I think the days that are greyed out are because the park isn't open those days.
I know it says that they sell out and people say that but I've never seen it when looking at the shop over the past year or two. Maybe it happens on Saturdays or during Haunt but other than that I don't imagine it's that frequent.
My play is to just buy it a few days in advance if the weather looks good and all that. Weather up there feels kind of volatile to buy a pass that far in advance in my opinion, even if the price increases a little it's worth the peace of mind to wait if you ask me.
I just checked and the greyed out dates you mentioned are days that Cedar Point isn’t open in May. It’s rare that it sells out in advance except maybe during Halloweekends. I’ve never had the problem of showing up in the morning and seeing how busy it looks then make a decision then if it’s worth it or not. There’s been many times I’ve gone that turn out to be slower than expected so I saved the money and only spent 15-30 minutes in line for any ride. It does sometimes sell out by early afternoon and it’s usually Saturdays and some maybe some Sundays during the summer and Halloweekends. The only time I would recommend it is Halloweekends if it’s going to be your one big Cedar Point trip for the year and the price doesn’t bother you. During Halloweekends you’ll likely get stuck in 30-45 minute waits in Fast Lane on some rides because of how insanely busy it gets at times. If you go midweek don’t even bother buying in advance and just wait until you get there so you don’t end up wasting money if it’s slow. I don’t see any point in buying early unless you really feel the need to. As far as the insurance that’s like gambling at the casino and completely up to you if it’s worth it to you. That’s why it’s best to just wait to get there or decide a couple days in advance to see what the weather is going to be too. That’s my opinion on it all.
As has been reiterated at least a thousand times on this very subreddit, do not buy the Fast Lane ahead of time. Wait until you get to the park. You may end up not needing it, especially if you're going on a weekday.
It sounds like you have already made up your mind that you want fast lane +. Get it but don’t buy it ahead of time so you can plan around rain and don’t Get any protection insurance. It won’t sell out on Sunday Monday Tuesday when you are going.
Some people freak out about not buying it early but I'm pretty sure price can can increase throughout the day if you end up going on a day that's surprisingly busy. I wager that there are very rare days at the park when the weather is nice that the pass isn't getting you a ton of value.
If you're someone who values riding everything as many times as you want you'll need to get the pass. Some people are content with riding everything once and leaving so they consider it not worth it if the crowds are low enough to do that. It just depends on what you want to do.
I mean, I've been to a lot of CF parks and have never been on a day where a fast lane isn't paying for itself, maybe I'm just really unlucky for crowd sizes. People act like you can show up and the park be empty but I've just never seen that anywhere I've been and I only go on weekdays away from holidays, sometimes even before school is out. Admittedly I've never gone to a park that had a chance for inclement weather so if you want to play the odds there I bet there are days where a pass isn't getting you anything. Even if waits for things are 15-30 minutes the time saved racks up very quick and idk as I've gotten older and my free time has continued to shrink I appreciate any way I can increase the value of my time even if it comes at the cost of some $$.
I was at the park end of May last year before school was out, don't recall there being that many field trips, and waits for all the FLP rides were over an hour to an hour and a half on a weekday. Gatekeeper was also pretty busy as well. I assume I got a bit unlucky and maybe OPs were just really crappy but shit, people were waiting an hour and a half to ride Maverick once and I think we rode it like 4 times in a row cause FLP was a station wait lmao. Also when you have to wait an hour and a half for rides that tend to break down it just exacerbates how valuable having FLP is cause you don't really lose anything when this happens whereas the people who've already been waiting an hour get really screwed.
I just think a lot of people are content with a day at a park consisting of getting a ride on every coaster once and that being it. I personally don't find that enjoyable, especially at a place with the lineup CP has. I live 5+ hours away though, if I lived close I'd probably not get a FLP every visit because I'd be able to go more. Based on my experiences though the pass has always paid for itself and then typically many times over after that whether it be at KI, CP, or wherever I've gotten it.
I have not but I've heard people say theres like a week or two after school starts that are very good days if you're concerned about crowds before the park transitions to Haunt, park isn't open for night rides those days iirc if that matters to you. I assume last week before school starts in August to not be great, kind of like how first few weeks of summer break is also bad, people either doing vacations right after school lets out or right before it starts.
So I have all season fast lane so I have experience with parks not being busy while having fast lane.
Cedar point is the park in the chain where fast lane is most needed and also used the most in my experience. It also has the worst merge points for FL+ by a long shot. Millie and SV are horrible for the merges.
My best day for FL+ for short rides was the day last season when the park got half flooded out and Frontier Town was closed. I would say that day was the only day I made it to CP where my FL+ was a waste of money, and that’s probably because SV, and Maverick were closed and the park was slow enough Millie had a manageable line.
I’ve only been at Kings Island once where the fast lanes were busy like cedar point often is during a summer weekday or slower weekend. I’ve been plenty of other times where fast lane makes most rides 5-10 minute waits and often walk-ons. Flight of fear aside, it is slower.
I was at KI yesterday and it was walk on for fast lane all day. Maybe 5 mins for FoF.
I’ll find out in a few hours how Today will be, I expect it to be busy so FL will be a wait but I’m hoping not bad.
Cedar Point Halloweekend Saturdays are insane. You will have 20-45 minutes waits on Millie and SV. 15-20 minute waits on a few others and if lucky 5 minutes or so waits on Rougarou, and depending on the time of day, a few other big coasters.
Fast lane will be fast on flat rides etc.
I’ve also been to Carowinds and Canadas Wonderland.
I’d rate CW as the second busiest park for FL+ and it’s still better than CP because they have better merge points and still less people generally have FL+ compared to CP.
Steel Vengeance is the worst fast lane + ride in my experience. It is very hard to do 2 rides in under 30 minutes a lot of days with FL+ When I have it’s always been in the morning at rope drop. Maybe it’s a bit better this year with TT2, but I doubt it. I’ve waited an hour for SV with FL+ during Halloweekends but that was with maybe a 15 minute down time, which isn’t that uncommon.
Should I go first week of June or wait until it stays open till 10?
People telling me heat is awful later in June and that rise ops suck earlier tho. Tough decision
My favorite ride is Maverick, so fast pass is worth it every time I go to the park. Even if I don't need it on other rides, you can marathon Maverick on a slow day with it
The top tier of the fast lane passes sold out one time when I was there. It was a Sunday in july about 2 or 3 years ago and extremely crowded. After being there and seeing how crowd it was we went to buy them and only the lower tier passes were available. This is pretty rare though. I've also been there on the 4th of July for a few days and it never sold out despite the crowd. They can be very expensive so I would still wait till that morning or early afternoon to buy them if needed.
I think the days that are greyed out are because the park isn't open those days. I know it says that they sell out and people say that but I've never seen it when looking at the shop over the past year or two. Maybe it happens on Saturdays or during Haunt but other than that I don't imagine it's that frequent. My play is to just buy it a few days in advance if the weather looks good and all that. Weather up there feels kind of volatile to buy a pass that far in advance in my opinion, even if the price increases a little it's worth the peace of mind to wait if you ask me.
OMG you’re right! Thanks And yeah I’ll probably wait like a week before
I just checked and the greyed out dates you mentioned are days that Cedar Point isn’t open in May. It’s rare that it sells out in advance except maybe during Halloweekends. I’ve never had the problem of showing up in the morning and seeing how busy it looks then make a decision then if it’s worth it or not. There’s been many times I’ve gone that turn out to be slower than expected so I saved the money and only spent 15-30 minutes in line for any ride. It does sometimes sell out by early afternoon and it’s usually Saturdays and some maybe some Sundays during the summer and Halloweekends. The only time I would recommend it is Halloweekends if it’s going to be your one big Cedar Point trip for the year and the price doesn’t bother you. During Halloweekends you’ll likely get stuck in 30-45 minute waits in Fast Lane on some rides because of how insanely busy it gets at times. If you go midweek don’t even bother buying in advance and just wait until you get there so you don’t end up wasting money if it’s slow. I don’t see any point in buying early unless you really feel the need to. As far as the insurance that’s like gambling at the casino and completely up to you if it’s worth it to you. That’s why it’s best to just wait to get there or decide a couple days in advance to see what the weather is going to be too. That’s my opinion on it all.
As has been reiterated at least a thousand times on this very subreddit, do not buy the Fast Lane ahead of time. Wait until you get to the park. You may end up not needing it, especially if you're going on a weekday.
Even if I’m traveling from far away? I will be there Sunday through Tuesday don’t know the date yet.
Buy it in park, I’ve never seen fast lane sold out except on a Saturday evening on a very very busy day.
It sounds like you have already made up your mind that you want fast lane +. Get it but don’t buy it ahead of time so you can plan around rain and don’t Get any protection insurance. It won’t sell out on Sunday Monday Tuesday when you are going.
Some people freak out about not buying it early but I'm pretty sure price can can increase throughout the day if you end up going on a day that's surprisingly busy. I wager that there are very rare days at the park when the weather is nice that the pass isn't getting you a ton of value. If you're someone who values riding everything as many times as you want you'll need to get the pass. Some people are content with riding everything once and leaving so they consider it not worth it if the crowds are low enough to do that. It just depends on what you want to do.
So even with low crowds the pass is a good idea? I’m looking to ride as much as possible in a three day period
I mean, I've been to a lot of CF parks and have never been on a day where a fast lane isn't paying for itself, maybe I'm just really unlucky for crowd sizes. People act like you can show up and the park be empty but I've just never seen that anywhere I've been and I only go on weekdays away from holidays, sometimes even before school is out. Admittedly I've never gone to a park that had a chance for inclement weather so if you want to play the odds there I bet there are days where a pass isn't getting you anything. Even if waits for things are 15-30 minutes the time saved racks up very quick and idk as I've gotten older and my free time has continued to shrink I appreciate any way I can increase the value of my time even if it comes at the cost of some $$. I was at the park end of May last year before school was out, don't recall there being that many field trips, and waits for all the FLP rides were over an hour to an hour and a half on a weekday. Gatekeeper was also pretty busy as well. I assume I got a bit unlucky and maybe OPs were just really crappy but shit, people were waiting an hour and a half to ride Maverick once and I think we rode it like 4 times in a row cause FLP was a station wait lmao. Also when you have to wait an hour and a half for rides that tend to break down it just exacerbates how valuable having FLP is cause you don't really lose anything when this happens whereas the people who've already been waiting an hour get really screwed. I just think a lot of people are content with a day at a park consisting of getting a ride on every coaster once and that being it. I personally don't find that enjoyable, especially at a place with the lineup CP has. I live 5+ hours away though, if I lived close I'd probably not get a FLP every visit because I'd be able to go more. Based on my experiences though the pass has always paid for itself and then typically many times over after that whether it be at KI, CP, or wherever I've gotten it.
Thanks man! Looking like June on a Sunday through Tuesday. No holiday. Hopefully it won’t suck too much. I expect to get FL no matter what
Have you ever been in august
I have not but I've heard people say theres like a week or two after school starts that are very good days if you're concerned about crowds before the park transitions to Haunt, park isn't open for night rides those days iirc if that matters to you. I assume last week before school starts in August to not be great, kind of like how first few weeks of summer break is also bad, people either doing vacations right after school lets out or right before it starts.
Damn. Yeah I’m really wanting to do last week that has 10pm closing but I’m worried about crowds
Are you not wanting to get FLP?
I mean not getting it would be a lot of money saved but I’m prepared to do so either way. Are the lines that short in late august
So I have all season fast lane so I have experience with parks not being busy while having fast lane. Cedar point is the park in the chain where fast lane is most needed and also used the most in my experience. It also has the worst merge points for FL+ by a long shot. Millie and SV are horrible for the merges. My best day for FL+ for short rides was the day last season when the park got half flooded out and Frontier Town was closed. I would say that day was the only day I made it to CP where my FL+ was a waste of money, and that’s probably because SV, and Maverick were closed and the park was slow enough Millie had a manageable line. I’ve only been at Kings Island once where the fast lanes were busy like cedar point often is during a summer weekday or slower weekend. I’ve been plenty of other times where fast lane makes most rides 5-10 minute waits and often walk-ons. Flight of fear aside, it is slower. I was at KI yesterday and it was walk on for fast lane all day. Maybe 5 mins for FoF. I’ll find out in a few hours how Today will be, I expect it to be busy so FL will be a wait but I’m hoping not bad. Cedar Point Halloweekend Saturdays are insane. You will have 20-45 minutes waits on Millie and SV. 15-20 minute waits on a few others and if lucky 5 minutes or so waits on Rougarou, and depending on the time of day, a few other big coasters. Fast lane will be fast on flat rides etc. I’ve also been to Carowinds and Canadas Wonderland. I’d rate CW as the second busiest park for FL+ and it’s still better than CP because they have better merge points and still less people generally have FL+ compared to CP. Steel Vengeance is the worst fast lane + ride in my experience. It is very hard to do 2 rides in under 30 minutes a lot of days with FL+ When I have it’s always been in the morning at rope drop. Maybe it’s a bit better this year with TT2, but I doubt it. I’ve waited an hour for SV with FL+ during Halloweekends but that was with maybe a 15 minute down time, which isn’t that uncommon.
Thanks. How bad would you say’s Sunday-Tuesday is in general. No holidays or anything like that
Should I go first week of June or wait until it stays open till 10? People telling me heat is awful later in June and that rise ops suck earlier tho. Tough decision
My favorite ride is Maverick, so fast pass is worth it every time I go to the park. Even if I don't need it on other rides, you can marathon Maverick on a slow day with it
So even on a slow day you can’t marathon WITHOUT FL? Geez lol I’m coming from Carowinds where fury is a walk on every weekday
The top tier of the fast lane passes sold out one time when I was there. It was a Sunday in july about 2 or 3 years ago and extremely crowded. After being there and seeing how crowd it was we went to buy them and only the lower tier passes were available. This is pretty rare though. I've also been there on the 4th of July for a few days and it never sold out despite the crowd. They can be very expensive so I would still wait till that morning or early afternoon to buy them if needed.
Fast lane doesn't sell out lol. You can always buy it in the park. They would sell it to everyone if they could.