Cinci attractions not concerned about year-round waterpark at Cedar Point

"They say these are largely regional attractions."

Couldn't agree more....as regional as amusement parks are (and they ARE), waterparks are 5X moreso in my experience...no one makes a long drive to a waterpark, just doesn't happen. If CP goes ahead with their plan, my prediction for Cincy area waterparks is that they would be TOTALLY unaffected!

P.S. Part of my *job* is to make predictions...;)
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Clueless quote of the day award goes to Tara Nahrup, The Beach Waterpark's public relations manager:

"I think it's going to be a benefit of going to Cedar Point. I don't think anyone's going to go up there just because of a water park."

Right - and no one goes to Great Bear Lodge just because of a water park. They must be there to visit Meijer. And I'm sure no one will go to the monster-sized Kalahari Resort that is headed to the area.

That's the point - these places are meant to be destinations.

While I'm sure water parks are regional, Sandusky might eventually become the exception to the rule. The comparisons to the Wisconsin Dells have already started.

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Walt Schmidt - Virtual Midway

*** This post was edited by Gemini 7/28/2003 11:28:39 AM ***

Walt, I disagree with you and agree with the person from The Beach. People will not go to Sandusky solely because a hotel has a water park - at least not during the "summer operating season". If someone is going to visit the greater Sandusky area, it will be due to CP.

But you miss one thing in your comparison to the Dells. Waterparks were added far after the Dells became popular. I don't have exact dates, but I know the Dells became popular in the late 40's / early 50's. In fact, the first "Duck" vehicle was purchased in 1946 for use in the Dells. http://www.dellsducks.com/history.html

And from another website we can see that the first waterpark was opened in 1979 - Noah's Ark. http://www.wisdells.com/community/timeline.htm

The Dells' main draw has become water themed enjoyment because that brings repeat visitors - not the beautiful landscape - which once drew people to this part of Wisconsin. Try to tell me, convincingly, that people will go to Sandusky for the local/hotel water parks over visiting CP...

While I can see the waterpark resorts coming to Sandusky, they will not eclipse CP. They will fight amongst themselves for the tourist hotel dollars, but they will not make a market unto themselves, like has occurred in the Dells.

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--George H
---Currency tracking experiment... http://www.wheresgeorge.com (Referring to The "George" on the $1 bill - Not Me)
*** This post was edited by redman822 7/28/2003 12:22:45 PM ***

I think the Wisconsin Dells-based LMN Development would disagree that the Sandusky water parks will not make a market unto themselves. They're building a brand new 140-acre resort (Kalahari) just south of town. That's a pretty big place for tourists to just sleep at in between coaster rides. There are two more water parks that have been rumored (along with the rumor of a Great Bear expansion). If Cedar Point's project goes through, there is a potential in a few years for 5 year-round water parks in and around Sandusky.

The reason Cedar Point is considering the Radisson expansion is to build business outside of the "summer operating season." That's the whole point.

"People will not go to Sandusky solely because a hotel has a water park"

Believe it or not, it happens all year. The tremendous success of Great Bear has already proven that indoor water parks can be a destination. With only one indoor park, it may not be as noticeable, but the notion that Sandusky is dead during the winter is turning around.

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Walt Schmidt - Virtual Midway
*** This post was edited by Gemini 7/28/2003 1:09:41 PM ***

I am going to side with Gemini on this one. People do go to hotels for very specific purposes. My wife has dragged me to a number of hotels simply because there was a particular outlet mall nearby.

Cedar Point isn't doing this because it will help during the summer. The Radisson is largely booked solid during the summer. They are doing this to increase overnight stays in the winter and shoulder seasons.

Nobody is expecting these waterparks to eclipse Cedar Point. Most of the attractions that were built in Orlando weren't built to eclipse Disney World. They want to feed off the frenzy.

Sandusky dies during the winter. I should know, I was a resident. If Cedar Point can bring in more tourist dollars during the winter then that would justify a tax incentive from the City. It would be good for the City, the mall, the local theaters, etc.

I wouldn't be surprised if Cedar Point's wasn't the last indoor waterpark to be built. The people with vision were the folks from Great Bear Lodge. They look like geniuses now.*** This post was edited by wahoo skipper 7/28/2003 1:11:38 PM ***

Certainly this will *help* Sandusky, esp. in the Winters....couldn't/wouldn't dispute THAT.

But I think the impact of this expansion on the Summertime business of the Cincinnati-area waterparks, that will be *minimal* at most...
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That's what I have been trying to say Gator.

The Beach and PKI are not concerned/worried about the year-round waterparks in Sandusky because DURING THE SUMMER operating season they don't forsee people driving out of their parking lots to go to Sandusky instead.

When these parks will make their impact, presumably, would be during the off-season when PKI, The Beach, and CP are closed.

Again, as I stated in my pevious post, the Dells have become known for their waterparks, over their original draw - the local scenery. I do not forsee Sandusky being known for their waterparks over their original draw - Cedar Point.

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--George H
---Currency tracking experiment... http://www.wheresgeorge.com (Referring to The "George" on the $1 bill - Not Me)

Just a fast note. I live in the Chicagoland area and we are driving to Schlitterbahn on Aug. 10th just to do two days there.If its good, its worth the drive(our third time in as many years.)

Bob

I never said the water parks would impact Cedar Point nor did I say they would impact businesses in Cincinnati. But let's not trivialize the impact that they will have - an impact that will be felt year-round. There are plenty of MI and PA license plates at Great Bear Lodge.

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Walt Schmidt - Virtual Midway

But, Walt, I think it would be a safe bet to say that there are many MI and PA plates at all the Sandusky area hotels this time of year.

The point of this article is that PKI and The Beach are not concerned about the waterpark that CP wants to build at Radisson.

They already take into consideration that CP will draw some people from their area (as they do from as far away as Chicago, too). THe crux of it is that they don't believe that the addition of year round waterpark(s) in the Sandusky area will cut into their customer base which is, for the most part, day visitors.

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--George H
---Currency tracking experiment... http://www.wheresgeorge.com (Referring to The "George" on the $1 bill - Not Me)

I should have clarified - I meant that you can see those plates during the winter ... meaning that the indoor water park draws from a region larger than just Cleveland/Toledo.

I understand the point of the article and I don't disagree with it. The only part I disagreed with was the quote, "I don't think anyone's going to go up there just because of a water park." That's just not an accurate statement. Otherwise, you wouldn't see LMN and Cedar Fair getting into that market.

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Walt Schmidt - Virtual Midway

Thats strange, Ive seen lots of amusment park related articles in the Enquirer latly, but not that. Oh well...

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But Walt, they aren't concerned about the winter guests at the parks in Sandusky, the Dells or even California because that won't cut into their market because they are only open seasonally.

Either way, it boild down to how comments can be taken out of context/inferring the meaning of what was said. You took it as "Who would go up there in the winter" and I took it as "I don't think anyone is going to go to Sandusky in the summerjust because of a water park with Cedar Point in the vicinity."

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--George H
---Currency tracking experiment... http://www.wheresgeorge.com (Referring to The "George" on the $1 bill - Not Me)

The question is that with all this building of waterparks in the Sandusky area are/will they saturate the market? The thing is that there isn't any other indoor water parks that i know of within a four to five hour drive of Sandusky, so my guess is no. Especially in the winter there really isn't ANYTHING like these parks in the Cleveland area. And who can afford a trip to the Bahamas? For now it looks like a great investment.

Now i CAN see this development hurting the summertime attendance at the Cinti parks IF these parks are built and the area gets the reputation of the place to be for water parks. The other thought is, if this area is looking for more types of gate attractions; wouldn't it stand to reason that if these parks add to the drawing power of Sandusky for summer/winter destinations, that another park company would see the opportunity and open a seasonal gate in Erie County? Wouldn't a Sea World, Universal or Disney work well in the area? I think so. Having two parks in the same neighborhood would only bring more people every summer. It seems to me that the amusement industry thrives on nodes of activities. The more stuff and places to do in a certain area, the more likly people will be willing to travel long distances to get there.

The largest indoor waterpark in the State of Ohio prior to the Great Bear Lodge was at the Community Center in the City of Worthington...down near Columbus. I would say that Ohio is not saturated with indoor waterparks just yet.

I just thought that I'd add that there is a year-round indoor waterpark/hotel similar to Great Bear Lodge in Erie, PA now which is only about 2 1/2 hours from Sandusky.

Hell, PKI's attendance isn't affected by CP in any way.
I supposed if one or the other didn't exist attendance would be a little higher but not much.

Chuck

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Charles Nungester.
It's official Lesourdsville Lake is closed for 2003

There's one area that CP will have the upper hand... they'll advirtise the park and water park together and drill both of them in people's minds at once.

And you'll get the famalies that say "We were gonna head to PKI this year for a change but we definetly want a water park and CP has a new one, so we'll just make it 1 big trip"

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-Troy
EHT (Extended Hangtime) Survivor - Cbuzz Con '03
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In other news, Dorney isn't concerned what Kennywood is installing for next year...