When we told people that we were planning on visiting Cedar Point this summer, their eyes would light up when they talked about their favorite roller coaster, from Steel Vengeance to Valravn. But our family consists of two young children — ages 4 and 7 — and not only are our children not tall enough for many of the big roller coasters that Cedar Point is known for, they are also at the age where they are still working up the bravery to get on a roller coaster. (They’ll get there some day!) So, why were we visiting an amusement park known for its world-class roller coasters? Because there is so much more to Cedar Point than big thrill rides! Here are some of the things we experienced during our visit to America’s Roller Coast®.
Cedar Point Beach
I should probably start with the area of Cedar Point that my kids loved the most: Cedar Point Beach. Cedar Point is surrounded by Lake Erie, and is lined with a sandy beach, which is the perfect place to build sand castles, collect beach rocks, and frolic in the water — all of which we did many times throughout our trip. We used to live in Southern California, so my boys are familiar with the Pacific Ocean, but we had never seen a lake that was so … beach-like! There were waves and everything! We fell in love with Lake Erie during our trip to Cedar Point.
Our love for Lake Erie was also cemented because our hotel room was right on Cedar Point Beach. We stayed at Hotel Breakers, which is the way to go if you’re into convenience while visiting Cedar Point. Not only is Hotel Breakers a short five-minute walk to the entrance of Cedar Point, but when you stay at the hotel, you get to enter the theme park a whole hour before the gates open to the general public — you get to waltz in at 9 a.m. instead of 10 a.m.! This was amazingly convenient for us, because we got to beat the crowd and hit up Camp Snoopy before everyone else.
Camp Snoopy, Planet Snoopy and Kiddy Kingdom
Camp Snoopy is the perfect place for young kiddos who are too short to ride the big-kid rides. Our boys are ages 4 and 7, and they loved all of the rides they went on. From Snoopy’s Bounce House to Linus’ Beetle Bugs, all of the rides in Camp Snoopy are geared for FUN for little ones.
After Camp Snoopy, we walked to the other end of the park to visit Planet Snoopy and Kiddy Kingdom, which is similar to Camp Snoopy, but has a whole new set of rides. Here, we rode a mini train, spun around the Kiddy Kingdom Carousel, and visited other rides. Adults can accompany most of the rides in Camp Snoopy, Planet Snoopy and Kiddy Kingdom, which is great when you have a reluctant kid who WANTS to join in the fun, but just needs a confidence boost from having mom or dad by his side. (Like my 4 year old at the beginning of the day! After a few rides, he was riding alone like a champ.)
These three areas of the park are really family friendly — there is even a Family Care Center that’s located next to Planet Snoopy with infant feeding areas and quiet spaces to take a breather. Baby changing facilities are located here, as well, but they are also located throughout Cedar Point, too.
Live Entertainment
Cedar Point offers live entertainment every day and throughout the day, so you will always find something fun going on! We happened to catch three, including the Toes in the Sand Band performing at the beach and the Peanuts Block Party, which my youngest son said was his favorite because he got to see Snoopy dance! We also saw The Beach Crew perform along the Midway. I liked this performance because of their backstory: They are a crew of surfers who traveled all the way from California to surf the waves of Lake Erie. I could kind of relate!
Monster Jam Thunder Alley
My kids have been obsessed with monster trucks since they could hold toys in their hands, so when we found out that Cedar Point had a new event this summer all about monster trucks (Monster Jam Thunder Alley), we made it a point to visit. We walked through Thunder Alley and snapped pics with some huge monster trucks — and even got to sit inside some of them! — and then we made our way to the sandbox that was set up with dozens of monster trucks that my kids could play with. We stayed here a long time! You’d think that being at Cedar Point, one of the most fun amusement parks in the nation, my kids would want to see everything and do everything, but they were content playing in the sand with toys. Young kids, I’m tellin’ ya!
LOTS of Fun for All Ages
It’s hard to capture just how many things we did at Cedar Point without riding any big roller coasters. There is just so much stuff to do for families with kids of all ages. We didn’t even see everything or do everything — there were plenty of activities and events taking place at Cedar Point that I wanted to do with my kids, but they were pooped out by the end of the day (and so was I). We had a great time at Cedar Point, and we will definitely be back!
