I recently spent a day at Cedar Point riding on and ranking nearly every roller coaster in the park. Being a theme park, I knew to expect there to be over priced food. I found out that you could purchase dining plans online that could prove to save some money, including a Premium All Day Dining pass that enabled you to get a soda every 15 minutes and food every 90 minutes for $46.99 + $1.99 processing fee. Given that a single meal at the park easily tops $20, I figured that spending a full day at the park warranted the meal pass.
So I purchased my Premium All Day Dining the day before and upon entering the park a bit before 10:00am, I picked up my wristband. On it was a QR code that each restaurant scanned and allowed me to order my food or beverage.
Not every item at each restaurant or snack stand was included. For example, I learned that I couldn’t order an Elephant Ear. Each menu had a dining plan symbol next to the items that were included.
In the midst of riding 15 rollercoasters on a warm 82° day, I got hungry and thirsty. Plus I wanted to make the most of my dining pass. So I set my phone timer for 90 minutes and dug in.
10:15am – Breakfast
The park opened at 10, but I had to get my wristband before getting my first food item. I made my way to the Grand Pavilion restaurant on the Boardwalk as I read they had breakfast. I got chicken in a biscuit with tater tots and a cup of water.
I ate about have the sandwich and tots; the biscuit was fairly dry. But I also didn’t want to over eat as I was heading next door to GateKeeper, a wing coaster just next door.
I’m not going to list all the times I got soda/soda water/water, but there are plenty of Coke “Refresh Stations” around the park, someone with Freestyle machines, other with standard fountain machines. You scanned your QR code, told the employee you didn’t want to upgrade to a souvenir cup, got your included 16oz paper cup, filled it up and were on your way.
11:45am – Snack
My phone timer went off and I found myself near a Dippin’ Dots booth. It was already pretty warm, and I had never had Dippin’ Dots before so I figured this was my chance. With the Premium Dining plan I was able to get a kids size of any flavor. I picked Cookie Monster.
I don’t quite understand the love for Dippin’ Dots, but I’m also not a child. It’s just low quality ice cream in little pellets.
1:15pm – Lunch
After three consecutive rides on Top Thrill 2 I was somehow able to eat lunch. I had made my way to Frontier Town at Ms. Keat’s Smokehouse for a burrito bowl (think Chipotle but not as good). I got mine with rice, chicken, corn, salsa, lettuce and sour cream. No beans were available and guacamole was not included.
It was then time to do the coasters in Frontier Town — Maverick and Steel Vengeance.
2:45pm – Snack
I was needing a break after getting rattled on some coasters and it was getting hot outside. I asked one of the guest service folks about soft serve and was directed to Stockade Refreshments where they had soft serve vanilla, chocolate, and Dole Whip.
Dole Whip is a pineapple soft serve sorbet and is delicious. Feeling refreshed, I was ready to set the 90 minute timer and head to my next rides.
4:15pm – Snack
When my next timer went off I was near Camp Snoopy after going on the Gemini. I had heard about “cheese on a stick” and saw that Happy Frier was serving up all things stick. Both the full meal and the single cheese on a stick were included with my package, so I went with the meal that included one cheese on a stick and a side. I went with strawberries to try to balance out the fried mess.
Cheese on a stick is basically a stick of mozzarella dipped in corn bread batter (think corndog) and then fried. The cheese was pretty flavorless but who doesn’t love fried cornbread?
I knew that my next meal would likely be dinner, so I waited a bit longer than 90 minutes for my next food stop.
6:00pm – Dinner
After riding Siren’s Curse I was back towards the entrance of the park when it was dinner time. I decided to check out Hugo’s Italian Kitchen on the Main Midway. It is a newer addition to the park and is fully enclosed with air conditioning. They offer either pizza or pasta. The pasta looked extremely basic so I went with the pizza. For my included side I went with caprese salad.
I was impressed that they had caprese salad as an option (and included when you bought a slide of pizza). It was just whole grape tomatoes and balls of mozzarella covered in pesto, but it felt a bit sophisticated.
7:30pm – Snack
By this point I was exhausted and realized I probably wouldn’t make it until 9:00pm for my final food. So for my last snack of the day I sopped in at the Ice Cream Parlor where I got a single scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough by Blue Bunny.
It was a huge, softball size scoop and a great way to end my day.
By not staying at the park until after 9:00pm I did forfeit my final included food item. However, at that point it wasn’t worth it as I just wanted to get to my hotel and sleep.
If I had bought each item individually, I would have spent around $85 not counting the sodas/soda water. So it was easily worth the cost. However, would I have actually purchased all these items had I not had the pass (and probably felt a lot better at the end of the day)? Absolutely not.
Realistically I probably would have gone with two meals (with drink), a couple of bottles of water, and a snack; which would have been around $60. So I still came out ahead and did get to have a few extra treats along the way.
The food was mediocre as you would expect at an amusement park. I was impressed that they had fresh strawberries at many of the restaurants as an option for a side. There were also salads available if you wanted something healthy. I didn’t like that you had to get a new paper cup every time you wanted a beverage (wasteful), but I am also glad I didn’t have to carry around a reusable cup all day if I am being honest.
Have you visited Cedar Point? What did you think of the food options and dining packages?