Michigan and New Yorkers Today?

How do you expect lines to be September 3-5?

Apparently Cedar Point's efforts to expand its business outside of the 150 mile radius are working :)

Ripcord, probably not as short as the lines September 8 - 12... ;)

I'm confused. Explain?

Check cedarpoint.com for the park's operating hours on those days....

Pete said:

When I was a kid in Ohio, we always started summer vacation during the second week in June and started school again on the Wednesday after Labor Day. . . August school starts don't do anything for a better quality education and just screw up vacations schedules for families,

You do realize it is zero-sum, right?

"August school starts don't do anything for a better quality education" any more than September starts do.

And they only "screw up vacations schedules for families" for families that want to vacation in late August instead of mid-June. Families who want to do outdoors stuff before the heat of summer hits would be complaining about their kids still being in school; on 6/10.

That's funny.. I've never heard of anyone complaining about how they can't take a vacation in mid-June, and MI has started in September for over a decade now.

1. Many Ohio schools want to start earlier because the test dates are fixed. While it may not improve the quality of education overall, they believe their students will perform that much better on tests in October if they can get an extra week or two of classwork in August. Interestingly enough, most of the schools in my county don't start until next week, and they are consistently given some of the highest marks on the district report cards.

2. Northern Michigan doesn't get warm enough to be considered for a summer vacation until mid-June. Similarly, it stays warm enough into early September. While it is warm enough for tourists, the locals want their kids working in the resorts and restaurants instead of being in school.

I think each region is going to have their own problems with the school schedules and the real problem is when the local schools don't want to take the circumstances into account when creating the scedule for the year. The problem we've been running into locally is districts wanting to start earlier each year to the point that kids would already be in school during fair week. Not a problem for the city and suburb kids quite so much but a few rural disricts have tried starting earlier citing more test prep time as the reason and this causes a problem for the kids in 4-H that have project animals in fair competitions. They can't take care of their animal at the fairgrounds and show it if they are in school.

I've done a little research on the topic and, as far as I can tell, most Ohio schools have started in late August since 1980. The original reason was apparently because of harsh winters in the late 1970s forcing schools to lose a lot of days.

I certainly don't ever remember starting after Labor Day, but I'm not as quite as old as Pete. :)

I remember the last week of August being common but the district I work for is creeping back to the third week of August as are some others in my area. My own kids don't go back until the 31st because the fair falls late this year and they asked the parents for input and apparently waiting until the fair was over had the most support. I lost my previous position at work so for the moment I'm taking advantage of my kids' extra week and taking them to CP. Coasters do a good job at soothing me while I freak about my imminent lack of paychecks. Those HalloWeekend employment ads all over the park are looking a little tempting.

As a relative old-timer, I recall school starting in September when I was in elementary school--sometimes the day after Labor Day if it came early, or the Wednesday before if not. Then, round about the eighth grade--which would've been about 1980--opening day ticked back into August for the first time. I remember being roundly pissed.

I think early elementary I was starting after Labor Day and I can remember my parents complaining when we started earlier about the added days. I was in kindergarten for the blizzard of '78 so that would put the timing about right for the switch.

I'm glad that I live in Michigan

Said no one ever.

What are you talking about! Michigan may have it's downsides like cold weather, road salt, crappy roads...Rick Snyder, but it also has it's perks like starting school late, being close to cedar point...if you live near Detroit...

Yeah, Michigan kinda sucks

There's more to Michigan than Detroit. I've always wanted to go to the Upper Peninsula and also revisit Holland again if there's still anything to see. I was there when I was three and never forgotten it but that was back in the early 70's.

I just wish Michigans Adventure wasn't so lackluster.

Yeah, having to park mid-Timbers and all.

Seriously, though, it is kind of sad the last coaster or ride MI got was one of the disbursements from Geauga Lake and that's been a while.

Funhouse, you might be disappointed on a return visit to Holland. Dutch Village is still there, but it's surrounded by an outlet mall. Windmill Island and its authentic windmill are still there. But these days, what you'll mostly find in Holland are big box stores and chain restaurants.

Dang it, I can't find my broken record about Michigan's Adventure being one of the most profitable parks in the chain and getting what it needs to continue to thrive....