Lakeside Gliders at Michigan's Adventure

I do the payment plan every year now. If you fail to make a payment they just invalidate the pass till you pay. Duh.

T-R, can you enlighten us as to these "bigger parks that have no parking charge at all?" I would like to visit them. But I've already been to Fantasyland.

I keep putting stuff on my credit card, but I don't have anything to show for it because I haven't paid it off yet. Man this sucks.

Once I pay it off, though, wow...is that gonna be a busy day.

Timber-Rider, the Cedar Fair Platinum Pass is a really good value. They charge you $30 a month for six months, which comes off your credit or Debt card automatically, so you have to plan accordingly. Not counting the $30 a month, all you really would have to pay for after that is gas and hotel, if necessary. You can start using it as soon as you make your first payment.

Even if you just go to a park once a month for the six months, you are only paying $30 each park for admission and parking. If you like, you can get a cheap hotel and stay a few days and REALLY get your moneys worth.

You need to think positively, and positive things will begin to happen to you.

The most important advice I can ever give someone is the sentence right before this one. I will repeat it because it is extremely important. You need to think positively, and positive things will happen to you.

I really hope things fall into place for you. Visiting parks is an expensive hobby. I only do about 3 or 4 visits a year, and a lot of them are to my home park, Kings Island. Sometimes I can do more and sometimes I can do less. This year I am planning seven. We'll see if I can make that happen.

I kind of quit eating fast food all the time. I have been eating cheaper meals for lunch, sometimes bringing them from home. That has saved me a lot of money that I can spend on trips. I am pretty lucky that my old Ford Explorer runs like a dream, so no worries there even.

I am getting the Platinum Pass in a few days and going to either KI or CP for a few days; I still haven't decided. I never got a Platinum Pass before, so I'm kind of excited about it. I got a pass to Dollywood last year. lol

I know how you feel, man. I've been there. Chin up. Life stops sucking as soon as you change your attitude. I can PM to you a few books that really helped me to fix my attitude if you reply here and let me know that you are open to it.

Timber-Rider said:

So, if they start charging $5.00 to park the car at your local grocery store, walmart, or your local shopping mall, are you going to be ok with it? ... If it's just a business, any business should be able to charge what they want for anything.

Depends on how much I like the grocery store, "walmart" or local shopping mall, and what kind of value I think I'm getting. Otherwise, I'll take my business elsewhere. If enough people take their business elsewhere, that grocery store, "walmart" or mall will quickly drop their $5 parking fee.

No business charges what they want for anything. Businesses -- and Cedar Fair is a very profitable business -- charge what they think their customers will pay for a product or service.

Based on what you've said, you no longer visit Michigan's Adventure as often as you used to. Fine. All good. Obviously, most of the people who visit the park are willing to pay the $10 fee to park their car.

I won't get involved in any of the other arguments that circle around here tirelessly in regard to MiA (Missing in Action?), and I do plan on taking my oldest son to the park either later this year, or next year, as I think it's a fine park for younger kids. I just wanted to let you know that your sentiments about the park are shared by not only myself (also a Michigander), but most of the people I know and have talked to about the park. So, regardless of anybody trying to make you feel like your opinion is wrong, it is not, and it is shared by many others... You may want to consider not beating that dead horse around here though, just a friendly suggestion... ;)

We visit with Platinum Passes, about a 2 1/2 hour, boring, 2 lane 55mph drive, behind trucks and traffic that is almost impossible to pass for long distances. We take a cooler loaded with drink and food so all that trip costs us is gas and patience. They don't get any extra money out of us.

The only thing my family occasionally buys at theme parks is elephant ears and on-ride photo. Both are rare.

Funny how people complain about hating MiA but they're still flocking towards it.

Did I make one complaint? No.

Was I talking about you? No.

I didn't want to turn this post into a rant Tekwardo, but I just want to make one more comment. My main thing with Cedar Fair and MA, is how much they have neglected this park, as compared to other it's other parks. Built it up nicely on the original purchase in 2000, and has done very little with it since. Thunderhawk, Funnel of Fear, and Grand Rapids, are the only major attractions they added in 13 years. Then they aquire the paramount parks, adn fill them with brand new major attractions and relocations, and continue to pump them up, while MA gets a new portable game or food stand, and admission and prices go up and up. With nothing new or exciting to account fo it.Canada's Wonderland got two hyper coasters, and Ma got another waterslide attraction that it didn't need, and bumper boats. The lakeside gliders, and construction by the corkscrew is the most improvment to the park in years. It just seems that, being a member of the Cedar Fair family for 13 years, they would do more with it. They could, but they choose not to, and that's sad.It seems like it is the bastard child of the chain, earns them a butload of cash, but they would rather not make it any better, for who knows why. If they made improvements like they have at other parks, MA could be a great park. Hopefully they will see eventually see the light.

....knowing it will fall on deaf ears, yet unable to resist temptation, slithernoggin goes in....

Timber-Rider said:

It seems like it is the bastard child of the chain, earns them a butload of cash, but they would rather not make it any better, for who knows why. If they made improvements like they have at other parks, MA could be a great park.

You answer your own question, my friend. MiA earns Cedar Fair a buttload of cash -- I believe it earns them the biggest buttload of cash in the chain in terms of the return on their investment (forgive my poor financial-ese, I went to art school)? -- and since it isn't "broke", there's no need to fix it.

God I hate that responce. They're making money, so they shouldn't do anything with it. Cedar Point, is ungodly packed, with thousands of people swarming to the park every year. Mayhe they should stop building Mega coasters, since people still go there in droves every year. maybe not build anything new there for many years to come, and add a bumper boat in the lake, wait another 4 years, and add a yo-yo..and people will still come. I wonder how many Cedar point fans would be happy with that. Let Cedar Point get neglected for the next 13 years. See what people say then.

Cedar Point fans would be furious, but yet Cedar Point and Michigan Adventure are completely different in terms of tradition and legacy and etc.

How has MiA been neglected? It's received the investment it needs to continue being a very profitable park. They are making money, why should Cedar Fair spend money when they don't have to?

You're trying to find equivalency between a hyper regional park -- MiA -- and one of the most-visited amusement parks in the country -- Cedar Point. It's like complaining you don't get the quality of service you get at Ritz-Carlton Hotels when you stay at a Fairfield Inn, because they're both owned by Marriott.

Timber-Rider said:

God I hate that responce...

Cedar Fair has a responsibility to it's unitholders to maximize their return on investment. For a plethora of reasons that you refuse to consider valid, spending 25 million on a new coaster at Cedar Point generates a better return on that investment than spending 10 million at Michigan's adventure. Michigan's adventure will continue to be on or near the bottom of the priority list until investing in that park proves to be a better financial move than the other parks.

And in case you feel the need to provide some banal anecdote about how it's always busy when you go, just remember: Cedar Fair has the numbers to justify future expansions. They know exactly what the ROI was on the rides they have put in since taking over. They have market research to show how many people would change their visiting habits with a new ride. They know how how much money customers spend in the park, and how likely a new ride is to affect spending. They know how much it costs to maintain, operate and repair each ride every year, and they have a budget that they have to meet every year with respect to expenses. The teams of people who compile this information and make decisions at Cedar Fair have been doing this day in and day out for 10,20, 30+ years. So now can you really say that you know what is best for Cedar Fair? How long have you worked in the industry? Where did you go to business school? Where is your supporting research and financial numbers? You have none of it. You have an opinion that somehow you know better than the people who make their living running parks.

Thankfully, Michigan's Adventure is left to the professionals who don't confuse ridiculous emotions like "neglect" with business.

Timber-Rider said:

They're making money, so they shouldn't do anything with it.

You're the one who can't get it through your head that if a park can maintain a ridiculous margin without serious capital expenditures, you don't change that. You compare it to Cedar Point like there is some kind of favorite child thing going on, like it's some kind of emotional decision on the part of the executives. As long as you live in that world, you're going to come off like a repetitive whiner.

Suck it up and accept that Michigan's Adventure is a glorified water park with a few roller coasters. It will never be more than that.

I can't believe how often people need to be reminded that there's nothing inherently altruistic about amusement parks. Like any business, they are designed to separate you from the contents of your wallet. The mere fact that they do so in a way that people find highly enjoyable doesn't change that.

"To provide the public with the latest developments in amusement technology, and to ensure that new rides are built regularly, solely for their enjoyment, regardless of the bottom line," is not something that's appeared in an amusement company's Articles of Incorporation, ever.

New attractions are built each year in order to maintain the number of people attending the park each year. If Cedar point didn't add a new big ride ever few years, they would start to lose business. It seems to me like this Michigan's Adventure amusement park does not need to keep building stuff to keep people coming to the park.

Seems to me like you want MA to be a big ride park, when it really is a little ride park.