$3 soda = criminal

^^^
Why can I not read one single thread on this site without this narcissistic douchebag forcing his 2 cents on everyone?

Triggered much?

^^ You’re right, how dare someone share their opinion on a message board, especially if it doesn’t align completely with what I think?!

I agree with XS Nightclub. No one needs soda. It’s a luxury inside what is already a luxury- the park itself. So if you don’t want to pay what they’re asking, get a free ice water or pack a cooler full of your favorite unnecessary sugar water in your car.

Do you ever visit your local movie theater? Some of their prices make Cedar Point's food and drink prices look cheap.

Hopefully more stadiums and other entertainment venues get on board with the way the Atlanta Falcons are pricing concessions in their new stadium! They lowered prices by 50% and actually made MORE money than they did at the higher prices!! Plus it made the fans much happier in addition to being more profitable.

Here is some info on the Falcons concession pricing back in 2017 when the stadium opened. And now they have reduced their concession prices even more per this article. Interesting reads.

Gonna need a bigger sample size there; the Sasquatch population outnumbers that of Atlanta sports fans.

Given the falcons are providing tiered pricing levels, it’s could be compared to CFs offering of meal and drink plans being their cost conscious pricing, mid tier being regular stand pricing, premium being the upscale dining options.

I know it’s not exact comps, but it’s also only one team in an entire league that is fighting down attendance.

Its not just the Falcons anymore either. Several other teams and universities are following the Falcons lead. Including The Baltimore Orioles & Ravens, Detroit Lions, Atlanta Hawks, Mississippi State, Texas, and Clemson.

https://www.eater.com/2018/8/29/17785134/stadium-food-fan-friendly-...-longhorns

Ah, if only the Blue Jackets would follow that lead. Skyline Chili nachos will set you back $10 at Nationwide. Another $10 if you want a can of beer. A bottle of Pepsi is $5.

The Falcons increased ticket prices the year they dropped some concession prices. They also stopped selling single game tickets (requiring seasons tickets purchases with $500 to $40k per ticket PSLs). How would that go over at Cedar Point?

Different entertainment industries have different economics. Concession revenues will be less for NFL teams (and college football teams) as a percentage of total revenues than for regional amusement parks. Football games are about 3 hours which means people can go without eating/drinking anything. Not really true for 8+ hour park visits. A lot of people tailgate outside football games (eating/drinking their own food/drinks). Lower prices for concessions and you can bring people into the stadium to buy food/drinks (Falcons note they did just that). People also spend more now on merchandise. Money not spent on food/drink at regional parks likely walks out the gate at the end of the day in guests pockets. Some parks have a lot more merchandising opportunities (such as Disney). From what I have seen, their food/drink pricing is different. That makes sense.

DRose said:

^^^
Why can I not read one single thread on this site without this narcissistic douchebag forcing his 2 cents on everyone?

You are confusing "having an opinion" with "forcing an opinion."

We're not going to tolerate personal attacks or naming calling. First and only warning.

My only food wish at the park is that the quality/freshness was better. The price really only bothers me when I’m provided total garbage in return. How difficult is it to prepare a decent pizza, dogs, burger, fries, chicken tenders, onion rings, etc? this is BASIC fundamental American flare... but it should never be Frozen. Tasteless. Stale. Dehydrated under a hot lamp rubbish! Luckily spots like famous Dave’s exists or I might need to be made whole each visit.

I'm going to have to go 50-50 with you there. There are some good food spots at the park. But some of them do suck. Like I really like Sidewinder Sue's.

Augustmueller said:

My only food wish at the park is that the quality/freshness was better. The price really only bothers me when I’m provided total garbage in return. How difficult is it to prepare a decent pizza, dogs, burger, fries, chicken tenders, onion rings, etc? this is BASIC fundamental American flare... but it should never be Frozen. Tasteless. Stale. Dehydrated under a hot lamp rubbish! Luckily spots like famous Dave’s exists or I might need to be made whole each visit.

I agree with you in that I would like to see the quality improve. And, you're right -- it's basic American flare. But, to say that it should never be frozen might be difficult in mass quantities at CP. You can't safely cook a fresh burger or raw chicken tenders in less than 5 or 6 minutes. You can't bake a fresh pizza quickly. You, of course, CAN do those things, but how many of the regular CP population will actually want to wait for it? I suspect they would wait for it in a sit-down venue, but at the other concession stands, I'm not so sure. I bet we've all witnessed someone lose it at some restaurant somewhere because the order was slow to make it to them. I see it at CP all summer long. Cashiers being berated because the Cheese On A Stick is just now being put into the oil instead of ready to go, or the fries were just dropped and they have to wait. The worst example I think I've ever seen at the park was at the Sweet Spot. I was waiting to get some fresh spun cotton candy, when the woman in front of me, clearly tired of waiting for her candy, asked if the gal could "get it done any quicker" because her kids were waiting for her. I was floored.

Also there's a cost issue I would assume. Fresh isn't going to come cheap. CP would probably raise those prices and perhaps "scare" away a good number of visitors.

All that being said, I do agree with you. We are one of those families that would wait longer and would pay a bit more for fresher, better quality. I'm just not sure how that would translate with the overall amusement park crowd.

Given your post, You likely have never worked in a full service restaurant;
Fresh burger/tenders will always cook faster than frozen,
Frozen pizza will take longer to bake than fresh,
Fresh Food is easily cooked safely,
Fresh food can be made cheaper than pre-made frozen alternatives.

Where it gets cost conscious for operators is food storage and handling, frozen is convenient to move and keep. It also can save money on prep and training, especially in high turnover environments.

The long times you wait at CP is through poor facilities layouts, antiquated practices and laziness.

Just look at other parks and large venue services and you can easily find faster/better service for even higher volumes of people and families.

It’s nice the park had been addressing these issues in recent years and I hope they continue to provide higher quality and better facilities for their employees as well.

They do need to get rid of the CF designed/programmed slow, unintuitive self order kiosks and buy them from a supplier that knows wth they’re doing in this industry. They still use the licensed POS systems/equipment for some reason, if they can justify the licensing expense for a lemonade stand POS, they can surely understand the need for proper kiosks.

I've seemed to notice a gap in the good food and bad food that is provided in park and is usually boils down to one thing: marketing. Ex. At Happy Friar, you see big signs all pointing to the fresh-cut Idaho potato french fries, but you don't see any big signs pointing to the mini corn dog meal on the DIning Plan. Cedar Fair always tries to go relatively cheap on food costs, but if food that they add can be marketed as a "staple item" that guests HAVE to try to get the full CP experience, the extra revenue from that marketing allows them to afford the higher prices to make better food. This is in opposition to a Six Flags park, which will market every single type of food they offer in the park but it fails to have good quality.

The bigger the sign, the bigger the profit margin.

Potatoes are dirt cheap.

LightDark18 said:

Cedar Fair always tries to go relatively cheap on food costs, but if food that they add can be marketed as a "staple item" that guests HAVE to try to get the full CP experience, the extra revenue from that marketing allows them to afford the higher prices to make better food.

To a point, they tried that, just this past season. They introduced the Fire & Ice offerings, which were higher-quality food samplings (shrimp, ribs, etc). And you could try several of them for the same price as the normal food offerings. But from what I saw/heard, no one was taking the bait. Everyone just stuck to the normal food they were familiar with.

I don't eat a lot at parks but the idea of eating shrimp at an amusement park does not sound appealing to me. My mindset at a park is to eat junk - funnel cakes, elephant ears, ice cream. If I do get "real" food it is going to be a burger or pizza. I suspect that is a pretty common mindset of park goers.