Cedar Point Halloweekends Preview September 12 2014

Reposting from Coasterbuzz...

Headed to Sandusky for the 2nd annual Halloweekends kickoff night sponsored by the park. After parking at around 10 till 4, we headed to the guest services building where a healthy line was already formed. The first big group was led over to GateKeeper around 4:15ish. The line moved fairly well and we were soon inside and headed over as well.

Seems like many people have their fill of GateKeeper at this point. The park was graciously giving us free bright orange Halloweekends hoodies this year. We picked ours up and took a no wait ride on GateKeeper. At this point it was about 4:45 and a large group of people were already forming to head to other areas of the park at 5:00. A ride or 2 on GateKeeper seems like more than enough for most after 2 years of operation now. Part of me thinks that is a bit sad for the newest coaster in the park, and wouldn't be the case if we were almost anywhere except Cedar Point.

Our meal tickets were for the 5:00-6:00 hour, but given that early entry rides were also during the same time, we opted to make a quick lap of the park and then return to Midway Market. We made it all the way back to Maverick for a walk-on and re-ride in the same seats. We then hightailed it back to Midway Market, getting there around 5:45.

We were a bit confused to find 2 large lines at the door of Midway Market. We walked up and asked what was up and found out that one line was the 5:00-6:00 line and one was the 6:00-7:00 line. Clearly there were a lot more people than last year! We got in the door right around 6:00 where Tony Clark and others were directing traffic. The buffet didn't have its usual fare, but instead was mostly pizza and pasta offerings. This was probably good considering there was already a major back up in terms of people and seating. I don't think the 6:00-7:00 people started getting inside until 6:30ish. I was a little surprised many of them chose to continue waiting as I would have bailed to find food elsewhere, free or not.

At 7:00 we headed to Hexed to check out the new haunted house. Again the line was considerable when we got there, further evidence that attendance was way up for the event since last year. The attention to detail was amazing as usual and the scare actors did a good job. I thought the major weakness was that the "witch" theme isn't quite as strong as some of the other houses (hospital, school, wax museum, old mansion). Several rooms looked so cool I wish you could hang around a little longer just to admire them. Most of the screamsters were female, which makes sense for the witch theme, but it was a little hard to tie every room together.

A light drizzle hit the park around 8:15 which shut down most of the rides for an hour or so. Attendance in general was lighter than in years past. We caught the Midnight Syndicate show at 9:00 and Skeleton Crew at 11:00. Both shows were excellent and highly recommended. Midnight Syndicate wasn't what I expected, which was an all music show with some video highlights. It was much more interactive and Halloweekends specific, which was totally cool.

The new Tombstone Terror-tory walk through area seemed pretty small in the area near Maverick. At around 10:45 when we walked through it, the screamsters outnumbered the guests 2-to-1. All of the other areas start at point A and end at point B, but this one doesn't really have anywhere to go except Mean Streak (which was closed). Having several shops nearby also means there might limitations on the amount of fog that is used. I wonder how much the development of this area was caused by the closure of Fear Faire at the front of the park.

I tried again in vain to find a 50th anniversary Blue Streak shirt. There are like 15 different GateKeeper shirts and tons of Magnum, Millennium, Maverick, and Dragster, but none of pretty much anything else. I think I visited gift shops I haven't been in for over a decade.

Overall we had a great time with the lighter crowds and all the perks done by the park! Thanks to Cedar Point for hosting this again this year! Personally, I would have no problem with the park dropping the meal from the event if the attendance is too high. We are there to see what's new and the meal is a very nice gesture by the park, but not at all a requirement for an already awesome event.

I contacted the park regarding getting a 50th anniversary Blue Streak shirt and was told that they were sold out for the season.

So, for the record, you can buy shirts for Shoot the Rapids and Magnum's 20th anniversary, but not for Blue Streak's 50th. </rant>