CP and GL combo pass information

Hello Coaster Fans Who Trying To Figure Out Which Park Has The Weekend Specials This Coming Week,

Well the much talked about "Combo Park" pass details have been released by Cedar Point...but not for Geauga Lake yet. CP pass is $89 and good at all CF parks EXCEPT GL...BUT if you want to add GL pass into it, it's $26 extra.

So far it's a good deal, but there are a few unanswered questions as for "What about parking for both parks" or "Joe Cool." Either way, it's at least good to know there is going to be a combo pass.

You can also get CP parking for only $40 before Nov.

It also seems that if you get the combo pass at CP it includes GL.

Here's the link:

Cedar Point Season Pass information

*** Edited 9/14/2004 2:21:39 PM UTC by RollerCoasterGod***

Hmmm...$115 total for both. Not to bad. I'm thinking they may keep a GL only pass around $59 and you can add the rest of the chain(at least im hoping the rest of the chain) for $56 making it equal $115 as well.

Wow I was just at Geauga Lake's website and they also have annouced pricing for the 2005 Season Passes. It's $69 for all CF Parks(except CP), $115 for all CF Parks(including CP), or $144 for all CF Parks and Waterparks(including CP). These prices listed here are adult prices, juinor pricing is avaible for those who quilify. I didn't think the prices were gonna be so high. I was thinking something on the lines of $99.99 for everything. But for the extra $15-$44 I'm not gonna complain. Cedar Fair has some of the best run parks in the world and I'm expecting Geauga Lake to be killer in 2005.

Yes, so where you buy your pass in Northern Ohio doesn't matter, they get you to the same place.

The pricing is fair, and I'll no doubt visit GL now next year.

I'm really happy that they went with the option to add on CP. Not everyone would want to pay for the option to CP, or be able to afford it. *** Edited 9/14/2004 2:47:17 PM UTC by XFlight***

So will passes from the other CF parks include GL next year?

This is from valleyfair's website:

"Passes are valid only for the person pictured. Passes are valid for admission to most Cedar Fair amusement parks including Valleyfair, Cedar Point, Dorney Park, Geauga Lake, Worlds of Fun, Michigan’s Adventure, and Knott’s Berry Farm (waterparks excluded) any day during regular park hours excluding special events and private parties. Valleyfair Season Passes are valid from April 1, 2005 to March 31, 2006. Season Passes are NOT valid at Camp Snoopy at Mall of America. "

*** Edited 9/14/2004 2:56:11 PM UTC by XFlight***

I just don't understand way visitors to GL have to pay extra for CP and stuff when the other CF Parks don't have to. I'm still gonna get the $115 pass but still it just doesn't seem fair.

I suppose that'd probably be the same across the chain. (referring to Xflight's info)

Looks like an early season trip to Dorney to check out Hydra could pay off all season long. :)

razore86 - because the two parks are so close together. It's essentially like 2 season passes for the price of one. CF is not trying to pull a six flags on this one. How often will people from areas around the other CF parks travel to Ohio? Whereas the people living near either CP or GL (or the golden area in between) could hit up both parks relentlessly. $115 for both is a steal.

*** Edited 9/14/2004 3:03:50 PM UTC by Lord Gonchar***

Wow, that's about $85 less than I was expecting for the two combined. It's a good deal, I just wonder how the parking's going to work, as one of my favorite things about this year was having the parking for "free" at both parks (or at least not having to hassle with it). Maybe there will be a combined parking pass?

Good deal. Lazy question because I'm really supposed to be working hard here - CP passes bought say next week for '05 aren't good for the rest of '04 are they?

The people who already buy the CP combo pass to get Soak City are basically getting Geauga Lake for free. Last year, the combo was $50 more. This year, with GL, it's only $55 more.

Yes, and as a chronic combo CP season passholder, I'm looking forward to at least one trip to GL next season.

razore86,

Cedar Fair does not have to let us into thier other parks with another parks season pass. They do it as a perk, as an extra benefit, perhaps to get people to visit some of thier other parks, but they definately do not do it because they are required too.

To say, "it just doesn't seem fair" seems like you have started taking the park-hopping for granted. Cedar Fair, and Six Flags for that matter, can revoke this privilige any season.

The fact that one cab buy an add-on for geauga lake for cheaper than a day pass seems like quite a deal to me.

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Lord Gonchar said:

How often will people from areas around the other CF parks travel to Ohio? Whereas the people living near either CP or GL (or the golden area in between) could hit up both parks relentlessly. $115 for both is a steal.

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Yes, they could but you can only be at any one park at any given time. Really, does it matter to CF if you are pissing in CP's toilet's or GL's? The bottom line is, as usual, the bottom line. Basically, CF can get away with charging more because of the perceived extra value to those "Golden Triangle" area folks. There's no reall logic behind charging them more (relative to say the Dorney arar folks) other than to boost profits (which is fine by me, John Q. Limited-Partner :))

lata, jeremy

Jeremy, that's just plain wrong.

Here's an analogy. Suppose there are two parks. One park has your all-time favorite coaster, but no others. The other park has a clone of your all-time favorite coaster, plus several other "lesser" rides. Assume the wait times for your favorite coaster at both parks are always equal.

By your reasoning, it shouldn't matter to you which of these parks you are in, since you can only ride one coaster at any given time. Why not just re-ride your favorite endlessly rather than spread your time out?

*** Edited 9/14/2004 11:26:11 PM UTC by Brian Noble***

I'm with Jeremy on this one. It's just a chance for CF to make some extra cash. Most people who get the upgrade, or have the combo pass, are not going to visit both parks equally during the season. In fact, they are probally banking on 50% of the combo or upgrades, not, using the pass for the other park. Smart business practice.

Let's not forget that season pass reciprocity is a relatively cheap perk the park can offer because in most cases they expect low utilization. I mean really, beyond the coaster enthusiast community how many people on vacation say "Hey lets stop by Park X, its free with our Park Y pass!" (That is of course asuming they travel anywhere near park Y.

And if people DO utilize the perk, so what. An extra body or ten per day in the gate means nothing to the parks expenses, and can reap rewards when people start spending that money they saved from the free admission on the games, gifts, food, and upchrage atractions. Last week, I arrived at Carwoinds shortly after noon, and noticed I was on line 33 of the Courtesy Ticket Log when I signed for my courtesy ticket. Now I don't know if the courtesy ticket log is all season-pass reciprocity, or if they could be comps given out for any number of reasons. Still 33 comps when you sell 1,000's of tickets per day is not going to affect the bottom line.

The Cedar Point/Geauga situation is different. In that case it is highly probable that people will use both parks, especially those people that live between the two. Both parks offer enough different things to do that a person could do both with minimal repetition, therefore since the cross-park utilization is expected to be high, it is reasonable to charge a premium to cover the high expenses of the guest park, when suddenly you have scores of people lined up at Guest Services for season pass reciprocity. (It would really pay off for guest services if a combo CP/GL pass would be honored at the turnstile pass scanner at both parks without manual GR intervention)

I think this is how Cedar Fair is thinking about it, because you notice a Geuaga Lake pass is now by default valid at all the far-away Cedar Fair parks, and 'far-away' cedar fair parks get both CP and GL standard. The extra cost for the upgrades just to cover the anticipated higher expenses. (Of course in a for-profit society I can't ignore the "Perceived Value" argument either, which is also quite compelling)

Hey Coasterville, speaking of comp tickets. Kennywood was giving out a limited supply to there employees.

The upgrades are being used because of the close proximity of the two parks. Suppose the $69 Geauga Lake pass already included Cedar Point, and the $89 Cedar Point pass included Geauga Lake. Anyone who is smart and lives within resonable driving distance to the two parks, like the Greater Cleveland area, would buy their pass at Geauga Lake, saving themselves $20. To prevent such a loss of revenue, Cedar Fair probably had two options:

1.) Charge the same amount for a GL season pass and a CP season pass.
2.) The current situation with the upgrade/add-on passes so that the passes could be priced differently.

They probably chose the second option because they couldn't justify charging th same amount for both parks. The amount of attractions at CP is greater than at GL, and they are going for a more family friendly approach at GL.

I hope that isn't too confusing :)

It warms the cockles of my heart to see 'perceived value' being thrown around like it is. :)

I'm along the same lines of thinking as Coasterville Dave.

The number of people using KBF passes at CP is going to be low. The number using DP passes at GL will be low. The number using VF passes at WOF will be low. You get the idea.

With the CP/GL combo plenty of people will visit both parks regularly. When you have two parks that overlap markets, you have to charge something or you're giving away the gate at one of the two parks (hence my Six Flags comment in my original post) and while us enthusiasts often do overutilize season passes, the GP *usually* doesn't - But in this case for the people in that "golden area", it's going to be as plain as the nose on their face that they can score a "2 for 1" and you can bet they'd be all over it...

...and who's passes do you think they'd buy?

I don't think it's greed or even milking a few extra bucks, it's about protecting the profit opportunites that already exist.