Cedar Point guests experience traffic jams, complain on the Internet

So glad that this season is almost over and the so called "positive people" can get back to their comicom conventions for the winter.

Yes, because when you have nothing left to argue, you're forced to go for personal attacks.

You're adding nothing except insults at this point. Just stop. You got nothing.

Tommytheduck said:

As for the issue of Season Pass holders on beautiful Indian summer holiday weekends...

Heck, right now in Sandusky it's 48 degrees (feels like 43) and it's been raining or drizzling all day... yet the parking lot is nearly full on the webcam, and Dragster only has a few rows of empty queues. People sure love their Halloween.

In a weird sort of way, wouldn't the fall weather help? (or at least, not hurt?)

I'd rather go to a haunted house on a day like today (overcast, cool, fall in the air) than like last week (warm, sunny and summer-like). It completes the theme, so to speak.

Lord Gonchar said:

rollergator said:

One could EASILY argue that all "included" Halloween events are too busy.

In a market economy, that means the pricing is too cheap.

I've been trying for 6 pages now. Maybe yours will stick? :)

...and maybe monkeys will fly out of my butt...? ;~)

What's a comicon?

birdhombre said:

Tommytheduck said:

As for the issue of Season Pass holders on beautiful Indian summer holiday weekends...

Heck, right now in Sandusky it's 48 degrees (feels like 43) and it's been raining or drizzling all day... yet the parking lot is nearly full on the webcam, and Dragster only has a few rows of empty queues. People sure love their Halloween.

Wow! You're not kidding. Just goes to show you, Saturdays should be avoided. I was unaware of the wx in Ohio today as I'm in FL for 3 weeks. My only chance to visit for the rest of the year is going to be next Sunday, the final day they are open. I'm counting on medium sized crowds but will have to take whatever we can get.

I agree with Gonch as well. Cool fall nights are my favorite time to be riding rollercoasters. To me they almost go hand in hand, as we typically dial back our midsummer visits.

Comicon = comic book convention, an event full of interesting people SnoopyDoo seems to be jealous of.

^^ Oh absolutely, I agree on the cool fall weather. And happily, that's just what we had when I was there for the first night of HalloWeekends. I probably wouldn't have enjoyed today's cold rain, but last night would've been perfect.

I only brought up today's weather to contrast it with the unseasonably warm temperatures last Saturday, since that has been mentioned a few times.

slithernoggin said:

Comicon = comic book convention, an event full of interesting people SnoopyDoo seems to be jealous of.

And if we look back, he said "comicoM" not "comicoN"..so he can't even get THAT right.

Ad hominem... when you've got no argument and your misplaced sense of anonymity makes you feel empowered to insult people on the Internets.

Ultimately, I think there are two issues that need to be addressed separately. First, is the fact that there are massive traffic jams trying to get people off the peninsula. Second, is the overcrowding in general.

On most normal summer days, people will leave at different times. You'll notice that lines start getting shorter around 8PM or so. By 10 PM, a lot of people have already left, so there isn't really a huge traffic jam. Halloweekends (Fri & Sat) most people stay until close. This creates a huge mass of cars all trying to leave at the same time. They really need to rethink traffic flow for getting cars off the peninsula.

A dynamic pricing could be very useful, but you would have to make sure people knew about it before they get to Cedar Point. I suspect that a lot of people just look at the weather and say, hey let's go to Cedar Point today. If they were to simply raise the price to $100 per ticket, it could create more negative press for them since a lot of people drive several hours there only to find out that they can't afford to get in. The only way I can see the dynamic pricing to work is to have discounted tickets available, but have them blacked out on the busiest Saturdays of the year, then market those discounted tickets.

That leads me to wonder, how many of the tickets that were used on Columbus Day Saturday were full price tickets, and how many were discounted tickets? If there were discounted tickets sold, how many fewer people would have gone if only full priced tickets were available?

For the record, I know what ComiCon is, I was commenting on the fact that he seems to think we're all into that simply because we're into coasters. I'm a geek, everyone here is, but putting us all under an umbrella like that irked me.

I don't go to ComiCon much as I don't do many enthusiast events. And that's to avoid people like Snoopy Doo.

rollergator said:

Disney does Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween, not included with annual passes. Same for Howl-O-Scream at BGT, and of course HHN and Universal. One could EASILY argue that all "included" Halloween events are too busy.

In a market economy, that means the pricing is too cheap.

Picking this one to quote, but referencing all of the other 'charge separate fees for the nighttime.'

Agreed... now let's talk logistics... At Magic Kingdom for Mickey's Not So Scary, they do what is referred to as a 'mix in.' This allows the party guests to enter the park early at 4 without the day ticket, and allows the day guests to leave when the party begins. An army of Cast start in the back of the park and march forward slowly clearing guests without wristbands. Disneyland follows a similar model, both restricting access to rides, stores and restaurants after the party starts.

Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights does a 'hard close' and completely clears the park before reopening. Day guests who are in Finnegans get a bonus, if they have tickets to the event, get locked in the bar, while the park clears. Otherwise they go to CityWalk and drink while they either wait to return for the event or go home.

So... which model does Cedar Point follow, if they were to move to a separately ticketed event? I believe Busch Gardens Tampa does a hard close, but have only arrived after their event started, never the crossover, so I'm not4 sure how they handle it. Perhaps that would be the best comparison since there is really nothing for a park full of people to do while a park clears, except return to their cars and drink in the parking lot.

Does Cedar Point push everyone out to the parking lot? That's a pretty big park to check for event squatters.

CPJ said:

So... which model does Cedar Point follow, if they were to move to a separately ticketed event?

I dunno. How do they do it at Knott's? That's be my guess.

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of selling it this way (after the line break).

Noted, agreed, but unfortunately I'm not optimistic enough to think people would be smart enough to figure that out. We are so conditioned to an 'any day ticket' for amusement parks. So, unless you call it something different, and I'm not convinced a Saturday in October ticket would do it.

I agree with your thoughts that the price point is off, but unfortunately we are still in a Walmart society where the notion of value is key. Is Cedar Point in a position where they can say 'buy a ticket at Meijer that is good all year' except for Columbus Day weekend?

Again, how does Cedar Fair do it at Knott's? There's procedure in place within the company. No reason that whatever logistics work in California wouldn't work in Ohio.

They sell a separate ticket, to a different event called Haunt.

Then there you go.

Passes (and regular season tickets bought from wherever and whenever) are no longer good after labor day.

Cedar Point "Haunt" runs on weekends from late September through the end of October. Haunt tickets are $46 on Friday and Sunday and $79 on Saturday.

Tiny problem, the 'premier Halloween event at Knott's' is priced between $38 and $54.