Cedar Point will open its 150th season on Thursday with a slew of new rules to keep customers and employees safe at the roller coaster capital.
Virtually all aspects of the amusement park experience, inside and out, have been tweaked to reflect the safety concerns that come with opening a tourist attraction dominated by high-touch surfaces.
Rides, games, dining, and shopping will all look different to customers this year as the park welcomes 50 percent of its capacity. Regular sanitization schedules and policies have been instituted throughout the area on the advice of epidemiologists and local health department officials as have RelaxZones, outdoor areas where customers will be able to remove their masks during the day. Cedar Point Shores, the accompanying water park, will remain closed for the season, but Cedar Fair-owned hotels and campgrounds are operating per state regulations.
"Cedar Point knows its role in our community, which is to make people happy and provide fun," Jason McClure, Cedar Point’s General Manager, said. "That's in our blood and we know everybody needs some fun right now. There hasn't been a lot of it of late. So, we have to adjust to the protocols and everything, so we can continue to do it."
On Thursday and Friday, Cedar Point will only open to season pass holders, but resort guests and single-day ticket holders will also be able to visit the park after July 11. All guests can use the park's website or mobile app to make advance reservations now. Guests are no longer allowed to walk up and purchase tickets to the park on the day. The park also has reduced hours this year, down to 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., from Thursday to September 7.
Once guests have arrived at the park entrance, they will undergo a health screening in which staff will use camera thermometers to test for fevers among the guests. Employees will also be tested whenever they come into the park, said Mr. McClure.
Outside of the fever screening, guests will be asked to wear face coverings at all times in the park, except in new RelaxZones scattered throughout or on water rides, and maintain social distance during their visit. Numerous signs around the park also remind guests to wash their hands often, utilizing the over 200 newly-installed hand sanitizing stations.
After passing through the temperature screening, guests will undergo a contactless security check similar to any check experienced at a sporting event.
As for the rides themselves, Cedar Point has installed hand sanitizing stations at entrances and decals to enforce social distancing while riders wait in lines. Customers will still be able to use the test seats at the entrance to the relevant rides and those will be sanitized by associates after each use. Cedar Point has also placed decals prohibiting use of certain seats on some rides to keep riders socially-distant.
Despite social distance rules, staff will still conduct safety checks on all riders to make sure they are secured correctly in their seats. Mr. McClure said rider safety remains a "co-number one priority" for the park amid the coronavirus and that masking and frequent hand-washing will reduce the risk posed by this action to customers and staff.
The number of rides, areas, and restaurants open to guests will change on a daily basis because of cleaning schedules, staffing levels, and the number of customers in the park. The park's catering business at Point Pavilion will shutter this year and the space has been converted into a RelaxZone for employees, Mr. McClure said.
Over at the traditional carnival games, like the water gun races or basketball scoring challenges, attendants will be sanitizing each part of the game touched by customers in between each use, Mr. McClure said. Such games will also spread out participants in order to maintain social distancing. Each stand now features a plexiglass barrier at the point of sale, as well.
Outside of the restaurants, stores, and game stands, sanitizing will not be happening after each use in other parts of the park. For example, seats on the rides will be sanitized a few times every hour, said Tony Clark, the park's director of communications. Other public areas of the park, like benches and garbage cans, will be sanitized on a regular schedule by roving cleaners armed with towels and spray bottles.
Cedar Fair, Cedar Point's parent company, has hired an epidemiologist as a consultant to come up with appropriate practices. The company has also been working with university hospitals and local health departments to open up its parks across the country.
"If they're feeling ok, if their health is good, if they're willing to wear a mask, keep their hands washed, and practice social distancing while at the park, then my answer to them is 'Yes, go have a great time,'" Peter Schade, the Erie County Health Commissioner, said when asked what advice he would give to people wondering if they should go to the park this summer. "That's who the park wants there, people who are going to be able to follow the stay safe guidelines."
Cedar Fair parks in Kansas City and Texas have already opened, and Cincinnati's Kings Island opened last week. Mr. McClure said that Cedar Point has been in constant contact with those parks to help guide its policies and operations.
Amid the pandemic and reductions in capacity, Cedar Point will employ fewer people this summer, Mr. McClure said. He did not give specific numbers. He said that the traditional pool of college students has dried up because schools are going back earlier this year. For that reason, the park is still hiring new associates.
Those lower numbers could spell problems for the park if the company sees a spike in coronavirus cases among its staff. Cedar Point has been cross-training employees prior to opening in order to respond quickly to mandatory quarantines. Mr. McClure said there were contingency plans in place if a spike did occur and admitted such a situation would "present some challenges" to the park. He said the new protocols for guests and staff are "critical to keeping employees healthy."
Hotel Breakers, Lighthouse Point, and other resorts and campgrounds owned by Cedar Point have been open since mid-June. They have been operating under the appropriate orders passed down by Governor Mike DeWine. Soon guests of those businesses will be able to experience the park for the first time this year.
While sesquicentennial celebrations like the 150th Spectacular Parade and the opening of the new Snake River Expedition ride have been postponed, new upgrades to food services will greet guests on Thursday. A new confections restaurant called French Quarter Confections will serve fried desserts like donuts, waffles, elephant ears, and funnel cakes with an assortment of sweet and savory toppings.
The company also rebuilt The Corral, a walk-up restaurant serving classic amusement park food, to increase its efficiency and food quality.
First Published July 8, 2020, 10:46 p.m.
