Holiday World Free Drink Fun Fact

There isn't exactly a lot to eat outside the park that you can get to either, so them not gouging you on their food pricing is nice as well.

A lot of other parks don't have the same opportunity to raise the gate price and include "free" drinks. Take Kennywood for instance. Their gate price is already $32 and $17 for the evening. Can they really add $3 more to that? People in this region already consider that too much money.

Do they ask people to pay to park to offset the price? And while I am at it, can we have a season pass please? If they only knew how much money I would spend there in a summer... :) Seriously though...

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Charles Nungester said:
It's got to do with getting rid of sticker shock ect.

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Craig the Coaster Freak said:
Chuck has a really good point. Getting rid of the sticker shock thing is huge...my whole mantra with Six Flags parks is get in, get out, get on with your life. When it comes to Cedar Fair, I simply avoid the food at all costs. When I'm at Holiday World I never want to leave: between the free drinks, Plymouth Rock Cafe, and the Voyage I have everything I need in one place!

All of the free stuff at Holiday World makes you happy, and happy people want to come back to your park, even if your gate price is a little higher.

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Yeah, we all know this is the angle. But given the idea that we now know people drink just 48oz on average - it goes back to being rational versus feeling fuzzy and warm.

I understand that, as a whole, people are stupid. Most don't stop to think about how little 'free' drink they're using and how much more they're paying in comparison to get it.

In general I feel HW's gate is MUCH too high for what they offer and as I've said plenty of times, over the past 8 years it's grown faster than just about any other park's gate price.

eightdotthree mentioned Kennywood's $32 gate. That also includes free parking. So if you add in 48oz of drink, I'm willing to bet KW is cheaper.

Even the big parks like the Cedar Flags parks. $40 to get in (same as HW) and $10 worth of drink to be even on average.

It's not really that great of a 'deal' to have drinks included - especially if you compare what these parks offer in quantity. (quality or preference is subjective so it's moot for this argument)

At what point does the 'free' drinks admission no longer become a deal at all and actually cost the same as admission and drinks at other parks, it's pretty much there. We're in the range of $10 either way of most other regional parks.

To me the real value is for the park - being able to tell people they get 'free' drinks generates a lot of interest and pulls the unthinking masses like flying critters to a bug zapper.

As a thinker to a fault, I just can't get past the idea that I enjoy the bigger parks as much (usually more) and in the long run am still paying the same price per person (give or take $5 or $10) in most cases.

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Lord Gonchar said:
eightdotthree mentioned Kennywood's $32 gate. That also includes free parking. So if you add in 48oz of drink, I'm willing to bet KW is cheaper.

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If you take a few extra seconds to go to www.visitkennywood.com you can get at least an instant $10 off that normal $32 admission to KW. They even changed the family 4-pack this year so that it's 4 individual tickets that can be used any time throughout the season. Those break down to $18.75 a ticket. A much better deal in my opinion.

On top of all that, KW food prices aren't ridiculous either. A small soft drink is $1.65 and a medium is $1.95. I was able to get a steak hoagie with peppers, onions and cheese and a medium drink for less than $6.

Holiday World has a great water park which is included. Again, whether or not you actually use it, its included into their price.

Lake Compounce is the same deal, the water park is included, but its $1 more than Kennywood and you pay for parking.

I think Holiday World is over priced as well, but what do I know.

If you want to get technical, Kennywood's $32 admission price DOES include Sandcastle.

The combo price for Sandcastle and Kennywood is $32 on Sandcastle's website. That just happens to be the full price admission of KW also.

I've never been to the park, so I don't know how the "free drinks" are set up? Do they have lines separate from food lines get soft drinks? If that's the case, I can see that as a good thing, even if they jack up the admission price slightly.

How frustrating is it to want just a cup of something to drink only to find you're in line behind someone ordering lunch for 12 people, the person who needs a detailed breakdown of what the cheeseburger platter includes, the person who whips out a credit card to pay for a hotdog, or your line has the slowest worker in the entire park.

If that can save me a half hour of line waiting (in a line I don't need to be in) over the course of a day, I wouldn't mind paying a few extra dollars for "soft drinks included with the admission price."

Super Loopy, thats news to me. On Sandcastle's website it says, "Kennywood/Sandcastle Same Day Combo Pass Can be purchased at either park, and valid at both parks in one day" but that is no where to be found on Kennywood's website.

I will take advantage of that next time. Too bad they are a drive apart.

Sandcastle charges parking and they have a season pass that get you into Kennywood in the evening for half price.

@RatherGoodBear, they have little refreshment stands that you walk in one way and out the other. Its nice.

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RatherGoodBear said:
How frustrating is it to want just a cup of something to drink only to find you're in line behind someone ordering lunch for 12 people, the person who needs a detailed breakdown of what the cheeseburger platter includes, the person who whips out a credit card to pay for a hotdog...

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Now imagine that same level of mentality trying to serve themselves. ;)

Nah, it's not bad. You can get caught up a little if there's a bunch of people at an Oasis spot, but for the most part it's painless.

Technically, it doesn't cost all that much for Holiday World to give out free drinks. The actual physical cost of a cup of soda is minuscule. Soft drink sales make up a bulk of amusement profits. "We're not making enough? Raise the price of soda!"

The real cost to Holiday World is opportunity cost. The opportunity to score 5 bucks a "pop" for soda. So, they lose out on revenue there, but they counter it with a slight raise to the ticket prices and a whole lot of goodwill that keeps the park packed day in and day out and keeps people traveling from all over to go to the middle of nowhere Indiana to ride coasters and enjoy a day at the park.

My guess, if you want to look at Gonch's analogy, is that he is measuring the opportunity cost. The actual, physical cost, per guest for serving free soda is probably in the neighborhood of 25 cents per person per day. That might even be on the high side.

The cost of being able to say "We have FREE unlimited soft drinks" is priceless.

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eightdotthree said:
@RatherGoodBear, they have little refreshment stands that you walk in one way and out the other. Its nice.

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In the "Pepsi Oasis" buildings mentioned above, they have just about every Pepsi product available in the USA that you can think of, and the lines move quickly through the building.

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Lord Gonchar said:

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RatherGoodBear said:
How frustrating is it to want just a cup of something to drink only to find you're in line behind someone ordering lunch for 12 people, the person who needs a detailed breakdown of what the cheeseburger platter includes, the person who whips out a credit card to pay for a hotdog...

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Now imagine that same level of mentality trying to serve themselves.

Nah, it's not bad. You can get caught up a little if there's a bunch of people at an Oasis spot, but for the most part it's painless.

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As long as there's no monetary exchange, 90% of the battle is won. :)

Yeah, but there's decision making, the process of getting a cup and filling it with ice and drink, and button pushing/machine operation skills involved...not to mention standard crowd flow protocol.

High potential for ugliness. :)

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eightdotthree said:
Super Loopy, thats news to me. On Sandcastle's website it says, "Kennywood/Sandcastle Same Day Combo Pass Can be purchased at either park, and valid at both parks in one day" but that is no where to be found on Kennywood's website.

I will take advantage of that next time. Too bad they are a drive apart.

Sandcastle charges parking and they have a season pass that get you into Kennywood in the evening for half price.

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Yes, you can go to KW's admission gates and buy the double pass, they just don't advertise it on their website since it's the same price as their regular admission. As far as the drive, it's between 5 and 10 minutes depending on traffic.

As for Sandcastle's parking, it's $5 and is valid for KW's pay lot the same day.

Convenience is worth money to me.

I think it is much more convenient to pay at the gate and get unlimited drinks inside. Even if I pay more than I regularly would, I think it's worth it.

If I'm at (let's see... think of a park that blatantly rips you off for Pepsi... so hard to come up with one... oh yeah,) Cedar Point, for example, I know that it's $3.79 plus tax for a 22oz Pepsi and $3.29 for a 16oz, I'll get the larger one simply because if I'm paying that much anyhow I may as well get more for my money. I may not want or need 22oz of any liquid. That's what's being offered to me, though.

Therefore, I wait until I'm super-thirsty and will probably spring for two 22-oz icy cold Diet Pepsis throughout the day for the grand total of 44oz.

At Holiday World if I'm feeling a bit parched, I can easily get 10 ounces of icy cold Diet Mountain Dew and be on my way. I may do that five times.

Aproximately the same amount both cash and liquid-wise. I'm much happier and more refreshed at Holiday World.

I know this is out of place and last minute, but this is a last minute trip.

I'm going to be going to Holiday World for the first time tomorrow, leaving at 6 AM to get there around opening. Anyone with experience know what to expect with crowds tomorrow? Also any good game plan? I'm only going with one other person (younger brother) and we are wanting to spend some of the day in the water park as weather is calling for 95 degrees and sunny. Any good tips?

Much appreciated.

bucknut, all I can tell you is they have free soft drinks.

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RatherGoodBear said:
bucknut, all I can tell you is they have free soft drinks.

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Don't forget the free parking!!! Oh, and free sunscreen!!!

...and free inner tubes!

Now, can anybody tell me what the most powerful word in advertising is?

--Dave Althoff, Jr.