Cedar Fair attendance, revenue down

Sounds like Cedar Point has Orlandoitis. I keep hearing about how slow it is there as well.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
"From the global village... in the age of communication!"

My mom's friend jsut got back from the point and walked over to the MF and got in the front seat in 45 minutes! He also got to PKI about 10 minutes after the park opened and walked over to the beast and had a couple of walk on front seat rides.

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Cedar Point, it doesn't get any better then that:)

Low attendance = bad for park
Low attendance = good for me in line!

*grin*

Tuesday the 7th is coming up quick... :-)

I work at Valleyfair our attandance has been higher. Its normaly average during the week and packed on Saturdays average on Sundays. These past weekends at the end of July and August we had 8,500 pre sold advance ticket sales. This Saturday, August 4th rumored 9,000 thats advance plus not including walk on's and star light admissions when it gets that high toll lanes get back up to the Valley Park drive and there is a huge single lane traffic backed up on Highway 101 past Highway 169 we have had days like this. Usualy Midnight closings at the end of July and August are the busiest for us.
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Inverted coaster coming soon to Valleyfair.

This is the way the economy works.... you go into a boom period, then you get so used to it that when the economy slows some, its almost like everything is down a LOT. Its alright though, its gonna pick up again soon enough.

ex. I am a cashier at Lowe's. This time last year we were hitting over $100,000 mark every day, we are lucky to even see that figure, or even $80,000 in any given day.

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AIM: Pritti Kittie

Idora... Always in memories

Well think about it, Cedar Point is pretty much not a day trip anymore, especially on a summer weekend. There are *SO* many attractions that it's pretty hard to do it all in one day, so many people make it a "weekend" trip, which involves getting a hotel for most. The "in-season" rates around CP are not cheap, so if people were reluctant to spend money, CP might be off the list. Add to that, the Clevelanders now have this megapark right in their backyards which was pratically *giving* away seasons passes and I could see why some would not go to CP. (Merits of the two parks aside).
lata,
jeremy

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"Nobody writes about the planes that land." Steve Salerno Washington Times 7-10-01

This would explain why CP is selling 2001 passes for $50 at Tops stores. I wonder if this means that 2002 passes will be closer to the price of SFWoA passes.


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Scott W. Short
scott@midwestcoastercentral.com
http://www.midwestcoastercentral.com

Its really affecting there stock over the last couple of day's its down over 10% of its value, its catching up to SF stock value.
value as I speak for both CF 18.80 and SF 16.46.
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Army rangers lead the way

Hey, if the attendance is low, that means the lines will be shorter, yes!

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Current Favorite Coasters:
1)Raging Bull 2)Millennium Force 3)Medusa (SFMW) 4)Vertical Velocity (SFGAm) 5)Incredible Hulk, The

Lets see last year Cedar Point attendance was up i think 4%, this year it's down 9%. SFWoA attendance went up last year 49% and as of this year it is unannounced. Perhaps it's SFWoA that is hurting Cedar Point, not the economy... My worry is, less attendance = less $ = less rides

I was under the impression that the big resort destinations like Orlando were hurting because of the new economy, but regional theme/amusement park attendance was up. I guess it's starting to trickle down to most major amusement/theme parks as well. I'd like to hear about other parks attendance this year, I wonder if parks like SFGAdv and SFMM are down too.

SFWOA is not the reason for the soft numbers at CP. There attendance is way down this year too, even with the opening of the lay down coaster. I also tend to think the the park prices might be reaching a peak.

It's the economy and every aspect of the entertainment business is hurting with the exception of home movie rentals. Summer tv ratings are up too b/c people are staying home.

The reason Cedar Point's attendance is down is because the park added no new rides this year. A new campground area is not going to bring in the crowds like a new ride will. I hope Cedar Point will build something worthwhile next year. There are so many campgrounds in the area, that another wasn't really needed. The park should not have let the other parks like PKI and SFMM get so close to them with the coaster count. Also, let's not forget the wonderful $7.00 parking fee and the $40.00 admission price(Lakemont and Idlewild do not have these and their attendance isn't down). These big parks are hurting themselves by not building new rides and charging $40.00 to get in.

Darren Mullins

I think it would be interesting to try and find these same type of figures during previous year or years of an economic slowdown. Could compare this figure to a year of slowdown, but with a major new ride. I'm kind of thinking 1991 or 1989..

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Beeman65
Assistant Webmaster
Kennywood Park Unlimited
www.kpunlimited.com

If they want more people to come, have the prices cheaper, and also add more new rides. *** This post was edited by steelraptor on 8/3/2001. ***

Darren Mullins-Don't be upset over a $7 parking fee and a $40 entrance fee. You don't realize how good you actually have it. Here in NJ SFGadv is $10 to park (thats right, $10.00!!) and $48 dollar entrance fee. And, for all that you get long lines, rude people and crappy food! The rides where you are are generally better too (Medusa And Nitro notwithstanding)

They can't build a new coaster every year and they shouldn't. A bright spot in the year for CP is the popularity of Lighthouse Point. And like Sandcaslte and Breakers before that...the resorts will continue earning them money year after year after year. How many of you think people go to the park this year for Iron Dragon? Well, that was a new ride back in the day that supposedly helped spurr attendance. Doesn't anymore. But Breakers has just as many people, in fact more, staying each season.

The problem is not less attendance this year, it is less per capita spending. Even in years without a new ride attendance may have dipped but per capita spending went up. This year, that trend did not continue.

For that reason, I don't think the lack of a new ride can be blamed. Like almost every other park in America...blame the economy.

By the way...try $20 to park at a Dolphins football game!!!! *** This post was edited by wahoo skipper on 8/3/2001. ***

I agree that other parks may charge more than CP, but a majority of the parks charge much less. I have read many times that smaller parks do well when the economy is slow. My guess is because it doesn't cost as much to take the family to these places. Idlewild is a good example of what I am talking about. Idlewild charges less than $20 to get in and there is no parking fee. There are numerous attractions at this park and it is busy everytime I go there. A smaller park with lower prices and quality attractions can do well in times like these. I think the big players should step back and take a look at how well parks like Idlewild, Wyandot Lake, Del Grosso's and Coney Island(Cincinnati) are doing.

Darren Mullins

Here is some words of wisdom from Bill Gates
"The economy is overhyped in the shortrun but underhyped in the long run." I saw it on tv, I doubt those are the exact words but he had same meaning.