Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread

[chadsterThe Pony Express can't find my teepee]

^From the park's standpoint:

If you keep the price the same and limit the number of tickets, you would now have to deal with angry park guests who can't buy one because tickets have sold out. So, you raise the price, to in effect accomplish the same goal of lowering Fast Lane users without having to turn customers away. This is how Universal has done their Express Passes for years now. Raise the price with demand. It's basic Economy 101.

Dude, I understand this. Will $5 break the bank, no, but it pushes that glass ceiling. Disney is going to be quite effective in raising their A/P rate in lowering attendance and this will too, but at what long term cost? So now instead of turning people away, they get customers who now bitch and moan that the price is above what they are willing to spend for it. Win-win situation, no.

I do like that CF is offering these passes and they are keeping all of the money to themselves unlike parks partnered with Lo-q. However a major benefit with Lo-q is if a pass is returned, it can be resold. CF can't do this, so the answer is, raise the price because we sell out too quickly. The statement Cedar Fair makes about raising the price for their customers, yeah, I don't know of any consumer who applauds paying more, lmao.

Hypothetical. Sell an average of 1k passes per day at Cedar Point during the course of 100 peak operating days. That extra $5 nets them an additional $500k, not too shabby with an overall addition to the bottom line of ~5.5 million when not taking into consideration the Saturday premium. Now, if they use those additional revenues to continue to improve the park(and by improvements I mean not putting in lame rides like a million windseekers, tho the public somewhat seems to like them) then everyone wins.

[MeteornotesKeeper Of The Carnivorous Bees!]

Even at a $5/$10 increase, these passes are still a great value for what you get. No way would I visit CP in the summer and not get Fastlane. The park is just too busy.

dt

[deathfearsnoneCan I park my donkey here?]

People seem to think theme parks all about me me me. But they are out to make a buck and need to. So for the 5 dollar up-charge yes i understand it does it bother me no. Cause you just schedule your vacation on slower days Mondays wed are prime examples.

Even with the price increase, it's still cheaper than a Gold Flash Pass for one person at a SF park, which is $80-ish. And I still paid the $80 last year when I went to SFGAd for the Green Lantern pass preview days. The value for these things far exceeds the cost.

[blade1Donkeys give me orgiastic scream!]

Just wondering, is there anything to do near Sandusky besides Cedar Point? I need a reason other than CP to get a trip to Ohio.

Yes, Sandusky, is a major tourist town. There are advertised caves and islands that draw people looking for something more rustic. There is also world class walleye fishing too. My friends stay in Port Clinton, only 15 minutes away.

[blade1Donkeys give me orgiastic scream!]

Well that is dissappointing to here. I was convinced they would build a legitimate wooden coaster, hopefully they still will. It does seem unlikely they would just spill the beans like that, smokescreen perhaps. They could do a 4d I suppose at least it would be different. A dive coaster would be a lot better if they had to go with steel. I think Dive and Inverts are here to stay and Wingriders will go the way of Standups. There has been a rumor of a Dive Machine coming for a while and it is a winged coaster.

I completely disagree. Wingriders have tons of potential and will only get better. They are the hot ride for this decade. They will be more like inverts. Every park will want one. Here's a video to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqHQ-Caz9UM

[krakenmaniacShe turned me into a donkey! I got better...]

If you alredy bought FastLane online you pay the origional price that was 30$ for 6, right?

[SkyBreak95Full Fledged Donkey Enthusiast!]

Family Launch coaster perhaps? Im thinking of A Skyrocket Type coaster (minus the inversions) mixed with Manta and maybe some decent theming. Right over the water filled with dips and quick directional changes, at a moderate 35mph speed. It could really be hit for CP.




Imagine a view from Camp snoopy, looking at something similar, but over water.

5 dollars isn't an increase at all... that's like what? The price of a soft drink at a Cedar Fair park. I don't think the 5 buck increase will change anyones mind at all as far as whether they should buy it or not.

[QueerRudieFull Fledged Meat Enthusiast!]

I've been reading over the past few pages about the price increases to Fast Lane products- and I have to say this: I'm a bit concerned as to where this is going myself.

I've been in the travel industry for the majority of my life- in one form or another- and seen what happens when things like this begin. Let's look at the Airline industry, to make a comparison of "Then Vs. Now"

In 1999, when you bought your 'one price' ticket, you got: An assigned seat, two checked pieces of luggage, and you could change your ticket for the difference in the airfare. On some airlines, you got a snack or meal, complimentary. You could check in curbside for free.

Now: You want an assigned seat, it's a fee. You want to board early: It's a fee. Don't want to stand in a long security line? It's a fee. Food? Pay for it. Change your ticket? Pay a huge fee- and the difference in fare. Luggage? Hand over 75.00 for those two pieces of luggage. On some carriers: Want to carry it on board? Hand over 100.00, please.

Now let's compare this to theme parks (Not just Cedar Point) in general: Let's skip long lines: Pay a big fee, no lines.

Soon: Want to enter the park early? Fee. Want to get a particular seat? You need to buy the 'purple' wristband first- fee. Look! That new attraction they just added? Oh wait: You don't have the striped wristband- it's not part of your 'base' ticket you just bought- for a hefty price. Lines? Oh, yeah- you don't have the Fast Lane ticket, so you're standing in the four hour wait line.

You are now thinking, well he's gone nuts: No, actually, I've not: Look at what the airline industry did over the past decade. What was once free for everyone is now a fee for everyone- with very few exceptions. Theme parks are trying this with Fast Lane type systems- and I can assure you, if they see profits in them, they will look at adding similar systems that would add that to current park pricing.

And now you're saying this would never happen (I can hear it now). That's -exactly- what people said about the airline industry 12 years ago. And now, most of those fees aren't even optional. Picture in another decade of these fees/price increases what it will cost to buy a ticket/get a season pass for a theme park: Your 'standard' season pass might cost 160.00- but to get the different add-ons for the park, you're looking at another 200 plus- easily.

Raising prices is one thing to help keep the number of Fast Lane prices in check- but we too need to keep the parks in check, as if we don't you're going to be paying quite a bit more for that park trip you wanted to take in the future.