KD tips, please help!

I'm going on Monday, August 30th, and the hours are from 10:30 AM to 8:00 PM. How bad are the crowds on a weekday at the end of August/beginning of September? Can I get all of the coasters and the major flats in time?

What would be the best route to go so I can get on everything? Some people have said go from highest capacity to lowest capacity. What's the best route to go?

Would there be enough time so I'd be able to get front and back seat rides on everything? If not, I'll just do back, save for Dominator.

Also, I love the fact that Cedar Point only closes the gates at the listed closing time, but allows everyone in line to get one last ride even after closing. Is that just a Cedar Point thing, or is that policy chain wide?

Also, I'm going to bring my video camera and camera along, which can take up to 1.5 hours total throughout the day (or so). How much of a problem would that pose?

Im going to answer your questions in the order they were asked...

Crowds should definitely be manageble, you shouldnt have to wait too long for anything, except Volcano. You will be able to hit everything major in one day.

For a route, I usually go from Dominator to Intimidator, then depending on the lines I will go to FoF then Volcano, then go back and get Avalenche, Crypt, Backlot, and Anaconda, not neccisarily in that order. Then do Shockwave (front seat, if you even decide to waste your time) then Drop Tower, Rebel Yell, Hurler, Ricochet, Grizzly, then re-rides!

For front and back seats on everything, it really depends on crowds. You will definitely wait alot longer for front seat on Dominator, but love the rattle, sit in the back seat, its worth it. Intimidator will be no problem to sit in the front and back seat, poop you could probably do both in 15 minutes. The back seat on I305 is better IMO.

Yes you get a ride if you are in line when the park closes.

Sorry for the lenghty post, just trying my best to help out

One of the things I've learned lately, when I get there at opening, is to head to Volcano first. This past Saturday, Dominator opened at 10:00, but the rest of the park opened at 10:30. When they dropped the ropes/open the gates (I have a VIP pass, so was down at the 2nd set of gates which KD allows for Platinum and VIP passholders), we headed for Volcano. The crowd was still filtering into the park, so we were the only 2 on Volcano. We got a 2nd ride before the line started to grow. Volcano's capacity is a lot less than some of the other rides.

Selected rides don't open until 12 noon (Avalanche is one of them). Keep in mind - KD tends to operate on a limited capacity on weekdays, meaning most likely you'll have one train on most rides with very low numbers of employees. So you may still have some lines to deal with. I doubt more than one train on Rebel Yell will be in use. Anaconda almost always has 2 trains. Otherwise....

The park does allow rerides on at least the wooden coasters, if there are empty seats available.

And yes, the lines generally close at the park's stated closing time.

As for the camera, I think I'd get in there and ride what you can to determine operations and crowd size, then get the camera.

Should the end of August prove to be anything like July, the crowd may be in the waterpark to escape the heat! But I'd expect minimal attendance at that point.

I want to ride the following:

-I305
-El Dorado
-Dominator
-Backlot (the one at CW was surprisingly fun.)
-Anaconda
-Drop Tower
-FoF
-Grizzly
-Hurler
-Rebel Yell
-Ricochet (for the credit)
-Shockwave
-The Crypt
-Volcano
-Americana (photo and video)
-Avalanche (never been on a Mack coaster before.)
-Eiffel Tower (photo and video)
-Ghoster Coaster (for the credit)


Should I go from lowest capacity to highest capacity? If so, could someone post those rides in descending order (highest capacity at top, lowest at bottom)? Should I go from highest capacity to lowest capacity? Or, should I move to the back of the park and make my way up front? It took me two hours of ERT and a whole 10:00 - 10:00 day to complete CW, and that has about the same amount of rides. I don't think I'll get on everything in a 10:30 - 8:00 day and zero ERT unless I have a good plan. What should I do?

I don't believe you'll have a problem getting on your selected rides if you don't waste too much time. Saturday I was there - on a Saturday - for only 2 hours, and I rode Volcano twice, I-305 about 4 times (or more), Grizzly once. That's 7 rides, and we weren't even trying. On a weekday, it's really hard to say what a ride's capacity is. For instance, the Rebel Yell, with 4 trains running, can seat 120 at one time. But with one train running, and one lap-bar checker, capacity may be terrible. Backlot has 3 trains - 3 short trains - but if they run one, well, so much for capacity. Volcano has only 2 trains now (built with 3), and capacity isn't very good. Grizzly runs one train most weekdays. Because another train isn't coming in behind it, the ride ops tend to take their good-natured time. They basically have only one lap-bar checker for rides with one train running. Something like Drop Tower can seat 56? But they'll close off half of the seats to create a line. But my guess is attendance on weekdays is pitiful. KD is not like CW - it's not near a truly major city or metro area, and it's certainly not a destination park. The majority of its visitors are probably season pass holders who live within 100 miles of the park and go on weekends because they're at work on weekdays. I've been to CW several times. Believe me, it tends (normally) to be much more crowded than KD. Besides that, KD has Busch Gardens competing with it. While I like the "traditional park" feel of KD, and prefer its rides, BG has everything over KD in operations, and it is affecting attendance. I'll bet KD loses this year to BG, even after spending $25 million.... I still say start with Volcano if it's open at opening time. Maybe head to Backlot Stunt Coaster because of its low capacity. However, if Dominator is open at 10, grab that one first, then go to Volcano, which is supposed to open at 10:30. Americana will probably only fill selected gondolas, and it's a slow, lengthy process. That might be your longest wait! Chances are good that the woodies may be stay-on rides even with only one train.

I go there literally every week.

Head immediately for Volcano first, ride the front, don't bother with the back, it sucks in the back. Reride it since at open, there won't be very long lines.

Then Flight of Fear, again, the back sucks, just ride the front.

Then I305 for as many times as you want. The front will be a LONG wait.

Then all the other coasters shouldn't have too long of a wait. I'd go in this order based on the fact that you're in Congo area. Anaconda, Backlot, Avalanche, The Crypt, Drop Zone, Rebel Yell, Hurler, Grizzly, and Dominator.