Beverage pricing: They're still not listening

It is weird how prices differ at CF parks. At CP it is only $3 in the machines.

That's because guests of Dick's flagship park deserve a great bargain!

;)

I think they were selling the huge 1 litre pops for around $4 at one of the gift shops towards the back of the park.

Do none of the complainers on here about pricing ever go to theaters or sporting events?

I went to see a Detroit Tigers game $20 to park and for 2 alcoholic beverages and 2 meals cost me $60. $80 before the game was even supposed to start which it never did since it was rained out.

Movie theaters are worse on pop prices even if they do give a free refill on large drinks since most people never even get a refill in the 2 hours they are there. A small bag of Skittles that would have cost around a buck at Speedway was $4.

You are a captive audience in a park that you want to spend umteen millions of dollars every year on improvements.

When was the last time a theater spent 10-25 million on any improvement in a single year?

^Forgot to mention the $165 it cost for the 2 tickets to get into the game.

Except with a movie theater I can choose to not buy pop for the 2 hours I am there. Much harder to do when I'm going to spend 12 hours in an amusement park.

And why in the world would you pay $20 to park at a Tigers game? A 5 minute walk will get you free parking.

And again, sporting events are short enough you CAN go without food or drink for the duration. Not quite as simple at an amusement park where you are walking for hours (which means your body needs energy) in the heat (which means it needs fluids).

The comparison, though similar in price, is not really valid.

Zoug68 said:
Do none of the complainers on here about pricing ever go to theaters or sporting events?

I went to see a Detroit Tigers game $20 to park and for 2 alcoholic beverages and 2 meals cost me $60. $80 before the game was even supposed to start which it never did since it was rained out.

Movie theaters are worse on pop prices even if they do give a free refill on large drinks since most people never even get a refill in the 2 hours they are there. A small bag of Skittles that would have cost around a buck at Speedway was $4.

You are a captive audience in a park that you want to spend umteen millions of dollars every year on improvements.

When was the last time a theater spent 10-25 million on any improvement in a single year?

Yea, but you are only in a theater or baseball game for a few hours max. You don't have to have something to drink or something to eat in that short amount of time. When your at an amsement park, you are there all day. Big differance.

You spent that much at a tigers game?

Wow...did you get taken for. I got tickets for $12 each, parked free at nemos and paid $3 for a round trip bus ride to the park, had a few beers at nemos that only cost me approx $8 total. After the game, we went to coney island in detroit and got 2 meals for $4 each. It only coast me around $50 for both of us to go to a tigers game for parking, tickets, food, and drinks.

JuggaLotus said:
Except with a movie theater I can choose to not buy pop for the 2 hours I am there. Much harder to do when I'm going to spend 12 hours in an amusement park.

And why in the world would you pay $20 to park at a Tigers game? A 5 minute walk will get you free parking.

And again, sporting events are short enough you CAN go without food or drink for the duration. Not quite as simple at an amusement park where you are walking for hours (which means your body needs energy) in the heat (which means it needs fluids).

The comparison, though similar in price, is not really valid.

Juggs, that argument sounds like a "their being mean" argument, not a poor business practices one. Cedar Point is taking advantage of the situation, it sucks, and believe me, it kinda sucked forking over $20 over and over last weekend, but I can't really blame them for taking advantage.

No, its a "this isn't a sustainable business model" argument and trying to justify it by saying "but theaters and ballparks charge MORE" isn't a valid argument for the reasons I pointed out.

You don't think attendance has been going down because people are happy with prices inside the park and it is only the economy do you?

The only reason per-cap goes up is because attendance has dropped and those remaining are forced to pay more for the bit they do buy. That trend is eventually going to drop off.

To me it doesn't matter if it's CP or a ball game, movie, whatever, you do expect to pay more at such venues. However, there is a point where what they charge for food and drink is gouging. It does not matter how long you expect to be at that venue you are getting screwed, simple as that. Almost $5 for pop is robbery any way that you look at it. There is no way the price comes anywhere near it's value.

I avoid paying that price as much as possible. I'll take the free water at CP anytime.

I understand many people go to these places and look forward to a hot dog at the game or a big tub of popcorn at a movie, etc. It's part of the expierience, especially if you don't go very often. It really is more fun to go and splurge. Unfortunately those are the people these places are preying upon. There are enough of them to keep them charging the high prices. I'm not blaming these people, it's just the way it is. When I go somewhere for the first time or rarely, I spend pretty freely too.

Clevelandkid said:
...It really is more fun to go and splurge. Unfortunately those are the people these places are preying upon. There are enough of them to keep them charging the high prices.

Exactly. CP can lower the prices overnight if the wish. If the reports come out and they aren't selling enough food/beverage they can change it with a snap of the finger. Apparently the reports haven't said that yet.

To know that, at any moment, they can run a food/pop campaign is an advantage. They'll probably hold that card in their pocket as long as possible.

Clevelandkid said:
The food is as good as any chain buffet.

Do you even realize how low of a bar that is? I'm astounded at how accepting people are of crappy food.

Do we really have to talk about expectations versus quality again? I've paid twenty bucks (each) to go to a movie. A rip-off? Not when I have a huge plush recliner with pillows and blankets, and the button on the chair calls someone who will bring me beer.

Exactly.

I can get a Corvette ZR-1 that will out run a $250,000 Ferrari or a Cadillac CTS-V that will eat a $400,000 Bentley for less than half the price of either of the exotics mentioned. Does that make the Bentley or the Ferrari over priced?

Not when I get a Kia interior in the 'Vette or lack basic luxury features in the CTS found on a 2010 Lexus which isn't even Luxury.

When you pay extra, you pay for a no compromises product. Not average or "good enough" I'd say we don;t even get good enough out of certain products/services at Cedar Point.

I only go once a year (or less... last I went was 3 years ago) but this time I got a room at Breakers with a little fridge & microwave in it just so that we can go back to the room and eat if we get really hungry. Plus fridge = "free" cold beer after a day in the park.

Whenever I go to the movies with my dude we get one drink and one popcorn and share it. Then again we dont' really care about each other's backwash. If he wants a soda in the park, more than likely we'll get one and share. Usually I just go to the water fountain, or ask for free water at the stands.

I don't think the free water is as much of a great PR move by the park as it is to protect from liability. If the park has people passing out or having heat strokes they could be in for a serious lawsuit. It's the same at Tigers games, unopened bottled water is allowed, and on really, really hot days, usually even opened water is allowed.

Why is Cedar Fair obligated to provide free water from the concession stands? They have plenty of water fountains throughout the park. It has nothing to do with heatstroke or anything else. Why must the water come in a cup?

It may be a hybrid between PR and liability, but the next time someone has a heat stroke and slams their head on the cement they will be scott free, as opposed to showing up in court saying, we have 3 water fountains and only charge $5 for a pop. Saying that you offer free water at each concession stand does wonders.

There are plenty of areas in the park where there are no water fountains. There is only 1 fountain on the entire frontier trail, none between matterhorn and magnum,there are also none near planet snoopy or the entire wicked twister midway(nearest one is by space spiral).

Sometimes the fountains are cold, other times they are not. If there is ever a line for a fountain, forget it...it's gonna be warm.

Besides that, why would you not want to hand out ice water if requested?Woulden't be too good for public relations would it?

I would rather pay the $3 for a water than drink out of a fountain. Those things are nasty.

CPboy77 said:
I would rather pay the $3 for a water than drink out of a fountain. Those things are nasty.

I watched a show on nightline about a year ago, where they found water from a drinking fountain 3x as clean as a bottle of water.

Besides that, if you just drink bottled water, you starve your teeth from floride as well.