Cedar Point 2012

^That is beautiful. Look at the line for that!!

PrawoJazdy said:

There is a Safari up route 2 with a much bigger petting zoo that costs less for the whole family to visit twice than it does for a one day visit at Cedar Point.

I'll have you know, I'm probably one of the few people on the planet who can truthfully say their sideview mirror was knocked off by a bison, courtesy of that park. :)

You're suggesting people pay $44.95 to visit the petting zoo and nothing else, when you can visit a petting zoo within 50 miles of any spot in the mid-west. I don't think "short sighted" begins to explain that ridiculous notion.

You're missing the point entirely. Of course no one would pay Cedar Point admission to visit a petting zoo. It has nothing to do with that in and of itself. People will pay, however, to do things together as a family at a place like Cedar Point. It doesn't matter if that is as simple as enjoying some quality time together petting some sheep, or riding something like White Water Landing, Earthquake, or the Pirate Ride. Keep removing those options, and eventually Grandma and Grandpa disappear (in fact, I would argue that Grandparents already have disappeared to some extent). Then, when mom and dad decide that there is not enough to do, they'll decide to go to Kennywood instead, or Dollywood, or a zoo...and I would not be surprised at all if this has already happened to a certain degree.

The live shows have already gone into the toilet compared to a decade ago. There is no more Jungle Larry, no more dolphin shows, and the paddle-boats have given way to a neutered version of a boat ride that is a shadow of what it used to be. The point? Family-focused attractions have been the back burner for a long, long time.

Am I complaining that we now have Maverick and Millennium Force? Of course not...however, what the park should do, in my humble opinion, is to now turn the tide towards balance. Keeping Ocean Motion is such a breath of fresh air (especially considering what they did with it) that I actually took the time to write John H. a brief letter explaining how big of a deal some people think that was.

What is short-sided is thinking this is about the petting farm specifically, and only the petting farm. It is the principle of how poor, and short-sighted, of a decision removing an attraction like this would be, when Cedar Point is already direly short on attractions that fall into the same column; things the family can do together.

I'm all for less old people. Tell granny to stay home!

SSL488 said:

BTW... Did CP get new trash cans this year? It seems like they are 'prettier' I think the ones last year were those square ones...?

The new ones are nicer, but it would be fun if they could bring back the attraction/area specific trash cans. I remember the ones for White Water Landing, Thunder Canyon, Frontiertown, Gemini, and (of course) The Amazement Park. While I completely understand that it's much easier to have uniform decals throughout the entire park it was one of those neat little details that made Cedar Point special back then.

I think the all time attendance record at CP was set the year Raptor opened, at that time many of the family attractions were still in place. After that year, many of the family attractions were slowly removed and attendance began a slow decline and has never approached record levels in spite of all the coasters that were added. Is that a coincidence? It can be argued that it is not. Even some simple things like the Hobo Band and Beach Band that were taken away added much entertainment to the park. Can the Pet Farm stimulate attendance and repeat visits? Absolutely!

If it were up to me, I would have one a family attraction (even something simple like bumper boats or a new show) with every new thrill ride/coaster.

Looking at the picture of WWL reminds me so much on how I miss it. There were just no other ride like it at the time.

The new ones are nicer, but it would be fun if they could bring back the attraction/area specific trash cans. I remember the ones for White Water Landing, Thunder Canyon, Frontiertown, Gemini, and (of course) The Amazement Park.

Wait.. They had specific trash cans for different areas of the park? I was probably too young to remember any of this. Anyone have pics?

I remember them, and I feel the same way. I remember Gemini and The Amazement Park specifically. I do not like how all the new ones look the same, and I hate how every Cedar Fair park has the same generic logo on the trash cans (once again, making each park lose it's identity because Cedar Fair has to make each park look all the same).

I also hate how there is a trash can every 7-10 feet from another. I know crowds can be crazy, people litter a lot, but I think it's just too much.

Shades said:
I couldn't help but notice the deadness of the entire Frontier Trail during this past Sunday/Monday trip. Maybe it is because we go during "off" times but there just is not anything about that area that seems of interest. The blacksmith building is closed up. There is a fort that sells leather belts, a candle store, a candy store, an old barn, a couple of old tractors, and a petting zoo. I get the attraction of the petting zoo and it is a nice diversion but I don't get the overall charm affect of this area. Why do I want to buy a belt from a fort? Why do I want to buy candy out of a log cabin? I like all of the trees and shade but this area seems like it is trying to be something besides what it is - it tries to be historical with the modern spin of selling stuff. I don't get the attraction of that approach. If they are after history make it that rather than a store selling crap I can get in a real store.

Its almost like this area is in the midst of the generational technological turmoil that the rest of the world is facing. How much longer will it be before the next generation really does not give a crap about this "old run down stuff" and it gets removed? I am seeing it with my kids already. While I don't have much to say about old tractors I can look at them and think of what it must have been living in that era. My kids look at the tractors and have nothing to link it to - there is no connection with it and the world they are surrounded by. So they say it is boring and try to get us through the area as fast as possible so they can do something fun.

could not have said that any better myself :)

Those old trashcans were great! Coekscrew, Giant Wheel, Gemini, Amazement Park, and Frontier Town. They were cool, and I would love to have one for my amusement park mancave at home!

Kevinj said:

You're missing the point entirely.

No I'm not. I've said multiple times and even in the post you quoted that it's no secret about the lack of family attractions. The general consensus among enthusiasts (and not the general public) is that removing the petting farm is going to cause some drop in attendance. Logic dictates that won't happen. Logic dictates that Cedar Point's attendance is not driven by White Water Landing, Dolphin Shows, Jungle Larry and a Steam Boat on a track or even the shows. It's a nice change of pace in an otherwise crowded and thrilling day, but in the end, it's not what the majority of people come to the park for.

Cedar Point is a business and despite what some of you may think, the petting zoo does not make or break decisions the park makes.

I think that's a problem. The people who did come to the park for things like the petting zoo have stopped coming. Riding Millennium Force and Dragster are memorable experiences. I don't think CP has anything that creates anything close to the same memorable experience for young families.

I wonder how many families will be riding Shoot the Rapids this year. All the issues of last year really didn't give it a chance to even attempt to be the family ride they want it to be. I'm still skeptical it can be what WWL was.

And bring back the charming trash cans!

Kevinj said:
and I would not be surprised at all if this has already happened to a certain degree.

The last decade of reports indicating declining attendance (while prices and per cap spending have gone up) would indicate that it has.

Speaking as an older park enthusiast from the 80s and 90s and now father of a 17yo, Cedar Point's dropping of numerous "family friendly" attractions certainly HAS affected my visits...I haven't been to CP since HW 2002 and my daughter NEVER has gone. We're planning our first and possibly last trip together for Fall. We hit plenty of other parks, Kings Island and Kennywood in particular. I'm no wallflower when it comes to coasters and my daughter has inherited my "park commando" genes, but I like to sit back and enjoy a dark ride or three as well and CP shot themselves in the foot there with the removal of the Pirate ride. DT was an acceptable substitute for awhile but from what I'm given to understand it's nothing more than a ride in the dark now.

My biggest regret was only gettig to ride Earthquake twice before it was gone. :(

I saw an old Shows brochure from the 1987 and it struck me just how much live-E was cut back. They even had a touring group that did shows in the off season at various events called the Amazement Park Revue. I remember a show by them at a festival in Vermillion after the park was closed for the season. They actually had 11 musical shows in the park in 1987, including a venue in Frontier Town that was torn down!

While I love the coasters personally, CP is missing out on a fairly sizable group of people that probably no longer come to the park. In the 80's, with the musical shows, IMAX, Jungle Larry, the dolphin show and all the crafts demonstrations on the Frontier Trail, you could actually have a full day at the park without ever going on a ride.

It's hard to adjust your observations for what surely must be bias, but it certainly seems to me there are fewer grandparents coming (with or without grandkids) than there used to.

Pete, the venue you speak of was an out door amphitheater. You can see it's location on this park guide. It look slike it was where Skyhawk is now. There is a description of the show at the amphitheater for 1971 in this brochure.

Since people have been discussing Frontier Trail, here is an original frontier trail map that they used to hand out.

Frontier Trail Brochure: Link 1 and Link 2

I remember the show "Country Sunshine" at the Frontier Theatre. It was kind of pleasant to have live music playing in the Town Hall area.