Are those Hercules the massive Atari ones? That's a nice list, I'm a fair ways away but I've always wanted to head down there for the roller coasters alone. You might have just made my next vacation destination.

I'd like to try to be tough enough to go to Cedar Point again....that shit scares me whilst my wife is going on everything laughing at me.
Thanks for the write up as it is the season round these states.

I think we should keep this thread going all summer; a lot of pinsiders probably go to CP every year.

CP has such great potential for pins in their arcade but sadly it disappoints every time I'm in there. I suppose it is nice to have all those EM's at a location though. I see no mention of the flash that's been sitting idle for years, its finally gone? What about RFM and South Park? Those gone too?

I dream of a row of modern dmd's and sterns and think they would do really well there. A few years ago there was a MB and TOM in the little arcade in the breakers, but they are no longer there.

Hershey Park and even Indiana Beach both have a decent pin selection in their arcades, or at least they did when I was there a few years ago. Anyone know who owns/operates those pins at CP? It can't be the park right?

What happened to TRAVEL TIME ?

You guys that live close to Cedar Point have it so good! Makes our local park Great America look like crap. We've been twice and will be back soon. I can't wait to ride their newest coaster but I love Millennium Force.

We are going to the Smoky Mountains this Summer and are hitting Dollywood to ride their coasters.

I've walked through the arcades at Cedar Point, but it's usually just to get in line for another coaster.

Yep, I'm the first to admit we're spoiled. Growing up in the area, I always thought CP was pretty good, then I started traveling to other parks and realized how great we have it (as far as rides go at least). Most parks have one or two good coasters and CP has at least 7 that are great.

I'm also going to Dollywood this summer to ride theirs...apparently the new one (Lightning Rod) just opened today. I plan on spending about a week in the area, hiking and Gatlinburg and stuff.

The main arcade at CP is great during a rain storm, not much else is open. Due to CP's location in the lake, rain storms come and go very quickly; I always like to go on forecasted rainy days.

I just moved away from the area Dollywood is in, we had season passes. Been to Cedar Point, I want no part of coasters anymore. Not that I don't want to, just the problems of aging. Turns out I would have been a terrible fighter pilot.

My mother lives and grew up in Sandusky and worked at CP as a kid. I've been going there my whole life. Amazing roller coaster park. I'll be there the first week of July this year. Can't wait!

Hey, I just left Knoxville.

I think those are the same pins that have been there the last 20 years or more. I wish whoever ran the Cedar Point arcade would rotate new Stern or JJP in and out of there. Back in the heydays of arcades in the 80's, the Cedar Point arcade was awesome.

Or go to a Meijer store and get the day pass with bonus all day drink wrist band.for about $55.00 IIRC, not available at the Sandusky Meijer though.

You haven't been to Disneyland lately have you?

At least if you buy a pass at Cedar Point, they have one that can be used at all the Ceder Fair parks. A pass for Disney has become for the wealthy only.

Cedar Point makes every Park on earth look like crap. That place is incredible.

Where is the arcade in cedar point? Making my way out there next month. Good to know I can play some pins!

it's on the main midway right by planet snoopy (the kids area). Really can't miss it.

Pretty unique looking building....

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bummer. Next time in town toss me a PM and we can shoot some.

not only do we have cedar point to the north, but we also have kings island to the south. bit more of a drive for us N.E. Ohio folks, but The Beast makes the drive worth it.

very spoiled when it comes to amusement parks if you grew up in N.E., Ohio

thanks for the PIN update. much appreciated.

Grew up going to KI and having season passes every year. KI is great if you've never been to Cedar Point haha. But, Drop Zone (or whatever they call it now), is top five best rides I've ever been on. Simple, but insane. Just like the top thrill dragster at CP.

The Disney Premier pass for all their parks is now $1439. The cheapest one for So Cal residents for Disneyland that excludes weekends, holidays, most of the summer, x-mas, and spring breaks is now $329. Parking is $18 a day but is included with the $849 Signature pass and up.

It's all a far cry from a few years back when we could get the cheap pass for $120 and $50 for year round parking. The place still stays packed, but they've priced out a lot of long time visitors, including me.

First timer headed to Cedar Point in the near future. I splurged for the Fast Pass supreme since I'm really excited to ride the new coaster. Might be the only time I go, so I don't wanna bother with lines. I've wanted to go to Cedar Point since the 90's.

It's not as good as it was the first year ($40 to jump right to the loading platform!!!!) but I still think it is worthwhile. Although it more than doubles your ticket price, you do get to ride more than double the number of rides. In my opinion, once you buy a Fast Lane, you will be more limited by your physical ability to endure so many rides rather than by time. I tended to use the free time to sit down and drink overpriced beer instead of more rides.

Fast passes are so great, but a part of me misses the days of waiting in line for the new coaster all day to ride it once.

When the Raptor first came out at Cedar Point, it took 6 hours of waiting in line to get on. I don't think I even rode anything else that day. Haha

Well I can't Cedar Point anymore. Some I don't fit and others are just too harsh on my body. Waiting in lines in the sweltering heat. The other year, I got the kids tickets and dropped them off at the gate. I'm not sure about C.P. fast lane pass but in Florida, Universal(?) the "fast pass" was good only once for each ride.

I sure miss the Mill Race that used to be where Raptor is now located.....

I'm 47, been going to CP almost every year since a little kid, sometimes twice a year. I think the whole fastlane concept has seriously messed that place up.

Three years ago we went on a Saturday, the park was packed. Never saw the fastlane thing before so I opted to splurge for fastlane passes at the front gate and we had a blast. I never had so much fun at the park. There was literally no wait, on a packed weekend day in peak season. We hit Maverick three times in a row, in front of us were a couple teenage girls also with fastlane and they passed their parents five times in line already. I figured we'll never go without these passes again.

Next trip was last year, went on a Thursday. Bought the fastpass-plus this time since Maverick got bumped up to fastlane plus, and also to get the gatekeeper. It didn't take long to realize that between a third to half of the people in the park had fastlane wristbands. Groups of young kids with fastlane plus at 90 bucks a pop. The fastlane lines on every ride were all the way out to the gate and for a few rides having the wristband offered no advantage, as we were waiting as long as the regular line. And the fastlane entrances were on way more rides than they were two years before.

What was even worse was they didn't even start all the rides until after noon, and the Wicked Twister didn't start until nearly 2:00 and was shut down by 7:00. There was nothing wrong with those rides either, no mechanical problems. The rides that were running only ran half the trains, so all the lines were just as long as on a busy weekend. And they also started closing down the park a half hour early. It was also a perfect weather day, not a cloud to be seen.

I figured that this would happen eventually, everybody will start spring for the fastlane passes and what the park gets is an effective doubling of the gate price. I was not going to go this year, but they had to come out with a new ride and it's a good one. So I have to decide whether the last experience was a fluke or to just go with the regular ticket.

I see the prices went up on everything this year. I can afford the passes, but it's getting harder to justify on principle. I won't buy it if there is not a real advantage. There are lots of wars on the web between those who like the existence of fastlane vs. those who don't. The primary argument of the people for it just don't see that those fastlanes exist because the regular lines are slower. Throughput on the rides at the park didn't increase, I saw the reverse. So it absolutely impacts those who don't opt for fastlane. But I don't have a lot of time to do these rides before age gets me, so I don't care. But I want a real advantage for the extra cost. All it looks like right now is a money grab.

As for pins, I always hit the arcade, if only for nostalgia and to launch a ball on Hercules. Wish they had more pins. I do have one beef with CP and their pins, back in 2003, or 2004 they had a Monster Bash in there and that was the first time we ever saw one and we really liked it. I should have went looking to buy one back then, with the prices on it now I wish I had never seen it at all.

C'mon PPS, announce the damn remake!

Pics from the end of last season. I've had them on my phone and probably should have uploaded before, but just saw the thread and thought I'd throw these on. For the record, I was taking quick since my wife and 3 kids were not like having a blast standing there lol. I did go back in and play a few of course (we live an hour away, so I've been going my whole life).

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Depends on your viewpoint. We're not that far away in age: I'm 43, you're 4 years my senior. The second-to-last time I went to Cedar Point, about 5 years ago, was the *worst* trip to CP I've ever been on. Lousy day, rain closed TTD and MF (amongst others) on a Saturday, park was *packed*, and lines were untenable: I had to literally give up on Raptor because, after 45 minutes in line, the bathroom call was just too great, and it appeared to be at least another hour before the ride was going to be boarded. The whole day would have been better (but certainly not *good*, by any definition) had I been able to board the limited rides available faster.

Fast forward two years, and I and my companions all bought Fast Pass Plus for the first year of Gatekeeper. Oh, my word: what a *difference*. This, without a doubt, was the absolute *best* time I'd *ever* had at CP, and not by a small margin. We got to ride every single thing we wanted to, some multiple times, and here was the best part: Fast Pass Plus bought us *time*. Time. What an absolutely precious commodity at CP. It's *amazing* how much slower and less able to take the heat of the summer you are at 40 than at 20. I *remember* standing in lines for 2 hours for one ride...and it taxed me back then. Today? I'm not up to the challenge.

Really, though, the best part of FPP was being able to sit down between things, eat normally at places of our choosing, take bathroom breaks as needed, and just not rush the crap out of ourselves the whole day through. Someone's not feeling too great after a couple consecutive rides on Raptor? No problem...we can sit down and let her recover. Hungry? Sure, we can eat or grab something to drink and sit down like human beings and consume it like civilized people. Tired of walking? Well heck: let's find some seats in the shade and rejuvenate if you're tired. There's no rush...we'll get to everything.

And we *did* get to everything; that was the best part! We missed *nothing*. And what we wanted to do multiple times? We did multiple times. At the end of the day, we were all happy, and I was absolutely gobsmacked with how great FPP made the day. It was surreal...I'd never known CP could *be* that great. I'll never again go without doing at least the FP, and depending on what's on offer for FPP, I might do that. But to go and be in the "regular" lines? Never, ever again.

Now: it's important to know that I don't get to go every year, or every second year, or even every third year...so I feel more free to spend more money on such things when I do go. Consider that I haven't been back since Gatekeeper was new: that should tell you something right there.

I'm not saying it's completely good, but just like the airlines have done, CP has figured out how to elicit more money from people by parsing things out piecemeal. It's clever, and it's profitable, even if it burns you up a bit. It bothers me a bit, too, in an elitist sense, but having tasted the goods: I DON'T CARE. It's worth the cash to me to help me enjoy it when I go in the future. If that makes me a mean elitist, then I'll wear that badge with pride. This is *not* bread lines in Venezuela we're talking about here: this is an amusement park ride line shortener. One's a necessity of life, the other is completely not.

Sometimes things we want cost more money than we'd like to spend. That's...just too bad.

Totally agree. Time is what you are really buying. You may choose to use your time cooling off in the shade, going on a slow ride, or drinking a beer. And you'll still have time to ride every big ride at least once.

Hercules was there 20+ years ago when I was a kid.
Did they have the sit in 3 screen Mach3 that moves around???
My brothers dropped over $150 in one afternoon on that. It was raining....

I don't recall a three screen M*A*C*H*3 nor one that "moved" during game play. The route op I worked for had bought several stand up and sit down models of Mylstar's mess. What unreliable pieces of junk they were. Thank goodness we took them out on credit from the distributor. After a few months of nothing but problems, we called and said we were returning them and disCONtinuing payments; At first, they asked for the CONtrol boards back and said to just throw the rest of the machines in the dumpster. Every tech working there got a couple of laser disc players as they were good for home use, but not good in a commercial video game. We all got a lifetime supply of RCA jack cables and jumper boards (I still have a bunch today)

Then the distributor called and said they don't even need the CONtrol boards or game EPROMS.

That machine effectively killed Mylstar/shitty incarnation of Gottlieb.

I'd definitely recommend the Fast Pass Plus if you only visit CP once in a blue moon. You'll be able to ride everything you want without feeling rushed. If you go regularly they aren't necessary. We have season passes and are up there a fair amount. They used to cap the number of Fast Passes sold each day but have recently gotten rid of the caps, so on busy days there can be a wait with the Fast Passes too.

Also, if you like beer I'd highly recommend the Brew and BBQ which is going on for the next few weeks. For $20 you get 15 tickets, each good for a beer or food sample. Last year they had over 120 beers available. The best part is that the expensive beers are the same as a cheap beer (1 ticket). My wife and I were drinking some Victory Golden Monkey and Thirsty Dog Cerberus. Good times!

You can play a nice TWD pro at the Space Needle in downtown Gatlinburg TN. No pins at Dollywood but newer arcade games and cranes galore.

Mr Bally is correct no 3 screen version of Mach 3 was made. TX 1 from Atari had multiple monitors. Like a fancy Pole Position. It has to be another slightly more modern game.

Maybe we had a bad experience that particular day. The first time the experience was the same as yours, as in I'll never go without the speedpass again, the 2nd time it barely gave any benefit because too many people had it. And the park was throttling back the rides. I wonder if it's really only helpful on a weekend in peak season. First time it was a Saturday first week of August and was absolutely awesome, the 2nd time was on a Thursday in last week of July and was worthless. I understand the park is supposed to limit FastLane passes to a certain percentage of patrons, but what I saw last time was probably 40% with FastLanePlus. Also, you used to be only able to get the FastLane at the gate, now you can buy them everywhere in the park. Seems to me they are overselling it and ruining the experience. At least that's what happened to me last year. Don't get me wrong, it felt a little guilty cutting the lines, but was worth the money. So I guess I'm an elitest too; I cannot stand lines, and at my age I have less trips to the park ahead of me than behind me. So squeezing every last second of fun out of every trip is key. I'm lucky to live within 2.5hrs from arguably the best park on the planet.

I see the fast lane pass as a way to extort more money out of you pocket. And if you don't pay you wait even longer. Older rides like the Blue Streak and Gemini the line is a walk thru. If they are even still there.

Yup same machines that have bene in there for almost 30 years. In the 90s we used to call it the Museum of Broken Games. Should also be one or two pitch and bat machines and maybe a few EM gun games.

You're not wrong. Still, though: it's a price I'm willing to pay in the future.

I remember the first time playing Line Drive; it was at CP, when the machine was new. I remembered the flyer stating the special effects for a grand slam. I played about a dozen games and finally got a grand slam. The fireworks and siren was awesome. CP also got an Upper Deck a year or two later.

Drat! I was just at Cedar Point last Monday -- my first time ever -- and completely missed this arcade. I saw an arcade back in the Frontier Town area (near Maverick) so checked in there, but didn't see any pins. I had no idea they had this bigger arcade with vintage machines!

Regarding the Fast Lane discussion: I did the Fast Lane Plus and it was absolutely worth every penny. Since this was my first & only time there, I wanted to maximize the number of coasters I could ride. We rode THIRTEEN different coasters -- some multiple times (Millenium Force x3, Maverick x2, Valravn x2, Raptor x2), including waiting for the front row almost every time. We skipped HOURS' worth of line on most of the rides. One time through on Maverick, we walked right up to the loading area, and chatted with some "regular" line kids who had been waiting almost 1.5 hours by that point.

If anyone going soon cares, in our opinion, our top five were:
1) Millenium Force
2) Maverick
3) Raptor
4) Gatekeeper
5) Valravn

Initially we had rated Maverick #1 and MF #2 ... but then we rode MF in the front row, and omg what a difference that made.

Also, for locals/visitors: while in nearby downtown Cleveland I also found three pins at The Corner Alley on E. 4th Ave. I noticed these weren't on the map, so I just added them a few minutes ago.

1. How did you miss walking by the largest individual building open to the public in the park? They even wheel out some crane machines and Elaut carousel cigarette lighter sucker games outside the doors onto the Midway. Unless you stayed at Breakers or Sandcastle Suites and used the Hotel gate or Soak City gate and never walked down the Midway but you would for Raptor, Gatekeeper & Blue Streak.

2. My daughter went two days ago (Friday) and did not need the Fast Lane. She did wait 1 1/2 hours for Valravn and 15 minutes for Gatekeeper. She rode Millenium Force three times with only a 30 minute wait at park closing. The other times were under 15 minutes because she wanted front row. Maverick was a walk-on once and 10 minutes the second time. Top Thrill was 20 minutes. Usually Memorial weekend Friday & Monday are good days to go line-wise. No way am I paying double to go to Cedar Point. Twenty bucks for a burger, fry & soda or Chick-Fil-A sandwich for eight bucks is enough.

I know, they are pricing things high to keep out some of the riff-raff. Thank goodness they are stepping up line jumping enforcement. The Fast Pass deal has caused more of this to occur. During the wait for the last night ride on Millenium, four idiots line jumped the line. A ride attendant saw them and told them to go to the back of the line. When they responded with a big "F. Y." and said they'd kick his ass, he went back to the ride operation. A minute later four CP cops came over and threw them out of the park. I wonder how many times they line jumped earlier? I guess there was quite a bit of applause as the cops came over and verified "whodunnit".

It's cool that their pinball selection is so old-school - that must be a deliberate choice?

The clear solution here is to get too fat to ride the rides, which renders the entire debate moot! (it's ok, I can still go on the lazy river...)

We were there for the coasters, this was the top priority, so we headed directly to them without looking around. Only once we stopped for lunch (and having seen what great time we were making hitting the coasters) did I even consider pinball and if they had any. I did see the big building later when we hit the skyride (to save us some walking) and asked what was in it -- but my friend didn't know and we hit the ground running back to coasters anyway. Oh well, nothing I can do about it now. Really, I should've just checked our pin map on here before I went.