Advice after learning about CF's silly platinum pass policies

Or you could just make them buy a ticket instead of making a busy park more busy. You know, the last time they gave away tickets with passes for next year, people were standing outside of the gate selling them, since most people already had a pass for the current year. Epic failure.

crazy horse said:
I can't believe that when someone comes onto this site and has a differant oppinion than a "few" members on this site, they get called names and and told that "that's the way it is". And if you're oppinion differs from ours...to the outside of the circle you go.

Welcome to the Internet. This isn't high school. There's no inner circle of cool kids here. Gonch and I regularly disagree, and I consider him a close, personal friend of mine. This boo hoo crap when someone is challenged on their opinion is completely annoying.

SkyRider7 said:
You know maybe one day, I can be like you in the know it all department... Save for being a complete and total douchebag.... (I mean that in the kindest way possible)

Calling the professor names: Easy way to get canned. So long.

Brian Noble said:

(Freakin' whiner.)

So it's ok for some people to call names on here, but not others?

I guess another part of the problem I have with the cedarfair pass, is that I don't get any "extras" like I do at six flags. Not to mention that I am just not very happy with how cedarfair has been running the parks as of late.

Six flags also has the flash pass, as where cedarfair does not. To me, that makes my visit more worth wild. I do not like to stand in long lines anymore. My six flags season pass gives me a discount on the flash pass as well.

I travel all around the United states and Canada every year doing parks, and six flags just gives me more bang for the buck. Cedarfair gives me just the pass. I never really paid much attention to it untill this year. I was laid off, and money got a little tight.

Splish Splash (Long Island Water-Park) has a cool deal that they seemto offer every year mid August (After the day camp trips wind down...)

If you buy a season pass for the next year, they give you the rest of the current year free.

This was the first year I went for it. Even though it clearly said 2011 on it.The pass worked perfectly a few weeks ago. (Parking not included)

I just wanted to pass this info on. sadly, they closed for the season today.

Ok, I was willing to cut Crazy some slack, (although he was whining), but now in the last post ^^^ he's truly whining, and I would say more, but I don't want to be accused of name calling. :)

We get it, you get more for your buck at SF. Then go to SF. As Jeff has alluded to in at least 3 posts so far, Cedar Point is God Awful Busy on Halloweekends now, and has zero, Zero, ZERO incentive to give away the tickets for these weekends. SF is still pricing things like they are in bankruptcy and need every dollar they can get, regardless of what it does to their margins. I don't get it, but it's a bargain, abuse it while you can.

I went to the Point one of the weekends that Jeff was talking about, I drove 2 hours to get to the Point, saw people hawking the free tickets, and saw just as many people POURING out of the park telling anyone that they could see in line to save their money and go home. Too crowded. Ticket windows, all open, 45 people deep. That's how crowded they are on good weather weekends.

That's not a criticism of the Point, just a statement of fact that nice weather weekends in the fall are now a vital part of the season, not an adjunct, add-on, attempt to scrape a few loose dollars before they shut everything down.

Years ago Kings Island used to do the buy your pass now, good rest of season, and all next year. That was when they were only open Labor Day weekend, the next weekend and then one weekend in October. Now, with the Fright Fest and Halloweekends events, pulling in lots of paying customers, there is NO need to give away the gate.

Lord Gonchar said:
no-one-else-is-stupid-enough-to-devalue-their-product-this-much pass

I think that's what they should call their pass. They might have a hard time fitting it on the card though. :)

I was laid off, and money got a little tight.

Hmmm, call me crazy, but maybe in this case ANY pass shouldn't be your priority?

But hey, maybe that's just me -- I've been a "bad enthusiast" ever since I bought the house and re-prioritized my life (and that was BEFORE I got married!)

And imagine having that phrase pitched to you in Columbus from both Ohio parks, back to back, on TV. Insanity!

The not giving you the rest of the year is only one minor reason the cedarfair pass is not that great of a deal. You seem to be stuck on that being the only reason. Even six flags was packed durring halloween time.

Does cedarfair give you a coupon book, email deals, bring a friend free tickets, "good" in park discounts on gear and food, lower priced passes, a day for season pass holders only, AND the rest of the season for free?

Even if the six flags pass cost as much as a cedarfair pass, it would still be a better deal because you are getting more for your money. Cedarfair gives me nothing more than the pass. What is so hard to understand about that?

Six flags must be doing something right, because there numbers are higher than cedarfair as seen here...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_amusement_park_attendance_figures

http://www.aecom.com/deployedfiles/Internet/Capabilities/2009%20Theme%20Index%20Final%20042710_for%20screen.pdf

Kings island stopped doing the "free for the rest of the year" when cedarfair took over.

If you want to think that I am "whining" because I think I am getting a better deal, so be it. God forbid I voice my opinion on something and a handfull of people disagree with me.

And by the way, I had bought my passes well before I was laid off, but good try.

When I buy a season pass, I buy a pass that gets me into the park for one season... I really cannot wrap my head around why it HAS to be more than just that.

I just checked at the local ski resort website to see if a comparable industry has similar policies...

http://paolipeaks.com/seasonpass_buy.html

Their season is much shorter than the coaster season (it is a ski resort in Southern Indiana after all) and their pass price is $459. This pass can only get you in once every 24-hours (they are open 9am-3am most days). This means that if you go to the resort at 9 in the morning and leave, you cannot reuse your pass to get in until 9 the next morning...

The only perk offered is a $25 gift (only if you purchase it super early) and the card is not usable at the Pro Shop.

Sounds like we coaster enthusiasts have it made...

P.S. Did I mention that this place is usually packed all the time and a fairly good number of them are season pass holders?

Jeff said:
Gonch and I regularly disagree, and I consider him a close, personal friend of mine.

Well, if you'd just quit being wrong...

:)

crazy horse said:
If you want to think that I am "whining" because I think I am getting a better deal, so be it. God forbid I voice my opinion on something and a handfull of people disagree with me.

Please, I'm begging you, enough with the victim routine.

A platinum pass with parking and access to Soak City still pays for itself in two and a half visits, and it's still way, way cheaper than a pass with parking and Soak City was in 2005. If you don't think it's a good value, fine, but few will agree with you, let alone agree that it should be lower "because Six Flags" does whatever, or that it's somehow hurting the park, or that they should give free tickets for this year.

Jeff said:

Please, I'm begging you, enough with the victim routine.

A platinum pass with parking and access to Soak City still pays for itself in two and a half visits, and it's still way, way cheaper than a pass with parking and Soak City was in 2005. If you don't think it's a good value, fine, but few will agree with you, let alone agree that it should be lower "because Six Flags" does whatever, or that it's somehow hurting the park, or that they should give free tickets for this year.

Oh yea...Poor me. (rolls eyes) I feel like such a victim because I don't agree with you.

A six flags pass gets me into the water park as well...so what's the differance. Oh yea, and it pays for itself in 2.5 visits as well. So I don't get where you are comming from with that. Besides that, I am not even a waterpark person. It's been a few years since I have set foot in soak city. The only waterparks I have been to in the past few years was kalahari, and castaway bay(only because I had free tickets).

It's like buying a burger from two differant burger stands. Stand A, has a great burger with cheese only. Stand B has the same great burger with cheese, AND it has a topping bar.

While they are both great burgers, I am getting a better deal at burger stand B.

What does Six Flags and cheeseburgers have to do with anything? Wait, I know. I don't even see what point you're trying to make anymore.

If you're not playing the victim role, then perhaps you should stop saying things like, "God forbid I voice my opinion on something and a handfull of people disagree with me."

Way to try and twist it around again.

So in YOU'RE opinion, you think it's the greatest deal in the world. You poor victim.:(

Of course you would not see the point I am trying to make, because it goes against what YOU believe. I am saying that the pass is a great deal, and you keep knocking that down.

I will say it again...Even if the six flags pass was the same price as a cedarfair pass, it would still be a better deal because you are getting MORE than what you get when you buy a cedarfair pass.

What's so hard to understad?

crazy horse said:
And by the way, I had bought my passes well before I was laid off, but good try.

Then it's irrelevant to the discussion, why did you even bother mentioning it?

As for "better deal", I see what you're saying. Six Flags gives you more perks for less money. Fine. But that doesn't make Cedar Fair's approach "silly", which is what the original poster was claiming. Both chain passes are "better deals" by most metrics compared to, say, the Kennywood or Hershey passes, but people buy those too.

To put the Six Flags/Cedar Fair pricing to perspective...

In 2007, platinum pass pricing wasn't consistent across the board; you could buy a platinum pass for much cheaper at Canada's Wonderland than at any of the American parks. Thus, a BETTER deal for exactly the same thing

Whereas, the discussion at hand is for a better deal for pretty much the same thing... yes, you get roller coaster and rides for cheaper than the other guys; and if that's what you want, location(s) put aside, perfect

However, the Cedar Fair platinum pricing is adhering (in this case, with the coaster enthusiasts situated in OH/MI/IN/ON) to the region. Thus, if you live somewhere in between KI/CP/MI, you'd likely just get that due to the convenience of location... cause, inevitably with any pass, you're paying for convenience at entry (and to save to boot money)

One could argue under/over priced all day, but unless you have a balance sheet from the parks I doubt it'd be of any use. It'd be awesome if everything everywhere was free, but alas

So, a day pass to Cedar Point is 45.99, whereas one to Magic Mountain is 34.99. I would really rather go to Cedar Point, but I think it's silly to have to pay 11 extra bucks. I don't know what to do now.

CF != SF

You know that CP and MM are fighting for the record for the most roller coasters, right? ;)

That was tongue in cheek, but it does illustrate the point: For the vast majority of customers the decision isn't CF Platinum pass vs. SF season pass. For the vast majority of customers, the decision is CF pass vs. tickets to football game vs. 3 Xbox games vs. saving for college vs. a new power drill vs....etc.

Comparing CF to SF is like saying "The Pittsburgh Pirates have these ticket prices for their games, so the Yankees are ripping their fans off by charging more for the same 9 innings."

I don't think it is necessary to talk in such analogies and will more than likely confuse more than clarify, but I am going to try to expand the cheeseburger analogy... if the cheeseburger with topping bar is 300 miles away from the one without a topping bar, then it becomes less of a value and I see the cheeseburger without topping bar as a more desirable cheeseburger.

I should not demand that the one without a topping bar to get a topping bar though. I could place it in a comment card, but to voice my opinion on cheeseburgerbuzz.com about how silly they are for not having said topping bar is not going to satisfy anything, because I am still hungry... Is it lunchtime yet?

EDIT: That Andy got in before I did and said what I am trying to say a lot better...

Because one thing is a better deal than another doesn't mean that the other thing still isn't a good deal in its own right.

Assuming both passes make equal sense for you:

SF is stupid cheap and a great deal offering lots of value
CF is almost as stupid cheap and still a ridiculously good deal offering lots of value.