Cedar Fair to drop senior discounts

Ouch. Say goodbye to 2-3% of their market and welcome to a colder corporate atmosphere.

I noticed they spelled Cedar Fair wrong, what is this a non-american article? Spell checkers should have caught that, human and mechanical.

I don't see an upside to this. I will file this in my "what the heck were they thinking?" file. Someone over there has to have the guts to say, "wait a minute...I think this is a bad idea."

A few dollars isn't likely to cause grandparents to cancel their plans to take the grandkids to the park, though. As this demographic grows, I think you'll see more parks adopt this strategy.

Look around--Disney, Universal, and Busch already have this pricing model in effect (and have for some time, I believe). And it's not just their parks in Florida.

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Dave

I can tell you, my parents aren't happy about this.

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Goccvp1

Of course they're not happy about it. No one likes paying more. The question is: will they still go?

Example: Michigan recently raised football ticket prices by 20-50%, depending on where in the stadium you sat. All the season ticket holders complained. However, almost all of them renewed, and the waiting list to get season tickets is still estimated at 10 years.

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http://www.eecs.umich.edu/~bnoble/

Whats next? Ten dollar parking?

The parks are really nickel and diming their guests to death.

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If I was part of a coaster, I would be an upstop pad on an Arrow Mine Train.
MAGNUM HAD MY BABY!

I'm not normally a "price whiner" but this summer we took a big group to CP, including my 79 year old grandmother. She had a great time (the last time I was there with her was when I was 8 in the early 80's). Being as we footed much of the bill to take a large family group we were surprised that the senior discount wasn't larger. It worked out to be roughly the same price for a two day pass (resort guest price) as the gate price was for seniors.

In 3 days I think my grandmother rode 4 ride - all minor ones. She was just happy to be out with the family and having a good time.

Will it stop grandma and grandpa from taking the grandchildren to the park. Probably not. Will it stop them from tagging along to enjoy the day? Maybe. Will it stop them from heading out to walk the park and soak up the rays on a summer day. Most likely.

Overall it probably won't change the bottom line much either way. So why not make it seem like you're doing something nice and keep the discounts in place?

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www.coasterimage.com
Dorney Park Visits in 2003: 17

Magnum Force -

But if they can get away with it, then why not? People will complain, but they'll still go to the parks.

I can get away with doing a lot of things......

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If I was part of a coaster, I would be an upstop pad on an Arrow Mine Train.
MAGNUM HAD MY BABY!

No Brian, they're not. CP just forced them to SFWoA.

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Goccvp1

Well I have to say it will hurt Worlds of Fun because Senior Single Day tickets are Half Price form Regular Admission. Anyway the claim in the Article say that there are more things to do for Them. Here at WOF there's hardly any shows if there's any at all, Most of the rides are geared to younger people. The only Family Coaster at WOF was removed after the 1997 season. Most of the show were gone by 1998 season and in 2002, most shows was only done in the Mid-Summer and durring Holloweekends. Even the Forum Amptheater Concerts were gone after the 1997 season. I don't think Seniors would want to pay $37 for a one day admission and $7 for parking just to ride the Skyliner (If its open) or the Merry Go Round.

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Chris Knight
And I'll never, ever, ever, ever, ever make a song about the Sibbie.

I see the senior discounts as a way of saying, "We respect you as a senior." This is a very bad move in my book. It really isn't a money thing to me, just respect for my elders.

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My knex coasters and the Roller Coaster Tour 2003
GOCC member # 671

Baby Boom. Cedar Fair can make a great profit from this huge generation.

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YOUNGSTOWN 2010

Cedar Fair isn't the first to drop senior discounts as Baby Boomers (born 1946 thru 1964, now ages 39 thru 57) approach the age to use them.

Paramount's Great America used to have a lower senior rate on season passes (age 55+, if I recall), but that was dropped a few years ago.

Choice Hotels raised the age for their 30% AARP discount from 50 to 60.

Ponderosa Steaks Houses raised the age from 55 to 62 (?) for their 10% discount.

Many airlines raised the age from 62 to 65.

By the time I'm old enough for these discounts, the age will be ???, and I'll never get to use them.

If CF had raised the price rather than eliminating the discount altogether, they probably would have had no attention from the press at all.

So let's see here...Seniors are more active, hence the drop of the discount, but last I checked, incoming revenue slows down as you get into those years and those that never got to the park or did a long time ago never will be able to. Bad move on CF's part. My mother was looking forward to the senior discount she was going to get next year.

What's next, the State of Ohio discontinuing the Golden Buckeye Card??

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I am not who you think I am.