How to Save Money at Cedar Point

A vacation is meant to be an escape from daily stress and an opportunity to recharge. Vacations can also be hectic, with everything around us competing for our attention and time, stressing both our wallets and our minds. Let’s explore how to save money at Cedar Point – America’s Rockin’ Roller Coast. 

What is Cedar Point?

Nestled on a peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio, the 364 acre Cedar Point is one of the most prominent amusement parks in North America. Home to one of the largest and well-rounded roller coaster lineups in the world, Cedar Point is deservedly known as America’s Rockin’ Roller Coast and the Roller Coaster Capital of the World.

The property also houses:

•  a 669 room onsite hotel
• A waterpark
• a marina allowing access via boat
• An award-winning child’s area themed to the peanuts characters
• a beach.

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2022 Price Changes at Cedar Point

Cedar Point opened for the 2022 season on May 7th, and the new season has brought increased prices. As a result of these price adjustments:

Daily admission prices at the gate have increased by $10 for the 2022 season and now cost $85.

Parking prices have risen to $25 at the park and is currently discounted by 7% when purchased online.

For a limited time- Cedar Point’s website is selling one day passes for $45 so take advantage while you can!

Top Thrill Dragster, one of Cedar Points’ bucket list coasters, will remain closed for the 2022 season. Wicked Twister has also been completely removed. As a result, lines may be slightly longer across other high thrill attractions.

How to Save Money at Cedar Point – Tickets

Tickets to Cedar Point during the regular season have reached $75 for a single day and $99.99 for a two-day admission for the 2021 season. While expensive, Cedar Fair offers a myriad of ways to save some money or your admission.

Opportunities to Save Money on Tickets to Cedar Point:

• Purchase Tickets Ahead of Your Trip– This one is key: do not buy your tickets at the gate, instead buy your tickets in advance from cedarpoint.com where the current prices are:
  • $59.99 single day weekend/$49.99 single weekday (Saving you up to $35 a ticket!)
• Go on a weekday
  • Not only will the crowd levels be lower, weekday tickets currently run $49.99 an additional $10 savings over the current online price for weekend admission. 
• Buy multiple days at once– Cedar Point is an extensive park and can get quite busy, a second day now might save an additional trip later. Two-day admission is cheaper than purchasing two single-day tickets. 
  • $79.99 two day access (a $10 discount per day vs single day online purchases/$30 savings off the gate price
• Consider a season pass if you expect to spend 3+ days or 2+ and have a family of 4 or more:  Cedar Fair offers two options for season passes
  • Standard Season Pass- $135
    • 1-hour early park access (30 min 2021 for gold pass members)
    • Free parking ($20 savings per day)
    • 10% discount on food and merchandise
  • Platinum Pass- $225 with the following additional benefits
    • Access to any cedar fair park or water park
    • Will upgrade any purchase of Fastlane to Fastlane Plus allowing you to skip the line on the big 4 roller coasters in the park!
• If you know a Season Pass Holder- be their guest for a day
  • Season Pass holders can purchase tickets for up to 4 friends at $39.99 a ticket (a $10 discount per ticket)
• If you can drive a bus– Bus drivers for groups of fifteen or more may be granted one complimentary ticket valid for that day only.

More Savings on Cedar Point Tickets

• Appreciation for Military Service
  • Active and retired members of the military can purchase single-day tickets at $39.99 (an additional $10 discount per ticket) in appreciation of their service.
  • Cedar Point has a history of offering free admission over Memorial Day weekend. As a result of this offer, and a three day weekend, Memorial day crowds can be extreme.
• Michigan Residents
  • While the Michigan Super Saver Ticket may not be on offer for the 22 season, community member Melissa discovered two related deals:
    • Members of the Michigan Recreation & Park Association can grab a single-day ticket for just $36. A two-day ticket can be had for $66. Both deals are only available to Agency level members.
    • Students and employees at the University of Michigan can grab a single-day ticket for $35. A two-day ticket will cost you $65. Even better, parking and drinks can be added to either deal for just $10!
• Families with young children
  • Admission for children 2 and under is always free
  • For the 2021 season, a Pre-K pass is being offered. This pass provides free admission to children ages 3-5.
• If you are under 48 inches (in shoes) or over the age of 62:You can save an additional $5 per day!
• Share the Day with a Group
  • Groups above 15 members will pay 39.99 for a single day ticket or 2 days for 74.99
  • Groups of 30 or more will enjoy additional discounts

Future Ticket Discount Opportunities

• Watch Online for Event Sales
  • Cedar Point often celebrates Christmas in July by offering discounted tickets. Those looking to take advantage should monitor the cedar point website/Twitter accounts during the month of July. 
• Michigan Super Saver Ticket: If you are a Michigan resident, you may be able to purchase a Michigan super saver ticket for 49.99 and receive the following perks:
  • Free parking
  • Free all-day drinks
• Guest Services has informed me that The Michigan Super Saver Ticket is not on offer for the 2022 season. Community members have told me that the deal will show up if you access the site from a Michigan IP. This deal may be worth monitoring in future seasons for Michigan residents. 

 Discounted tickets can often also be obtained through (these partnerships do not appear to be active for the 21 season):

• Kroger
• Meijer

How Much Tickets to Cedar Point Cost Us on Our last trip 

Our entire group purchased season tickets back at the end of the 2019 season. Because of the pandemic, these tickets not only granted park access for the rest of the 19 season and all of 2020, they continue to be honored through the entire 2021 season. 

Given that this was an unusual situation, we will imagine that we had purchased our tickets online at a cost of $49.99 a ticket.

Current cost per person for our trip to Cedar Point: $49.99 + $2taxes and $6.99 fees = $58.98

Savings over purchasing at Gate – $25.01 total $12.50 per person

Can You Save Money At Cedar Point With Fast Lane or Fast Lane+

Fast Lane is Cedar Point’s equivalent of FastPass, allowing you access to shorter wait times. Starting at $81 it’s difficult to look at Cedar Point’s answer to FastPass as a cost saver. That said, time is likely to be the bottleneck on any given visit. Even with world-class operations, wait times at Cedar Point can rival any in the world. The shortest wait among their 18 coasters can often break an hour, with their headliners hitting over two hours. As a result, Fast Lane might allow you to cut a day off of your visit or even a need for a second trip. Cedar Point is a bucket list park for thrill-seekers, and there may be times where having a complete experience outvalues the frustration a Fast Lane pass can avoid.

Fast Lane excludes the big 4 at cedar point and will not save you time on Millennium Force, Maverick, Top Thrill Dragster, or Steel Vengeance. Those 4 roller coasters will have the longest wait times in the park on any given day. To bypass the general line for these attractions, Cedar Point offers Fast Lane Plus starting at $101. Prices vary according to the crowd level on a specific day. Depending on the day, Fastlane+ may reduce your wait time by up to 70%. This could potentially cut a 2-hour wait for rides like Steel Vengeance down towards forty minutes.

How Much is Fast Lane Plus at Cedar Point

The price of both the standard Fast Lane and Fast Lane Plus can vary dramatically from one day to another. Theoretically, this fluctuation exists to balance the number of fast lane users with the overall number of guests in the park and ensure the best experience for all.

Prices for a standard Fast Lane pass can currently be found online, starting at 89 dollars, with fast lane plus demanding a premium price of 114 dollars for the same day. As Cedar Point often draws more visitors on weekends, Fast Lane prices are often cheaper during the week. Prices for Fast Lane and Fast Lane Plus will increase as crowds grow, making them a reasonable barometer as to how busy a chosen day may be in the park.

Cedar Point Fast Lane Discounts

Discounts on Fast Lane can be difficult to come by at Cedar Point. One discount is possible if you either have, or know someone who has a Platinum pass. If a platinum pass holder purchases Fast Lane passes in the park, they have been reported to be eligible for a 10% discount.

Is Cedar Points Fast Lane and Fast Lane+ Worth It?

It might cost you a few extra bucks, but unless you are going over a holiday weekend, I would wait until you are in the park to decide if a Fast Lane pass is needed. If you decide to purchase Fast Lane make it Fast Lane+. The big four are the attractions coaster enthusiasts will remember, the largest risks to your schedule, and are only part of Fast Lane+.  On certain days, Fast Lane+ may allow you to ride up to three times as many rides as the general queues.

Does Cedar Point offer Single Rider Lines?

No, while single rider lines are a staple at Disney and Universal parks, they are not on offer at Cedar Point. Certain Coasters did offer them in the past, but they have been converted to Fast Lane Queues.

In years past, single riders or smaller parties would often find themselves skipping the end of the lines as ride ops would call down for riders needed to fill out rows. Post-Covid this practice has not returned to the park.

Time is a Valuable Resource-How to Maximize Your Time at Cedar Point:

Go at the right time

Cedar Point is a popular park and crowd levels can be high at the best of times. There are a few steps you can take to avoid the worst crowds:

• Check a crowd level calendar and look for a light day
• Avoid weekends and the days around holidays. 
• Going while school is in session may be best, but Cedar Point pulls much of their workforce from local schools so you might trade smaller crowds for less efficient operations. 

Get to the park early

Cedar Point often allows you to get through the gate an hour before full operations begin. Due to the popularity of their attractions, Cedar Point is one park worth rope dropping.

Season ticket holders can ride a subset of rides a full hour before full operations begin. 

Use the proper entrance

Cedar Point has a couple of entrances, each being closer to certain key attractions. Choosing the entrance nearest the rides most important to you can give you a slight head start over those unaware of the option. 

• The main entrance to Cedar Point is by far the most popular. It opens into the front of the park near the following attractions:
  • Gatekeeper
  • Wicked Twister
  • Raptor
  • Some of the milder flat rides
• The Western entrance will drop you near Frontier Town, home of Millennium Force, Maverick, and Steel Vengeance (these three attractions are likely to be the three longest waits on any day at Cedar Point).

Parents- use child swap

If you have a younger child but still love high thrill attractions, head over to guest services and ask for a parent swap ticket for the day. With this ticket, one parent will wait in line as normal while the other stays with the child. Upon exiting the ride, the second parent can take the ticket to a ride op who will allow them to walk through the ride exit to quickly get on the attraction.

How to Save Money at Cedar Point – Parking

Cedar Point has a large parking lot that can easily accommodate guests even at capacity. Parking will run you about $25 per vehicle. Cedar Point offers preferred parking for an additional ten dollars.

Opportunities to save money at Cedar Point Parking

• Drive together!
• Drive a bus
  • Buses of 15 or more (excluding the driver) can park for free at Cedar Point
• Occasionally paying for your parking ahead of time via Cedar Point’s website will save you a couple of bucks
  • Currently, a discounted rate of 23.15 is offered by purchasing parking online. Tax will eat up most of this savings.
• Factor parking into your Season Pass decision
  • Parking is free for season pass holders ($25 value each visit).
• Own a boat
  • If you have a boat docked at the marina, you can walk to the park. 

How to Save Money at Cedar Point – Food

Cedar Point is renowned for its fresh-cut fries and offers a fairly solid mix of food within the park itself:

• Melt Bar & Grilled
• BackBeatQue
• Chick-fil-a (closed on Sundays)
• The Mac Shack
• Panda Express
• Starbucks
• Subway

At their onsite hotel:

• Perkins
• TGI Fridays

via a short walk to the marina:

• Famous Dave’s BBQ

Or just off the main causeway:

• Dairy Queen
• McDonald’s

For drinks, Cedar Point serves Coke products throughout the park. 

Special Food Discounts at Cedar Point

Are you a fan of BBQ? Consider eating at Famous Dave’s on the Marina (you can walk from the entrance just under Valravn, get your hand stamped for re-admission). If you use the Ibotta App(use code rynynee at signup), you can earn an additional 6% back on your meal by paying through the app. Stacking the cashback with solid rewards credit card and a pass holder discount (if you are a season pass holder) can save you on a filling meal.

Opportunities to Save Money on Food at Cedar Point

Bring your own food:

Like many amusement parks, Cedar Point does not allow outside food or drink aside from:

• 1 sealed water bottle per guest
• Exceptions for guests with dietary restrictions

They provide a large picnic area just outside of the park gate with restrooms. 

Ask for free tap water:

• Quick service locations will provide you with a free complimentary cup of water. 
  • They will be glad to sell you bottled water as well, so be sure to specify. 

If you have a Season Pass:

Season pass holders receive a 10% discount on most on-site dining options. My experience has been hit or miss over the years with employees occasionally unaware of the offer at the same location where the discount is unquestioned on my next trip. 

How to Save Money at Cedar Point – Merchandise

Cedar Point does a good job of immortalizing their record-breaking roller coasters on merchandise. Popular options include: 

Cedar Point branded:

• T-shirts = ~$30
• Sweatshirts – ~$40
• Hoodies ~50
• Pins = ~$10
• Mugs- ~15
• Wooden Cutouts and Models of their Coasters ~$35+

Cedar Fair has the beloved peanuts license.

Opportunities to Save Money on Merchandise at Cedar Point

Season ticket holders can save 10% at locations throughout the park! Cedar Point’s online shop has a sales section worth keeping an eye on throughout the season.

Are Reservations Required at Cedar Point

As of July of 2021 entry to Cedar Point does not require a reservation, however, reservations are still required for Cedar Point Shores Waterpark. The later restriction remains in place due to the Waterpark operating at a limited capacity.

Are Masks Required at Cedar Point

As of the 2021 operating season face masks are no longer required outdoors for fully vaccinated individuals. You should carry one with you and may be asked to wear one while indoors and not eating nor drinking.

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Other Attractions Near Cedar Point

Toft’s Ice cream

Located just 4.5 miles from Cedar Point is the Toft’s Ice Cream Parlor. A fairly affordable treat with an amazing staff, ice cream at Toft’s is a wonderful way to end your evening after a fun-filled day at Cedar Point. There is a smaller location housed within the park itself, but the quick trip to the full location is well worth the time. They do often close shortly before the park so make sure to plan accordingly. 

Put In Bay

A short 25-minute drive and a quick boat ride and you will arrive on the island of Put-in-Bay. This 397-acre island is home to:

• Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial
• Guided tours of crystal caves
• Guided winery tours
• A Butterfly House
• Kayaking, rock climbing, paddleboarding, and fishing!