Declining attendance at Cedar Point leads to admission price cuts
A family trip to the local amusement park is something that not everyone has the money for. Amusement parks are entertainment and not every family budget has room for that kind of entertainment. All I'm saying is that families that can afford to budget $400 for "family day" at an amusement park can probably budget $420 because of the additional cost of gas.
Gas prices are affecting my discretionary income as we speak and my income is probably better than the average guest to Cedar Point.
I think gas is a reason for the decline but there are multiple reasons and I don't think it is the most critical issue.
If I lived halfway between CP and PKI today I'd likely go to PKI because it has more for my family. If I was 20 years old and had no children I'd likely go to Cedar Point.
And I'm telling them, not as an enthusiast ( I sometimes do side trips without the family), but as a dad, boyfriend, brother, uncle and friend, that people are jaded by huge rollercoasters, because now you can ride those in almost any large metro area. Cedar Point as a large "coaster" destination isn't that special anymore. It's still a great park, but "variety" truly has become the spice of life.
rollergator said:
P.S. Just curious: My nearest parks are IoA/WA at just about 100 miles...do most people live THAT much closer...for me to go to the park, even in my "fuel-sipper" car, it's a minimum of 20 bucks in gas.
We currently live right around 24 miles from KW. The Nissan gets approximately 30mpg (give or take).
It takes 2 gallons of gas (at worst) to get there and home. At $3 a gallon it costs us six dollars.
Six bucks is nothing.
Previously we lived in Allentown. It was 4.9 miles from our driveway to Dorney. The Nissan we had then had even better gas mileage than out current one. We could get to Dorney and back on fumes.
Before that we lived in Jax. We had the green Nissan then. WDW was about 150 miles. Honestly, that wasn't even 5 gallons of gas in the old Sentra. The thing held 13 gallons. We could fill 'er up - do the trip and make it to work the rest of the week easily.
Before that we didn't do parks all hardcore.
I don't even include gas in the budgeting when I plan trips. I figure park entry, park food/extras and hotels - then add a little more to cover the rest.
But, I think they will be doing themselves a disservice by blaming their woes on the weather, gas and admission prices alone.
It is telling that "coaster enthusiasts" would be saying things like, "Fewer coasters, better kids attraction, "free" waterpark, less driving to get there from the closest major markets" in regards to comparing PKI over Cedar Point.
DWeaver said:
We may not run them. But you better believe they care what we think, and what it will take to get us back through their front gates!
The well-run businesses in this world DO understand customer service and satisfaction...and they get REPEAT business....repeatedly. And while there's lots of "enthusiast-speak" here, there's also an ENORMOUS amount of solid advice (read: constructive criticism) that can be exceptionally useful to those who plan of being profitable in the next few years in the amusement industry.
It may be CALLED "Coasterbuzz", but really, every facet of the industry has its day in the limelight... ;)
Charles Nungester said:
Thats it, Im stealing the Nissan
:)
It's rated at 24 city/31 Hwy - we've estimated right around 30, but admittedly do mostly highway driving.
just one of the many reasons none of us run an amusement park.
Remember the Professor's Motto: Sometimes Wrong, but Never in Doubt.
-brian, who kids because he cares.
Besides an obvious business background, what is the qualities needed to get into the amusement part of the industry? This kind of stuff would be interesting...to a few of us geeks! :-)
Brian Noble said:
Family of four, attending a Michigan football game. Tickets: $49 per person (and that's for weak opponents like Eastern Michigan. Notre Dame was $59). Parking: $30 at one of any number of locations close to the stadium. Food: figure one dog and one soda per person, plus maybe some kettle corn or a lemon chill or two, that's another $40. Total: $266. Half-day of entertainment.Watching Troy Smith and Ted Ginn run all over the michigan defense: priceless *** Edited 9/30/2005 1:44:59 AM UTC by TOPTHRILLDUFF***
As for $10 extra (I forget who it was that made the assumptionto figure gas as $1 higher) you're forgeting something - most people don't whip out their calculator to figure out how much extra they're spending. They figure out how much they're spending. So in your example, 10 gallons round trip at my current local minimum of $2.77/gallon, is still $27.79 (don't forget that 9/10th cent tax). That's nearly $30! Between that, parking, and tolls it's like adding a whole extra person to the family.
Edit: Forgot about tolls *** Edited 9/30/2005 3:24:04 AM UTC by dannerman***
A rational model of the situation is that with gas at $1.79, the trip for a family of four living 100 miles to CP costs about $250 or so. With gas at $2.79, it now costs $260 or so, assuming all other things are equal. The question is: is the difference between those two costs enough to cause a measureable number of families to decide not to go? A related question (which still matters to the park): how many families will still go, but now will pack a lunch rather than buy lunch in the park?
Of course, issues surrounding fuel costs are not always rational. Because the radio tells us every morning how much gas costs, and how terrible it is, people tend to over-estimate the fraction of a total trip's costs that fuel represents. Of course, they also *under*-estimate the other costs involved in driving, namely depreciation on the vehicle and increased maintenance costs, because those costs are not realized until well after the trip, while fuel costs are realized during it.
That said, when my wife asked me whether we should take our planned trip to CP for my daughter's birthday---which was smack-dab in the middle of the Katrina gas price spike---I did exactly this calculation, because we happen to be a family of four that lives almost exactly 100 miles from the park. Once she saw the true marginal cost, which was $10, she agreed that it was an easy decision to just go anyway.
Edited to add: between us, my wife and I have 49 years of formal education. So I suppose it is fair to say that we are not representative of the population at large who may or may not compute marginal costs when faced with spiking gas prices. ;) *** Edited 9/30/2005 12:59:23 PM UTC by Brian Noble***
The Beacon Journal:
The Sandusky-based theme park company put the idea of reducing prices on the table after reviewing its own market studies and in-park surveys, which show visitors' median income has gone up the last few years."That sort of indicates maybe we are excluding a certain segment, the lower income population, from the park. And that definitely is pricing," said Kinzel. "When our surveys tell us something that clear, we can't ignore it."
They are basing their process on data collected from the park that the average income of a family attending the park is pretty large.
The Beacon Journal:
Kinzel said the 2006 pricing structure, with any changes, would be announced by the new year. He would not say how much the price might be reduced, but he said the reduction could come in the form of different pricing structures, including special packages for families.
A package for a family is a nice idea, but that still doesn't address the fact that there isn't much to do for young kids.
Someone else said it before: The almost exact opposite is true at Disney World. There is very little there that the entire family cannot do together. And, as a father I get more joy out of participating with my son than I ever did riding coasters myself. I never expected to have a good time in Fantasyland at WDW but now it is a blast and I can't wait to go back. (I can hardly believe it myself that I just said that.)
Ever.
Our first trip to Disneyland with my then-three-year-old son? We rode it at least once each day we were there, and we were there six days. It'll be a family favorite until my kids are pre-teens and "too cool" to ride "kiddy rides".
dannerman said:
Between that, parking, and tolls it's like adding a whole extra person to the family.
....and adding an extra person to the family is something you could do at home, without using any gas at all! ;)
SOMEONE was gonna pick up on that, might as well be me, since I'm the one you expect it from... :)
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