Cedar Fair 2008 platinum passes offer uniform pricing of $140 for all parks

correction there - in 2005, my Cedar Point pass did NOT get me into Geauga Lake. They weren't including it with Cedar Point passes.

Lord Gonchar: Now that I actually stop and look at the numbers and add it all up, you're absolutely right, the increase is not as big as I was thinking it would be. I was just thinking $20 per pass increase.

All the same, the price has gotten pretty high regardless for us. We went with the MAXX pass this year, but will probably be back to Cedar Point only next year (might have even without the increase, but that will likely be the straw that broke the camel's back). I just hope Kings Island's Haunt still ends up free with the pass (please don't change that this late Cedar Fair).

it's a fantastic deal for you. i buy my pass at dorney which includes parking for $90. although they haven't released the info for next years passes yet i,m betting parking will no longer be included at the $90 price but only available thru the platinum pass. an increase for me of over %50. whoopee, what a great deal. i bought a car last year for $28k, maybe if i look hard enough i can find the same car for $45k this year since it was undervalued last year.

so yes, they included parking but raised the price at my park.

Exactly, alfundo. Everyone who's talking about what a great deal this is, is at one of the Ohio parks as their home parks. For people from the OTHER parks, this price correction is a pretty steep hit compared to previous years.

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i bought a car last year for $28k, maybe if i look hard enough i can find the same car for $45k this year since it was undervalued last year.

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I suppose if you're buying a new car every year, then 50 bucks doesn't matter much? ;)

I dunno. I guess I just don't get it. I'd be happy that I lucked out on CF''s stupidity last year and still see the bigger picture in that $140 for an all inclusive CF pass with perks attached is a f'n insane value.

It's not going to change back any time soon. Last year was the exception, not this year.

My opinion (as an Ohio resident who did pay the higher price in 2007)?

They could've tacked the $50 onto what I paid for 2007 ($125) with the perks included (parking and waterparks) and I'd still be getting one for 2008.

I still challenge anyone to find a pass at this price point that offers so much. (and whining about last year's pricing faux pas doesn't count)

^ They haven't released pricing for 2008 yet, but Magic Mountain's Xtreme Play Pass was an amazing deal at $125.

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An Xtreme Play Pass includes all of the benefits or a regular season pass plus FREE Flash Pass "front of line" privileges on four rides each visit (subject to standard restrictions), FREE parking every visit and 25% off all Six Flags Magic Mountain food and merchandise purchases.

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Consider this: Park season passes cost between, say, 100 to 160 bucks for 4-6 months of entertainment.
Ski resort passes passes in Ohio alone cost 180 to 250 bucks for maybe 2-3 months. (last year was like 1-2 months)

Comparing apples and oranges? Maybe. but as far as I'm concerned, entertainment is entertainment. Too bad I love to ski. Park passes are always a better buy most of the time.

I can understand the complaints of the people who don't have a home park in Ohio. But as a Cleveland resident, I'm 1 hour from CP, 1/2 hour from GL and about 4 hours from KI. I'm thrilled.

You can please some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time. But, you can't please all of the people all of the time. (Although, that should be the ultimte goal.)

I'm very surprised. For me, this is a significant price cut.

Last year's tab for a set of CP Maxx Passes (which we would buy anyway, for access to Soak City), plus one All-Ohio parking plus another CP-only parking, was about $685 or so. This year, I'll be shelling out only $560.

Considering I spent about $450 for a similar set of passes/perks at *just* the two Dollywood parks for this year, that's a pretty nice bargain.

That said, I also found the food prices at Dollywood to be about 2/3 to 1/2 of the "typical" Cedar Fair pricing. It was stunning how less expensive everything was, and that was before using my Gold Pass for a 20% discount. On everything---all food, all merchandise, including the stuff we bought in Craftsman's Alley.

I think the moral of the story is you have to look at the various plans available to you, figure out which best suits your park visiting habits and which gives you the best deal. If it's a good deal for you, buy it. If it's not, don't buy it. If they end up not selling many passes at certain parks, I'm sure the company will change the pricing structure again for '09.

I think this is a good deal. So much so, that I might even get a season pass for next year. I skipped it this year, just didn't seem worth it.

However....does anyone know if the parking pass is going to affixed to the car, or if it will be on the season pass? That fixed-to-the-car thing really contributed in a big way to me not getting a pass this year. It might be a deal breaker for next year too if it stays.

Steve

Well, it ended up not being fixed to the car this year. It started out that way, but ended up being affixed to the pass.

For next year, it says it is encoded in the platinum pass by default. So, every platinum pass you have includes parking. You can drive any car you want.