Did anyone else try this at Cedar Point in 2013?

Did anyone try the plinko game that Cedar Point came up with, where you try to win front of the line access for Gatekeeper? I think it cost $5.00, and you only got one shot to win? What a joke, I watched people play this for a while, and not one person won. The dude operating the game had a huge fist full of cash. The only other prizes were a free play on another arcade game.

Does anyone know how this worked? I mean what if you won front of the line access and were with 4 friends or family members? Would they have to play too? But, as a game, it's genius for raking huge amounts of cash, and from what I saw, made tons of it.
The park certainly would not want me operating their game, I would create a straight shot to the win line.

Tried it. Wife won on the very first chip.

You got a pass good for two people to go right to the front of line.

On the second chip she got a buy one get one for any $2 main midway game - which my son used to win this Gatekeeper plush.

So for a total of $7 we got FOL access for two and a medium-sized GateKeeper plush toy. Seems pretty sweet to me.

Good for you. I'm glad that you won. I watched at least 50 people play, and not one of them won front of the line access. And leave it to Cedar fair to make a prize. "Buy one get one". Why not two free when you are already playing to win a prize. Seems pretty sad to have to pay to get a prize, on a game that you are paying for. What's next? Play skeeball and win, and then pay for you prize too?

But, at least the 2 for 1 win for front of the line access isn't bad. Though a huge majority of people just blew extra cash, that they probably would not have spent, if the game was not created. Then of course, you don't have to use the buy one get one game coupon if you don't want to.

I only saw people getting one chip per play...not two.

Shenanigans!

[\not Shenanigans]

Your negativity is astounding.

My guess is that everything in your life sucks for you because you expect everything in life to suck.

You somehow turned winning prizes into a negative thing.

All you have to do is read my reply and then yours back-to-back to understand how one's outlook and approach to things leads to different outcomes, opportunities and scenarios.

You look at the game and see scam. We looked at the game as opportunity. We took a chance and won. You did nothing.

Even if you had done something, then you would have bitched about the BOGO game ticket and threw it away. We took it and turned it into a further win scenario.

End result for us - we had a great time, walked away happy with FOL passes and cool souvenirs and would reccomend the game to everyone.

End result for you - you see the world as a scam, get nothing and wonder why everything around you continues to suck.

You're a sadsack of hilarious proportions.

Not I don't see a scam. I see a game that has an obvious result, You either win or you get a parting prize. But, I have NEVER seen any other arcade game where the parting prize was a buy one get one free. What kind of prize is that? Why not just give the free games?

Wouldn't it have been better if you would have won that extra prize without having to pay the extra $2.00? I certainly would have felt better for you if you did. And, if I was in park management, I would insist that your parting prize was free. That's how most games work.

You always seem to think I am thinking about myself. But, I am not. Notice how I said in my post that I would create a straight shot to the win line. That was so that everyone that plays wins, if not for the front of the line access, at least 2 free games, not something they would have to pay extra for.
It's not a scam, it's just not typical wins of a midway style game.

If you were paying $100 to win a car, would you want a parting prize of paying another $50.00 to win something else? With a chance of not winning anything at all? Or would you want a free microwave?
Think about that for a minute. If you chose the microwave, or the $50.00 either way you lose. You just paid $100.00 for a $40.00 microwave, and the extra $50.00 chance...the prize is a $40.00 microwave, which you now paid $150.00 for.
One more edit I left out. If you took the extra $50.00 chance and did not win on that chance, you just paid $150.00 and got nothing. How are you going to feel then? I know the prizes are more expensive, and it's bigger money. But it's fairly the same. And, a huge majority of people will not be as lucky to win what you did Gonch. Most will just be out $7.00.
They are also banking of hooking you into spending more money on that arcade game should you lose again. It's all planned with win/loss predictions, and always in the parks favor.

Business. Timber Rider doesn't get it.

Wow, it's really rather simple. CP has a game, with two possible prizes. People determine if the reward of one of the prizes is enough to part with a small amount of cash. It is the same decision made at each of the games all day, and I hate to break it to you, all games of skill are designed to make the park money.

We only had our kids play when the center winning spot was a skip the line 4 pack, with a single skip the line two spots away on either side. I think we spent $40-$50 total the entire season and walked away with five 4 packs, and 6 single skip the lines, totaling 26 skip the line tickets.

We also won 2 or 3 haunted house 4 packs of skippies, plus a couple of singles.

Best game in the park!

When I play any kind of game, I enjoy the game, and if winning a prize is the outcome, it's a added bonus. Any time I play skeeball, anywhere, I always end up giving all my tickets, usually handfuls and handfuls, to a kid. Sometimes that is a kid I know and came with, and sometimes it is just whatever kid happens to be playing near me who looks excited to be winning tickets.

In other words, I am not playing any game to win the prize. I am playing for the fun of playing.

Games are "rigged," for lack of a better word, to allow the "house" the advantage. That's just the price of playing a game.

I didn't play the Plinko game when I was at CP last October.

Exactly. It's like Vegas. The house never really looses. But people play regardless.

Timber-Rider said:

What kind of prize is that?

Better than most games like a ball toss where mostly you win nothing.

Remember, guys. This is from someone who claims the casino cheated him out of a million dollars....

Timber-Rider said:

.... it's genius for raking huge amounts of cash, and from what I saw, made tons of it.

Has it heretofore escaped you that for-profit companies want to make lots of money?

Lord Gonchar said:

You're a sadsack of hilarious proportions.

Well that escalated rather quickly.

Timber-Rider said:

Wouldn't it have been better if you would have won that extra prize without having to pay the extra $2.00?

It would be better if they just gave me everything I wanted, when I wanted it and asked nothing in return. But that's not realistic.

It would have been a lot worse if they demanded I give them my life savings and kicked me in the nuts in return.

In reality, most things in life fall somewhere between the two. In this case, we were quite happy with the value proposition.

And more specific to the situation, that prize required two wins. We were smart about how we used it. We took our ticket from the Plinko game to a game where multiple wins increased the prize received. If you're going to have to play twice (as is the case with a BOGO), you might as well make it count.

Again, find the positive and make stuff happen and it will. Find the negative and expect the worst to happen...and it will.

blasterboy6500 said:

Well that escalated rather quickly.

So you're not familiar with Timber-Rider's body of work?

Lord Gonchar said:

You're a sadsack of hilarious proportions.

Lord Gonchar ladies and gentlemen, once again eliminating my need to add to a given conversation since 2001.

Lord Gonchar said:

It would have been a lot worse if they demanded I give them my life savings and kicked me in the nuts in return.

In hindsight, this is why the KPJB Savings & Loan failed. It seemed like such a good business plan at the time...

If adding Plinko games, 3-point shootout courts, FastLane, expensive food, parking fees, and any other "nickel-and-dime" schemes means that Kings Island builds Banshee and Cedar Point builds GateKeeper, then I'll take it.

But obviously they should have built Banshee at Michigan's Adventure, because that would be more fair.