Cedar Fair to buy SFWoA

My friends and I have been planning an OH park trip for May. We were not going to include SFWoA, but with this news, we are changing our plans to include GL.

I am still trying to get my jaw off the floor. This is a good move for both SF and CF.

I don't know, I honestly could believe in a whole slew of things happening, on up to a true "Park Hoppers" deal that does away with Season Passes for Cedar Point and Geauga Lake and installs just 5 day passes that are good at both places. Instead of buying a Season Pass, if you want to spend 10 days a year at CP and 5 days at GL, you buy 3 "Park Hoppers" in advance ... maybe at a discount price early in the year.

I just really think we're all looking at this with a very enthusiast-tainted view and season passes are not that big a deal to the GP ...

Edit: Iggy, you mean to tell me that you're spending the money to get out to Ohio and stay on-site (or were going to spend the money) but because it's gonna cost you $35 more to get into GL per person, you're gonna cancel the entire trip? Eat a little cheaper! Drink water instead of pop, that's absolutely ridiculous to cancel a trip cause "oh my god we might have to actually PAY the park!" Holy crap, coaster enthusiasm would be a dead hobby with most of you folks if season passes didn't exist ... most people actually are willing to pay a few bucks for something they really enjoy ... *** Edited 3/11/2004 4:39:03 AM UTC by Impulse-ive***

I'm with Jeff, and I've said it a couple of times already. If you give CP passholders free reign, they'll scream bloody murder when pass prices go up 20-30 next year to reflect the value of access to the "new" park---everyone will already be accustomed to getting it "for free."

I *can* see each CP passholder receiving a comp ticket to GL (and vice versa) in the mail this year in a promotional mailing (come check us out, and consider buying our Platinum Pass next season!), but that'd be about it.

Getting MiA (with 1 and two halves "real coasters") "for free" is one thing. GL with several top-shelf coasters and a nice supporting cast is quite another.

Imagining SFWOA/GL without the animals and wildlife side isn't very appealing to me on its own and a lot of the beauty and great atmosphere that the park had was over there. It feels like one of my favorite parks has closed forever and CF is opening a new park in the same location with WOA's old rides. Who knows if some rides will go to other CF parks?? I don't imagine Superman staying with WT being an hour away. I was planning a trip to CP and SFWOA with my roommates, but from how it sounds to me at the moment, I would be embarassed to take them to GL by how I raved about it before. It wouldn't be worth it. Maybe we'll still go to CP just so they can ride some of these record-breakers and maybe I can break some of them into enthusiasm. :-\

-Danny

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Impulse-ive said:.

Edit: Iggy, you mean to tell me that you're spending the money to get out to Ohio and stay on-site (or were going to spend the money) but because it's gonna cost you $35 more to get into GL per person, you're gonna cancel the entire trip? Eat a little cheaper! Drink water instead of pop, that's absolutely ridiculous to cancel a trip cause "oh my god we might have to actually PAY the park!" Holy crap, coaster enthusiasm would be a dead hobby with most of you folks if season passes didn't exist ... most people actually are willing to pay a few bucks for something they really enjoy ... *** Edited 3/11/2004 4:39:03 AM UTC by Impulse-ive***

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When you you have CF,SF and Paramounts passes you tend to make trips around those parks and if they don't accept them then I will take the family to a park that does. At $35.00 a crack times four, times two days that puts a damper on things. I would have to starve to get in, eating PB and J wouldn't save me enough money. Thats what passes are for.

Though it would be hard to implement, I would think the ideal solution for the season pass situation would be:

1. Any SFWoA passes bought before today should be honored at all SF parks, and possibly as an added bonus all CF parks. After all, SF did get the money for them.

2. Any GL pass bought after today is only valid at GL.

3. CF passes should be valid at GL

4. GL should honor SF passes for the first season

It's a very improbable situation and it would be hard to implement, but it should appease everyone and exhibit great customer service.

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ACEAND1 said:
You know, this might explain a few reasons why the animals and the themeing are leaving:

1. LA Ronde- getting flagged
2. Frontier City- getting a major Petting Zoo for the 04` season.

Why Frontier City is beyond us, there`s no where to put this MAJOR PETTING ZOO!!!! the park just got a million $$$$$ upgrade for Eruption and a few other improvements. MAybe Gary Story saw that the OK City Zoo just installed a 30,000 sqare ft. Jungle Gym for famies and their just over 2 miles away from Frontier City itself. Gary Story lives shere in Oklahoma somewhere......

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Okay, maybe you're excited or maybe you hate it, but this is the fifth time you've plugged Frontier City's new petting zoo, and it's getting old. Try to talk about the subject at hand.

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Barely Legal by The Strokes: I could listen to this song all day.

Look, if it were up to me, this whole "all parks with one pass" thing would be history tomorrow. I really don't think it's worth it. Disney does just fine, has incredibly loyal followers and rakes in the money, and they don't have season passes, they have slightly-discounted-multi-day passes. I think all the parks should just ditch this whole season pass idea, or at least the sharing aspect of it and go with multi-day pass discounts that are good all year (or for life).

All it does is breed whiny enthusiasts who won't spring for $35 tickets to keep their hobby afloat. The damn things aren't donated to the parks people ... (yes I'm bitter ... )

Brett -- Disney offers Annual and Seasonal passes in addition to the multi-day hopper tickets.

Ok,

season passes....up there...If it were me I`d get a refund, use that money and get in to Cedar Point!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, and plugging about FC....LOL

I`ll be nice...

Houston Thrills,

Unfortunately, "great customer service" and smart marketing do not always go hand in hand. This follows what Jeff mentioned earlier. Simply put, "Give the people too much, and they'll only want more."

Ok, am I the only one who had fun at (old) Geauga Lake, when they didn't have animals, only four coasters and no, "themes?" Look how well Kennywood still does- catering to the local crowd.

Who needs Gotham City? It was two buildings anyway. Who needs Bugs Bunny? Kids a few years from now will probably be hugging a big furry animal costume there sometime down the road.

I don't see most of the rides or coasters being repainted- too costly. Besides, without the signage, neither SUE or BKF reminded me of their said superheros. Personally, SUE resembled the candy, "Twizzlers," moreso...

But I digress... I just want a park that has a bunch of fun rides that I can share an experience with my friends with, and take me away from my, "everyday troubles," for a few hours.

(old) Geauga Lake did that. Six Flags did that (grumpily). I'm willing to bet (new) Geauga Lake does it again.

I sure as heck don't think the park is going to be a ghost town this year- especially when the non-enthusies are already excited Six Flags left town and our Geauga Lake is back. I knew that park for 25 years. I think 5 years of themeing and flags can be repaired back to fun.

I look forward to (new) Geauga Lake, and will still be visiting SF parks, abiet without a season pass. Oh well, that's life, and as my mother taught me, "Life ain't fair."

roadkill has the right idea.

You want to have an idea of what Cedar Point is aiming for with Geauga Lake? Head down IR-71 a couple hundred miles and look at Kings Island. Not what Kings Island *wants to be*, but what Kings Island *is*.

It's a major park immediately outside a major city. The park is nice enough to draw a good crowd from a fairly large ADI. But more important, it's a local park. It's a place where the locals can go in the evening or on the weekend that is an easy day trip even if it's an O-C visit. It's a park that, particularly with the included waterpark, can do really, really well with picnics and lots of repeat visits.

I think a lot of people here are making much too much fuss over the season pass thing. Get over it. For what they're going to do with this park, I don't think it's going to matter.

I do think Six Flags is going to be very surprised at what happens to their park. Question is, will they respond with, "We coulda done that," or will they claim the weather just got a lot better?

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

The above two post should be the REQUIRED reading in this thread.

Well, it just gives my favorite park in Ohio no competition with an even moderately themed experience that has something unique to offer. PKI offers the best in seasonal park experience next to Hershey, SFGAm, and BGW IMO and SFWOA/GL has just pulled out of even possibly getting in these ranks that I once expected. I wanted SFWOA to be more than a local park and I think PKI is more than a local park. We had people coming from Texas, Missouri, Colorado, etc. last year just because of The Beasts and they heard they had the Best Kids Area in the world. That's a lot more (plus the new waterpark "resort") than your random SF or CF park has to offer.

-Danny

Hello, page 9. I picked a great day to be on the road for 4 hours... This is the A-Rod to Yankees of the amusement park biz. Only in terms of headlines, though! Not making any A-Rod/SFWoA comparisons.

I'm left with two questions. First, what are CF's attendance goals for the new GL? 2 million, or more? And second, does CF's vision of GL include possibly gutting it for rides, or just keeping it as is (as Dave suggested), Cleveland's version of King's Island?

It's an interesting business move to say the least. Hopefully it helps both CF and SF in the long-run.

Cleveland's version of Kings Island?? They wish in their wildest dreams they could theme and have a couple great dark rides. PKI and CP's attendance figures for 2003 were neck and neck and each have their own thing they're good at. I imagine GL being more like Cleveland's version of Valleyfair than anything.

-Danny

Do any of you think the "new" Geauga Lake will follow the same pattern of the other CF parks? One thing they all have in common, except MiA, are an S&S tower complex and a hyper coaster of some kind.

X Factor

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rOLLocOASt said:
I've only got one question that has not been already addressed...

Will my SF pass (Which is from WoA) work at SF parks?

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I called SFGAm yesterday (3/10) to ask them just that. I also asked if I could pay the difference and get a GAm pass and, get this, no one there had even heard of the sale. No one!

I'll just have to monitor the situation.

By the way, is there any way to contact SF's corporate offices? I could not find anything on their main web page.

I think it's hilarious that Danny doesn't like the park anymore now that the ownership has changed. Good times.

Let the season pass complaining go. You're all looking at it in terms of "what's good for me" and not what's good for the company.

The way I see it, Geauga Lake will have a season very similar to 2000, the Six Flags Ohio year. The only significant change will be that some rides will have different names and a lot of logos will be displaced. I think everyone agrees that, operations aside, SFO was a good value in terms of the ride package. Add the improved water park and X-Flight since then and it's even better.

You guys are totally missing the value proposition, just like Six Flags did. They thought that combinging the parks would add value, but as we can clearly see, the market didn't buy it. Attendance took a nose dive. SeaWorld without Shamu wasn't SeaWorld. Heck, even Busch knew it was getting harder to sustain the park, or they wouldn't have sold it. They were essentially giving away season passes at single-ticket prices to get people back in the park the last year. The wildlife park was not a sustainable business as a seasonal attraction.