2018 Cedar Point Fire and Ice Taste Bud Tour (Cedar Point Nights)

One of our absolute favorite family events since first being introduced in 2014 is Cedar Point Nights! Once the sun goes down, the Cedar Point beach comes alive with so many great family activities, it is a spectacular way to spend the evening!

Every year we think Cedar Point Nights could not possibly get better than the year before, but somehow it always is, and this year is no exception.

While the event is always centered around the Cedar Point beach, further down and inside the park at the former Oceana Stadium site is the new Lakeside Stage featuring Fire and Ice!

This new night entertainment show will run twice each night, 8:30-9:30 pm and 10:00-11:00 pm.

Fire and Ice will feature a 12-piece band as well as a fire performer and aerialist. The show is included with your admission to Cedar Point, and you should be able to see parts of it from the beach.

Fire and Ice Tastebud Tour

We love Cedar Point Nights for all the great activities, but we also really love that the park offers new exclusive menu items each year too!

New for 2018, Cedar Point will offer a Fire and Ice Tastebud Tour July 5 through August 19, 2018 from 7:00-11:00 pm. After initially being offered every night of the week, by the second week it has been reduced to only Thursday, Friday, and Saturdays.

For $25 (online), $30 (at the event), guests receive an eight (8) item sample card to choose any items from the four (4) themed gazebos. Food is also available for individual purchase.

Individual Taste Bud Tour menu items can be purchased for $5 each.

The four booths are as follows:

Sizzlin’ Seafood
– Firecracker Shrimp (4 habanero fried shrimp with cool mango glaze)(While the shrimp did have a nice flavor, they were overcooked and rubbery.)

– Seared Tuna Caesar Salad (Sesame seared tuna with a wasabi Caesar salad)(Loved this idea. Tuna was excellent with nice sear and LOVED the sesame seed coating. We have a very high tolerance for heat, so we barely tasted any wasabi in the Caesar dressing.)

– Strawberry Lemonade

Sweet & Spicy Pork
– Chipotle-Spiked Short Rib (with avocado crema and garlic toast)(This menu item was by far our favorite, with really tender shortrib and the avocado crema went really well with the meat. Our only suggestion is we would like to see a little more heat infused into the shortrib to offset the “ice” of the crema.)

– Brown Sugar Skewered Pork Belly (served with Thai garlic sauce)(Pork belly by nature has a lot of fat in it. So we were surprised that our skewer was more of a crispy, tough cut of meat and not tender. Overall, this was one dish we always look forward to eating, but felt underwhelmed in execution.)

– Jalapeno Mint Lemonade

Street Eats
– South Shore Perch Taco (Jalapeno slaw, peach relish)(We really enjoyed the various flavors from this dish, though we would like to see a little more heat and the serving size is very small.)

– Chicken & Waffle (with jalapeno butter and syrup)(Chicken & waffles in general are either really good or completely terrible…there is usually no middle ground. A small piece of chicken is we think cooked into the mini waffle and topped with a huge spread of jalapeno butter with syrup packets on the side. Do not skip the syrup (even though it is just your basic corn syrup! Otherwise, you are eating entirely too much butter. This was not a favorite and again portion size is really small.)

– Raspberry Lemonade

Bourbon BBQ
– Firey Bourbon Glazed Wing (includes drumette, flat and tip)(Most would consider this a single wing, but in realty it is two since you get the leg and wing. Nicely prepared with excellent glaze.)

– Chill Lime Pineapple Skewer (with coconut yogurt dipping sauce)(This is another one of those menu options where you have to laugh that it is $5 for a single skewer of pineapple. The dish should at least be served with two skewers. We love a good pineapple, and this was ok. Nothing too flavorful, though the pineapple was nice and juicy.)

– Blood Orange Lemonade

Taste Bud Tour Summary

This is one of those instances where we need to come back and try the food again. Normally we try the food on opening night of an event, but given the rain, we pushed it back until the second evening.

We ordered a tasting card in advance online to save a couple bucks. You get 8 samples for roughly $30. In contrast, for Brew & BBQ you get 15 samples for $25. That was our first big takeaway. Brew & BBQ offers a tremendous value and thus why it is so popular. The price point for the Taste Bud Tour, especially given it is the first year, is completely out of whack with the portion size.

In general, all the samples are really, really small, especially if you planned on paying the a la carte $5 price per item. There is no value items for this event. It is all rather pricey for what you get.

In addition, while we LOVE the idea of implementing all kinds of new and creative menu items into the event, most fell flat with flavor and/or execution. A second visit to the event may be in order to see if things improve.

Cedar Point Nights Food

For guests not wanting to enter Cedar Point and stay on the beach, there will also be two food stands available. Menu items include pulled pork sandwiches, nachos, hot dogs and fresh homemade potato chips as well as a selection of Coco-Cola beverages and bottled beer.

Beach Grill

– Spicy Shrimp Nachos (Mango Pineapple Salsa, Cheese & Jalapenos)- $8.00
– Pulled Pork Sandwich (Signature Blood Orange BBQ Sauce)- $6.00
– Cheese Fondue Bread Bowl (Cubed Bread, Broccoli, Carrots & Celery Sticks)- $7.00
– All Beef Hot Dog- $5.00

Beverages
– Soft Drinks & Water- $4.00
Bottled Beer
– Shandy Shores, Huckleberry Hootenanny- $7.00
– Bud Light, Michelob Ultra, Yuengling, Corona- $6.00

Party Snacks

Fresh Homemade Chips
– With Old Bay Crab Dip- $7.00
– With Onion Garlic Parmesan Dip- $6.00 (WOW! The ladies at the booth recommended we absolutely try this dish and boy were we glad we did! The homemade chips…excellent and crispy. The dip though…again WOW! Very potent flavor that everyone in our family devoured. Our only complaint, like all the food for the Taste Bud Tour, is the portion size to cost is completely off.)

Nachos & Cheese- $4.00
Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookie- $2.50

Bottled Beer
– Shandy Shores, Huckleberry Hootenanny- $7.00
– Bud Light, Michelob Ultra, Yuengling, Corona- $6.00

Of course no visit to Cedar Point Nights would be complete without the return of the Glow Zone and Silent Disco Zone, where guests can pick up complimentary headphones to dance the night away.