Announcement time... the delay is bad!

So, Jeff, is it fair to say that hte announcement will be sometime this month?

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"It will be the shot thats heard around the world"

Generally, you wouldn't announce a big addition like this on a weekend. Weekdays are when they are announced...just like most major movies coming out on Tuesday...who know's why!

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June 28th: LocoBazooka Tour (Sevendust headlining)
July 11th: Korn, Puddle of Mudd, and Deadsy

Well, it makes sense to me that CP would announce the new attraction before they close Troika, Chaos, and PWE at the end of the month. If those rides close without an announcement, the park might see a good deal of GP asking questions as to what is going on.

Then again, what do I know . . ;)

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Rich Genthner / PTC99

I hope they announce Tuesday. So I can be at the park Wednesday. :)

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Rider
RIDE IT OUT!

MF: 5
WT: 0
MAG: Phh... After about 10 at once I stop counting. So take that as it is.

Wow.

Everyone posting has a good argument. I don't need to say anything because it has all been said.

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I am still the Geminazi!

rawr!

I realize that the higher-up's have the final say as to when any official announcements are made, but there's something terribly ironic about people in management forcing their marketing department to hold off on a major announcement.

After all, the marketing people are being paid to not only come up with a plethora of promotional material, but also to have the expertise to know when to make such announcements and presentations.

Let the marketing-folk do their jobs...
*** This post was edited by Logan 8/9/2002 1:16:03 PM ***

A silvertag of CP brought a Bose CD player into our shop for repair, (he has been at CP for a good 15 years) and I asked him about this work going on near magnum. Well needless to say he was tight lipped. I got no valuable information out of him other then I am pretty sure he knew what was going in. I asked what about a Intamin 400ft ride. He replied "you've been reading online too much" Then I asked well when can we expect an announcement from CP? "Early November" was his answer. Now that's what he replied, I don't know if he was joking around with me or not, but I am not making this up (regulars don't do that). So take it for what it's worth. I'm with Jeff, announce this thing, waiting only hurts you.

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This second hill is my favorite part of the ride. It is so Cool!
Gemini 100
Dan not going to CP anymore??..Just a big Scam
Raptor Flights: 538

Early November? Now that just makes no sense at all. I'm not calling you a liar but if that is really when they are releasing it then I would say it is foolish for all of the reasons Jeff has mentioned.

The whole idea of announcing before the season is over is to create the buzz that will drive Season Pass sales. If they are going to wait until November then they might as well just wait until next April!
*** This post was edited by Chief Wahoo 8/9/2002 3:01:54 PM ***

Hey, I totally agree, it doesn't make sense at all. When I asked him about an announcement I got a laugh and "ahh, early November". Perhaps just joking around.

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This second hill is my favorite part of the ride. It is so Cool!
Gemini 100
Dan not going to CP anymore??..Just a big Scam
Raptor Flights: 538

Maybe they're under the (rather stupid) assumption that if they sell fewer season passes their per cap spending would be up. Of course it would be up, because you'd have fewer visits in the park (i.e., passholders), but to suggest that any passholder would spend more on a one day visit than they would visiting all season is just insane to think.

Tim made a good suggestion to me today... attach a spending account to your season pass. There's a good way to guarantee per cap spending. Buy the kids passes, put $50 on their cards. Scan it where ever you buy stuff. The kids WILL spend the money, I'm sure.

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Jeff
Webmaster/GTTP, Sillynonsense.com
"Let's stop saying 'don't quote me,' because if no one quotes you, you probably haven't said a thing worth saying." - Dogma, KMFDM

I think if there was a spending account on my season pass, I would probably spend a lot more money than I do now. The convenience of putting, say, $100 on the pass and then using it in the park would be nice.

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Virtual Midway
http://www.virtualmidway.com

Ya know CP Execs have been known to check out GTTP and CB.

Maybe this post won't fall on deaf ears.

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Welcome back Magnum riders how was your ride?

There not going to make the announcement until Dan comes out of "hiding" and starts going back to the park on a regular basis so attendance can be up 5%.

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long live the sky slide

Wait, Jeff doesn't know when they'll announce?

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If you like riding Wicked Twister in the back, does that mean you like to get screwed in the rear? ;)

Waiting until November is not very smart. The vast majority of CP's customers probably do not think about amusement parks very much in the winter. Even if they do, they're likely to say, "well, I can just get my pass when spring comes around - no big rush." Half of them might forget about it anyway. If they announce now, people will see the sign at the park and say, "wow, I'm here anyway, might as well get the pass for next year taken care of." I realize that Wicked Twister probably wasn't considered a "major" addition for CP, but I have to think that compared to the buzz that surrounded the MF announcement in July, the buzz that surrounded the WT announcement in November was rather disappointing. A November announcement only leads to the pass sales that occur online. They're losing out on all the people who are already at the park and probably already walking by the season pass center (and the announcement sign) at least twice during their visit. In addition to this, there are most likely going to be even more visible signs of construction during the weekends. Why not elliminate all the questions like, "what's going on over there?" Also, the signs on Area 51 say look for news later this season. Now I'm sure those signs were done by marketing before this supposed delay went down, but it does not say "later this year", it says "later this season!"

If this bit about someone in upper management cancelling the announcement that was ready to go by marketing is true, it's a bit disturbing. I agree with Logan that the marketing people are the experts in this area and should be allowed to do their jobs as they've done in the past. I'd be curious just who the person is. My only guess would have to be Dan Keller because he's the biggest and most powerful thing that has changed since the MF announcement, which occurred in July. I can't think of anyone else (besides Kinzel and he was there for the MF announcement) who could tell the VP of merketing not to announce it. Perhaps this is one of those things (much like the flexible gate openings) that seem to make sense to Dan Keller, but no one else. Or maybe it really isn't him! :)

-Matt
2001 Magnum Crew

If those CP executives do visit this site, then I can hope they can take a hint.

(Announce the attraction very, very, very, very, very, very soon) :)

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Andrew L. of Waterville, OH
So what's better; skydiving or riding in Raptor's front seat?

Well, I guess MDOmnis brought up a good point. The signs do say "later this season", not later this year. Maybe they won't announce much, but I think it's coming soon.

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If you like riding Wicked Twister in the back, does that mean you like to get screwed in the rear? ;)

Yes, I do know when the announcement is scheduled to happen, and I also get the strong sense from People Who Know(TM) that the word did come from higher up to put off the announcement.

MDOmnis also skirts around another missed opportunity: Christmas. Season passes make a great gift, but hyping the new ride and getting the word out before Christmas would require some time. A couple of weeks isn't going to cut it.

I personally would think their agency would also very much encourage the park not to wait for all the reasons I mentioned, so it's probably not them. I've got to know most of the marketing folks well enough to think they're smart people, so I don't think it's their doing. I'll buy the idea that it was someone from higher up... and I still think they're making a mistake.

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Jeff
Webmaster/GTTP, Sillynonsense.com
"Let's stop saying 'don't quote me,' because if no one quotes you, you probably haven't said a thing worth saying." - Dogma, KMFDM

Does anyone know why (if it happens to be the case) upper management would want to delay the announcement?

-mikey

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Let your mind go...and your body will follow...

Don't know why, but I remember in 1999 when I saw the sign for MF, I was astonished and went to buy my 2000 pass right away. Now that says something. But I can see the sign on the Area 51 walls changed to "Later This Year"

Although thinking of it differently, being that if the announcement has been delayed, it implies CP will not have a BIG ride next year to brag about. Now if they do have a BIG ride next year, to me bragging about it only seems the right thing to do. Heck you have 400ft or higher time to let the world know what we get and *insert park here* doesn't get. So to me I guess CP does have a big ride coming, and made this not to bright decision to delay the announcement.

edit *added second paragraph*
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This second hill is my favorite part of the ride. It is so Cool!
Gemini 100
Dan not going to CP anymore??..Just a big Scam
Raptor Flights: 538
*** This post was edited by Hooper 8/10/2002 12:13:03 AM ***