Cedar Point guests experience traffic jams, complain on the Internet

There is precedent for what you say, Gonch. Carowind's Season Passes do not include SCarowinds. The Gold and Platinum Passes do.

During the day, Carowinds has The Great Pumpkin Fest, a daytime Halloween mini-event for families that is included with passes, because during the day, the park is open as usual.

Then the park closes at around 6, and that is the end of that. SCarowinds opens later, with regular season passes blacked out, as a regular event.

Last year, Carowinds did more dynamic pricing for Scarowinds. It was cheaper earlier in the season when it was slower.

So I'm not sure why they don't do this at CP, since it seems to work at Carowinds and Knott's. I don't think KI is like this, I think it's more like CP.

^I did not look into it that much (as I had a Platinum Pass) but KI had a sign of the gate stating "You must have a ticket or a Gold Pass beyond this point" so I suspect the "blue" season pass is not valid for Halloween admission at KI either.

As it stands right now I would not pay for an extra ticket event at Cedar Point, I would go to another park instead. It would not be worth the cost for me, it also opens up another bag of worms when it comes to weather, as CP's best haunts are all outdoor atractions and do not operate in the rain. The fall in the midwest brings lots of rain, what do you do for those guests who get cheated out of those mazes?

Sorry for the quick double post, but I would argue that all of the separate ticketed Halloween events (Knotts, Universal, Busch Tampa) are the creme de la creme of Halloween events nationwide. The real question is, can those parks charge an extra ticket because they are the best, or are they the best because they know that if the quality slipped they could not sustain charging a seperate ticket?

Gonch.. you have to get out more.. the waits for Halloween Horror nights are well over an hour for the mazes AND approaching two hours. They sell an almost one hundred dollar express pass to avoid them. They don't have a four hour debacle in the parking garage.

That's because people are stopping at City Walk to eat, drink and be merry before going to the parking garage. Duh.

Aww Jeff, now you have to get out more, Halloween Horror Nights closes at the same time as CityWalk. So that's even more traffic leaving.

Anyone care to comment on the parking lot as the issue?

Aww, you mean if everyone left at the same time. They don't.

They don't at Cedar Point either.

If you have a point, you're not making it.

You tell me your point, I will tell you mine?

I believe the parking lot is the issue? as I have shown in my post suggesting new traffic flow? When I worked there, I always parked in the Marina lot on these busy days so I could get out quickly.

Again, what is your point?

I think a number of people, including me, suggested pages ago that the parking lot clearly could use some tweaking.

If you have a point, you're not making it.

CPJ said:

Gonch.. you have to get out more.. the waits for Halloween Horror nights are well over an hour for the mazes AND approaching two hours. They sell an almost one hundred dollar express pass to avoid them. They don't have a four hour debacle in the parking garage.

OK. So?

Same idea as Knott's. What happens at Universal in Orlando has no bearing on what a park in northern Ohio does. It's irrelevant. Why do you guys keep going back to other parks that are completely unrelated and in completely different markets with completely different situations?

You're hung up on the parking thing. I'm not offering a direct solution for the parking thing. I don't care about the parking thing. The parking this is a symptom of the popularity of the Halloween event. I'm solving a larger problem.

And your comparison of Universal's parking compared to CP's is totally misguided too. They're two different properties with two different layouts and two different capabilities. Check this out - every amusement park has a different capacity. A normal crowd at CP would choke the parking facility of a small place like Knoebels or Holiday World. Why? Because they're different venues.

Cedar Point at Halloween gets crowds that are too big to handle. It's as simple as that. If you're parking people in the grass on the causeway, it has nothing to do with design or flow or whatever - you're over capacity.

If you insist on using the Universal example then I'd say it's proof that it works. They use pricing and ticket structure to keep the crowds at their extremely popular event within their capacity. Hence, no lack of parking or traffic jams.

Touchdown said:

CP's best haunts are all outdoor atractions and do not operate in the rain. The fall in the midwest brings lots of rain, what do you do for those guests who get cheated out of those mazes?

Why would it be any different than what they do now? It's just not as complicated as you guys keep trying to make it.

As it stands right now I would not pay for an extra ticket event at Cedar Point, I would go to another park instead. It would not be worth the cost for me...

Then the system works!

I just reduced the crowd by 1. Only a couple thousand more to go. :)

Lord Gonchar hits the nail on the head. Comparing this park or that park to Cedar Point doesn't address Cedar Point's particular issues.

I suppose CPJ will just tell Gonch he's not making his point....

Why can't they just close different attractions at different times? The posted closure time may be midnight, for example, but have a sign at the entrance of a few, more popular attractions that reads, "This attraction open later for you enjoyment." This would spread out the people leaving the park because not everyone would want to stay and wait in line for another attraction. Some people may be ready to go home, and some people may be willing to wait for another attraction.

Personally, I think that the park just needs to stay open as late as people want to stay, and that might change each day. Kennywood seems to do something like that.

...Or something.

CPJ said:
Gonch.. you have to get out more.. the waits for Halloween Horror nights are well over an hour for the mazes AND approaching two hours. They sell an almost one hundred dollar express pass to avoid them. They don't have a four hour debacle in the parking garage.

They also charge $91 at the gate, have only five rides open, and are located directly off very large arteries.

""As it stands right now I would not pay for an extra ticket event at Cedar Point, I would go to another park instead. It would not be worth the cost for me..."

Then the system works!

I just reduced the crowd by 1. Only a couple thousand more to go. :)"

Which OTHER park would someone go? CF has killed off all the local competition.

Simple fix...

Go back to the old way of running a park. No season tickets, no fastpass, and everything has a separate admission charge. When your ATM card is refused, you go home.

All these other solutions involve spending more money just to get to the head of the line, and ignore the fact that it isn't the customer that should be paying more - just to get what they should with the base price.

What other park? Kings Island. Kennywood. Waldameer. Michigan's Adventure.

Not to mention whatever seasonal haunts and attractions are available in Cleveland, Toledo, Columbus, Akron, Detroit, Youngstown....

Not to mention all the myriad other entertainment options that an amusement park competes with in its market....

I've never understood the mindset that it's okay to use your disposable income to gain access to something not everyone can afford -- entry into an amusement park -- but it's wrong when someone else uses their disposable income to gain access to something not everyone can afford -- expedited access to a ride.

Then why even offer a standard admission if all you are going to get is "back of the bus" treatment?
You might as well get a group together and buy out the park so you won't have to even look at us "commoners".
Why didn't you mention Disneyland in California or Octoberfest in Germany as alternatives? They at least have similar offerings, and are about as practical a commute from Ohio.