2013 Cedar Fair Season pass question

Vater said:
Holy cow. I found the season pass information on the Dorney website in about seven seconds.

Jeff said:
Well I found the season pass info on the Dorney site in six seconds. I win!



It's like the roller coaster geek internet version of Name That Tune.

"I can find that info in four seconds."

"Find that info."

rollergator said:

Fun said:

The platinum pass also comes with a free frogurt!

Never had a "frogurt" - but I already know I prefer it to Dippin' Dots...

I wouldn't try it. Frog is not to my taste.

Jeff said:
Well I found the season pass info on the Dorney site in six seconds. I win!

Drat!

You win this time...

Lord Gonchar said:

Yeah, but I didn't want a 2013 pass in October. I want it now. So that helps me none at all.

Which is why I noted for future reference. ;-) $16 might not sound like much now (the discount was $20-25 in previous years), but if you didn't know about that, and you add up your savings in future years, I did actually help you.

Meh. Not even sure I'm the type to crawl out of bed for a couple of extra rides.

Understandable. Most are that way. I'd love to sleep in, but I find the bonus ride time so valuable that I force myself to wake up often. At CP, you can quickly walk on Maverick, Millenium, and TTD before the park opens. Then you've already set up a great day of not needing to worry about long lines, buying Fast Lane, etc. Then, you can relax through the peak hours, and re-ride the majors when everyone seems to leave an hour early.

Additionally, CP does some Platinum Pass bonus night ride time. I'm not one that tends to re-ride the same rides a ton in a day, but getting a half dozen night laps on TTD, Maverick, or MF can be fun and really add some value to the pass.

Our definitions of crazy differ. Kings Island's are even more underwhelming.

Right, this is why I noted "for me" or "in my case." It's going to depend on what food you usually buy at CP. For me, I almost always buy the fresh cut fries and am usually in groups of 2 or 4. I used the fresh cut fry deal 4-5 times last year. Buy a chili fry, get another fry AND 2 soft drinks free. You're getting about $20 of stuff for around $7. 65% savings seemed crazy good for an amusement park to me. There were some other deals with comparable savings that I did as well.

Kings Island did their deals in a different way last year, so you wouldn't find that value unless you dug a bit deeper. They had an experimental loyalty program called "Fun Perks" that you could add to the Platinum Pass (or any season pass). You earned a free all-day drink wrist band just for signing up, earned random surprise instant rewards when making any purchases, and built up rewards for spending any money in the park. They also had rotating deals when scanning your Platinum Pass (which was your Fun Perks account) like a burger, fries, and a drink for $5.99.

Sucks.

Didn't even read what it was in response to, but "sucks" is always worth a +1.

Ok, so now that there's some space after the "sucks" comment, I feel like Jeph's post deserves a better response. But I wasn't passing up the opportunity.

1. When I do buy a pass this year, it will be my first in three years. At this rate the $16 early bird discount nets me $5.33 per year. And even if we look at it as a solid $16 on it's own...well, $16 is nothing. It's parking. I'd rather just wait until late winter/early spring when I have a better idea of future plans and I'm not potentially wasting $164 to save $16.

Everyone is different. That's my story.

2. If I see a line longer than 30 minutes at CP during our proposed visit, I'll be very surprised. I don't need the extra hour of riding as much as I do sleep and it would only be some odd freak occurance that packed the park to the point of needing Fast Lane and regretting the decision to sleep.

I've gotten burned before though and then I do buy into FOL. But for as much of a proponent as I am of the systems, I rarely find myself needing them. Good luck or good planning? Either way the result is the same.

Again, everyone is different. That's my story.

3. We're a family of four that lives and dies by the souvenir cups and the cheap refills. Free drinks (unless they'll fill the souvenir cups) aren't really an incentive. An occasion BOGO on fries is nice, but if I used it more than once a day, it'd be enough to put me into french fry overload.

As far as Kings Island, you lost me at "unless you dig deeper" - I don't want to play games or work for the discount. I bought the pass, that should be more than enough. The idea of Fun Perks makes me want to find whoever came up with it and punch them in the face. If you're going to give me deals, just give me deals. I don't want to hunt or build points or get surprised or spin the wheel or pick a card or flip a coin or draw straws - I just want to be told easily and precisely what deals are available when I buy the pass.

Again, just me. Everyone is different. (But if you disagree with me, you're probably wrong.)

Lord Gonchar said:

I don't want to play games or work for the discount. I bought the pass, that should be more than enough. The idea of Fun Perks makes me want to find whoever came up with it and punch them in the face. If you're going to give me deals, just give me deals. I don't want to hunt or build points or get surprised or spin the wheel or pick a card or flip a coin or draw straws - I just want to be told easily and precisely what deals are available when I buy the pass.

Applauds...because sometimes a +1 doesn't suffice.

I remember wasting about 15 minutes trying to sign up for SF's "Fun Addicts" (I guess Funatics either works that way, or as "rhymes with lunatics...or whatever) a couple years ago at the beckoning of SFMM...in the end, there was no cheese at the end of the maze.

Lord Gonchar said:

I don't want to play games or work for the discount.

Again, you're in the majority here. You are attracted to what I call the "Walmart model." Don't take that the wrong way. I'm not opening a can of Walmart controversies. :-) I'm talking about their pricing model: thoughtless, effort-free, average-to-good prices all the time. Their stores are typically free of store-issued coupons, BOGO offers, loyalty rewards...and they have far fewer temporary price cuts.

I might be in the minority, but I like the feeling of defeating the Walmart model by being challenged with every loyalty perk, promotion, price cut, and coupon that you can throw at me. I'll happily jump through every hoop if it means reaping big savings in the end. You'll probably argue this route takes more time, but like anything, the more you do it, the easier it becomes. For me, it's sort of a fun hobby that keeps my mind active.

The problem with making discounts effortless/thoughtless is that everyone can do them, so the discount is rarely very good. For example, at Canada's Wonderland, Cedar Fair did exactly what you suggested. For buying a Platinum Pass, you got a straight discount of 10% on all food in the park. But to me, 10% off is too little to care about. Let me benefit off others' laziness and disregard for money. They can pay full price, and I'll take the 65% savings after jumping through what I consider very easy hoops.

Lord Gonchar said:

We're a family of four that lives and dies by the souvenir cups and the cheap refills.

You surprise me here. I feel like a refillable souvenir cup is the ultimate hassle for a discount. I personally cannot stand carrying anything around with me at an amusement park. It's just something that you need to deal with the whole day. If you get a locker for it, you eat away your savings. When going on rides, you need to remember to pick it up. They tend to get sticky and dirty after a few refills, and then you need to go to the restroom and wash it off.

I tried the refillable souvenir cup at Cedar Point a few years ago and at Six Flags last year. Both times, we aborted after a few hours, leaving the cup in an obscure bush and picking it up at the end of the day.

Lord Gonchar said:
That's my story.

Your story sucks.

Jeph said:
Understandable. Most are that way. I'd love to sleep in, but I find the bonus ride time so valuable that I force myself to wake up often. At CP, you can quickly walk on Maverick, Millenium, and TTD before the park opens. Then you've already set up a great day of not needing to worry about long lines, buying Fast Lane, etc. Then, you can relax through the peak hours, and re-ride the majors when everyone seems to leave an hour early.

I am the same way. I love to get up early ride all of the majors and have the rest of the day to relax. It gives me time to go back to the hotel, soak in the hot tub, have a beer or two, etc. I am not interested in waiting in long lines during the heat of the day and I am not going to spend money on Fastlane.

Interesting the distaste for Fun Perks. I viewed them like frequent flyer miles. Never went to KI enough to reap the benefits, but I loved the concept of rewarding loyalty. If it were chain-wide, I'd have been a happy camper last season.

Jeph said:

Again, you're in the majority here. You are attracted to what I call the "Walmart model."

Nah. Not at all. I'm attracted to the "my time is valuable" model. Price is irrelevant - value is everything.

You'll probably argue this route takes more time...

That's exactly what I'mma do.

The simpler something is (especially in terms of visiting the amusement park) the more valuable it is. It takes less time and hassle. Saving a couple of bucks by jumping through hoops blows because the time and effort it takes to jump through the hoop is worth more than the reward for jumping through it.

For the record, the "Wal-Mart model" is - price is all that matters. People who prefer the Wal-Mart model take nothing about their purchase into consideration beyond the price. It's the cheapest so it's the best deal.

... but like anything, the more you do it, the easier it becomes.



Time and effort are two different things. It still takes time. Hell, it still takes some degree of effort.

What can I say? I'm not a "anything to save a buck" sort of guy.

I feel like a refillable souvenir cup is the ultimate hassle for a discount.

You're not alone. Seems to be the popular sentiment among enthusiasts. Sharing two or three cups among the family cuts the cost of from four $5 drinks per round down to $4 per round. If I'm saving $16 every time we hit the drink stand, carrying the cup is the single best value in the park.

If you have a non-rider in the group, then the hasle becomes negligible....

^^But, you missed my point about the Walmart model. They don't have the lowest prices. The hoop-jumping method always crushes them, and the savings are far greater than a buck or two. So, I was saying that you were lumped into that model because you value an effortless experience.

Secondly, if you don't care about cost or pricing, I'd argue that a multi-park season pass is one of the most convenient things you can have. Speed on through the parking booths and gates, and get riding.

1. Oh, I see. Yeah, if we're basing it on simplicity, then sure. But I don't think of terms like convenient, quality or value when thinking Wal-Mart.

As an aside, it's the perfect example of how you and I look at two things completely differently.

To me, Wal-Mart offers no value at all because their low prices are offset by the low quality of their products and, in the case of commodity-type items, offset by everything else about the shopping experience. You don't go to Wal-Mart for convenience at the expense of price, you go there for low prices at the expense of everything else.

That's vastly different from how you seem to see it.

Although, just for a point of reference, I'd love an example of a situation/purchase where some sort of hoop-jumping resulting in signifcant savings over Wal-Mart. Because I suspect the effort-to-savings ratio will seem downright insane to me...almost as insane as stepping foot into Wal-Mart in the first place.

2. Definitely, the amusement park season pass is one of the best values anywhere. I said as much at the bottom of page 1. But you have to use it...and I'm awfully close to point where the value starts to blur. Is spending $180 for less-than-$180 worth of goods and services with a little added convenience worth it? Depends of the price difference and the convenience value added...

...which is exactly why I questioned it in the first place. To quote myself:

"I'm wrestling with this idea right now. Looking to get back on the season pass horse after a couple of years away from the parks, but still not planning on doing hardcore traveling. It's a close call. I think what ends up tipping the scale is the included parking."

Not sure what you buy at Walmart but a Rubbermaid laundry basket at Walmart is identical to a Rubbermaid laundry basket at Target, or any other store that sells "better" stuff. Same thing goes for thousands of other items. I agree with you on clothing to a cerain extent (sometimes I just want $10.22 pair of Rustler jeans to mow grass in) but for pretty much everything else I just don't get the Walmart quality sucks point of view.

Sure the clientel leaves something to be desired but I don't care. Heck it even makes me feel better about myself! If it saves me lots of money buying sandwich bags and Tide and Tylenol then I can put up with turning my head the other way when I see someone's hairy ass sticking out of their "Juicy" sweatpants.

But like you said, everyone is different.

That's kind of what I was touching on with this:

"To me, Wal-Mart offers no value at all because their low prices are offset by the low quality of their products and, in the case of commodity-type items, offset by everything else about the shopping experience."

So no, there's no difference in that Rubbermaid basket or a can of Pledge or bottle of Coke or giant package of Charmin. I'd argue the price difference isn't really that great on those items either, but that's a different story. There are tons of articles and studies comparing Wal-Mart with other stores. Most of the time the difference is mere pennies and at certain times places like Target are actually found to be cheaper.

You touched on the other half. Wal-Mart specific items. Their brands, their clothing, their home goods, their cheap-ass shoes - things like that. Those are the things where Wal-Mart makes the big price differences. Mostly because they're selling absolute crap.

Which, to me, is the whole catch 22 of Wal-Mart. You're not really saving all that much on things you can get anywhere and the stuff they sell that does save you a significant amount is stuff I don't necessarily want.

There are certainly times that, "I just need the cheapest possible widget I can find" applies. At those moments, Wal-Mart is certainly as good (if not better) as anywhere.

^^ And actually, if you buy Wal-Mart brand things, and they ARE inferior products, you end up actually spending MORE money rebuying things that have broken/torn/worn out multiple times. Plus, if you travel farther to get to a Wal-Mart than a Target or another store, that's more in gas money. They're not ALL bad, but at least for ME, I'd rather NOT patronize Wal-Mart when possible.

The last time I attempted to do anything even close to resembling shopping at a Walmart (needed a few household items and a couple of groceries) I actually ended up abandoning my mostly full cart at the checkout. Two lanes were open, each one at least 10 people deep. Went down the street to a Meijer and bought what I needed there instead. I'm not even sure I paid more at Meijer, and even if it was more expensive, it was pretty negligible. I hate going to stores as it is, the one that values my time enough to put more than two minimum wage employees on a cash register wins.

More on topic, I'm pretty indifferent on how they implement the season pass discount/rewards thing. I certainly like having rewards in some form or another, and the perceived value definitely got me to but things I otherwise wouldn't have last summer (Cedar Point french fry deal!) The rewards program intrigues me, but I won't pretend to have read any of the details about what Kings Island did with theirs. Then again, I'm the guy who will go out of his way to buy gas only at Speedway just because after like 3 years I can get $50 in free gas, so I guess I'm probably the target audience for that stuff.