$3 soda = criminal

GoBucks89 said:
And with respect to the movie theaters, does the fact that CP allows you to bring coolers into the park or keep them in your car while movie theaters (at least by their rules) don't allow you to bring in outside food/drinks factor into the analysis? And is a park responsible for whats available in its surrounding areas? And how should that factor into its pricing decisions?

I can do the same at a movie theater that I can at Cedar Point. Either I can buy their food/drink and be able to enjoy it inside the theater, or I can leave the theater and go out to my car in the parking lot.

GoBucks, my understanding on the emphasis on disposability of employees has been that it was consistent throughout the summer, but it is actually getting worse now. I'm sure that if they think they can easily replace any lost worker that is factoring into their decision, but to me it sounds more like pure arrogance/disconnection on the part of the park. The particular instance that I mentioned of the supervisor probably had more to do with who the supervisor was, but it is also my understanding that the particular attitude underlying the actions (that employees are highly disposable to the point where they are encouraging quitting now) has been extremely pervasive this entire season. While that attitude in and of itself does not particularly surprise me (of course is it really that bad to begin with? That of course is debatable, but I think what makes it bad is how that attitude is carried out more than anything, which is where I am going), I am surprised at how quickly it has shown and is showing itself and how far it has gone. Of course the crappy economy and large amounts of people unemployed is a factor in all of it, but still, it just really hits a nerve with me. I really only brought it up because of that side-bar about McDonalds employees, disposability, etc.

On your other points, especially about how outside business should affect pricing, I think it does or at least should have a considerable weight in the case of amusement parks in particular. Like I said, for Cedar Point its importance is not as strong as I think other parks may find it, as it are farther removed from such "tourist traps" and major strips compared to other parks (like KI, or GL with lots of choices literally right down from the parking lot). That leads to an even more captive an audience in Cedar Point's case, but does that really change how they can price things? I don't think it does, because it isn't just about what theoretical price the inhuman noun/adjective (I can't make up my mind, as it is used as both a descriptor and its own identity/subject at times) of "the market" will bear. "The market" is a very real group of people, who have to have food and drink to function. Kinzel stated as much, though the underlying implication was extremely negative and quite frankly, insulting to many. It becomes much more than simply at what point will people not buy it at, but more about at what point will your customers purchase the product, but end up with a bad taste in their mouth? In many people's opinion, that point is very markedly $3. What kind of effect has it had/will it have? That is a much more difficult question to tackle, and is answered largely by anecdotal evidence. But then, really understanding your customers is all about being able to understand that anecdotal evidence and extracting meaningful answers to questions. That is more true today than ever, with the advent of so many places for customers and potential customers to vent their opinions and bad tastes left in their mouth from over-priced products/services.

Brandon, John -- You are both correct. CP's picnic area is not officially inside the park. And you can run out to your car, guzzle down some food/drinks and run back into the theater to watch the rest of the movie. Doesn't seem at all practical to me but you can do it. I stand corrected.

I never said it was practical. Just that it could be done. Of course, I have yet to spend 12 hours at a movie theater, so I haven't had the need to eat that badly.

I agree with you Jugga. You can go two hours without snacking or eating. You cannot go an entire day at Cedar Point without eating.

So while movie food prices are outrageous, it's not as much as a necessity as eating at CP is.

My wife and I took our niece and a friend of hers to Halloweekends this past weekend we went to see the show at the red garter, and had some snacks, and I made the mistake of looking at the itemized bill - the fountain sodas were $4.12 apiece, and my beer was over $7. We got a tub of popcorn too (and my wife got a cup of ice water, which was free) and our bill was almost $23.00.

Ridiculous.

In comparison - we stayed at Breakers and ordered their special Pizza Meal Deal - $20 for 4 large sodas and 2 large pizzas. I felt that was actually reasonable....

LAWL! that is why you ask for free water or buy pop before you enter the park.

I found out that Famous Daves BBQ is alot more cheaper then eating inside of the park even though CP i think owns part of or all of it like they do with TGI Fridays and Johnny Rockets. That pizza place that is near the start of the causeway is cheap too. TGI Fridays is way to much. Johnny Rockets i think is only 1.00 more inside of CP then what the other Johnny Rockets places charge. The Disney owned parks in Florida was the only parks i went to that i paid way too much on food at.

"The Disney owned parks in Florida was the only parks i went to that i paid way too much on food at."

If you paid too much, that is your fault for not looking at all the deals they are offering.

They have the free dinning plan going on, and they have web sites where you can actually look at the menues and prices for each restaurant and walk up food locations thruout the park...here... www.allears.net

At Disney, I can get a(good) burger with a unlimited topping bar, fries or apple slices, and a drink for around $10. As seen here...http://allears.net/menu/men_cr.htm . Both of us ate lunch here for the price of 1 lunch at cedar point.

If you look at all of the menues on that site, you will notice that most of the restaurants and food stands are cheaper than anything inside of cedar point. We ate a 3 course lunch in france(epcot), for cheaper than we could get a sub combo at subway inside of cedar point. And the sodas in the park are over $1.00 less than cp. Hell, they even have a place inside epcot where you can get free soda.....just don't try the beverly.

Since people seem to enjoy resurrecting old threads, here's a good one. I find particularly humorous the notion that selling pop for $3 is "criminal" and even better, the complaints about $8 parking when Disney is only $6!

Seriously though, I know this was a while ago and inflation is a significant component over this amount of time, but it's interesting to read some of the comments from some of the long time posters here and how much attitudes and opinions have changed!

It's a much better read than that damned Raptor v Alpengeist thread, to be sure.

HAHAHAHA! I was kinda rolling my eyes at this resurrection until I got to the Raptor vs Alpengeist comment... Well played, sir. Well played.

$3 for a bottled soda 16 years ago was ridiculous. That's $4.25 in today's dollars. I don't think opinions have changed.

Today, if this thread was made, the first comments would involve being made whole.

For $4.25 a soda I would certainly hope it would make me whole!

I mean, if you are selling soda for that much, it better be a damn good soda. Should be worth the money you pay for it. The real crime is that Cedar Point doesn't sell these:

I probably wouldn't mind paying 3-4 dollars for these because they're really good(better than Coca-Cola).

They need to sell Chess branded sarsaparilla.

😂😂 Good one.

I've actually never had sarsaparilla, but it sounds nasty. As long as it doesn't taste like ginger beer, then I'm fine. Maybe since is Chess branded, they'll charge $6 for it.

I hide put a bottle of Gatorade in my cargo pocket before I enter the park. Never been stopped yet. Then after I drink it I fill the bottle with water from the fountains until the next time I go to my car. I honestly don't even know what drinks cost at the park at this point. I think at Kings Island I was paying $4 for a bottle of Gatorade but I only did that because I knew I was only going to spend one day there so I wasn't wasting precious time going back and forth to the car and it was too hot to not have drinks.

I’m also on the boat for bringing Saparilla to the park.

Also, they do give water out for free at the park. Granted they’re served in little cups and won’t last you the length of a line... but that’s why I get two :)

Why would anyone pay for a non-alcoholic beverage inside an amusement park? It’s either beer or free water for me.