Cedar Point Dropping Admission Prices

Looks like CP is lowering admission prices from $44.95 to $39.95, as well as (get this) fresh cotton candy for a quarter!

http://www.screamscape.com/html/cedar_point.htm

I know screamscape doesn't have the best rep around here, but their news (as opposed to rumors) items are reliable. Anyway, that's over a 10% drop in the gate price. And the cotton candy? Doesn't that usually go for $2 or $3 a pop? That's a huge discount! I guess time will tell if that willl get more warm bodies through the gate or not. Anyone else hear anything about this?

Yes, that was part of the announcement with the new ride. I like the cotton candy deal a lot.

Well, with only a 1% increase in attendace for Cedar Fair this quarter, I know they had cited one of the reasons for limited growth was due to gate prices being too high, especially at Cedar Point, for a family to afford, so I guess it should come as no surprise that the price is dropping so much. Remember that they did the same for Geauga Lake at the start of this season as well.

GATE prices too high? How much crack is there in Sandusky, anyway?

Seriously, gate is NOT where customers are having a hard time finding the "value" at CP. Soda prices, they're too high...food and merchandise I thought were very much in line with what I expect to find. (Wanna know what I consider *ridiculously* high prices for souvies? Try going to WA or CG)...

FL parks are now right around 60 bucks for a day ticket....THAT is too high.

The problem at CP isn't the price, it's that same old story we've been discussing re: SFI for so long...."perception of value".

Honestly, if CP wants to increase the perception of value, they'll pitch Intamin's ridiculous policies on MilF and TTD and institute SENSIBLE (and uniform) safety procedures. For starters, make sure that ANYONE that fits in the test seat CAN ride....that's a no-brainer IMO. The other thing CP can do - add some more stuff for the entire FAMILY (for those slow on the uptake, that includes grandma and grandpa as well as the kiddies).

NOW you can flame me 'til your hearts' content... :)

CP has said in a few news articles that families are having a hard time affording a trip with the gas prices being so high. They're basically making it easier to get to the park.

I agree gator. The cotton candy idea is a nice one, but it would be even nicer if that idea was spread accross all their fast foods and soft drinks. They could leave the service restaurants the same price.

As for the Intamin rides, I too belive people are frustrated and that it is hurting attendance some. I have been to CP six times since TTD was built and have only been on it twice and have gone each time looking forward to riding it. That starts to weigh on your decision to go there or somewhere else.

I also wish they would get some nicer souvineers, they sell so much expensive plastic junk and ugly clothing.

gomez, do you think $20 for a family of four going to make that much of a difference? *** Edited 11/1/2005 8:19:10 PM UTC by eightdotthree***

Hehe, I forgot to comment about the cotton candy thing... :)

CP didn't just *reduce* the price....they just found enough local dentists willing to "subsidize" cotton candy purchases... ;)

8.3: That saved $20 will allow the family of four to buy a small drink for them all to share!

^$20 worth of gas will at least get you to the park.

That $20.00 saved will get you 100 things of cotton candy now!

mmmmmm cooottooon caaaandyyy for a quaaarrrterrrr....

Meh, why can't it be something like chili cheese fries? :-P j/k

You guys can have your cotton candy. ;-)

-Tina

That $20 will offset the cost of parking. Did anyone notice that parking for a season pass holder is now $45? Does it make you think that parking will be raised for the general public?

I do not believe that fuel prices were enough of a reason to drop the gate price. Fuel prices never stopped me from going to the park. I live near Ann Arbor, Michigan. The park did a fine job with massive discount tickets via the website, grocery store, credit union, AAA...etc.

While the price reduction is a nice gesture along with the .25 cotton candy it does nothing for a season pass holder.

The pass holder has to pay an additional $15 to get a Joe Cool membership to make a parking pass transferable and to get discounts at some merchandise stands and foods shops.

I guess CP offering to add GL and parking @ GL for a decent rate is good for the season pass holder.

How about a day designated for CP pass holders only. That would be sweet. I know I am dreaming.

A passholder only day? While they turn down how many hands waving dollar bills at them to pay at the gate? 15,000? 20,000? More?

The discounted price of admission over multiple visits is more than enough. CP doesn't need to kiss your tuckus too.

SF does...and look where it got 'em!

-CO

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MotorCityCoasterFan said:
I do not believe that fuel prices were enough of a reason to drop the gate price. Fuel prices never stopped me from going to the park. I live near Ann Arbor, Michigan. The park did a fine job with massive discount tickets via the website, grocery store, credit union, AAA...etc.

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Good point. Discounts are all people really pay attention to. I think the last time I paid full price for admission to a theme park of any sort was... oh... never. But the real question is, how will lowering the gate price $5 affect admission discounts? Will that get in for $30 special still be the same, or will it be $25? I would think it would be the latter; but in the world of bait-and-switch marketing you never know. I wouldn't be surprised to see if we end up paying the gate and cotton candy discounts in other areas of the park (parking, sodas, upcharge attractions, etc). And yes, I hope I'm wrong. :)

Yeah what they should do is kinda make a family package with vouchers and things for food and also on souvenirs. I guess the souveniers do suck, because they really never have anything cool. Plus games are overpriced so they make a ton of money there, when you arent gauranteed to win anything. Thats all true to go back to gator and also a few other responses.

I know sports teams in the cleveland area were doing that for games to get the whole family a better time.

What 'gator said. Stop letting people into lines who can't ride. The marginal increase in attendance is more than offset by the poor capacity on MF and TTD, making everyone's day worse.

The drop in price is the wrong color, it is just a clone of some other drop in price, it is not Intamin, there won't be enough airtime, and when are they going to add a new coaster?

I love it when the cotton candy is "fresh". It's still warm and fluffy. It is very difficult to find it "just made" these days.

It's always nice to hear of a business dropping prices, but I don't expect to pay any less, really. They will make it up somewhere else.

Does anyone remember the good ol' days (5 or 10 years ago) when the park was very inexpensive to get in? Wasn't it something like $30 in the '90's? They had less to offer though.

For me the improvements are good, but as a business sense, $39.99 is a complete steal for what the park offers. Like someone said, Florida parks are like $60!

I definately think it's the $3.00 Pepsi that needs to come down in price but maybe it will. I personally would pay up to $70.00 a day but that's just me because I love the place so much. I mean SFDL is $33.99 and CP which has 16 coasters is $39.99. WOW.

I'm Not a Businessman, but it seems to me that if customers no longer see the value that they used to in your product, the right solution is to figure out how you've lost value, and how to get it back.

Dropping prices to chase lowering expectations sounds like a sucker's game to me.