10 Things that would make Cedar Point better.
1) Always wished for electronic queue boards. Extend a marketing agreement with T-Mobile Hotspot or in exchange for cellular tower easements. Then there are no wires to run when wirelessly networked. CP could also capitalize on customer message boards, wireless services, patron traffic pattern tracking data, wireless networking, secure employee communications, and customer services such as credit card vending in lines where I never seem to have dollar bills.
2) Grow the convention side of the business. I was absolutely floored that convention space at the point cost less than what I paid for a hall at my wedding. At that rate they should be utilized 100% of the time just with weddings. Many companies in the midwest are attracted to paying 6-7 figures for shindigs in Annaheim. CP should be marketing to this business instead of showing boats and baskets. The hard part is hotel capacity, and the area is almost there. Now just build the damn convention center!
3) What is the deal with the Dragster cups? All day refills is an awesome idea, and CP should be commended. The issue is the cups are a real PIA. They suck to carry around, and are not even allowed on many rides. Also, they are a bit too much capacity. I rarely finish a refill before hitting the next ride so most of the time it gets dumped. The boot cups were almost perfect. The suggestion so this is not a strait b**ch item, take the snoopy kiddie cups, sell them for $10, and drop the $1 refill. Perfect size, not too much waste, but I am not about to pay a dollar to refill it.
4) Open up a midway across the island from about magnum to frontier trail. CP could even extend the frontier theme along this path with new shops and food stands increasing per capita spending.
5) Work with ride vendors before delivery of new rides to insure the restaint systems can accomodate a greater range of statures. No restraint system will be able to handle everyone, but it really appears that newer rides are trending toward a tigher margin of occupant variability. I find it hard to believe that a couple of good engineers could not come up with a safe, comfortable, and accomodating restraint system if the customer in this case the park demends it, since it is the park that has to turn guests away when the seatbelt it too tight. I hate to say it, but CP should know their demographics. Michigan is the fattest state in the US, with much of the midwest following. A highly regional park should expect better from their supplies as to not alienate their northern fatties.
6) Reevaluate cost models so they are in line with consumer expectations of value, not so they are in line with "industry benchmarks". When paying $2.50 for a pop I am not thinking this is a great deal since down the street at SFWoA I could be paying $3.00, or I guess this is about right since it costs about the same at California Adventure. No, I am thinking I am getting screwed, since I just paid $1.00 at the gas station off HW4. The same goes for games, "value meals", food, on ride photos, etc. Per capita spending has been carrying the park. Attendance is down. However, pull a Bill Gates. Go for volume, not for optimizing margins on an item basis. Customers get a sense of value, which translates in to repeat business, not the once every couple year family trip. The idea is to get money out of people's pockets without them thinking they are a captive customer. I do not know how many dragster cups I see walking around at ten bucks a crack. Be more innovative with pricing, increase the customer's percieved value, and still get every last dollar out of their pocket they came in with. How about the option to pay by the hour at arcades? You would get my business, but not at a dollar a play. -- money CP would not have gotten previously.
7) Keep Disaster Transport, but dump the building. The area around DT is still dead, it is clostrophobic, drab, uninviting. The space cannot be futher utilized for anything but storage. Nice attempt, but give up on the experiment. DT was a poorly implemented rip-off of Disney's Star Wars to begin with, and has since deteriated. Remove the structure, keep the coaster. DT is a nice ride, and will probably attact more riders and interest if it were visable. The main point is it would open up the view to the beach, one of CP's greatest under utilized assets. It could also be a place for other attractions, and more traffic.
8) Ashtrays. Start buying those trashcans with the ashtrays on the top. There are garbage cans everywhere, but ashtrays only at line entrances. Some people who go to the park smoke. Accept that you are not going to stop people from smoking if the park cannot even stop people smoking in line. But a whole lot of ashtrays may stop most people from tossing crap on the ground. It appears to work on the strip in vegas. Of course it may have the side effect of allowing sweaperettes more time to interact with patrons to make sure they are having a great time instead of huddled over picking up burnt bits of cotton.
9) Establish a night life. Middle of summer, Friday night, staying at a hotel with no reason to drive. 11pm, time to party, get smashed, stumble back to the room. But, Fridays is closed!!! 11pm is prime bar time, park has closed so there is nothing left to do, but I am still awake and the whole damn city is dead. Put-In-Bay is about as far away as Mars, and it really does not matter since the jet boat only runs till 1am. Drinks are high margin, CP has thousands of people near by in hotels, with no place to go and nothing to do outside dive bars and places too far to get to. Open a club, a classy bar, themed bar, offsite entertainment facility, late movie theater, retro drive-in, SOMETHING! Make the typical two days in the park overnight trip more than just two days in the park.
10) I had to unceremoniously borrow this one since the topic is "10 things" and I have only 9..:) Thanks, you know who you are....;) Consistancy. There needs to be greater consistancy between zones. I understand that CP is a big park, and cannot be run by one area manager, but each area manager needs to coordinated policies better. Does the patron know that they are in whatever Zone? I doubt it. I would expect that the price of food/drink at one stand is the same as the next, but it is not. I would expect that each worker would have the same level of policy training irrespective of where they work, but some are not sure of the official policy on cameras, shoes, umbrellas, etc. Like it was passed down from management by email or a memo, and not given the same respectful time in communicating with the front line. Training is continual process. Maybe informational memos regarding policies, procedures, trends, etc should be included with employee checks, or required visits to an employee website, or emails, or weekly one hour meetings. Directly communicate policy to those who have to live within it instead of this telephone party game. Just keep employees informed. Supplemental staff in foods oddly appear better trained than seasonals. The only way I can account for this is maybe the information is fresher? I personally have seen two types of employees that are concerning. The "I am too tired to care", and the "this is MY park" personalities. The first type the best a team leader can do is frequenly remind employees what is expected of them and their responsibilities. If have seen an operator give a spiel that included how tired they are and how much the job sucks just before ripping on guests. The second problem type is just a bit overzeleous. Enthusiasm is great, but it should be channeled, and not a means to personally dictate policy as seen fit. I was absolutely dismayed when my friends son got a wrist band for height from park ops, had been on rides all day, and while exiting a ride getting an earfull from an offduty worker who believed his shoes were stuffed because he walked funny. No, not really, he walked funny because of birth defects, and the blocky shoes he was wearing was required by his pediatrist. This was good enough for park ops, but not for a single ride op? Employee's jobs are to enforce policy, not make it up. There is no room for judgement calls when public is concerned. Policy needs to be better communicated, and any question of that policy is not a matter of gray area guesswork, but needs to be communicated back up the chain of command.
Now, I know some people will take my suggestions as ensightment to defend CP at all cost, but they are that -- suggestions. Not the straight up complaints I have seen too much of, but suggestions of how to make the whole place better. Sometimes an institution needs constructive criticism, but I also propose means to mitigate any shortcomings. It is a testiment to the quility park that CP is that I had to stuggle to come up with only 10 suggested improvements when I could have noted a hundred examples that set CP apart from anyother park out there.
Take care....
-j
I never said that CP did not have a Huss ride. But again, even in your own post you restated my point: CP has a Huss ride...
Jmen:
Quite the contrary, you have brought up some excellent points, my strongest agreement goes to the electronic queue boards, how many miles of walking would that save? Ex: you walk almost all the way to Mean Streaks entrance, or across the tracks just to find out that it's closed...I wish I'd known that back by Dragster...
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"What time does the 10 pm laser show start?"
It would be nice to have shuttle service of some sort from the resorts off the point.
Troika, Witches Wheel, and Ocean Motion are all Huss rides, so thats 3 that are in the park.
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Arms down.....Arms down.....Arms down.......Arms down.....Arms down....Arms down...(you think they would get it the first time?!)
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It's like a new pair of underwear; at first it's constrictive... but after a while it becomes a part of you. -Garth Algar
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