Millennium Force Boarding Pass - Kinda Cheap?
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/BLOCKQUOTE>FONT face=Verdana size=2>Please, G-Money. If Millennium Force being down has upset you that much why dont you complain to them about how UNFAIR you only got a cheap little one pass, as you put it.
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I didn't put it that way. In fact i never even said it was unfair. And im not F'ing whining Jeff! My point is Cedar Point could have done better. enough said.
BTW, a broken cable is not uncontrollable when you know its fraying a week in advance of its breaking. The damage caused by a breaking cable taking longer to fix than replacing the cable in the first place is why MF is not operating for Millenium Mania. and whose fault is that? The park that operated the ride with the frayed cable.
*** This post was edited by G-Money on 9/7/2001. ***
They should not have to do something like this- but they do- and that is what makes Cedar Point such a special place.
They really do care very much about their customers, and always try so hard to give them what they want!
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RAPTOR-Kick the Sky!
When you run a multi-million dollar theme-park then you can make statements about what it takes to operate and maintain a multi-million dollar attraction.
Geesh. Be reasonable. I understand you're frustrated, but either get your money back or be happy with what you're getting.
Jacob
*** This post was edited by Jacob on 9/7/2001. ***
G-Money said:
Some people need to stop worshipping at the altar of Cedar Point and do a reality check.
*** This post was edited by G-Money on 9/6/2001. ***
finally someone who sees stuff the way i do. People can bash all other parks all they want, but when someone says something bad about Cedar Point everyone has a hissy fit on how u made fun of Cedar Point, and they try to defend the park, and act like if 1 person doesnt like it then the park is doomed. . I am not trying to start a war or anything, heck i like Cedar Point, but if this would have happened to a six flags park, u would blame the park, and complain of how maitenence was lacking and that was the cause.
(please do not take this seriously, do not start a war with me, because i am only trying to say what i have been feeling for a long time)
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welcome one and all, y'all come have a ball!
Things a bear-y fine, ridin' on the old knott's bear-y line!
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P>*** This post was edited by G-Money on 9/7/2001. ***/P>
*** This post was edited by G-Money on 9/7/2001. ***
Jacob said:
How do you know the cable was frayed? Are you ride maintenance? Did you do the morning checks last weekend?
http://www.guidetothepoint.com/thepoint/cpplace/thread.asp?ForumID=2&TopicID=6028
Guess I’ll toss in my 2 cents… I see this like going to a Broadway show and finding out that the lead role is being played by the understudy – you’ll still get a good show, but it could have been a lot better.
Is CP being cheap? Yes and No.
Yes: This is an upcharge event called MILLENIUM Mania. You could have got a lot more than one ride on MF during MM – so the one use pass is kind of cheap.
No: These are rather uncontrollable circumstances and CP is doing their best to make good with the exit pass and the extra rides open. If you don’t like it – you can get a refund. They could have done nothing… "MF is closed today, sorry…" SFWoA didn’t offer amends to anyone who went before X-Flight opened. (But those people didn’t pay extra to go to "X-Flight Mania"…)
On a side note, this board IS quite biased towards CP (not saying that is a bad thing, just stating fact). Go to RefreshingLook.com and I bet you’ll find a bunch of people bashing CP for this…
I honestly can't believe that this topic was even started, because the one who started it could have stayed home or, if he purchased pre-sale, could have got a refund. That's your choice. When I have complaints about that "other" park, I just stop going.
And consider this... there isn't a park in the world that is scrutinized or held under a microscope like Cedar Point is. Not one single park. Why do you suppose that is? I would have to guess it's because they set the standard, and people I've talked to throughout the industry clearly feel the same way.
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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
"From the global village... in the age of communication!"
Watch the grass grow!
*** This post was edited by goonsta on 9/7/2001. ***
Goonsta has it exactly right – not everyone who attends MM lives in northern Ohio… some of us have to travel. That fact is ignored by a lot of people (probably because most people on this board live in Ohio...) Plane flights, train tickets have to be bought in advance and most are non-refundable.
And Jeff, by saying this board is biased toward CP I didn’t mean you (or this site) are starting some conspiracy – most of the people here like CP. Its all about location – In Cleveland the Steelers suck, in Pittsburgh the Browns suck.
For those of you who have CP within a few hours driving range.You should be greatful that you recieved an upcharge attraction for free in it's place.You can get on MF at least once during the season.People who are coming from out of state don't have that oppertunity.These upcharges are popping up everywhere but, MF isn't.
I am so sure if people from out of state were coming to Coaster Celebration at Sfgadv and, Nitro was down for that day, Gadv would take twice if not, three times the beating CP has gotten over MF being down.Have we gotten so selfish that parks aren't allowed to have problems when it comes to an enthusiast based event??Cp is not being cheap in any way.They are giving people the oppertunity to try an upcharge for FREE.To throw a free boarding pass to MF in is going beyond making up for your Misfortune.
It is really sad how much we take for granted.To be an enthusiast today we are getting spoiled even by that other park and, we are taking it for granted.I'd be afraid to come here if the amusement industry went into another coaster building dry spell.Thank god it has grown into the big business it is today and that probably won't happen any time soon.
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~*Rickyswmn*~
from the mouth of my Enthusiast in training.. Mom, I Wuv Grade Abenture!
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Jay and Silent Bob have left the building ~Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
I want to know what kind of waiting time there will be at vertigo since everyone can ride for free, I see a ton of complaints coming from that line if all you get is 6 people at a time.
CP here is damned if they do and damned if they don't with these Boarding Pass, on one hand they have to make up for ride being down(not there fault but the event is named after Millennium Force)giving out passes some people not satisfied and next year you will have a bunch of unsatisfied guests in line when people start turning in there passes(granted there should not be many but everyone here seems totally against line jumping except when it comes to them).
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Army rangers lead the way
The event, I suspect, is not a big money maker for the park. At a reported 500 attendance per night, even if they charge parking, their fixed gate revenue is only $12,500 plus whatever they can extract from people inside the park. However as an ERT event, I don't see much resale going on outside of soft drinks.
Consider that with this money they have to pay:
+ 5 Ride Crews (I'd suspect with at least 4-6 people each)
+ Parking Toll Staff
+ Ticket Sellers (since tickets are sold at the event)
+ Admissions staff to take tickets and bother with re-entry stuff.
(Ticket Sales and Admissions staff become more of an issue if they open all 4 admission gates, I don't know if they do but....)
+ First Aid Room staff
+ Guest Relations staff
+ Park Security
+ Sweeperettes
+ Restroom Attendnats
+ staff for any food/game or gift joints they decide to run
+ Maintenance crews to inspect the rides, and be on hand for any rapid response repairs
+ Park Operations Office
+ Money Room
+ I'm sure I forgot some worker
If each staff member works 6 hours, and makes $6/hour that's 347 staff memebers they can have.
But staff is not the only consideration, there are utilities to be paid, marketing and advertising costs associated to the event. Then there are the soft costs, cost spent by staff in meeting planning the event.
Now add to that a special trained crew to run VertiGo, and some new logistics concerns.
Namely, VertiGo is outside Cedar Point, so now they have to run the Resort Admission Gate even if they weren't planning on it, if only for re-entry, second if Challenge Park is to be open to resort guests, they have to deal with being able to ID event goers to offer them there free rides. If Challenge Park is closed they have to still ID event goers to prevent party crashers since anybody could pay the $7 parking fee and drive around to the Gemini Parking Lot. (Easiest way to do that would be to give the Vertigo hosts a hand stamp light, if they have a hand stamp, they must have been in the park, and are event attendees) Another tactic would be to secure Challenge Park if it would normally be closed. Make the only entry by the Resort Gate. (But can they secure the walk between Challenge Park and the Resort Gate, I mean what if a Camper Village or Lighthouse Point guest wants to use the Beach)
Also they will need to have staff at the admission gastes passing out the MF "Ticket To Ride" vouchers, and may need to rework some fencing plans to admit folks back to Blue Streak. (And thus needing to secure the Calypso, Turnpike Cars and Quarterdeck Arcade.)
A whole lot goes into pulling off an event like that. A lot of time spent which means money. Add to that the triple crews working round the clock to repair MF, there are added costs.
So the money revenue money probably barely covers expenses of this goodwill event. And after the best laid plans are laid, the star ride breaks down.
CP having ethics coulnd't just put out the Moose to say "Sooory Ride's Closed, please enjoy our other attractins"
The simplest route they could have taken would be to call the event off and refund the money. But at this point staff had been scheduled in, and a lot of expense had already been encumbered in planning, preparing for and marketing the event. CP thus decided, as long as we're here, and you're here, and we're paying for it anyway, your's still welcome to come.
Don't think of it as a cheap consolation, think of it as a cancelled event, to which you are in fact entitled to claim a refund, no questions asked. However you are still invited to go to the party, which is going on with the best possible offering, given the circumstances.
The choice is yours, you can have your $22 back and call the deal off "No Harm, No Foul", or you can still attend the event aware that it is somewhat modified. If it makes you feel better, refer to it as Magnum Mania.
And lastly don't harrass CP about it, I'm sure that they aren't exactly happy campers at this time either. This whole affair will probably be logged in their collective memories as a big 'disaster'. In fact Kudos to CP for the quick recovery. I'm sure a lot of impromptu meetings were called and high test coffee and Tylenol consumed over this.
Especially be nice to the MF crew once the ride re-opens, I'd guess that they will be cursing these "Ticket To Ride" passes until they are all redeemed or expired.
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Roller coaster of Love ~ ooi ~ ooi ~ ooi
Right now I have to either rebook my flight by the end of today for next week or face a flight pricing discrepancy that will cost me the difference. Flights have to be booked with 7 days advance or they are much more expensive. The $200.00 it has cost me already is enough. I will have to keep calling to see if there is a 99% chance of it being open next week or I will rebook for 2 weeks from now and add PKI to my trip later tonight.
Moral of the story is: It could be worse. You could have been in my shoes. Consider yourselves lucky for being able to go to CP every year or more. I feel lucky to have IOA nearby. Things happen and most times people look for someone to blame. I think they have handled everything pretty well. They could have just closed it down for the rest of the weekend instead of taking it day by day. They are really trying to get it up as soon as possible.
Again, I am not blaming CP but it is very disappointing that this happened. We have never been to CP and had been planning this trip since June.
Jeff said:
Do you guys have any idea how disruptive exit passes are? They destroy the flow of things and cause people to practically get trampled coming up the exit. Nowhere was this more apparent to me than on the exit ramp for Nitro.
Thanks Jeff, I agree that adding Blue Streak (a really nice John Allen) and FREE (not discounted) VertiGO rides more than makes up for missing MF. CP went out of their way to please. Then they added free passes to board the tallest,fastest coaster in America with NO wait - saves about an hour in line. But you also pointed out the disruption of the flow of guests...SPECIFICALLY my problem with the implementation of FastPass/Fastlane at parks. CP took a major negative with MF being down, and turned it into a plus...they made lemonade!-----------------
rollergator - intent on improving the "guest experience" - coming soon to a park near you
Cp does not get even half the critisizm the "other" park gets here on this forum.
Other parks aren't the benchmark for operations, either. Certain other parks routinely run half of their attractions or run them at low capacity and still call the park "open" without any kind of compensation, discount or refund. Consider that before you complain.
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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
"From the global village... in the age of communication!"
Watch the grass grow!
I think it is time we all go get some ice cream. Anyone for some Coney Island Frozen Custard in Gurnee, IL?
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Yes, I want my Deja Vu and eat it too!
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