Cedar Fair in AP Story

From the story:

"Even the park spokesman, however, conceded the decision has not set well with seniors."

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-Chris Woodard
Friday, September 18th, 2003 at 10:10 PM. It finally happened. Rollback on Dragster in the front seat of the gold train!

After my initial disgust at what the park is doing with the senior prices I stopped and looked at the whole thing in a different light:

The kids and I took g-ma & g-pa to the park last week.

They all had fun, we left after half a day...g-pa was sweating profously at the "Tell Tale Heart" show...must have been his diabities. They seemed to have fun, however the day was cut short because of the helth problems that ended up arising.

Lucky thing for them...we had "buy one, get one free starlight admission," so not only did the day end early, it began late too. Had it not been for the coupon...they might not have even gone. However...g-ma & g-pa are not 60 yet...they were looking forward to a discount. But $24 for the both of them for approximately 4 hours was just about satisfactory!!! I heard no complaints from them, except for the "jacket soaking" sweat, g-pa had.

Smiling, they both had a great time in the TTD grandstands before we ended up taking off for the night, with g-ma insisting that "someone's going to get hurt on that thing one day!"

So...I don't know...I think it should be polled on the seniors to find out how they feel about it before and drastic decision is permanent. Who knows...maybe like my mom and dad...4 hours after twilight is enough. Even if you come from far away...the older folks might like the peace and quiet in a hotel room for a bit, while the rest of the crew is roaming the park. Then go to watch the youngin's ride their favorite rides!

Just a thought. Take it for what you will. They seemed to have fun. Of course...in a year when my dad COULD have senior discount...well, it might be a different story at the ticket counter. I don't think anyone would want to cross him when he wants his "D*** Senior Discount."

(Reminds me...my mom has a shirt that states: "Officially a Senior...gimmie my d*** discount!!!" hehehe)
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Let's play "Find the one-legged seagull"

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neo said:

The park did not specifically say that it was an unpopular decision. They said that IF it proves to be an unpopular decision, THEN they will revert back to the old prices.

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But how could it not be an unpopular decision? Asking someone to pay more is never popular.

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I'd rather be in my boat with a drink on the rocks,
than in the drink with a boat on the rocks.

I've been thinking about OTT's post about the relative costs of senior vs. regular tickets. This year, senior tickets were $30. This is within 10% of readily available discount tickets. For example, AAA's CP price this year was $32.50. In the end, a family that plans ahead will pay only a few dollars more. Prices will go up dramatically only for those buying at the gate.
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It's not war, famine, or pestilence; it's only downtime.

Well, on one hand I agree with Servo. Many seniors do expect a discount even though it really isn't necessary. My mother and father always ask if their is a senior discount wherever they go despite the fact that their pensions, social security and savings give them considerably more money than I have. I also agree that my mother and father would still go to Cedar Point with the family despite the fact that they'll have to pay more.

However, this is definately a decision that is giving them a lot of bad press and a bad image to many people. The fact that Cedar Fair discontinued senior pricing was in the Cheboygan Tribune all the way up here in Northern Michigan. In fact it was on the front page (not a lot of news up here) with the headline Michigan's Adventure and other parks to cost seniors more (or something like that.)

Whoever said that Grandparents spend a lot of money on souveniers was right. My parents will buy the grandkids a lot more stuff than they would have ever bought us when we were kids.
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...and enjoy the rest of your day at Cedar Point, The Am-aaaa-zement park!

I kind of expected CP to do this. Ever since they removed Fasination. It was kind of proof that they are aiming for a more younger crowd, even though with all the shows, and camp snoopy they could attract seniors and seniors with grandchildren.

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"God is Lord of Angels, and of men, and of elves!"-J.R.R. Tolkien

Don't get me started on Fascination. ;)

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Dan Haverlock
TTD Rollbacks 2 For 59
"get a job man!"

Does anyone know if Disney has a senior discount? I know that the arguement is that CP and Disney is like matching apples and oranges, but according to the article CP mentions that there are more things to do than just go on rides for seniors.

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Beer and golf Thursday thru Monday, Cedar Point & beer, Tuesday and Wednesday.

As far as I know, Disney has three pricing levels for their single day tickets: 0-2, 3-9, and 10 & up.

Disney does not base ticket prices on height. It's easier for Disney to use the argument that there is plenty to do. Cedar Point uses height, in part, to determine ticket prices because the rides are the primary attraction.

If Cedar Point offers guests under 48" a reduced ticket price (presumably because that guest wouldn't be able to ride most high profile rides), shouldn't the same courtesy be offered to seniors who don't (or often can't) ride? Or even women who are pregnant? On one hand they're saying there is so much to do outside of the rides, but then they offer a price break to those not tall enough to ride.

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Walt Schmidt
Virtual Midway
*** This post was edited by Gemini 10/8/2003 1:02:44 PM ***

WDW Ticket pricing:

Annual Pass

10 and up $369, 3-9 $314

Single Day Ticket

10 and up $52, 3-9 $42

No pricing for senior tickets. I think that is justifiable since there aren't too many rides at any of the Disney parks that a typical senior cannot ride.

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"You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world...but it requires people to make the dreams a reality."
*** This post was edited by Chief Wahoo 10/8/2003 1:03:54 PM ***

DLR does not give AP discounts to children, but does discount single-day and multi-day tickets for the 3-9 set. No senior discounts.

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It's not war, famine, or pestilence; it's only downtime.
*** This post was edited by Brian Noble 10/8/2003 3:02:19 PM ***

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coasterlarry said:
And yes don't forget that cedarpoint,is taking sandusky to court on and the parking tax,did you look at the seasonpass letter,their raising parking season pass,that means parking is going up for everyone,just shows cedarpoint is not the company,they used to be!

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Even a majority of those in Sandusky feel that the tax was wrong, so why not fight it? Also, isn't it only prudent to take action to prevent the tax from hitting their pocket book?