Tips for myself in the event that I go to Cedar Point again:

• The Fast Pass isn't a terrible idea if you're driving in from out of town to get the maximum benefit from your trip. It's probably a requirement if you go on the weekend during the high season. Having said that, I went on a Tuesday before the busier summer season was off to a true start, so I wasn't terribly bothered being without it. It does make for an expensive day, admission was $37/person, but fast pass was $45, I think, ON TOP of the admission price.

• Cedar Point has a very nice sandy beach, with lifeguards on duty, and you don't have to be staying in one of the Cedar Point resorts to use it. Use it.

• Don't follow the signs to Cedar Point from your hotel, follow your GPS, it'll cut through busy roads for a faster trip by diverting around intersections (ya, I'm that guy).

• Don't ever bother paying the extra fee for the VIP parking.

• They have a rather nice covered picnic area right by the main entrance, pack a nice lunch (which we had by way over-ordering dirt-cheap American chicken the night before), keep it in your car, and leave the park for lunch right after everyone gets back from lunch. You're allowed to enter/exit the park as often as you like. You can bring your own charcoals for their charcoal BBQa, but in my opinion, there are rides to be rode on, there's no time to bother with waiting for a BBQ to heat up.

• We had no problems bringing in granola bars and beverages inside the park. Make a trip to Target the day before and pack everything you need to eat or drink for the day, it'll be tastier than anything in the park considering I don't recall seeing funnel cakes anywhere. Be sure to pack at least something salty to help replace your electrolytes (Gatorade/Powerade/sports drinks are mainly sugared water and not up to this task)

• Keep your cooler in the trunk, it'll stay cooler in there (no greenhouse effect there).

• Bring sunglasses and lots of sunblock. I recommend Ombrelle Complete if it's available in your area.

• You can refill your water bottle throughout the park, I believe you can even ask for a refill at any food service place too. Bring a pocketable bottle if it's a nice day.

• I've heard you can park by the splashworks so you can park closer to the main entrance, but it may take longer to leave if you do so.

• You have to pay extra to go to the splashworks. I found a dip in the lake was fun. Bring a Nerf football, it was fun to have, though I did try to hide it in a more-obvious-than-originally-thought place during one of those rides that you can't bring anything on, and it got snatched.

• There are some rides that don't allow you to bring your belongings on for keeping next to the ride and picking up at the end. IE: you *have* to lock it up or bring it back to your car. So, don't bring a purse, backpack, big waterbottle, etc, and wear pants/shorts with a lot of pockets. This is good for keeping the aforementioned pocketable/collapsible water bottle. They're not going to frisk you, but they will have a guard at the entrance into the line to make sure you don't bring these things on-board. Most rides do let you lock/stow your stuff while boarding the ride, but not the fun ones with their high-efficiency board/unboard systems.    

• My group stayed at the Best Western PLUS in Sandusky Ohio. Check out my review here. I'd recommend it if you can get a fair price.

• Planning to drive 5 hours after a day at Cedar point is a bad idea, though it did work out okay. Just don't play to solo drive it (which I did just fine on the way down, I like driving).    

    If there's anything else you feel that one should consider/remember/do/prepare for a trip to Sandusky to visit Cedar Point, please leave a comment.