Rain days at the Amusement Park Rule!

So you would think that the best days at an amusement park would be in the 70s, 80s, or maybe even the 90s and sunny. At least you would think that. I would argue that this is not the case however. I would argue that unless you are going for the water rides or to a water park you are much better off with a slightly drizzly day in the 50s or 60s. The reason for this opinion you may ask? Simple, less people. The worst part of going to a Cedar Point, Six Flags, Universal, Disney, or any other park is that there are so many other people their. This makes you waste most of your time at the park waiting in line. If there were less people there would be short or even no lines. This is exactly what happens when the weather isn’t all that good.

It has worked for me three different times now. The first was when my cousin came to visit Minnesota back in 2001. We went to the local park on a Wednesday (FYI it also helps to go during the week if possible) and it was cloudy, rained a little, and in the 60’s though it was late June. We literally walked onto almost every ride. We were able to ride every thing we wanted to not just once, or twice, or even three times but four or five times. After six hours we got board and left the park having done everything. This was an eye opener for me. Now I try to go on such days. And so far it has paid off big.

The latest time was a week or so ago at Cedar Point in Ohio. I flew RB into Dayton and she, I, and a coworker of mine drove 2 ½ hours north to Sandusky Ohio. I used a free night stay certificate to get a room for RB and myself, I think MS used alternate travel for his room. We drove up after work and got to the hotel later during the night, planning to go to the park the next day. When we woke up we looked out side and it did not look promising. There were pretty heavy rains and some wind, plus the temperature was pretty low. We waited an extra ½ hour to see if things were going to improve – they did – then decided to go to Wal-mart to get some warmer clothes. RB got a new fleece, a thicker under shirt, and an emergence poncho MS and I got some ball caps to keep the rain off our heads. We decided to head to the park and see if the rides were open.

To our surprise when we got to the park the lady at the gate said every thing was open except for one ride. So we decided to go. It was a bit cold but we lucked out, it didn’t rain much. More then a few rides were closed right away but the ones that were open we had only a couple minute waits. By the end of the day they had opened everything and we road all but one coaster on our list, most of them we road two or even three times. So that was pretty good. We had a blast, though we did get a little cold an tired, we all agreed that we had made the right decision to go. Especially since the next day it rained even more and it looked the crowds were larger. As an added bonus we got quite a few laughs at the high schoolers in the park that were freezing because they didn’t bring warm clothing. Many of them had brand new Cedar Point Sweatshirts by lunch!

Shout out to MS for getting in 24 coasters while I only got 23 and RB did 21….Way to sneak one in at the last minute. BTW the top line dragster is crazy. 0-120mph in 3 seconds, you are shot strait up 400+ feet then do a barrel role on your way down. Of course at that speed the ride only last 20 seconds; but what are you going to do?

Between those two visits I also went to Six Flags with AP, MP, and MN back in probably 2003 on Labor day. Again it was over cast and a bit rainy, and again the story was the same. We got to ride everything a couple of times. This also brings up another strategy for beating the crowds; go at the beginning or end of the season. Half the reason both Six Flags and Cedar Point were so empty was because they were at the extreme end of the seasons (JC and I also saw small crowds at Cedar point a few years ago at the end of the season and on a Monday). If you wait for school to be out your all done the place is going to be packed! You might as well bring some entertainment for the 2+ hour line waits.

And Yes I probably do spend too much time at amusement parks, I have made seven trips to parks in the last six years and will probably go a couple more this year!