Declining attendance at Cedar Point leads to admission price cuts

Maybe Cedar Point should make itself a multi-day destination by adding a ton of rides and giving people more than they can do in a day instead of replacing small/family attractions with big coasters, or at least replacing small/family attractions with new small/family attractions?

Meanwhile, a nearby park that already walks all over CP in family attractions, family coasters, state-of-the-art dark rides (frankly, I'd include TR:TR and IJ:ST in that count) and the like is polishing up their prize-winning money-maker AGAIN. Now that's impressive.

-'Playa

You forgot the waterpark.

Attractions are going to be replaced...that is the business. It happens at Disney much to the chagrin of diehard fanboys and girls. I don't necessarily have a problem with that. But as I outlined elsewhere if you look back over the past decade or more, with the exception of an ice show and Camp Snoopy, Cedar Fair has done little for the "family" crowd in the park itself.

Soak City added some family areas, Hotel Breakers added family suites...but what about the park itself?

I would not consider Power Tower, MaxAir, whatever they are doing next year family rides. Certainly, as impressive as MF and Dragster are they don't appeal to a large segment of the population.

"Cedar Fair wants people to come to Sandusky and stay a couple of days...preferrably in one of THEIR hotels. A second gate helps to promote that concept...particularly when the first gate really requires more than one day anyway".

And the problem with that is people simply cannot afford it. And the *only* way they'll do it is if you offer more than your currently offering. Disney works because of the diversity in what they offer for the price. I don't want to just ride rollercoasters, huge flatrides and trip on waterslides if I'm paying $1000 bucks for my family and I. I want dark rides, I want animals, I want family rides, I want otherworldly theming, and most of all, I want value. I don't want to feel like someone is just ranking in the bucks off me.

Cedar Fair is getting it. There lowering their prices until they offer more of what I just mentioned. Smart move. Hell, it was a smart move when Six Flags did it. They didn't give away the gate, they gave away cutomer service and competent operations. *** Edited 9/28/2005 8:33:45 PM UTC by DWeaver***

The hotel business for the past two years really hasn't been the problem. Castaway Bay and the onpoint resorts have been doing well. It sounds like it is more of a park attendance issue which doesn't necessarily mean a resort issue.

Again, you can't just say..."gee...combine the parks." It doesn't work that way.

You don't have to combine parks. That works for some parks, not for others. But you *do* have to offer as much as business sense will allow when you charge seperate gates. Why the heck would I shell out $200 bucks just to ride rollercoasters, and then another $200 if half my family doesn't ride them, and the only other alternative is waterparks? I'm sorry, I'd rather stay home and do my regional parks for that price.

What I'm saying is, offer more for *everyone*, where there isn't an additional charge. Paramount and Disney got that years ago. Time for the rest of the industry to play catch up. *** Edited 9/28/2005 8:44:19 PM UTC by DWeaver***

I agree and I think Soak City is worth the admission price for a day's entertainment for the whole family. New attractions have been marketed to everyone. The swim up bar for non-thrill seeking adults. (Well, different kinds of thrills.)

Kiddie slides and splash pads were added for the kids. Action river for the non-sliders.

The same cannot be said for the mother park and that is what I'm getting at.

Well the mother park in a sense is suffering a bit from it's own success, just my opinion.

They were the leaders in the coaster race. But that race is now over, so it's time to change focus a bit. I'm impressed that SFGadv and Holiday World were content with being also rans when it comes to "records" and instead focused on building entire new areas. I wonder how tall CP's next coaster is going to be? ;)

Just to keep the discussion moving, what family attractions would you add if it were your park?

An interactive darkride, maybe one ith two separate tracks to kill the excuse that darkrides don't offer capacity. Get a few flats. Zamperla and Larson have quite a few noteworthy rides. I'm sure a used whip wouldn't be too hard to find. A medium-sized wood coaster from GCII would be nice- doesn't have to be a Cyclone recreation. There are lots of great small steel coaster models on the market- how about a Eurofighter or a Vekoma Booster Bike? Cedar Point doesn't have a wild mouse of any kind- there are plenty of variations of the wild mouse that would be great for the park.

They don't need capacity anymore as far as I am concerned.

I will go with the interactive dark ride, would be pretty easy to use the Peanuts theme as PKI used Snoopy for theirs.

I have been saying they should build a florida caliber themed log ride.

It seems like they should combine a number of new rides into the same area, maybe using the space that wwl currently takes up. A small ride a year will not convince anyone to bring their families back.

CP's Kiddy Kingdom sports the same lil' beep-beep-beep-beep-beeping rides they had when I was younger than Da Midget is now.

Were they evil carnival rides in a previous life now doomed to some undead Karmic revenge?

Keel us, they beg. Keel us NOW. Put us out of our misery!

-CO

Plow under Kiddy Kingdom, and replace it with a kids area that doesn't scream 1969, maybe with a ride or two that the whole family can ride together---there's only so much standing around watching beep-beep-beep that even the most masochistic parent can do. Add a darkride (there used to be two when I was a lad) and maybe a walkthrough. (Remember the Fun House?) Make the next few attractions things that the *average* family can experience *together*.

I'll probably enjoy the Screamin' Swing, but I'm pretty sure my wife won't get on it, just like she won't get on maXair. Or Dragster. Or Wicked Twister. Or Millennium Force. That's every attraction added to the park in seven seasons (unless there is something else coming for '06), except the ice show which we do manage to see once a year.

She's not exactly a shrinking violet, either---Magnum is her favorite ride in the park, and Raptor is right up there. She has said that next season might be the one for MF, so there's hope. ;)

My seven year old may or may not ride any of these next season, even those she's tall enough for. And my five year old is a good year or two away from making the height of any of these except MF.

In comparison, there is precisely one attraction in all four WDW parks that my wife refuses to ride, Mission:Space. There was only one more that my daughter skipped due to height restrictions (RnRC). And only four more that we decided not to (or couldn't) take my son on (ToT, Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl, Space Mountain).

---

Why the heck would I shell out $200 bucks just to ride rollercoasters, and then another $200 if half my family doesn't ride them, and the only other alternative is waterparks?

---

Well, you wouldn't. You'd shell out another $100, or maybe a bit less, and get a second day of water park+amusement park entertainment for free. The 2-day-both-parks ticket is less expensive than buying a single day's admission to CP and SC, and is IMO a fantastic value.

*** Edited 9/29/2005 12:05:56 AM UTC by Brian Noble***

I know, I was speaking generally. And I agree with your point that regardless, CP hasn't built a ride that offers reason enough for my family and I to travel there in over 6 seasons. We've done the waterpark, we've done the coasters and they're great. But We've decided to visit PKI and Holiday World next year instead, because they feature attractions that I as an enthusiast love, as well as attractions that we can all do together.

We're park lovers, we're coaster lovers. But at the end of the day, believe it or not there are now *serveral* other parks that offer more bang for the buck than CP.

I wonder if this might be the beginning of the end for one of my least-favorite marketing gimmicks.

What does admission to Cedar Point *really* cost?

No, it doesn't cost $43. That's the gate price. In reality, it's closer to $30. Possibly less.

The whole "jack the price up and then discount the hell out of it" process has really gotten out of hand, and I was very happy to see Cedar Fair fail to play that game at Geauga Lake.

Does Kennywood really lose out on that many sales because they price their tickets at $29 instead of pricing their tickets at $60 and then offering a $31 discount?

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

There is a place for the Kiddy Kingdom rides. As a 2-3 year old my son loved them. But, if it were me (and noone is really asking my opinion) I'd do the following.

Tear out Kiddy Kingdom...which is aged...but save the rides. Take some of those rides and disperse them throughout the park. For instance...over by MF and Mantis, down by WWL and Snake River Falls, out by Mean Streak, etc. That way there is something for the little ones to do while waiting for their big brothers/sister who might be riding the bigger rides.

Then, in the existing Kiddy Kingdom you might have some space for a good dark ride the entire family could ride together...and maybe it ties in with the Snoopy theme. (I can see something like the Red Baron with a hanging ride vehicle ala Peter Pan at WDW).

This is just a start and with another cup of coffee I might even have bigger ideas.

I sick of all the CP bashing! If this were a SF park, you guys would be taking about how great it was that they were lowering prices, but since it's a CF park, you have to talk about how this sucks and that sucks.

Families don't go to CP, people go there to ride roller coasters!!!11

Not some stupid lame kiddie rides or dark rides - no one cares!!1!1

If you don't like it don't go! I'm sick of all the b!tching about CP! I think you guys just like to complain.

...

...

;) Just making a point. I hope the right people see that buzzers do dissect and analyze and (gasp!) even criticize the CF parks just like they do the SF parks.

And just to make it totally clear - winky face again ;)

I don't appreciate your brand of sarcasm, Gonch ;)

Maybe CP doesn't need capacity, but would capacity be such a bad thing? Besides, it depends on where the capacity is.

The park has enough thrilling coasters- if coasters are what the park needs, they should be smaller and less intimidating. Not every coaster has to leave its mark on the skyline. What the park needs is capacity with family rides... you know, the stuff that people can do together? Ride manufacturers are developing new flat rides on what seems to be a daily basis, yet CP's most modern flat rides probably date back to the 1970s.

Roller coasters are well and good but I'm beyond the point where all I want to ride are coasters all day. I guess the general public- the people that comprise most of Cedar Point's business- are beginning to feel the same way.

Cp sucks