Cedar Fair Entertainment Company High Food Prices

DJ - Even if the cost of the product is 50 cents, I would have to refill my pop and popcorn 27 times in order to "break even". Its just not a practical argument.

No you can't get refill's at Cedar Point (well, you can get the souvenir cups refilled) but in all reality you can't get them refilled at the movie theater either. At least not enough times to make the value even close to that of Cedar Point.

Now, this is strictly talking cost. We haven't even touched on quality of food, which at most stands (excluding Happy Friar and Gourmet Pretzel) leaves much to be desired. What you pay for is not what you get. Not quantity wise (I think the portions are pretty decent) but definitely in the way it is cooked. I don't expect 5-star dining, but I should at least get it quickly. I'm not even that concerned with warm, because in October, by the time I'm halfway through its going to be cold anyway.

At my movie theater if you still have the cups and popcorn buckets from last time you saw a movie you can still get refills!

Its not valid to compare cost and price in the case of a theater. Movie houses make most of their profit on food, because the cost for the 'reels' is such that there's not much of a margin there.

"Value" has as much to do with where you're getting something as it does with what you're getting. I'm simply pointing out that comparing CP's food prices favorably to that of a movie theater is an apples-oranges situation.

EDITED to remove rogue commas.
*** Edited 7/12/2007 3:31:56 PM UTC by djDaemon***

I hate rogue commas.

The one problem is that Cedar Points competition is not other parks, but rather other entertainment options. Whether that's movie theaters, or ballparks or concert venues. Cedar Point's prices are pretty good when compared to their competition.

I agree. My only issue was with the comparison of the food specifically, rather than the entire experience.

^^I can get a lower level seat, hot dog, soda and Chef hat at Comerica for $38 even or I can get a beer at Comerica for $4 which is very reasonable compared to JLA or the Palace.

The competition is trumping Cedar Point.

edit: because dj snuck one in on me.

*** Edited 7/12/2007 3:53:02 PM UTC by Coastern3rd***

How long does that game last? Twelve hours? I doubt it. Also, you're just sitting in your seat watching people run around. That's not very "fun" to me. I'd much rather go to Cedar Point.

How long is a movie? A couple hours. It costs $10. Still, CP is a better bargain.

As far as food goes at a theatre, I also take my own drink and snack with me. In New York City, I always had a bag with me, so I'd stop at Duane Reade, grab a Diet Coke and pretzels and I was good to go. Their food prices don't justify me buying anything there.

Since I'm not going to carry a bag around Cedar Point all day with snacks, I'm going to buy their food. In reality, their prices are not much higher than what I pay anywhere else in the world. But, I'm only buying for one person. So, it's no big deal.

The point is, everyone has a different concept of what "value" and "bargain" are. If you don't like the "value" at Cedar Point, carry a backpack around with you all day with bottled water or soda in it. You have plenty of "loose article bins" to place the bag in, so there's really no excuse. You don't have to even leave the park to get food - it's on your back.

Actually a movie only costs $8 and I don't go to them either. I think it's ridiculous to pay that kind of money to watch a movie....I'll wait.

As far as a baseball game goes, it only costs $9 to see a major league baseball game. I can deal with paying $3.50 for a soda when it's that cheap to get in. If it was $42 to get in, then I'd have real issues.

Apples to apples means apples to apples, not general admission to CP and a VIP seat at a baseball game.

The thing is, everyone, including people at the park, like to defend the price on food at park by comparing it to other entertainment options. These are never apples-to-apples comparisons for a number of reasons.

1) The atomic cost of an outing isn't considered. ~$40 admission, ~$10 per car, ~$30 for two meals (at best). You don't eat two meals at a ball park, zoo, movie, shopping mall or whatever, especially after plopping down the rest of that money.

2) The duration may be a factor, but that doesn't work in the park's favor either. If the average park stay is around nine hours, the cost per hour (not including gas to get there) is high compared to a movie or ball game in the cheap seats.

3) Frequency is important too, if you're a season pass holder. You think you saved a buck on your $200 for a parking pass and Maxx pass, but you're still getting raped every time you buy fries. Even if food is expensive at other venues, a lot of those events are shorter and I can choose not to eat at all.

Above all, just talk to your customers. I think Cedar Point tends to drive a lot of things purely by data. You've gotta get out and have frank conversations with people, and I'm not talking about multiple choice surveys. They'll tell you what they think if you ask. I can assure you that they won't feel that great about the overall value.

And yes, Orlando pricing is relevant, because it is a similar business. If Disney World is logging 45 million visits a year, I'm going to take a stab in the dark and say a lot of Cedar Point's customers are going there. Comparisons are inevitable.

I think I am more shocked by the fact that Jeff and I agree on something!

I take back my comission statement, I just realied that they would PUSH everything onto you like cheese, cookies, another drink, etc.

I have to go with you on that statement dj, many things about the culture and management can have an effect on an employee and his/her attitude towards the job and clientel.

I think parks like CP rely on data because it's hard evidence as to what people are actually doing. Of course if you ask someone what they think of prices, they're going to say they want them lower. But, if you look at what people are really spending (or not spending), you get an accurate representation.

I'm sure CP has numbers besides overall per cap spending. They know how many burgers they sold last year at price X and how many burgers they sold the year before at price Y. They run the numbers, see that the decline in burger sales was surpassed by the increase in cost, still putting them ahead in profit. (Or, maybe burger sales remained the same even with the increased price.) I'm sure they also ran calculations to see what happens if that trend continues.

Like others have said, CP doesn't just invent numbers. There is a price saturation point to where people will just stop buying food. But, they obviously haven't reached that yet because per cap is still up. Since attendance is down, that means people are buying the same amount or more than the year prior (since there are less people spending). So, the increase in price hasn't affected them enough to warrant a change.

Those numbers tell you what people spent, not what they will spend going forward.

I have an easy solution for avoiding the high prices and poor quality of the food in the park. I go to East of Chicago for lunch. Did you know they give you a rather nice Season Pass discount? One meal for $6.99 (after the discount, including a drink and tax) in the middle of the afternoon will be all you need for the whole day. That's not bad at all.

What would the price be, sans discount, Chris?

Without the discount it is $6.99 for the buffet. I think another dollar something for a drink, and then whatever tax is. I believe my non-pass holding friend told me it was somewhere around $8.75.

Yeah, interrupting your day to leave the peninsula and come back is super convenient and a great deal.

I actually kind of look forward to it. It's a nice chance to take a break from the crowds at the park and re-energize before going back. Especially mid afternoon when lines and temperatures are typically at their highest point. It may not be the ideal situation for everybody, but it works well for me. Plus, it's so close to the park that the time spent driving there is almost negligible.

Well at least 30 people feel the same way I do and more to come.

That is a great idea, the food prices at CP , and other CF amusement parks are just outragous, maybe this can make a difference. :)