$15 to get a VIP seat for fireworks?

TwistedWicker77 said:

But throwing in a lawn chair and charging $15 for a close spot in an area I used to sit at for free is ridiculous. Not to mention, the display is not any different, better, or longer. But, apparently to a lot of people, $15 is worth it to them, so it is a good business decision. I'm just saying, even these day trips keep getting more expensive.

I'm just willing to agree to disagree I guess.

It's perfectly fine and dandy to think it's ridiculous to you. It's also ridiculous to make a general statement like "that is ridiculous"; because apparently it's not to a whole lot of people. But you did clarify that. It's a good business decision plain and simple. For me personally, I see the value. We would get a chair, food, and a great unobstructed view for my little kiddos.

Disney offers a better view of the Fireworks (currently the "Wishes" show) as one of their Fast-Pass options, and those passes are long gone 3 months before your plane takes off. Apparently people are willing to pay for it in one way or another.

People love their fireworks, but more than that, they want their kids to be able to have the best experience possible.

We paid $49 each once for the Sparkling Dessert Party at Epcot, and it was worth every penny. Not just because we got liquored up, but because you could watch Illuminations without some stinky tourist pushing up against the fence. Hooray!

Captain Hawkeye said:

If it is profitable, CP will continue abandoning Pay One Price and shifting to a'la carte upcharges.

Cedar Point isn't "abandoning" pay one price. POP, in effect, makes every guest through the gates pay to ride all the rides, even if the only thing they ride is a park bench on the midway. It makes money. Why would they abandon it?

Of course, Cedar Point is going to continue adding upcharge events. They're popular and they make money.Why would they abandon something guests like?

Customers are voting with their $$$. They're saying, "Hey, Cedar Point, that [insert upcharge event] sounds great! Here's my money!"

Technically, when you have to pay more than once, it is not POP. Not saying it's evil, just that it is not the POP model.

Miss_Maverick07 said:

The whole time the security guards stood there blocking our view ........... The guard's head was in the way the whole time. Goodbye, beach section by WT :(

They blocked your view of fireworks? How?

^ the guy at the gate stood there with his head blocking the view. the guy who was checking tickets for VIP people. I understand he was not allowed to sit, as much as he probably wanted to. we couldn't move back because all the spots, literally, were all taken on the beach. It was packed, so we stayed. next time, we're sitting back by Breakers. At least you are still allowed to walk that beach section any other night and during the day on july 4th. :) Oops I said too much already

Captain Hawkeye said:

Technically, when you have to pay more than once, it is not POP.

Technically... when you buy admission to an amusement park, POP is what they say it is. It includes what they say it includes, not what you or I think should be included.

Since the VIP firework seating was on the beach, outside of the park, it would not have been included in the POP admission to the park to begin with. Dinner at Bay Harbor or a room at Sandcastle is also not included in the park's POP admission, after all.

If Cedar Point had been saying, oh, you're buying a ticket into the park on the Fourth of July, that's an extra $15 because of the fireworks, I'd agree with you. But here, Cedar Point was saying, hey, we got a sweet little $15 deal on VIP firework seating, if you want to leave the park and enjoy it.

Fireworks are best viewed from a distance.

How can a man standing on the ground block your view of fireworks? After all, the go off hundreds of feet in the air.

He was wearing a hat.

It's fun to guess which PointBuzz posters play online games and happily buy all the upgraded weapons, armor, etc., vs. those who play through the game as it comes. Pay-to-Win is alive and well in real life.

It is amazing how many consumers concern themselves with maximizing revenue for a business that they are a customer of. At least on this board.

No. Pay-to-win is stupid. Pay for personal space? That's smart.

Much like at Disneyland, I did the Wine Country Trattoria dinner package for World of Color - it put us right in the front, and we got a nice 3 course dinner beforehand. Cost a bit more than $15, but I will gladly pay it every time because it's totally worth it to me.

Yeah, the video game analogy is a little silly. I think part of the reason I buy so few games now is all of the add-on crap to get any real use out of the games. I don't want that.

But paying for some amount of exclusivity or comfort, I'm all about that. I split the cost of a cabana, $600, with friends on a Disney cruise, and it was the best day at the beach I've ever had, without question. That's not paying to win, that's paying to have your own section of beach and a person to bring you fruity drinks and towels.

e x i t english said:
No. Pay-to-win is stupid. Pay for personal space? That's smart.

Much like at Disneyland, I did the Wine Country Trattoria dinner package for World of Color - it put us right in the front, and we got a nice 3 course dinner beforehand. Cost a bit more than $15, but I will gladly pay it every time because it's totally worth it to me.

I would consider the Disneyland dinner package to be an entirely different event that culminates in the World of Color show, not just a transfer of options from the 'basic' to 'upcharge' category (premium parking at CP) or even the more useful 'premium fireworks seating' that includes refreshments and an actual seat. I think the fireworks seating is a great idea, except, of course, that it takes place in the area where I always sat for no upcharge.

Other ideas I'm sure they are kicking around include up charges for reserved seat tickets in the first few rows at the Jack Aldritch Theater for busy days and premium standing room in a roped off section near the stage at luminosity, complete with meet & greet with the cast.

How about individual one ride one use passes? For $10, you receive one front of the line pass good on the ride of your choice. You don't even need to limit them.

Have a large group for an event? Buy a whole train on a coaster for $10 per seat and all ride together! Or buy the first or last train(s) of the day for $20 per person.

There are a million ways to make money, when people want your product.

$10 front of the line is a bad idea. Everyone would probably use them on Maverick or Dragster. We don't need anything more to further slow down those already slow lines.

But at least you wouldn't have to worry about marathoning with single use tickets.

And you could always buy one yourself. It's only $10. That's got to be worth it for a couple of hours of your time?

Bluestreaker said:

Fireworks are best viewed from a distance.

How can a man standing on the ground block your view of fireworks? After all, the go off hundreds of feet in the air.

This is Cedar Point, they have the world's tallest security guards.

Rugrats2001 said:

But at least you wouldn't have to worry about marathoning with single use tickets.

And you could always buy one yourself. It's only $10. That's got to be worth it for a couple of hours of your time?

But when there's hundreds of people using them at the same time, it defeats the purpose. They would need to be priced much higher for them to be effective.

If I really wanted to ride Dragster but there was an hour wait and they sold $10 front of line passes I would buy one for sure. Yes, I value my hourly time at a much greater rate than $10 so to me that is a good value if I really want to ride a coaster. They already have something similar to this by the way - the Plinko games. I usually have my son play them for me as he is great at winning the passes. To me, it is definitely worth the money to see how excited he gets when he wins the passes, and how much fun he has riding Millenium and TTD whilst using the fast lane line.

There were security guards by the beach? I've never seen anything like that. We're there guards last year?

If you would buy a $10 front on the line pass, how many others would? Then there would be a line for the front of the line, defeating it's purpose. I think they would need to be priced much higher. The Plinko games are luck based. You play for the chance to win FOTL passes, but you could just end up with merchandise coupons.