**Updated for 2018**

Congratulations! You made the leap and bought your family platinum passes for Cedar Point, Kings Island, Knott’s Berry Farm, Carowinds, or any of the other amusement parks in the Cedar Fair family.

At a rough cost of approximately $40 per visit plus $20 parking per vehicle, your break even point on the platinum pass is roughly four (4) visits. Once your family has succumbed to the initial upfront cost for becoming a platinum passholder, it is time to start maximizing the benefits for your family.

1) Make It Worth Your Investment

First, you need to make sure you visit more than 4 times per season to get the most value for your family. Seeing as the park is open May through the end of October/beginning of November (depending on when Halloween falls in the year), you have at least 6 months worth of time period to get to the park. Or visit Knott’s Berry Farm year round or select parks for Winterfest. Easily plan one visit a month, and you have maximized your value potential.

2) Early Access

Platinum pass members get access to Cedar Point 1 hour before the gates open. This means the majority of the year you get into the park at 9:00 AM. Since platinum members get free parking, this means you are getting to the park before the majority of people and getting to park in the front of the lot, saving you steps for later in the day.

In addition, be sure to check with other Cedar Fair parks, as many also allow early access for season passholders.

One hour early entry grants you access to the following rides and roller coasters at Cedar Point: Steel Vengeance, Millennium Force, Maverick, Valravn, GateKeeper, SkyHawk, Ocean Motion, Midway Carousel, Cadillac Cars, Cedar Downs, and the rides of Camp Snoopy. This is a great opportunity to get in your favorite attractions while the lines are short.

Reference 2016-2017 list: Tiki Twirl, Cadillac Cars, Cedar Downs, Dodgem, Valravn, Millennium Force, Maverick, GateKeeper, Midway Carousel and the 11 rides of Kiddie Kingdom.

Reference 2015 list: Lake Erie Eagles, Pipe Scream, GateKeeper, Millennium Force, Raptor, Iron Dragon, Maverick, Midway Carousel, Ocean Motion and the rides of Planet Snoopy.

Your Platinum pass also gets you access to Cedar Point Shores 30 minutes before the general public.

3) Exclusive Ride Time (ERT)

Take advantage of exclusive ride times for platinum members. On select nights throughout the year, Cedar Point will allow platinum passholders only to ride the chosen roller coaster. Ride time begins after the general public has finished riding. Weather or maintenance conditions may result in cancellation of these events.

May 22, 2018: Platinum Ride Night: Steel Vengeance
May 25, 2018: All Passholder Ride Night: Millennium Force & Rougarou
May 26, 2018: All Passholder Ride Night: Top Thrill Dragster & Magnum XL-200
May 27, 2018: All Passholder Ride Night: Steel Vengeance and Maverick
June 12, 2018: Platinum Ride Night: Steel Vengeance
June 26, 2018: Platinum Ride Night: Steel Vengeance
July 10, 2018: Platinum Ride Night: Steel Vengeance
July 24, 2018: Platinum Ride Night: Steel Vengeance
August 7, 2018: Platinum Ride Night: Steel Vengeance
August 21, 2018: Platinum Ride Night: Steel Vengeance
August 31, 2018: All Passholder Ride Night: Top Thrill Dragster & Magnum XL-200
September 1, 2018: All Passholder Ride Night: Raptor & GateKeeper
September 2, 2018: All Passholder Ride Night: Steel Vengeance and Maverick

Reference: 2017 schedule:

May 26, 2017 All Passholder Ride Night: Valravn
May 27, 2017 All Passholder Ride Night: Maverick
June 8, 2017 Platinum Ride Night: GateKeeper
June 22, 2017 Platinum Ride Night: Millennium Force & Rougarou
July 29, 2017 Platinum Ride Night: Top Thrill Dragster & Magnum
August 24, 2017 Platinum Ride Night: Valravn & Raptor
August 31, 2017 Platinum Ride Night: GateKeeper
September 1, 2017 All Passholder Ride Night: Top Thrill Dragster & Magnum
September 2, 2017 All Passholder Ride Night: Millennium Force & Rougarou
September 3. 2017 All Passholder Ride Night: Maverick
October 29. 2017 Registered Passholders: Last Rides

Reference: 2016 list
Saturday, May 21* Valravn
Sunday, May 22* Maverick
Thursday, June 9 GateKeeper
Thursday, June 23 Millennium Force & Rougarou
Thursday, July 7 Top Thrill Dragster & Raptor
Thursday, August 25 Valravn
Friday, September 2* Millennium Force & Rougarou
Saturday, September 3* Top Thrill Dragster & Raptor
Sunday, September 4* Valravn

*Season Passholder Appreciation night. All Regular & Platinum Season Passholders are invited to these exclusive ride times.

2015 Schedule
May 28, 2015- Raptor
June 11, 2015- Top Thrill Dragster
June 25, 2015- GateKeeper
July 9, 2015- Rougarou & Millennium Force
July 23, 2015- Maverick
August 6- Top Thrill Dragster
August 20, 2015- Raptor

4) Free Historic Hike

Your platinum pass gets you access to Dinosaurs Alive, the prehistoric walk through the animatronic world of dinosaurs.

5) Bring-a-Friend

Cedar Point allows you to bring a friend to the park throughout the year for a discounted rate. You can bring a friend for $29.99 (May 25-28, June 17, August 31-September 2, 2018), $19.99 (October 28), or $43 (online); $45 (front gate) per ticket any day of the season.

Platinum passholders can also bring in up to four guests each day for $26 per person to Cedar Point Shores.

6) Reciprocal Access to Sister Parks

You have paid for the cost of a platinum pass. Now take advantage of the biggest benefit, access to all 14 Cedar Fair parks across North America (includes Cedar Point Shores and Knott’s Soak City), plus Gilroy Gardens. Being located near Cedar Point puts you in an ideal part of the country to plan some easy road trips for visiting the other parks.

7) Discounts

Your Cedar Point platinum pass gets you a 10% discount on food throughout the property at most locations. Cedar Point also offers a fresh cut fries deal and BOGO ice cream sundaes that are only available to platinum pass members!

BONUS: Use your Platinum pass at other Cedar Fair parks and receive food discounts ranging from 10-20%.

8) Extra FUN (and value) All Season

Make sure to visit the park during special events throughout the year. Last year, Cedar Point brought in Coca-Cola and Johnsonville Brats on select days/weekends, offering guests a chance to interact with the brands and purchase discounted food offerings not available throughout the year.

In addition, look for Cedar Point Nights to return in 2018. Last years event on the shores of Lake Erie offered family friendly activities on the beach, as well as exclusive discounted meal deals.

9) Splurge on the Shirt You Want

Platinum pass benefits also include a huge selection of discounts both inside the park, and at area places, thanks to their new passholder benefits program. Save on things like photos taken in the park; merchandise, other premium ticketed attractions, and hotel rooms.

Tip: Platinum passholders receive a free upgrade to Fast Lane Plus when purchasing a regular Fast Lane.

Bonus Tip: Visiting one of the other Cedar Fair parks with your platinum pass? Be sure to take advantage of some of these additional great benefits.

– California’s Great America: 9:00 am access to the following attractions: Gold Striker, Patriot, Celebration Swings, Carousel Columbia, Star Tower (May 25); Flight Deck, Rue le Dodge, Flying Eagles, Orbit, Carousel Columbia (June 2)

– Canada’s Wonderland: From 9:00am – 10:00am on Sundays every week beginning April 29 – September 2 (See complete Canada’s Wonderland 2018 schedule)

– Carowinds: 30 minutes of early access to Camp Snoopy, Fury 325 (Saturday, Sunday) and Carolina Harbor through August 11, 2018

– Kings Dominion: 30 minutes of early access to Apple Zapple, Carousel, Racer 75 (Twisted Timbers subject to availability)

– Kings Island: 30 minute advanced entry to Mystic Timbers, Banshee, Bat and select Planet Snoopy Rides (April – June); Mystic Timbers, Diamondback and select Planet Snoopy Rides (July – October); Soak City Waterpark (Daily) Tropical Plunge, Tidal Wave Bay and Pipeline Paradise

– Valleyfair: 30 minutes early access to Soak City. In addition, the following Season Pass Exclusive Ride Times are scheduled: Soak City (June 23, 8-9:00 pm); Wild Thing, Xtreme Swing, Power Tower (June 28, 10-11:00 pm); Soak City (July 7, 8-9:00 pm); Excalibur, Renegade, High Roller (July 26, 10-11:00 pm); Soak City (August 11, 8-9:00 pm); Corkscrew, Power Tower, Xtreme Swing (August 30, 7-8:00 pm).

– Worlds of Fun: 15 minutes early access to Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun

– Other parks also offer early entry where available, as well as additional discounts throughout the parks.

Where will you be using your Platinum pass this year?

Be sure to follow the CPFoodBlog on Facebook and Twitter for the latest updates on all of the Cedar Fair parks.

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Source: InACents

Many people hear of Cedar Point, and think of an amusement park built with the biggest, fastest, and best roller coasters on the planet, and they would be right. However, the park has always been a family park, appealing to a broad spectrum of patrons. That is why our family has become such huge fans of the Cedar Point, which has now expanded into visiting the other associated Cedar Fair parks across North America.

Our kids can not get enough of Cedar Point; the atmosphere, the rides, and the time together.

While my wife and I may not be the biggest thrill ride fans as we get older, we do appreciate seeing the excitement in our kids eyes and the smiles on their faces as they finally get to the height to ride with us.

Here are eight attractions that we hope will be around for years to come at Cedar Point.

8) Kiddie Kingdom

Parents bringing their kids to Cedar Point have three great areas for families to enjoy: Camp Snoopy, Planet Snoopy, and Kiddie Kingdom. Our favorite aspect of Kiddie Kingdom is not only classic rides that you often do not see anymore, but also attractions that kids can ride without the parents. Favorite rides of our kids are bumper cars (Krazy Kars), motorcycles, and Kite Eating Tree/Woodstock’s Airmail.

7) Top Thrill Dragster

Added to Cedar Point in 2003, the roller coaster was the first to top 400 feet in height, launching guests to 120 MPH in 3.8 seconds. This ride is an amazing feat of engineering and an awesome thrill ride. While the Top Thrill Dragster is often plagued with downtime, when it is up and running, this is one roller coaster that is not to be missed.

6) Frontier Town

Cedar Point is an amusement park and not a theme park. Besides the licensing of Snoopy and the Peanuts gang around the park, there is very little themes associated with areas of the park. So one of our favorite areas of the park is the wooded and serene environment of Frontier Town. With historic buildings, shade, live entertainment and a period environment, Frontier Town is an excellent chance to take in the park at a slower pace and feel like you are not surrounded by record breaking attractions.

5) Boneville

Hop on board the Cedar Point and Lake Erie Railroad for a lap around the park, and you may anticipate a relaxing time to take a rest, which it is. However, as you loop around the back of the park, you transcend into the world of Boneville. The iconic animatronics depict western themes and hijinks. While Boneville has always been a personal favorite at Cedar Point, the non-scary scenes of skeletons quickly grew to be one of our boys favorite areas of the park.

4) Halloweekends

Being parents of young children (currently 5, 3, and 1 years old), we had not ventured into the world of spooky Halloween at Cedar Point. However, in 2014, we were invited to the park for the opening of Halloweekends and attended without the kids. The rest of the weekend we were at Cedar Point for a conference, with our kids.

During the day, Cedar Point is a family friendly atmosphere for families. However, as night approaches the scaresters ascend onto the park. We decided to try out the night time festivities with the kids, and if they got to scared, would avoid those areas of the park. To our amazement, our boys LOVED the scary portions of the park and joking around with the monsters, who were equally as sensitive to take it easy on little kids.

After being in the park several times throughout the year, Halloweekends was a great, refreshing change, and a time of the year we will not miss in the future.

3) Sky Ride

Simple and perfect is the Cedar Point Sky Ride. Hop into a four person gondola and glide 92 feet in the air overlooking the main midway.

2) Windseeker

Without a doubt, both my wife and I agree that one of our favorite rides at Cedar Point is Windseeker. The 301 foot structure takes the classic swing ride and elevates it to a new level. While spinning at the top of the ride, the views are spectacular of the entire Cedar Point peninsula, but also Lake Erie and the surrounding area.

1) Maverick

While this roller coaster has been at Cedar Point since 2007, both my wife and I had never rode this attraction until 2014, and whoa what a surprise we experienced. While the Maverick will not break any records, it does feature a shotgun start, 95° drop, and an intense launch halfway thru the ride that comes out of no where. This hidden gem we always bypassed was a great addition to the park, and no wonder it always features one of the longest wait times.

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Source: InACents