Ferndale, MI
Quoted from mamawaldee: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.
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.
