Cedar Point guests experience traffic jams, complain on the Internet

Haunt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iisPjXU97Q

Horror Nights:

http://www.youtube.com/user/UniversalOrlando?v=h19BygaoRtg

Cedar Point Halloweekends:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WtndXoWcI4

Magic Kingdom:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jVlXW9pEYc

Think you may be comparing apples to hand grenades.

CPJ said:

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

The gate price at Cedar Point right now as we type at each other is $59.

Problem solved.

CPJ said:

Think you may be comparing apples to hand grenades.

Quality is subjective. Popularity is not. The crowds at CP rival and exceed the crowds at any of the haunts you linked to. (in terms of scale and exceeding the park's capacity to deliver a decent experience)

What puzzles me is that CP said that even with all the mess, they did not set an attendance record. If this is the case, then that means there was at least 1 other day/time that the crowd was bigger and had more vehicles ... Okay, so what happened then ?? Was there a big blow-up like with this ?? Was there an outcry in the media declaring "foul?" Or did CP just happen to handle it much better that time and it went without incident ?

Quality is subjective. Popularity is not. The crowds at CP rival and exceed the crowds at any of the haunts you linked to. (in terms of scale and exceeding the park's capacity to deliver a decent experience)

Nope, wrong. They limit the number of tickets sold to Mickey's Halloween Party making it a premier event. Can't speak for Universal or the others.

Don't think the crowd going for the Cedar Point Kid's Costume Party wants to pay extra for the day and don't suspect the crowd going for the true Haunts run by frat boys wants to join the kids contest either.

The event works as a destination as being all inclusive, but neither would want to pay more for the part they don't like. Its like cable television, a la carte sounds nice, until you break it down.

Price point for Disney Halloween starts at $57, in addition to the parade you get this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zhly_V5RCc

what deserves the extra cost at Cedar Point besides the inability to staff it?

CPJ said:

what deserves the extra cost at Cedar Point besides the inability to staff it?

The demand for the product.

It's really as simple as that. Supply and Demand.

Nope, wrong. They limit the number of tickets sold to Mickey's Halloween Party making it a premier event. Can't speak for Universal or the others.

Nope, correct. In fact, that's exactly the point. Those parks/events would be just as stupid-busy without limits/price controls in place. Cedar Point needs to follow suit.

Don't think the crowd going for the Cedar Point Kid's Costume Party wants to pay extra for the day and don't suspect the crowd going for the true Haunts run by frat boys wants to join the kids contest either.

I disagree. The crowds at the park say otherwise.

And under my proposal, the frat boy crowd and little kids could visit on Friday or Sunday respectively and pay just $8 more than the current online ticket. The gate would remain unchanged.

How could anyone be in support of raising ticket prices? It's like saying you support putting a quota on domestic beer production and then raising prices on all domestic beer because of the lack of supply and the high demand.

People, the problem is with Cedar Point's terrible access, not with their capacity and pricing.

Whenever i visit a Park (Or any other venue, such as a Fourth of July Fireworks Event) instead of fighting the crowds after the event is over I'll just get in my car, pull the seat back and doze off. A few hours later, I'll wake up and drive off, the crowds long gone.

I have a platinum pass so I don't care if they raise ticket prices. I also don't care if they black out pass holders. Though I think in most cases they should only black out pass holders on Saturdays, at least to start. That seems go be the busy nite. I know it is at Carowinds.

I guess I didn't realize CP was different. Like Knott's, Carowinds does a hard close while SCarowinds is a separate event. I hear Saturdays are terribly busy. I've been three times this year in fridaynand it wasn't bad.

bjames said:

How could anyone be in support of raising ticket prices?

Because I'm willing to pay more for a better experience. I feel the value would be better. I wouldn't in a million years visit on one of these Saturdays as it stands.

Raise the price, lower the crowds and I'd definitely be more receptive to the idea.

People, the problem is with Cedar Point's terrible access, not with their capacity and pricing.

That'd be true if it weren't equally insane inside the park.

The problem isn't access or capacity - it's the popularity of the event. The popularity reflects the demand. Demand should be the driver for setting the price.

Tekwardo said:

I guess I didn't realize CP was different. Like Knott's, Carowinds does a hard close while SCarowinds is a separate event.

Ahh! I had no idea Carowinds did it that way. Just more precedent within the company.

I don't understand why they're not doing this at CP already.

Here's something else to back you up. The first Saturday nite at SCarowinds was so busy I know people that didn't leave the parking lot till around 2am and they left 30 min prior to the 12 am closing. And Carowinds isn't on a peninsula with only one way in.

Due to the traffic issues, I'm not sure a complete close / open is even possible for Cedar Point. We've seen how long it can take to get 5000 cars off the point, with everyone going to same direction. How much worse would it be if you had 2,500 cars trying to get out, 2,500 cars trying to get in, with everyone navigating around the 2,500 cars that are staying for both events?

I don't think the hard close makes any sense for CP. When I say there's precedent, I mean precedent for making it a separate ticket.

What you are suggesting, there is not a precedence for. The events you say establish that are 5-7 hour events, not entire days. Your logic says that days of Mickey's Not So Scary should be day admission plus the cost of the party. Haunt... pay for a day at Knott's plus Haunt. You're just not making sense this time.

This is an issue with a poorly managed parking lot that is not designed for efficiency.

^^ Would you please elaborate a little on how the separate ticket would work?

Here's my shot at the parking lot, green is inbound, red is outbound... poke away at it. Thick line is two lanes or more, thin lines are one. Chausee entrance would either be closed to inbound or routed around the lot.

Just to inject an opinion of someone who has visited CP, KI and Knotts event this year. Knotts is a vastly superior product to the other two parks, the actors are much better, the mazes are intricately themed with huge set pieces and animatronics, they have much more mazes, and they have 6 shows. Eden Muse and Eerie Estates come really close to being the quality of a Knotts maze (but they are lacking animatronics) but all of their mazes are of that quality.

Elvria preforms, and the Hanging is a pop culture dark comedy complete with pyrotechnics, imressive stunts (so many pop culture references get killed) and even has singing. No show at CP comes close, Ed Alanzo has preformed regularly at Knotts so KI does have one show that is of Knotts quality.

If CP or KI were to go to a different admission price, they would seriously have to up their game. Also just to counter Gonch, CF is not the only chain that has different ticket policies between parks. While BGT's Howl-O-Scream is a separate ticket, BGW's is not.

Disney Halloween Events are not just about the parade and the fireworks, the park is completely transformed with lights and fog, they troop out a bunch of rare characters (Hades, Wicked Queen, Ugly Step Sisters, Maleficent, Storm Troopers, Agent P, Genie) you can get large amount of candy and you get to wear a costume in the park. They are a blast, and worth the extra cost.

Touchdown said:

While BGT's Howl-O-Scream is a separate ticket, BGW's is not.

Sea World San Antonio's Howl-O-Scream is not a separate ticket either.

Facepalms for all. :)

CPJ said:

What you are suggesting, there is not a precedence for. The events you say establish that are 5-7 hour events, not entire days. Your logic says that days of Mickey's Not So Scary should be day admission plus the cost of the party. Haunt... pay for a day at Knott's plus Haunt. You're just not making sense this time.

You're hung up on semantics. But yeah, in a way that's exactly what we're doing. And by doing so we're making it cost-ineffective to visit the park for some and then offering an alternative as a way to influence customer behavior.

However, it's irrelevant as it's all just wording used to help the guest understand the ticket structure.

I'll break it down later in the post. Stick with it.

This is an issue with a poorly managed parking lot that is not designed for efficiency.

If inside the park was totally bearable, I'd agree. But it's not when there are 2hour+ lines inside. It goes beyond the news story here.

Touchdown said:

Just to inject an opinion of someone who has visited CP, KI and Knotts event this year. Knotts is a vastly superior product to the other two parks, the actors are much better, the mazes are intricately themed with huge set pieces and animatronics, they have much more mazes, and they have 6 shows.

Great. And none of that matters.

All that matters is that CP's event is wildly popular. The quality of a Haunt 3000 miles away doesn't affect the crowd or pricing in Ohio in any way whatsoever. If it did, you wouldn't be parking people in the grass along the causeway in Sandusky.

Also just to counter Gonch, CF is not the only chain that has different ticket policies between parks. While BGT's Howl-O-Scream is a separate ticket, BGW's is not.

I'm not suggesting CP change because other parks within the company already do it. I'm suggesting that it's not completely out of the question or a new idea to Cedar Fair because other parks within the company already do it.

Subtle, but HUGE difference there.

0g said:

^^ Would you please elaborate a little on how the separate ticket would work?

Sure. I did here and here, but here's a summary for you:

1. Passes and regular season tickets are good until the end of the 'regular' season - Labor Day. The entire Halloween time of the year (mid-September through the end of October) becomes a 'separate ticket' admission.

2. You call the day and night events each by something different - not really a big deal as it's kind of like this already. Kings Island pushes this idea pretty hard. The idea is to create separation in the customer's mind - even if nothing inside the park has actually changed.

Let's call the day time event, "Happy Fun Halloween." This would be the normal family friendly stuff - costumes contests, trick or treat, petting zoo, toned down kiddie houses and the full compliment of rides. Exactly what you'd find on any Saturday or Sunday afternoon at CP.

Let's call the night event, "Super Scary Halloween." This would be the PG-13 stuff. Monsters roam the midways, all the houses are in full force, the lighting and fog come out the more adult things happen. Exactly what you'd find on any Friday or Saturday night at CP.

Again, nothing here has changed except the branding and presentation of the product.

3. Currently, prices are $38/$59 for Friday and Sunday and $46/$59 for Saturday. So they're already tiering the pricing. We just need to play off of what we did in step #2 with branding each 'event' differently and bump the tier to shift the crowds. I propose:

You can visit on Friday night and do the "Super Scary Halloween" event for $46/$59.

You can visit on Sunday and do the "Happy Fun Halloween" event for $46/$59

Or you can double up and do both events on Saturday for $79/$99 - a savings of as much as $19 over doing the events separately!

And that's pretty much it.

We haven't changed the gate on Friday or Sunday a single penny. We've bumped the online/discount price a modest amount to what the current Saturday discount is.

On Saturday the magic happens. The higher pricing thins out the herd a bit. We'll lose a few, but we'll shift even more to the other two weekend days (eliminating the dead time those days usually are) and we'll make the crowds on Saturday much more manageable and be able to offer shorter lines and a better overall experience to the guest.

*All pricing is speculative, simply an example and for demonstrative purposes only - there's no way to know what actual numbers work without actually seeing this in practice. However, the core point remains about the prices in regard to each other and when each level is used - the actual dollar numbers are irrelevant in terms of describing the plan and would be adjusted accordingly.