Fast Lane Plus coming to Cedar Point

^ i don't know what they were thinking last year when the lowest price was $30!

Should single mothers and their children, or "broke" college kids be priced out of a one-day trip to the closest theme park? I say nay, even thought it is getting to be that way.

I say yes. I've said it before, if you can't afford to go to an amusement park, even at $100 for a day, then it's very unlikely you're worried or focused on going. Unless you're an enthusiast, obviously. Single parent families, families struggling financiall, 'broke' college kids? I highly doubt they have Six Flags or Cedar Point on their list of priorities. I'm not poor. I'd like to have a beach front house and an expensive convertable to drive around in. Do I get upset when I see someone drive by in a nicer car or see someone living in a nicer house? No. I'm not privledged to that point.

When I was a 'broke young college aged kid', my biggest issue wasn't that I couldn't afford to go to an amusement park, or even when I went once or twice a year, that I couldn't afford pay to cut. My issues were can I afford gas and car payment and rent and insurance.

I had issues personally because I was stuck several hours away from the nearest theme park, but I worked hard to get out of that situation. (It wasn't just my proximity to parks, but anything of convenience)

Using fast lane is like ped's in baseball except that it's not illegal.

No, it isn't. Fastlane isn't immoral. It isn't cheating. It's called getting what you pay for. Is being able to afford a Ferrari like cheating, but not illegal, just because you can't or won't pay for a Ferrari?

They don't give a rats ass if their guests show up or not.

You continue to show you have no idea how to run a business in a capitalist society.

Part of the satisfaction of theme parks is working through the park efficiently and earning your short lines.

Not for me. Part of my satisfaction is riding without waiting anytime I want.

Timber-Rider said:

The fact that they have removed the ride from regular fastlane, just is more proof that they care more about profit that guest happiness.

See, a rational response would be to see the polar opposite: CP is charging more for rides in highest demand (or perhaps those where FL has the most impact on non-FL guests) so as to reduce demand, thereby reducing the impact on non-FL guests.

Of course, you've never been very rational, have you? :-)

Yep. NTG at SFoT was platinum only the year it opened and you could count on one hand the number of people who cut during a 2 hour wait. If it had been regular fast pass and every 10th guest was a FP guest like on Titan or S:ToP, you can bet there would have been a lot more unhappy guests.

^Which is why the "super-premium experiences" tend to be quite expensive. If you want to ride the big, brand-new ride without a wait, the park does everyone a service by putting that on ONLY the highest-ticket upgrades...

Personally, I think that is HOW you make FL/FP/Q-bots into win-win scenarios.

I am not as mad about people cutting in line with fast lane, as much as they seem to be double dipping the pool for more money. Fastlane alone should be enough of an incentive for the park to attract more guest.

It would be interesting to know exactly how many of these fastlane passes are sold every year. I would bet that it is a small percentage of customers compared to the millions who visit every year.

I also think the idea that people should be able to pay more to do whatever they want just because they have the money, is the reason a lot of people in this country are getting shut out from doing a lot of things over those who have more green.

One of the good things about going to a theme park, was feeling that everyone was there for the same reason, to have a good time and feel an overwhelming sense of acceptance, rich, poor whatever. The things that they used to say about Coney Island in its hey day.

Now, it just milk as much money as we can, and those who don't have the money can go and sit in the back of the bus. Certainly not park their poor cars near the park entrance, because only the people who can afford to park there are allowed, even if the preferred lot is ****in empty!

It's just sad.

I think a lot of the problems with this country economically are caused by people underpaying for the services they receive and thinking they're entitled to participate in everything.

Personally, I think that Cedar Point could jack up their admission to $75 a day and I'd consider it acceptable value. I've paid more for Disney, but Cedar Point has more for me to do. Would that price out a segment of the market? I'm certain it would, but I'm okay with that. To their credit, many amusement parks offer the low-end pricing so more people still have stuff to do, but for those of us who have the cash to spend, they've given us the option of paying to skip out on lines and such. They just chose the a la carte approach instead of jacking up the gate to its actual worth. It's just like premium class seating on an airline or suites at a hotel. You don't have to pay full fare or full price, but you aren't going to reap the same benefits as those who do.

Honestly, it annoyed me to have dropped all the money on a platinum pass last year only to drop $60 on two separate occasions for Fastlane as I'd rather have just paid more up front for the pass, but then I went to Carowinds and walked on everything, so in the end, Cedar Fair took a noble approach by only charging me for the benefit of no lines when the nature of the crowds worked against me.

I know it's an adjustment because we've been led to believe that services cost much less than they actually do (see the airline industry for a prime example), but all I'm saying is that claiming you're entitled to stay at a Hilton for the cost of staying at a Motel 6 doesn't fly.

Timber-Rider said:
I also think the idea that people should be able to pay more to do whatever they want just because they have the money, is the reason a lot of people in this country are getting shut out from doing a lot of things over those who have more green.

Please. I'm so tired of this made up class warfare nonsense. Don't be so dramatic. Who isn't getting to ride something? You make it sound like the park is filled with uppity rich people looking down at poor people. Have you seen Northern Ohio and Southern Michigan? Not exactly a region of financial success and plenty.

The last reason I go to a theme park is to feel accepted. Really?

What do you mean, really? Theme park visits give you status. In fact, this one time, I even busted out my ACE card...

^Man, I wish I had one of those.

sirloindude said:

In fact, this one time, I even busted out my ACE card...

Oh, just say it.

...and you demanded respect! Like a boss.

I didn't have to demand it. You could see it in their eyes. It was like a drug bust.

Shoot, I'm pretty sure one guy nearly sprinted himself.

Timber-Rider said:

I am not as mad about people cutting in line with fast lane, as much as they seem to be double dipping the pool for more money.

Your level of business ignorance never ceases to amaze. I mean, I almost wonder if you're some next-level troll or something, because, well, damn...

Regardless, if you want to talk about this Country's problems, how about we start with people who constantly whine that they're entitled to everything?

Not to defend the "whiners" or anything, but I think there's certainly an adjustment taking place in this country that some people don't like. Almost everything is getting more expensive, but wages for the middle class are largely staying the same or shrinking. Therefore you have a lot of people who are finding out they can't afford the things they used to be able to. I suppose that's just one of those "facts of life" kind of things, but at the same time, I can't fault people for being upset over it.

But that's not the case here. Now we complain because even though we can still afford to go, the park offers another layer to the experience that we don't want to pay for. That isn't new, just newer to the industry.

But it is at the cost of the regular ticket holders. It used to be you could get a 100 level (I have no idea what the units are. Utils?) experience for the cost of a regular ticket. Now you can get a 150 level experience for a premium or a 90 level experience for a regular ticket. The value for the non-premium customer has gone down.

It is obviously fair and obviously capitalism at work, but it is also an example of corporations targeting the upper end of the market and basically giving a tiny finger to the lower end of the market, a trend happening in many sectors (Along with Walmart-ification to appeal to the lower end).

ApolloAndy said:

The value for the non-premium customer has gone down.

Only in a vacuum. You have to consider attraction additions/subtractions versus gate/season pass price as well.

Did the gate increase at CP for 2013 with the addition of that shiny $25 million coaster?

I also reject that notion because in practice, once they got the mix right and figured out how to operate, the impact on Joe Regular Price is negligible, if any. Like I said, the idea that there are thousands of people every day taking advantage of this at great cost to the little people is an exaggeration.

I agree that it's mostly negligible, so much so that the average guest probably will never notice. But I don't think it's accurate to say it's entirely negligible. On higher capacity rides (or on days with few FL users) I suspect the impact is probably not more than an additional train wait per ride, if even that. But if lots of FL users descend on a ride at once, or the ride is lower capacity, the impact is enough that I suspect at least some casual park goers notice it. Whether or not they care enough to not return because of it is what really matters though, and given the fact that reported attendance trends have remained pretty steady, I'd say that's not a big concern.