$3.00 20oz are back

Family and I were at the Point this weekend, not sure when the price went up but a bottle of soda is $3.00.

On a side note, the adding of sales tax is really, really annoying......nobody likes to carry around change especially when riding.

It was $3.00 on opening day.

And I still refuse to spend the money for it. I'll stand in line and ask for a small cup of ice water before I'll pay $3 for it from a friggin' machine.

I went to SF Great America last Monday and they too are charging $3.00 for a 20oz bottle. Unbelievable.

Ridiculous. I won't buy it.

Wow, and I was complaining about paying $1.75 for a 2 litre of pepsi at a gas station... yikes! I have never, and never will buy a 20oz pop out of a machine for $3.00. I'd rather have the Ice that comes with the $2.50 16oz fountain drink... lol! :)

I did notice food seemed to be a bit higher at the Game Day Grill. Anyone else notice an increase in food prices?

All I can say is thank goodness for Famous Dave's! WOW is that stuff good! At least if ya gotta pay out the tukus, that stuff is yummy! Not cuisine that is real conducive to coaster riding, but well worth the tummy ache!

CPLurker

"Bring back the penguins!"
*** Edited 5/31/2005 6:09:38 PM UTC by CPLurker***

$3 for soda? Why don't they just bend everyone over a chair at the front gate on the way in?

Does HolidayWorld still do free refills all day long? THAT is good customer service.

i won't pay that horrible price, either. we keep our van stocked with plenty of food and drinks. if we get parched, it's time to head to the front of the park. i run out to get our drinks, everyone pounds 'em down and we're back in business without being financially raped.

That seems like a lot of work just for a drink.

Family of 4 times 3 drinks a day... that is $36 bucks he saves! I dunno if he has 4 in his family but you get the idea. That is one ticket. :) Or pays for parking... uh... 4 times... *gulp*

CPLurker

"Bring back the Penguins!"

Well, if I make $24 an hour or so then it costs me about $6.25 to run out of the park for 15 minutes and pound that soda. So, for just myself it is probably better to pay for the $3 soda.

But, if I want to buy sodas for the whole family then it might be in my best interest to walk out to the cooler in the car.

Either way...$3 is absurd.

What's wrong with the water fountains? Or free ice water? I'd rather drink water (or pay $3 for a 20oz. Pepsi) than walk all the way to my vehicle whenever I was thirsty.

^ You must be a very thirty or a lazy man. I take a cooler to a park everytime i go. I will go out there maybe twice in the whole day at the park and eat and drink. I have a electric grill and a power inverter in my car and i make burgers twice a day. That is better than paying 5-6 for skinny buger and 3 for a drink.

In Orlando I will leave the park completely and eat lunch at a restaurant off property from time to time. I usually need the break.

It is easy to say..."it is only $3". But in reality, I've already paid a bundle to get in the park. Lunch is going to cost me, and maybe dinner too. If you are budget conscious then that $3 soda (or $12 for the family to get a soda) does seem to be a consumer raping.

It has nothing to do with being lazy. I'm not going to walk (literally) a mile and a half when I can go to the nearest water fountain. My time is much more valuable than that. Going out to the car once or twice is one thing, but if you're at the park for 12 hours, you're going to need to drink more than that to stay hydrated (especially during the hot summer).

And that is what the park is banking on....literally.

I still want to know how Holiday World can offer free refills all day and Cedar Point can charge $3 for a 20 oz.

When Disneyland first opened people were fuming because there were no water fountains. They assumed Walt was just trying to get people to buy soda. The fact of the matter is...the fountains were there but the job was so behind that when push came to shove he decided it would be more prudent to have toilets than water fountains for opening day.

Good choice in my opinion. The fountains did eventually get finished.

Come on Walt... choosing to drink water doesn't justify the insane price.

Holiday World prices the gate and season passes right up front, thus the "free" soda. Is Holiday World missing out on a ton of money? Of course not, they're just moving it somewhere else. What does it do for the park? It gets them on TV every year and earns them double-digit growth.

Perception is everything, and I really think Cedar Point needs to look at how they are perceived a bit more (something I suspect is on John Hildebrant's mind as he feels out his new position). Charging $3 for a soda is seen as price gouging, no matter who you ask. In a day where people feel like they're getting screwed on gas, is this really a good idea?

I suspect they don't pay even a dime for soda, because Pepsi wants the placement. I understand the need to keep boosting per capita spending. I don't think this is the smart way to do it. Even $2.50 was too much.

My neighbor works for pepsi, and i asked him about the costs at CP. He told me that he doesn't know to much except that they only pay about 40 cents per bottle. He also said he wouldn't be surprised if Pepsi alone paid for some of the rides in the park.

I never justified the price. It is what it is. My only point was that I thought it was a waste of time and effort to walk to the parking lot whenever I wanted a drink.

Though, I don't know what it is about carbonated beverages that gets people fired up. This is the same place that charges $9 to park a car, $3 for a bag of spun sugar, an unreasonable amount for a pretty average hamburger, etc.

I've experienced worse on 3 occasions just over the last 2 weeks. I paid $3.50 for a 20oz. Diet Pepsi at Jacobs Field. Last Thursday I paid $3.75 for a 20oz. Diet Pepsi at the Cleveland Rib Cook-off. And on Saturday, we paid $9.25 for a medium popcorn and medium Diet Coke when we saw Revenge of the Sith.

Holiday World being the exception, there are other amusement parks that charge similar prices for drinks. I just don't see how this is somehow a special case above and beyond the typical price gouging that happens at any amusement venue.

When I went opening day, I saved quited a bit just asking for a cup of water at food stands (along with 5 of my friends, lol). IT was better then paying $3 for a pepsi, the only pepsi i had was with my lunch at Coasters.