Welcome to the 2017 Season
Tony Clark
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We kicked off our 148th season on Saturday, and even though we had bad vibes with the weather forecast, it turned out to be an amazing first weekend! I can tell a lot of you had a great time, and those who didn't come missed out on all the fun!
Before I get to the meat of this post, I wanted to thank you for all the kind birthday wishes over the weekend. Having a May birthday is a little awkward, since we're usually either prepping the park for opening or we're actually opening. There are a few others here at the park who share a birthday within this opening week, so a special Happy Birthday to Colleen, our Director of Operations and Scott over in our Planning & Design Department (the two of us share the same day). But again, thank you! Those wishes made my weekend.
On to the new stuff. We issued a press release last week that listed a lot of new stuff, but here's a simple list for you.
ATTRACTIONS
- Cedar Point Shores, opening May 27, is a completely new waterpark with four new attractions and amazing new food options.
- Iron Dragon: VR returns on June 9. Ride Iron Dragon normally during the day, then at 6 p.m., the ride becomes Iron Dragon: VR. Runs through September 4. There are rider restrictions - all riders must be at least 48" tall to ride; if doing VR also, riders must be 13 & older (this is a VR headset manufacturer requirement).
- Professor Delbert's Frontier Fling makes its debut on the Frontier Trail. Fly high above Adventure Island, the CP & LE Railroad and the trail at speeds up to 60 mph. Fun fact: this is the only ride in the park I'm too scared to ride. There is an additional charge for Frontier Fling.
- The Barnyard expands this year. You'll see more animals, and further up the Frontier Trail, pony rides for the kids (additional charge for pony rides).
- Express Hotel opens its doors for the first time after an extensive remodel from the ground up. It's located just off the Cedar Point Causeway and comes with all the great benefits of staying with us, including Early Entry and discounted tickets.
- The Battle for Cedar Point, a free, augmented-reality game inside our mobile app, gets a new look, more games, more targets in the park to interact with, new avatars and so much more. We roll this out in early June.
- For the sake of simplicity, I'll call them "robotic trashcans." Located in FrontierTown, these odd-looking receptacles can actually take your trash and compact it right there on the spot, leaving more room for trash and less waste of trash-handling materials. They also help us manage trash removal more effectively. And they're solar powered!
IN THE FOOD & BEVERAGE DIVISION...
- Melt Bar & Grilled, a Cleveland mainstay, will open its ninth location very shortly. Check this new place out if you love grilled cheese to the max. They make some pretty sweet gourmet sandwiches, and they feature a full bar. It's located near Planet Snoopy - photos coming in a new blog entry very soon.
- Famous Dave's BBQ Shack is a "satellite" location for our Famous Dave's restaurant in the Cedar Point Marina. They'll serve a limited menu, but the big story here is that you can build your own combo and choose your favorite meats. Located near the Glass Blowing Theatre at the end of the Frontier Trail.
- Ohio's own Roots comes to Sky Ride Refreshments (on both sides). A few things here. On the Valravn side of the stand, we're serving new macaroni & cheese bowls. On the Scrambler side, you can get Roots pulled chicken, pork and beef sandwiches. We marry those over at the mac & cheese side and you can choose those meats as toppings! It's amazing. Try it.
- Wagon Wheel Pizza opens in the former Los Gatos location next to Engine House Custard. They're making hand-pressed, fresh pizzas with toppings of pepperoni, sausage or cheese.
- And if you have a Season Pass and you get the new All Season Drink Plan, you have your choice of either a refillable souvenir drink bottle or a disposable cup. This should make things a bit easier for all of you hardcore riders out there.
ENTERTAINMENT
- In the Jack Aldrich Theatre, "Lights, Camera, Action!" opens in June and will feature the biggest musical hits from the silver screen. You'll hear music from movies like "Hairspray" and "Singin' in the Rain." Should be another great option to check out.
You'll probably find some new minor changes inside the park here and there, including self-service kiosks at a few food locations. We've also modified how you wait in line for some food locations and even tickets at the front gate to make things a bit more orderly.
Have any questions regarding these new things to see, eat and do? Let me know in the comments and I'll round up some answers!