Canada's Wonderland & Cedar Point advice needed

[Coaster_Phil]

Hi all, bit of a long story, but I have managed bag an air ticket to Canada. My first choice was Toronto, so I was thrilled when I discover that Canada’s Wonderland is there! My preference for flying is late May, but I can change this if need be.

This is a bit of a once in a lifetime thing for me, and have now realised how close it is to Cedar Point! So I am thinking road trip!

I have some questions about both, and wondered if any of you guys could help.

Firstly, when is the best time to go to avoid stupidly long queues at both parks? If I do CW and then a days drive and the CP, can anyone recommend any good, but cheap places to stay? Google says 7hrs drive with traffic, does that sound about right?

Is it easy to drive over the border? I know that I don’t need a visa or anything for Canada, but do I just take my UK passport and drive into the US?

And is there any advice that anyone can offer, I can’t afford the VIP passes by the way.

Thanks guys!

 

[ECG]

I think late May/early June would be a great time to go. Canada's Wonderland opens on May 19th & Cedar Point opens the week before, so neither park will be very crowded unless you go over Memorial Day weekend (May 28-30). The first week in June would probably be the best as the parks will be open later & you'll be able to ride the coasters in the dark.
You'll need to give yourself about an extra hour to cross the border, not sure about what you need other than your passport.
You might want to give yourself a full day to get between the parks & make 2 small excursions along the way. The first being Niagara Falls (where there's also a quicker border crossing) & the second being Waldameer in Erie, Pennsylvania, which isn't very far off the highway to Cedar Point.
Waldameer hasn't published their 2011 calendar yet, so if you can wait a bit to book your flight, etc. to check their schedule. I believe the park might only be open on the last two weekends in May. It will be worth it to go to Waldameer because there is no entry fee as it's a pay-per-ride park & Ravine Flyer II is not to be missed (also try the Xscream drop tower). There are also a couple of other credz & you can get them all in plus some re-rides on Ravine Flyer II in less than two hours (probably only an hour tbh). If you can't make it to Waldameer on the way to Cedar Point, maybe you can stop there on the way back to Toronto.
As far as where to stay, I recommend one of the Cedar Fair hotels, as you will get an hour early entrance into the park the next morning, which will be enough to ride Maverick & Millennium Force before the park opens it's doors for the GP.
There are quite a few Cedar Point hotels, but if your looking to save money the cheapest is Breakers Express.
If you need a cheap hotel near Canada's Wonderland, I recommend the Comfort Inn Toronto North in North York, which is about 5 miles from the park.

 

[Gavin]

I'm not sure if this is neccesary, since you're driving over the border, but I don't see why it wouldn't be...

If you're travelling into the USA, while you don't need a VISA, you do still need permission to travel through ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization). It's a really simple process (just answer a few questions online) and your passport details are then logged into the system. When your passport is scanned (at airport check in in my case) your permission to travel will show.

You need to have one of the newer, biometric passports though. If you've got an older passport, you'll need to get a VISA.

Anyway, it's all here:

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/

 

[A101]

I have found at the border by Niagara Falls, the Lewiston bridge can get very busy because it's free. Always look for signs and websites online that show the wait at the border. The Rainbow bridge is a toll bridge, but it puts you further south and it has shorter lines.

I find Wonderland a good park, but it's full of clones. That's the one thign I don't like about the park. the SLC is well an SLC, and "Canada's only flying coaster" a Volare, really let me down. Plus it is incredibly un-effiecient; the line moves REALLY SLOW. But the park has ok lanscape and the Behemoth is NOT TO BE MISSED! You'll have fun.

Can't say much about Cedar Point, but I have heard Mantis can be a let down.