Cedar Point using "Fast Lane" this year...

[wishman35]

Perfect for those of us making a normal one time summer visit to the Point. Instead of waiting in those ridiculous 2-3 hour lines for Maverick/MF/Dragster.. pretty fairly priced in my opinion for as busy as CP gets.

Seems like the season pass holders are pissed about it on their Facebook page.

I dont really care about the complaints, I go once a year, pay $25 to get into the park, so an extra $30-40 to have short waits all day for all rides is PERFECT for me.

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Ride More, Wait Less.

Make the most of your day with Fast Lane. Our list of rides has something for everyone in the family to enjoy plus all of your favorite coasters. Fast Lane rides include Millennium Force, Raptor, Top Thrill Dragster, Maverick and more! (See full list below).

Prices Start at Just $30 Per Person

Unlimited rides with limited waiting sounds too good to be true, but it's not! Purchase five or more Fast Lane passes and they are just $30 per person. See our full pricing chart below for more information - the more you buy, the more you save! $5 more on Saturday

Number of Passes Price Per Person (Sunday - Friday)*
1 $50
2 $45
3 $40
4 $35
5 or More $30

Easy Access to Ride Platforms

If we didn't tell you about Fast Lane - you might not even notice it's here! Separate ride entrances and exclusive access points make Fast Lane quick, easy and hassle-free for all our guests.

Limited Availability

We only sell a limited quantity of Fast Lane ticket per day. This keeps the Fast Lane experience great for all our guests. Be sure to reserve your date by buying your Fast Lane tickets online in advance!

Fast Lane Rides*

Blue Streak
Corkscrew
Gemini
Magnum XL-200
Maverick
Millenium Force
Raptor
Top Thrill Dragster
Mean Streak
Max Air
Power Tower
WindSeeker
Giant Wheel
Cadillac Cars
Dodgem
Shoot-the-Rapids

[coasterkidd100]

It is about time Cedar Point decided to use some kind of "skip the line" system. I have been waiting for this for quite awhile now. I will be getting one when I go this summer for sure.

[monsterfan99]

At that price point, I would get one every visit.

[CoasterDemon]

Booo hiss...

And I thought Cedar Fair already went to the dark side.

[chester016]

I just purchased mine for our trip in June. The damn billing service charged my card twice. It says no refunds under any circumstances......I called and put in a refund request and they are supposed to get back to me within 48 hours. keeping my fingers crossed.

[wishman35]

I just purchased mine for our trip in June. The damn billing service charged my card twice. It says no refunds under any circumstances......I called and put in a refund request and they are supposed to get back to me within 48 hours. keeping my fingers crossed.

I am sure it will be fine, that or just call your credit card company and tell them you were billed twice unauthorized, they will just clear it up for you.

Sadly - a $30 charge is something a company like Visa can give authority EVEN to an outsourced foreign worker to write off..

[rct2wizard360]

Same pricing as when I went to KI last summer.

If the queue system is even remotely similar, it will definitely be worth it for that once a year trip. Especially if you're only there for a day.

[FParker185]

While that's fine for some people, here are 2 issues I find with the system....

1. Capacity and good operations are a thing of the very distant past at Cedar Point, if spectacular operations happened now, it woudln't be so bad, but as it is, wait times are going to go way up for everyone without the pass.

and

2. If you post on this board, theoretically you live in chicago and the surrounding area, we're not that far away, we know the right times to go where you don't need the pass, in fact if you had the pass, you'd probably wait longer than the standby line.

[BP317]

Funny how the "this is a great value" comments are rolling in, I remember when Fastlane at SFGAm was $5 and people were complaining about those. Though it was not unlimited (was good for 4 rides). Unless they sell very few of them, the idea of people being able to use them as much as they want on rides like Millennium Force and TTD just kind of sucks for the rest of us.

Considering the direction the amusement park business has been moving over the past decade or so I can't say I am surprised at all that CP finally got something like this. The fact of the matter is people will pay for it anyway, you would be surprised how many people show up at the gates of the park and the first thing they think of is "how can I buy my way past the lines?" If people are willing to pay big bucks for those stupid cabana's at water parks, they will be more than happy to open up their wallet to not wait in lines. Go work in sales for a theme park or airline and you will see first hand how people will buy anything they think will save them time without even thinking about it.

And I agree with Mike hopefully they make substantial improvements to their operations. Back as recent as 05 the park was ran extremely well, then in 07 or so they went on a downhill slide fast and i'd say that now most Six Flags parks are ran just as well as Cedar Point (if not better because of CP's coasters constantly breaking down).

My biggest fear isn't so much the Fastlanes at CP since all the coasters there always seem to be running multiple trains. When this starts getting rolled out across the company and you go to Valleyfair, Worlds of Fun, Knotts, etc and your waiting in line and the fastlanes are cutting in front of you when all the coasters are 1 train op is when it's really going to suck.

I live 10 minutes from SWO, love Manta and Kraken, but have no interest in going there anymore just because of that. I have given up on my Sea World annual pass and will probably never renew or buy a new one again because of how frustrating it is to go there with everything running one train and quick queues cutting in front. At least when I lived in Anaheim I could go to Knotts and ride Xcelerator a few times even with 1 train op. With an unlimited line skip program, and taking into consideration it's by far the best coaster in the park, that probably isn't going to be possible in a couple years. My sincere hope is now with Kinzel & Co. gone they will try to run more than 1 train at those parks.

[wishman35]

Hey I have paid for the gold flash pass on busy July Saturdays at Great America in past years. So to be able to skip lines at Cedar Point to ride rides I have ridden 100x less is fine by me..

And true those of us SHOULD know when to go to avoid these lines. But this gives us the option of not having to go in May during possibly crummy weather, or force me to have to go on a weekday and use time off.

Flash pass is fun on a busy Saturday because you get to cruise right through the endless lines. And quite honestly, being able to skip through that horrendous Maverick line sounds just about right on a hot summer day.

[CoasterDemon]

I have stopped in Guest Relations many times to complain about flash pass. I have also aired my complaints with managers... I get the usual "well... its a service we offer..." Of course, we know all that. The counterpoint I always bring up "It's letting people pay to cut" never goes over well, and doesn't get anywhere.

I've seen others complain about it, guests and friends and such. But no one apparently has enough words (or maybe no spine?) to actually log in a complaint with a manager, or Guest Relations... etc.

I've given up, it is what it is. Dark side of capitalism (capitalizing on their own poor operations, actually), etc.

The good thing (for big Cedar Point fans who do agree with me) - I don't think it's going to go over as well at Cedar Point. Many of the folks that go there are a different breed. They will take the time to stop in to log complaints and write letters, etc. At the same time, there are hordes and hordes of Cedar Point kool-aid bots that will never EVER actually cross the line of complaining or giving some sort of constructive criticism. They are too busy licking Cedar Fair's and hang on every word and every move they make, drooling the whole time. The silly Cedar Point lemmings....

[BP317]

If you file a complaint or write a letter to the corporate office that's one thing, but unless a lot of people stop taking their dollars to the park over it they won't even think about discontinuing it. If they lose your business over it it's not going to matter to them, the money they make from the Flashpass sales in 1 minute on a normal operating day trumps the amount you would have spent for the park all season.

While I don't care for these types of things either, it's one of those things that has been around for a decade now and now has become a big part of these companies earnings. Now if they started using pay toilets like many businesses in Europe do, that's where I draw the line

[CoasterDemon]

^I totally agree with you. The thing is, I really believe in how Holidayworld treats people. And now, it's paying off for them. Slowly, but surely.

I'm not a business person, but I would think the decision makers at a place like a Six Flags park are more short-sighted and greedy. Who knows... it may work out for them.

I wouldn't have such a big problem with it if operations were great. But they are VERY far from great. Slow as molasses.... and they use that to their advantage. I'm just rambling and repeating now....

[chester016]

Update

Cedar Point promptly refunded me. It had already been refunded by the time I woke up the following morning. What great customer service

[monsterfan99]

^They do deserve a ton of credit there. Kudos to CP.

[w00dland]

^I totally agree with you. The thing is, I really believe in how Holidayworld treats people. And now, it's paying off for them. Slowly, but surely.

I'm not a business person, but I would think the decision makers at a place like a Six Flags park are more short-sighted and greedy. Who knows... it may work out for them.

I wouldn't have such a big problem with it if operations were great. But they are VERY far from great. Slow as molasses.... and they use that to their advantage. I'm just rambling and repeating now....

You're right on here. The difference between the feel of a park like Holiday World (family owned and brought up) compared to a corporate chain of parks will be completely different. The sheer turnover of upper management in these chain parks will degrade the customer service compared to HW, which has had one clear vision for years and years.

Basically, it takes time to make high standards work and stick.

[CoasterDemon]

^The sad thing is that there are MANY people in all sorts of positions at *big* parks that have great ideas. From the Lemon Chill guy to the ride supervisor who wants to get higher capacities (and then looses his job). They do a stellar job, and have the drive and desire to do better and make the parks better. I guess that's what they call ethics? But it seems they are steam rolled by management. And not everyone can "work their way up," and get to those positions that have the power to call the shots.

[chester016]

I wonder if they will have certain seats reserved for fast lane users, or if the fast pass will function kind of like how it is at great america. As in the pass gets you up to the station, but then you have a choice on where you want to ride on the train. It would really suck if you didnt have the option of waiting a little bit for the front seat or what not.

[MForce4ever]

It is about time Cedar Point decided to use some kind of "skip the line" system. I have been waiting for this for quite awhile now. I will be getting one when I go this summer for sure.

They used to have one not that long ago which was totally free...good times,

http://www.experiencethepoint.com/info/freeway.asp

And of course this is thread is mostly TL;DR but complaining about a "pay to cut" system is about as useless as complaining that the food at a park is unhealthy. Just because it's true and annoying doesn't mean it will change. Sure some people will complain about it, but you can always voice your discontent by refusing to visit the park (or complaining on an internet message board with other whiny people who think they understand an industry better than those who are currently working in it).

[CoasterDemon]

^I was at Cedar Point last summer (after an 11 year hiatus) and when we were in Park Operations kindly giving some constructive criticism, we also told them that it was very cool that they didn't offer a pay to cut scheme. They told us they had had one in the past - a free one (mentioned above) and that it didn't go over well. They had overwhelming complaints about it.

Sure, just because we don't like something doesn't mean it will change. But giving your opinions to the park (or any person/company, etc.), in a very kind way of course, is a good thing. Change does happen actually. Some really cool stuff. Like Whizzer staying at Great America. Lap bars on most Premier loopers. Etc....

If you sit around and complain to wrong people, there is no chance of anything happening. But if you take the time to let them know how you feel, in person/on phone, or in writing, you might be surprised what can happen

And in the end, if changes you would like to see don't happen, at least you can say you did something about it (and didn't just waste your time complaining on a coaster geek forum, where nothing will happen).

[BLADE]

This sucks. It was one thing I really liked about the park. CP is 7.5 hours away for me, so I always go for two days and that's where I'll continue to spend my money. 2 out of the 3 times I have been there, part of one day was lost to storms. Also factoring in the unreliability of the Intamins, 2 days increases the odds of them being open.
Screamscape posted this link recently about CP crowds.

http://thepointol.com/cedarpoint/cedar- ... -calendar/

[Luxornv]

They need to get some experience with the system. I was there over Memorial Day Weekend and for the most part it didn't bother me. However, there were some long lines developing for the Fast Lane. I also had one incident on Dragster. The person moderating the normal line and Fast Lane stopped the normal line for 15 minutes and let the fast lane flood the station. I think this is rather unfair considering both groups are paying customers. This was just after a breakdown, so the line was short, but this doubled our wait time in this one instance.

[woohoodude11]

They NEED the Lo-Q system, or at least something better than "flash your wristband and go". I went the weekend prior to Memorial Day weekend and it was evident they're still working out issues. The front loading station for TTD was ONLY Fast Lane customers!! Not a big fan of it, but what can you do?

[Luxornv]

They NEED the Lo-Q system, or at least something better than "flash your wristband and go". I went the weekend prior to Memorial Day weekend and it was evident they're still working out issues. The front loading station for TTD was ONLY Fast Lane customers!! Not a big fan of it, but what can you do?

The Lo-Q system costs a lot of money though. Those Q-bots are probably $50-100 each. In the intro video at SFGAm, I thought they say they'll charge you $250 if you lose or destroy the Q-bot. I don't think it's quite that much for the actual unit though. Then you need the software to run the computer system that holds the queue times and reservations. I don't think they have a problem with finding a room full of servers somewhere, but the company will still make them pay for the software to run the system. I'm guessing this year is a trial thing, and if it proves successful, then they will move to a more permanent system, like Lo-Q.