Want a prime viewing spot for the Great Theme Park Solar Eclipse of 2024? Cedar Point has an offer for you.
Cedar Point is now selling tickets to its "Total Eclipse of the Point" event on April 8. On that day, a total solar eclipse will pass across North America, with several theme parks in its path.
In addition to Cedar Point, the eclipse's path of totality will pass over Holiday World in southern Indiana and Six Flags Over Texas in the Dallas/Forth Worth area. Six Flags Fiesta Texas and SeaWorld San Antonio also will be right on the edge of totality.
Cedar Point's season does not start until May, but the park will open early for one day to accommodate fans who want to see this once in a lifetime event on the Point. Tickets start at $99 plus tax for parking and admission, which includes select rides on The Boardwalk and Kiddy Kingdom and eclipse viewing glasses. (PSA: Never look directly at the sun, even during an eclipse.)
If you want to spend more, $120 plus tax gets you in and adds a meal voucher at the Grand Pavilion Restaurant & Bar. The top ticket - literally - runs $199 plus tax and gets you additional admission to 30-minute VIP experience including views from atop Valravn.
Tickets are available on Cedar Point's website.
As for the other parks, only Six Flags Fiesta Texas has announced that it will be open on the day of the eclipse. For those visiting on that day, the park is offering upcharge viewing packages starting at $10 on its website.
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I refuse to spend thousands of dollars to see this. Of course, it is going right through my backyard. The local authorities have been really good at getting info out about how this will impact our local lifestyle. Our county (two counties sw of Cedar Point) has about 60,000 people in it, and is mostly rural. If the weather is good, they are predicting up to 200,000 people to be in just our county that day, and the same goes for every other county in this part of Ohio. Schools are closing, factories are shutting down, and we're being warned that most roads will be jammed with visitors. Emergency vehicles won't be able to get through, and cell phones will not be able to connect. The CP event starts at noon, and the eclipse begins about 1 p.m. (totality about 3 p.m.) I wonder how many people with tickets will not leave in time to get there before it's all over.
Okay, so... scratch the plans for a TPI eclipse watch party at James' house that day?
Robert, you're always welcome! Actually, we are having some friends over to watch in the backyard, and we'll have plenty of supplies to get us by. Just be sure to get here plenty early. We have a spare guest room if you want to arrive over the weekend, to avoid the crowds. Or bring a tent!
If all goes to plan I will be on a cruise ship in the path of totality and am extremely excited about the prospect. I've never seen one but by all accounts they are genuine bucket-list events so I totally get why people are prepared to spend a lot of money to witness them. The eclipse was actually the clincher in us deciding on this particular cruise so whilst it is costing us thousands of dollars it's money that we would have been spending anyway. I personally wouldn't spend a lot of money solely to see an eclipse but then again I've been chatting with people who have seen several and they talk about them in the sort of terms that make you think perhaps there's something in them that just captivates people.
At the end of the day it's all about choice. If people want to spend their money chasing after eclipses it's no dafter than people spending lots of money chasing after roller coasters. Is it?...... ;)
I get why people might travel to an eclipse, but if you're in the area you can experience it outside, anywhere, without paying admission. Having a special upcharge event and expecting people to pay seems weird to me.
Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky will be hosting a special event for the eclipse! They will have scientists from Nasa on site doing kid focused science presentations.
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I simply don't understand the fanaticism around eclipses. Yes, they're incredibly cool, and viewed as once-in-a-lifetime events, but people are spending thousands of dollars to travel to the path of totality, and regions in the path are jacking up prices and marketing to tourists for something that might not even be visible if it's cloudy.
I think it's clever for Cedar Point to jump on the eclipse bandwagon, but wonder why anyone would pay that kind of money to get into a theme park where virtually every good ride will be closed. FWIW, it appears the package including the ValravN experience has sold out.