Cedar Point Announces Fast Lane On Facebook

While I do love the idea of paying for no wait at all I am too cheap to do it, certainly at the VIP pricing level. But if I can pay $50, or even $30 if I hold my "Wanted - Fast Lane Buyers" sign and form an impromptu group, and have no wait at all then I am very intrigued to the point that I would pay for it on a relatively non-busy day just so I can skip the 20 minute lines.

I think that is the key. If it is priced such that cheap ass Shades is willing to put up the money it is way too cheap. Raise the price like Jeff is saying.

Andy - I am not sure about your Gemini perspective. Like my earlier reference, if people are willing to wait 30 minutes to ride Millennium and not take a 0 minute wait on Raptor I just don't see people giving up a 40 minute wait on Millennium for a 0 minute ride on Gemini. I agree that there is a point at which people will but I dont know where it is.

(All credit to Gonch for his post that preceded mine. My confession is that I did not read it before posting. Sorry.)

But the main point I'm trying to make is that you can't determine value for a FL option in a silo. It must be dependent on the price point for the regular line with whatever wait it offers that day. $50 to reduce the wait time by 1 hour and 20 minutes might be worth it to the public. $50 to reduce the wait time by 15 to 20 minutes on a less crowded day, might not be.

Unless the park has crowds at that level on a consistent basis, they aren't likely to make the same revenue with a higher price on FL. On the flip side, however, Shades suggests at $50 he might utilize it even on light crowd days just for the point. If enough think like him, the revenues might be higher at $50 over the course of the season.

That is, unless they want to offer dynamic pricing on it based on the expected crowd for the day....

I have no problem paying $50 to cut my 120 minute line to a 40 minute line. The caveat is that I don't want to spend that 40 minutes waiting in line. If I could go up to the MF queues and the person tells me to come back in 40 minutes and get right on, I'm fine with it. It's not the time until the ride that I really care about, it's the wasted time in ANY line.

Carrie J. said:

(All credit to Gonch for his post that preceded mine. My confession is that I did not read it before posting. Sorry.)

Wasn't looking for credit, just verifying I wasn't jumping on the bandwagon because it was you. :)



kpjb said:

I have no problem paying $50 to cut my 120 minute line to a 40 minute line. The caveat is that I don't want to spend that 40 minutes waiting in line. If I could go up to the MF queues and the person tells me to come back in 40 minutes and get right on, I'm fine with it. It's not the time until the ride that I really care about, it's the wasted time in ANY line.

Yeah, this. I'm even ok with not cutting the wait as long as I'm not in line (basic Q-bot)

For me it's about the line, not the wait. Although I suppose no wait means no line by default.

In this sense, every other system is superior.

At this point, I'm not totally convinced the CP crowd agrees. We'll see.

But what does CP get out of not using Lo-Q? Is it cheaper to implement? Is the licensing fee that high? I mean, obviously you save some money on being low tech, but you have to assume you also lose some customers for being low tech (and still making people wait in a line) and I would bet the latter would more than cancel out the former.

It's my understanding that the deal is Lo-Q installs the system (and incurs the cost) and then receives a cut of the revenue. Not sure if someone can confirm that or why I seem to remember it that way.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Lo-Q is a revenue sharing arrangement. I think it's a fantastic system. (Except when they let people arrive early and block the Q-bot entrance... I'm looking at you Thunderhead ride op!)

That is correct. Lo-Q will pay all installation & setup costs... the devices, infrastructure, adding a light switch, everything. They then get a cut of the income forever. Not sure if there's an additional, flat licensing cost per year, or if it's strictly a percentage.

Seems totally ridiculous that more parks haven't jumped on that deal.

^Agree whole-heartedly. For some reason, I'm reminded of previous licensing agreements that have been discontinued (Peanuts, e.g.). I have to admit, if there's IP that brings a "value-added proposition" this far beyond that of the costs of implementing/re-upping...I'm going with that arrangement every time.

I personally am thrilled to hear that Cedar Point is going to offer Fast Lane. On my one visit last October - going back there in July for Coastermania - I had to stand in line for 2 1/2 hours to get on Millennium Force. By the time I finally got on, my back was killing me from standing that long and I was glad to board the ride if for no other reason than to have the opportunity to sit down. At that point I would have ridden anything just to get off my feet. I am guessing that the average age of Coaster Buzzers is about 40 years younger than me and it's not as much of a hardship for younger people to wait in a long line, but believe me, for a 60-year-old standing in line that long is excruciating.

Not trying to be a butt when I say this, but October is a bad time of the year to come to the park and expect to do any serious riding.

October on a Saturday... Sounds like you would have waited more than 40 minutes according to this early report.

Well, many asked for it. Fast Lane prices have increased at Cedar Point. Now $55 and as low as $40.

Then there's the "Sneetches" scenario....

As word gets out...more and more people will use it and then the express lane will be slower than the regular line...and then they will have to pay again to loose the "privilige" of using the fast lane. By then the new CEO will be Sylvester McMonkey McBean.

Jeph said:

Well, many asked for it. Fast Lane prices have increased at Cedar Point. Now $55 and as low as $40.

Just a $5 increase? I hope this means they're going to try dynamically pricing it, because that isn't what I would have expected out of a price increase. I would have expected at least a $10 increase.

Great Dr. Suess reference, Richie, even though that was a story about prejudices, and not have-nots.

If what I remember reading about Lo-Q is true, they share revenue with the park 50/50 (those bastards lol).

This is a very interesting discussion to me, for obvious reasons that are probably much different than why it is to others. I love to see FotL systems fail to deliver, and I get a bonus because this Cedar Point system is failing for the exact reasons that I ridicule them in the first place. I know my love for a failing situation probably wont last though, because it will probably get fixed. I don't think a $5 price hike will do anything though. It needs to be a price that is a lot less reasonable, like an additional $99.95 per person.

Just aggressively advertise VIP, and stop this craziness already.

Cutting in front of everyone else should be expensive, and right now, $50 is a steal for a park as large and as popular as Cedar Point.

I still hate that a park promotes line cutting as a perk for those willing to pay for it, by the way. Hate it! Doesn't mean that I won't pay for the perk...

It's a $5-15 increase. There is an extra $5 charge on Saturday, so it's $60 on Saturday for 1 person or as low as $45. Previously it was $50 on Saturday or as low as $30.

It's easy to team up with strangers if you care about saving money, so no one really needed to pay more than $30 previously. Now that low has increased to $40-45, which is a 33.33-50% price increase.

I agree with Travis. The $5 price hike is a step in the right direction, but it should probably be much more expensive if they're looking to limit/eliminate the existing problems that have been discussed here.

But you guys are working on the assumption that a 40 minute Fast Lane wait is a fail.

Keep in mind it's still 1/3rd the wait of the regular line.

Glass half full or half empty?