you want to
knock out as quickly as possible.
- Get on the park's mailing list. Every year they mail out a nice vacation
planning brochure that contains some pretty valuable coupons. Some of them
are crap (ooh, play a game, get another turn for free), but others are very
useful.
- If you haven't got a Cedar Fair pass, consider doing a Starlight on the day
you arrive. The Starlight ticket allows entry into the park after 4pm on
days when the park closes before 10pm -or- after 5pm on days when the park
closes after 10pm. The biggest advantage to this is that you'll be able to
hit some less crowded rides and get the lay of the land. This will help
you navigate the park when you're starting off the next day.
- For you non-resort guests, the same tried-and-true rule applies: always get to
a park early. If the park opens at 10am, there's no excuse not to be
standing in line to enter by 9:30am. You won't be along and you won't look
stupid. Well, you won't look any stupider than usual.
- Eat at "off" times. Having an early snack can help out quite a bit when
everyone else is lined up for burgers. And when you do eat, try to hit an
indoor eatery. No reason to be out in the hot sun (or crazy cold) any more
than necessary.
Nearby Attractions
(coming soon. It ain't like the park's open anyways)
Park Map
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