Beverage pricing: They're still not listening

I think they should do something that would allow the 2 day ride n' slide ticket holders to do something to get them free drinks at Cedar Point. Have the ticket holder pay 85.99 and get free drinks + let them get the early entry also or something. For the platinum pass i would just give them 10% off drinks and season pass holders 5% off. Or maybe scan the card and allow two free small beverages each day at the park.

Jeff that is a great point! I think CP can really look at Disney for a role-model. Disney was able to embrace the economy, they slashed hotel prices and included dining plans. They had great attendence (comparably to other parks) for this reason and this was without ever touching the gate.

They even took away the minature soda you used to get with the bratworst meal.:(

RideMan said:
What I don't understand is why people continue to pay these outrageous prices for beverages. I mean, I haven't bought a drink at Cedar Point in years because of this, except for a couple of instances that included refills.

In a word: convenience. I go to Cedar Point with my wife and 2 kids once or twice a year (most ever I think was 4 times in a season). Eat one or two meals in the park and usually get one non-meal drink and sometimes some type of snack. Sometimes we go with other families/friends; sometimes its just the 4 of us. To me, money that could be saved by bringing a picnic lunch for the picnic area or running out to the car to eat/taking the car to an outside restaurant or carrying around a refill cup all day or going without food or drink entirely isn't worth the hassle factor. If I visited the park a lot more often, my view probably would change. My guess is that a lot of folks who visit Cedar Point pay the prices for food/drinks for similar reasons. We all pay premiums for some type of convenience in our lives though different people will find different conveniences to be worth the required premiums while other folks don't.

And folks continue to bring up Disney comparissons but we already talked about the differences that make the economics of pricing decisions apples to oranges.

Even so, there is no reason to pay Cedar Point prices for pop! Most obviously, the park's water supply is softened, filtered, and has no unpleasant odor or taste...and they'll ice it down for you for $0. Less obviously, the pricing is such that if you're of age and intemperance, it's actually a better value to drink the beer!

About the only thing that makes less sense than actually buying the fountain drinks is to spend $3 to buy a bottle of water and then pour it all over yourself. Talk about pouring money down the drain!

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

GoBucks89 said:
In a word: convenience.

...money that could be saved by bringing a picnic lunch ...isn't worth the hassle factor. If I visited the park a lot more often, my view probably would change.

And that's part of the problem. The people that visit the parks every year or two (aka "the ones who keep the park running") don't know where to eat to get decent food, and there's far more craptastically inedible food than very good food. So, no, it's not economically disastrous for families to pay a couple hundred to feed their family in the park on their annual visit, and you're right in that for a lot of people, the convenience holds value. But when dad forks over $200 for his family's food for the day, and it was comprised of mostly lamp-heated crap, that leaves a pretty horrible taste in his mouth, both figuratively and literally. When it comes time to plan the next family outing, CP is not going to be at the top of their list.

Dave -- I agree with you on the bottle/tap water issue. I pretty much only drink water but I only drink bottled water when I have to. Vast majority of places I go to (CP included in my experience anyway) will give you a free cup of water when you order something. I don't expect someone to give you water if you are not ordering anything else but some places will. Some places charge you $0.25 or some other nominal amount for water (even if you order something). Or others make you buy the overpriced bottle of water. If its the places where I eat every day at work, I would probably take notice but when its the amusement park (or movie theater, etc.) that I infrequently visit, I am just not going to care about it.

My wife and kids soft drinks at CP. For the reasons stated in my last post, the prices just don't mean enough to me to make them drink water if thats not what they want to do.

dj -- When I look at entertainment $$, I look at the value of the entire experience rather than focussing on one aspect of it. I don't go to CP for the food; I go for the rides. So I don't want the food to dictate my day in terms of running to the picnic area or to the car to eat or across the park to find food that isn't craptalistically inedible or back to a locker to get a refill cup when I want a drink. But I know that I am a lot less hung up on food than most. No matter what I have for my 2 meals at CP, I know I will have another 3 meals the next day and every day until I die so I just can't get hung up on any couple of meals (and that is true outside of CP as well). Now if I went to CP 20-30 times or more a year, year after year, I suspect the rides would not mean as much to me because I would be bored with them and would then focus on other things.

And for the vast majority of folks I know who don't go to CP, the reason isn't the prices but because they don't like amusement parks. CP could have 5-star food at fast food prices and they still wouldn't go. Now I am sure there are folks who don't visit because of the high prices. My father in law in the mid-80s, after counting up all the money he spent on a visit to CP during the car ride home, told my wife and her mom and brother that it was way too much and they were never coming back. And he has never been to the park since. I couldn't even convince him to go with his grandkids (on my nickel). CP should be concerned about those folks but from a marketing/economics stand point, they need to know how many folks are in that camp. I would't expect them to look for that info on a fan site in terms of relevant statistical analysis.

I'll tell you why the prices keep going up too....

People are stupid.

Have you been to a sporting event before? No matter what the beer prices are, you will always see an insane amount of drunks with a stack of empty cups. At Wrigley Field, it used to be $5 for a beer a couple years ago, now it is $7. Are there less people drinking? No. This holds true for all sporting venues I have been at, I am just using Wrigley as an example since I have been there the most. They may as well charge $15 a beer cause these idiots will pay it. Same goes with the food prices and drinks at the parks. I can't see why ANYONE would pay $13 for a Subway sandwich that we all know you can get for $5 outside the park....yet I saw several people buying them on opening weekend. At least when its park food its not EXACTLY something you can get down the street when you leave. I am just glad I am a smart buyer and dont fall for this kind of stuff. I would love to buy an occasional soda, but not at these prices. I will stick with the free water, hell its better for you than sugar water anyway. Save the sodas for home.

Speaking of crazy drink prices, I remember ten years ago when we were complaining about $2 20 oz. bottles and $7-8 parking. My have times changed! I would totally get a $2 drink now (which I believe was the cost of a bottle in the machines at CP in 2000-2001).

Different people find value at different price points with respect to different goods/services. But that doesn't make any of those folks necessarily stupid. I am pretty sure that if I looked at everything you spend money on right now I would find at least one thing (and probably several) that I view as a waste of money. I would never buy at the price you pay or even at any price for those things. But I wouldn't call you stupid for doing so. Just different.

And as a general rule, prices go up. Talk to your parents about what they paid for cars, houses, food, movies, etc. when they were younger. Nothing new.

SuperNitroForce said:
I'll tell you why the prices keep going up too....

Have you been to a sporting event before? No matter what the beer prices are, you will always see an insane amount of drunks with a stack of empty cups. At Wrigley Field, it used to be $5 for a beer a couple years ago, now it is $7. Are there less people drinking? No.

Shoot, a beer at Comerica is $8.25.

GoBucks89 said:
I am pretty sure that if I looked at everything you spend money on right now I would find at least one thing (and probably several) that I view as a waste of money.

Nah...I dont think you would! ;-)

djDaemon said:

GoBucks89 said:
In a word: convenience.

...money that could be saved by bringing a picnic lunch ...isn't worth the hassle factor. If I visited the park a lot more often, my view probably would change.

....But when dad forks over $200 for his family's food for the day, and it was comprised of mostly lamp-heated crap, that leaves a pretty horrible taste in his mouth, both figuratively and literally. When it comes time to plan the next family outing, CP is not going to be at the top of their list.

If he's looking for cheap food, you're right, Taco Bells new $2 meal will be. If he's looking to ride a bunch of roller coasters, it will still be at/near the top.

SuperNitroForce said:
I'll tell you why the prices keep going up too....

People are stupid.

I am just glad I am a smart buyer and dont fall for this kind of stuff. I would love to buy an occasional soda, but not at these prices. I will stick with the free water, hell its better for you than sugar water anyway. Save the sodas for home.

Why drink soda at home? Say tap water costs $0.05 per gallon. That equals $0.005 per 12 ounces. Say a 12 pack of Pepsi = $3, that equates to $0.25 per 12 ounces. That is a 50X increase in price. That is significantly higher than the 5X increase in price between CP's soda ($4.00) and the gas station soda ($0.80).

Midway Market's pricing is looking better and better. All you can eat and drink for the same price of a burger basket and one drink. I know some of you vomit every time MM is mentioned, but for the rest of you I would recommend checking it out.

Kyle2154 said:
If he's looking for cheap food, you're right, Taco Bells new $2 meal will be. If he's looking to ride a bunch of roller coasters, it will still be at/near the top.

First of all, cheap is not the same as inexpensive (or, alternatively, "good value"). There are plenty of examples of amusement parks (and other entertainment establishments) that offer delicious food at prices that are reasonable.

Secondly, you sound EXACTLY like Kinzel. Hopefully you're not planning on running a park someday.

I saw a post over at TPR, showing the price of ICEEs at King's Dominion. Are these prices about the same at CP? $9.52 for a large, $5.71 for a small?

@DJ: Why get personal? Didn't hit your quota yet for the day?

Cedar point is part of an oligopoly. Oligopolies produce price setters not price takers. Basic economics.

1) Dominate industry
2) Charge high prices because of said dominance
3) Make tons of money because of high prices
4) Build state of the art rides with new money
5) Dominate industry with new rides
6) See step 2

I'm not sure where I got personal, but whatever. And since when do two (perceived) wrongs make a right?

The point is that your comment: "If he's looking to ride a bunch of roller coasters, it will still be at/near the top" sounds suspiciously like Kinzel's: "People have to eat [if they're looking to ride a bunch of roller coasters]."

And we all know what an awesome job Kinzel is doing.

Saying "If he's looking to ride a bunch of roller coasters, it (Cedar Point) will still be at/near the top" sounds like a normal statement to me, I don't know.

Cedar Point is in the money making industry, you know? A business. They're not there so you can have a wicked awesome and inexpensive time.

It seems to me that you're suggesting sacrificing long-term success for short-term profits is a good idea. I couldn't disagree more.

Shades said:

SuperNitroForce said:
I'll tell you why the prices keep going up too....

People are stupid.

I am just glad I am a smart buyer and dont fall for this kind of stuff. I would love to buy an occasional soda, but not at these prices. I will stick with the free water, hell its better for you than sugar water anyway. Save the sodas for home.

Why drink soda at home? Say tap water costs $0.05 per gallon. That equals $0.005 per 12 ounces. Say a 12 pack of Pepsi = $3, that equates to $0.25 per 12 ounces. That is a 50X increase in price. That is significantly higher than the 5X increase in price between CP's soda ($4.00) and the gas station soda ($0.80).

Midway Market's pricing is looking better and better. All you can eat and drink for the same price of a burger basket and one drink. I know some of you vomit every time MM is mentioned, but for the rest of you I would recommend checking it out.

Ummm.....you just compared tap water to soda, and then soda at a gas station to soda at a park. That comparison makes absolutely no sense because tap water does not = soda. I said save the sodas for home cause its much less expensive than a park...that is if you NEED soda in the first place.