Cedar Fair Platinum Pass 2011 pricing

It looks like a few of the parks have started selling Platinum Passes for 2011. Through October 31st, the price is $150 for a new pass or $145 for a renewal. So basically the same as last year's end-of-season special, with an extra discount thrown in for renewals.

Last year Cedar Point had renewals for $140 during the unexpected bonus weekend, which was pretty sweet.

I just checked my bank records from last year. I paid $140 for my Platinum pass renewal. $5 increase is fine. The platinum pass prices have been steady for a couple years. Now that it looks like the recreational economy is picking up a bit, I can understand the increased price.

I still think they're totally underpriced.

Let me see...

$120.00 Cedar Point pass with special endorsement
$ 40.00 Cedar Point parking pass
$ 69.00 Paramount's Kings Island pass with parking
-------
$229.00 Passes good for admission only at Cedar Point, Geauga Lake, Valleyfair!, Dorney Park, Worlds of Fun, Knott's Berry Farm, Kings Island, Kings Dominion, Carowinds, Canada's Wonderland, Great America, and Gilroy Gardens, with parking only at Cedar Point and Kings Island, in circa 2005 dollars.

OR...

$145.00 Cedar Fair Platinum Pass good for admission AND parking at Cedar Point, Valleyfair!, Dorney Park, Worlds of Fun, Knott's Berry Farm, Kings Island, Kings Dominion, Carowinds, Canada's Wonderland and Great America; good for admission only at Gilroy Gardens; and good for admission to Geauga Lake and Knott's Soak City, all in 2011 dollars.

Yeah, to me it still looks like a heck of a deal.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I find it intresting that Kings Island is selling their pass for $69.99 but Michigan Adventure is selling there for $79.99.

RideMan said:
Let me see...

$120.00 Cedar Point pass with special endorsement
$ 40.00 Cedar Point parking pass
$ 69.00 Paramount's Kings Island pass with parking
-------
$229.00 Passes good for admission only at Cedar Point, Geauga Lake, Valleyfair!, Dorney Park, Worlds of Fun, Knott's Berry Farm, Kings Island, Kings Dominion, Carowinds, Canada's Wonderland, Great America, and Gilroy Gardens, with parking only at Cedar Point and Kings Island, in circa 2005 dollars.

OR...

$145.00 Cedar Fair Platinum Pass good for admission AND parking at Cedar Point, Valleyfair!, Dorney Park, Worlds of Fun, Knott's Berry Farm, Kings Island, Kings Dominion, Carowinds, Canada's Wonderland and Great America; good for admission only at Gilroy Gardens; and good for admission to Geauga Lake and Knott's Soak City, all in 2011 dollars.

Yeah, to me it still looks like a heck of a deal.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

An even better deal...

http://www.sixflags.com/overgeorgia/tickets/index.aspx

I can use this pass at 21 differant parks AND have my parking included free as well for $59.99.... almost 1/3 the cost of a cedarfair pass. And did I mention that you get the rest of this year free as well?

On top of that great deal, you get a coupon book with free tickets for friends, and lot's of other coupons for meal discounts and other in park deals.

Some of the coupons I used this year were bring a friend free any day, bring a friend free on certain dates, $10 off a family meal combo, 50% any t-shirt, 25% off any gift shop purchase, buy one funnel cake, get one free, free coaster cup with dipping dots purchase.

I always thought that the six flags pass was a better deal than the cedarfair pass. If cedarfair had a coupon book with some GOOD coupons, it may sweeten the deal a little bit.

Oh, certainly Six Flags has better deals out there. But my point is that even with the (minimal) price increase, the Cedar Fair Platinum Pass is still cheaper today than what you had to pay several years ago to get the same thing from Cedar Fair and Paramount. People will complain about the price increase, but in terms of what it costs *me* to buy passes to the parks I actually visit, my cost has gone *down*.

Of course, with Six Flags completely abandoning this part of the country (Kentucky Kingdom, Wyandot Lake, Geauga Lake, Darien Lake...all gone or no longer part of Six Flags) it's kind of hard for me to justify a Six Flags pass, and in fact I don't have one this season.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Just to be accurate, SF has apparently confirmed that the 2011 parking pass will only be accepted at park of purchase?

For me, the difference is more than significant...I don't think I've ever been to any single SF park more than twice in a year, but on average I probably make 8-10 visits to SF parks over the course of a season.

Yea, someone else told me about the change in the parking pass. I could only find that info on 1 six flags site though, so not sure if it's an error or if it's going to change.

Last year when I called to get season pass info, they told me that the parking pass was only good at the park you bought it at, but I knew it was good at all six flags parks. So it could just be an error.

That all of these passes are good deals wasn't the point. It was more that they're too good. I think they're leaving money on the table.

That's sort of where I was going as well. That for which we pay $145 in 2010 is at least as valuable as that for which I paid $229 five years ago. Inflation alone suggests a $250 value. I'm not sure the market can support going that high, especially with the $140 platinum pass pushing the retail value down. But a price like that is justifiable. With some creativity and some work on that perceived value thing we keep talking about, they can probably bring the market along.

How about $170 for the platinum pass, and each time you scan into the park (i.e. once per visit) you get a voucher for one large fountain drink. Use it today or save it and have two next time. Better yet, make it some food item that rotates through the season, perhaps something that doesn't sell well among pass holders but that could be addicting...give away the item in June to prompt "that was great!" sales in July.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Even as cheap as the SF pass is, I still only get it about every other year. I almost never visit the same park twice in a year. I've had a pass from Worlds of Adventure (then Cedar Fair Bought it) Then I had a pass at Darien Lake (and PARC bought it) Then I got a good (1 time only) deal on a pass at Discovery Kingdom. The renewal was so high, I decided to get my pass from Kentucky Kingdom during a 1 day Christmas sale. Now that it's closed, I will probably end up getting my next pass from America. But, who knows when. I don't think it will be next year. I got into New England free this year with the Bert the Conqueror shoot. That's the only SF I went to this year. If they make the parking pass valid only at the park of purchase, I'll never own a six flags parking pass again. The closest Six Flags to me is probably Great America at about 6 hours away.

Now, the Cedar Fair pass on the other hand. With my proximity to CP, Kings Island, and Canada's Wonderland, the price would have to get somewhere over $250 before I'd start thinking about not getting it. And then if I didn't have the pass, I probably wouldn't be as motivated to go. I might end up only going 2 or 3 times to Cedar Point and I probably wouldn't go to many other Cedar Fair parks unless it was for an event.

Jeff, I think it's a very good price point. I think there's a segment of people that you're not paying any attention to. There are a good number of people out there who will see the price of the platinum pass and say

"Hey, I'll buy that! I can use it at all these other parks I've never heard of and probably won't visit. But how can I pass it up? It's a great deal!"

The number of people that buy the platinum pass to use it at multiple parks and the number of people that buy the platinum pass because it's a good deal may be drastically different. I think if it were priced any higher they'd lose the people who are buying it just because it's a good deal.

CF may be leaving money on the table when it comes to folks who are well-traveled and actually plan on going to other parks, but they're taking money that the customer didn't even know was in the room when it comes to the "Wow, that's a low price!" shoppers.

Jeff said:
That all of these passes are good deals wasn't the point. It was more that they're too good. I think they're leaving money on the table.

That money that was left on the table, is now in my wallet.:)

Johnathan: I still think the price is too low. There's a sweet spot on the price vs. units sold curve, and I don't think they're there.

It's interesting that we haven't seen too much fluctuation in the price of passes since the new pricing schemes went into place. I imagine that given the way CF runs their parks as mostly-independent entities that the prices are set at the park level rather than corporate.

Could the parks be looking at the pass prices and saying "it's good enough" or do they think they're at that sweet spot? Was there real market research conducted or did they throw their cares into the wind and just Cedar Fair it and do whatever they wanted to?

An even better deal...

http://www.sixflags.com/overgeorgia/tickets/index.aspx

I can use this pass at 21 differant parks AND have my parking included free as well for $59.99.... almost 1/3 the cost of a cedarfair pass. And did I mention that you get the rest of this year free as well?

On top of that great deal, you get a coupon book with free tickets for friends, and lot's of other coupons for meal discounts and other in park deals.

Some of the coupons I used this year were bring a friend free any day, bring a friend free on certain dates, $10 off a family meal combo, 50% any t-shirt, 25% off any gift shop purchase, buy one funnel cake, get one free, free coaster cup with dipping dots purchase.

I always thought that the six flags pass was a better deal than the cedarfair pass. If cedarfair had a coupon book with some GOOD coupons, it may sweeten the deal a little bit.

Six Flags is the leader of price gouging the customer. They may rope you in with a cheap season pass, but then they have all those wonderful upcharge programs like the line-halting Flash Pass instead of efficient single rider lines and the mandatory $1 lockers instead of free shelves. You get what you pay for, Six Flags has cheaper passes, but it has a much less enjoyable experience attached to it.

Really?

I seem to remember having to pay for a locker at cedar point as well for some rides.

The flash pass is great. If I can pay a few bucks to make my day better, so be it. I have waited in lines that were 3 hours plus at cedar point, and will not do it again. I don't think you understand how the virtual q system works.

Cedarfair has upcharge attractions as well, so I am not sure where you are going with that. And price gouging?? Have you seen the price(and quality) for food or drink at cedarpoint? $5 for a soda? What a deal.

crazy horse said:
I don't think you understand how the virtual q system works.

I think he was alluding to the classic "virtual queuing makes lines longer for the rest of us" argument.

I guess I should have been more clear to him. In laymans term, the lines would be just as long without flashpass.