Michigan's Adventure,... Ticket price increase.

Jeff said:

Don't forget Grand Rapids. That's a nice looking ride.

We expected to do that, given it was July. Weather was uncooperative...

Sparty said:

And yeah, I know they installed Thunderhawk in 2008, but come on. You and I both know that's a joke.

Well don't tell any of the million people who go to the park each year.

I would like to add my own .02 while elaborating on a couple points that Travis made in his recent post. The waterpark at MA has always been the big draw for this park or at least since it was built in the early 90s. This is the reason why the ride side of the park is nearly empty between the opening and closing times of the water park section. I have very little, in fact, no doubt that if MA carried out a survey on any given Saturday to ask whether a roller coaster, other ride, or water slide complex should be the next attraction, the slide complex would be the winner by a decent margin.

I will go a step further and hedge a bet that if MA was Geauga’d (i.e. ride side razed), the park would still have a good deal of business in the summer just because of the water park. The park’s primary customer base is West Michigan locals, church/work/school group events, and out-of-town vacationers who happened to already be in the area because of the beaches/lakes. MA is not so much the destination but rather a pleasant diversion from the other activities available in West MI. In contrast, CP is the destination for many people which is justified by the 4-5 hour drives some people make to drive all the way to Sandusky.

Travis’s other point that I found interesting is when he stated that he wouldn’t mind having a park like MA in his backyard. Local Michigan enthusiasts should never take for granted having a small-to-medium sized amusement park in their state as I’m sure folks from about 50% of the states in the U.S. that don’t have any parks at all (like AR, OK, etc) or only one small traditional park (like WV or KS) would love to have an exact clone of MA in their corner of the country.

At the end of the day, a new attraction would have to draw more visitors on a consistent basis than the years before to be justifiable at MA. With this park’s low growth market, taking the risk of adding an attraction and seeing no or very little increase in attendance/per capita income could be considered a business failure. The expense of building a new ride could have been avoided while still having virtually the same attendance/income in previous seasons which is the enviable situation that MA finds itself in.

Just for disclosure, I am a lifelong MI resident (lived in GR for 7 years, currently living in Lansing) and I didn’t feel bad at all for not visiting MA this past summer or more than once annually when I lived in GR despite only a 1 hour drive. It’s not hard to understand the appeal of a park with a smaller footprint and more family friendly attractions when compared to CP. I know that I’m not the target audience for MA and that’s perfectly fine and I'm sure MA wasn't missing my presence either.

MA is not so much the destination but rather a pleasant diversion from the other activities available in West MI. In contrast, CP is the destination for many people...

Exactly.

arw84 said:

Local Michigan enthusiasts should never take for granted having a small-to-medium sized amusement park in their state as I’m sure folks from about 50% of the states in the U.S. that don’t have any parks at all (like AR, OK, etc) or only one small traditional park (like WV or KS) would love to have an exact clone of MA in their corner of the country.

Oklahoma does have Frontier City and Arkansas has Magic Springs and Crystal Falls.

LostKause said:

Didn't the park just get a flying scooters ride last year?

I recall a TR post where he rattled off a number of things that had been added to Michigan's Adventure. I wish I could find it -- but the gist was that rides that aren't coasters, food stands, which aren't coasters, new games, which aren't coasters, a new gift shop, which isn't a coaster, and so on add up to the park doesn't ever get anything because Cedar Fair doesn't "like" the park.

When I read that Michigan's Adventure "shouldn't get ANYTHING?" or that Cedar Fair needs to throw the park "a bone," I just don't get it. It's not an accurate representation.

I live about an hour from Six Flags Great America. Aside from ACE's CoasterCon back in 2005, I only visit the park when I can get in for free (my job does an annual ticket trade with the park (I'm not supposed to name the show on personal social media, but it's a group of men who are blue)).

If Michigan's Adventure was an hour away from me, I'd go a couple of times a season and happily pay to get in. I like the park.

Never been to MA, but for that price, I'd be willing to try it out. From what I have seen, they have a nice collection of rides. Closest park to me is Camden Park as well. I'd give anything to have something like MA close to me. I have come to appreciate in recent years the joy of taking my son to Camden and enjoying rides and atmosphere together. I used to focus all of my attention on coasters, but have come to appreciate other rides that we can both share. I truly had fun on the Scrambler and the Whip. Just seeing his face light up is where I find my enjoyment now. He also loves Big Dipper, but wants daddy to hold on to him when we ride roller coasters.

We also rode a coaster at North Myrtle Beach similar to the old Wildcat at Cedar Point. He loved it, but always wants daddy to hang on to him. He also loves the DVD The Roller Coasters of Cedar Point. He knows every one of them and I get a good laugh every time he swears that he's been on every one of them because he's never been there. Gotta love his enthusiasm.

I think the reason most people on this board are so ok with MA's ticket prices, is because you may have been there once or twice in your lifetime. Some of you have probably never been there.

I used to go to the park every year, sometimes 3 or 4 times a year. But, since Cedar Fair took over, and raised prices so high. I might go there once, if at all. The park gets a majority of it's guests from the local market,and I am not the only one who thinks the park could do better.

Also it's not just MA's pricing that bugs me about Cedar Fair, it's how much the park is sidestepped when it comes to adding new attractions, in favor of continuing to improve Cedar Point. If any park does not need new attractions, it's Cedar Point, yet they add something new almost every year, and usually a multimillion dollar attraction. Look at the attractions added to the park last year, which included a whole midway revamp, while MA got a price increase, and a stupid meal plan.

I'm just saying attraction distribution should be even. Not that they should build huge attractions at MA. at least put in a new thrill ride, or even something for the family. In other words ride for ride...put in Gate Keeper at Cedar Point, and maybe add an enterprise to MA or a topspin.

I'm still wondering what happened to the Dive coaster the local press was talking about. Have yet to see it.

Do you mark it on your calendar to drop in quarterly and remind us of your complete disregard for the park's status as the most profitable in the chain?

Anyone opining that MiA is, or should be, getting a dive coaster is just proof that medical marijuana is highly effective...

I've concluded that Timber-Rider is actually Punxsutawney Phil. He crawls out of his hole in the winter. If he sees his shadow mid-timbers, it means MiA has no new additions, and there will be 6 more weeks until parks open.

Timber-Rider said:

The park gets a majority of its guests from the local market, and I am not the only one who thinks the park could do better.

And despite this handicap, the park continues to be not only profitable, but the most profitable in the chain....

Timber-Rider said:

I'm just saying attraction distribution should be even.

Cedar Fair's running a business. Not a kindergarten.

slithernoggin said: And despite this handicap, the park continues to be not only profitable, but the most profitable in the chain....

This "fact" gets tossed around quite a bit and while it may have been true at one point in time, the park with the highest margin changes frequently. It should come as no surprise that parks with a major new attraction usually take that title, at least for that season. This doesn't mean TR is right- he doesn't understand that ROI is king. It still makes more sense to invest $30 million on Fury at Carowinds than it does to shave $5 million off their project and investing that at Michigan.

This is always about choosing the investment most likely to return.

Even if it's not the most profitable park in the chain, it still a profitable park. I feel safe in assuming that Cedar Fair looks at the numbers and lays out its millions of dollars where it thinks will result in the most profits.

What frustrates me about TR and folks that think like him is their determination to think running a multi-park corporation is about being "fair" to all the parks and not about making as much profit as is reasonably profitable.

Put the "fair" back in Cedar Fair!

There's an interesting parallel though in the language that enthusiasts have used for years. You see people say that a park "received" something, as if it was a gift or something. Others imply that the manufacturers themselves are choosing to build rides in certain parks. It makes me wonder if the public at large is really that oblivious to the most basic premises of business. That would make me sad.

Timber-Rider said:

while MA got a price increase, and a stupid meal plan.

To be fair, All Cedar Fair parks got a meal plan.

So the only unique new thing MA got was a stupid price increase.

*rimshot*

Seriously? Four months later and we are discussing this again, just because Timber-Rider popped in again? lol

The park is doing fine. They charge what people are willing to pay. They offer what people are willing to pay for. There is not much else to say. This topic is so 2014.

LostKause said:
This topic is so 2004.

Fixed that for you.

Nah. Back in 2004 wasn't it always that one kid that bitched about SFA not getting anything?

Sometime after he stopped, T-R came in and remixed the earlier SFA work, applied it to MiA and became a star.

BatwingFanSFA...probably had more caps.