Cedar Point at Christmas

Do you think Cedar Point should have something at Christmas? They could do many indoor shows and maybe have an ice skating rink. This would be head them toward the family atmosphere.

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas got me thinking about this.

I think they could, but many are opposed to it. Kenywood and Hershey Park does a holiday event, and their climate is similar to Ohio. The coasters wouldn't be able to run, so it would be mostly limited to flat rides and probably just a certain area of the park. CP did try Christmas in the Park back in 1994, but from what it sounded like, it was poorly executed and just a gimmick to sell season passes.

No.

Ohio's climate might be "similar", but again, Kennywood and Hersheypark aren't on a peninsula on Lake Erie.

You can't judge anything that happens on point by what you "think" goes on elsewhere.

Unless THIS is your idea of fun: http://imgur.com/MWE7mem

edit: I have more. I took those a few years ago (I believe is was 2011) - snow up to mid-calf, and nowhere to really push it when they plow. Let's not forget the wind and bitter, bitter cold temperature. Not somewhere I'd want to spend my winter, and we had a warm vehicle we could sit in between picture stops.

I doubt there would be any snowfalls that huge in November or December. If they do, it's pretty rare. Stuff like that usually happens between January and March. And if there was a forecast for big snow, CP could post on their Facebook and website that they won't be opening that weekend due to snow since I doubt there would be many travelers for a holiday event. I know it's supposed to snow tonight, but only an inch or 2, if even that. And just because they would be open doesn't mean you have to go, nobody would be forcing you to go.

Like i said, there's a reason they're not open. That reason was decided upon by the people who spend their time up there. They know how it is, and how unpredictable it can be.

I've been there several times throughout all stages of winter, and it's not pleasant. You're delusional if you think it's anything similar to the area around us. I don't understand how it is so hard for you to grasp, but that place is the arctic in the winter time, and unless they had heated, insulated places for visitors to retreat to easily and frequently, there's no way it'd be remotely successful.

I bet that wind rips and howls down the that midway.

It's just hard for me to grasp because I've never been to CP during the winter. If I had been, my opinion could very well change on this topic.

Seems like this topic comes up every year about this time.

I've been on the midways in the winter.

NOT

FUN

TIMES.

They could do something at Castaway Bay, but being on point during the winter... NO.

Just put a dome over the park already, and call it a day.

I live in Sandusky year round, have been on the point in many different weather conditions and I say that they COULD pull off an event.

As was said the weather during November and December is not as bad as the pictures shown. I would venture to bet that those pictures were taken sometime in February or March. During November and December you may have some snow fall, you may even have some accumulation but mostly only a few inches, and that can be plowed out of the way easily, and does not last more than a day or two before melting.

Just this past Holiday season I worked at Busch Gardens Williamsburg for their Christmas event. It's not the same at all but they did do a lot of things to help with the cold and wind.

First they have lots of tents placed throughout, most tents even have heaters placed inside (of this type, http://www.superstuffpartyrental.com/pricing/tent-accessories/heaters/) They also have the propane patio style heaters placed throughout the midways to offer some places to stand and warm up a bit. Oh and of course some propane fire places to be able to enjoy some time next to a real fire!

Also there are lots of inside spaces that can be used for different food stands and attractions. You could use the arcade, ballroom, or any of the restaurants and theaters as attractions. There are even a few coasters that could PROBABLY open during the event but I am sure all the flat rides could open.

And of course then there is the Frontier Trail and Frontier Town. All the shops on the trail could be opened with themed shopping. Heck most of the buildings even have "working" fireplaces! And imagine carolers in Frontier town going from shop to shop, food stand to food stand.

Of course there are also the shows, Cedar Point has 4 theaters that could be used for shows. It would not even be difficult to have an outdoor show on the Celebration Stage or Extreme Stadium, though they may have to cancel depending on weather.

And probably the biggest draw would be the lights, imagine 4 or 5 million lights scattered throughout the park. And don't forget the main midway lights and the lights already on the Frontier Trail.

These are just a few attractions and ideas that they can use. There are plenty more some cheaper some more expensive.

Now would this be a cheap or easy thing to pull off, no. But possible oh yes! And with the growing trend in the industry to offer these types of offerings I can see it being brought up again. I see it happening with parks like King's Island (near a major city) first but expanding it to a park like Cedar point is possible and I think likely in the coming years.

As for those saying that you won't be able to get the crowds to show up, yeah you won't have record breaking numbers like you do during Halloweekends. But I would bet that you could get enough people to make it profitable and successful.

I created a similar thread last year: http://pointbuzz.com/Forums/Thread/28308.aspx

I would love it, but I've seen many valid points as to why it most likely won't happen. I wouldn't mind bundling up and wearing some layers. I personally find going to the park in the winter to be very fun and interesting (thanks to the offseason tours) since the park has a completely different feel to it. It's gonna be cold whether you're at the park or not, so might as well spend it at the place I love.

What exit english said.

We did just talk about this somewhere. It's not just cold it's bitter cold with the wind. Someone on the other thread brought up the very good point that CP is not near a major city, I don't see a good enough number of people driving out for this, especially to be freezing with not much attractions. It's just too cold there to ice skate compared to KI, Kennywood, or Hershey.

Not to say I wouldn't try it but that's only because I have a pass. They're not going to put this up for passholders with even a small upcharge, they would want to draw in whatever the regular ticket would be. Would they hire local Sandusky people for this or college students on break?

Go to the indoor water parks where it's nice and toasty.

I found another thread, which is highly informative on this very subject.

http://pointbuzz.com/Forums/Thread/26833.aspx?page=2

And to quote Walt and DSShives in that thread:

DSShives said:
I think Walt said this back in 2003 in another thread:

"Christmas in the Park suffered more from the fact that people didn't want to drive 2 hours to Cedar Point for a gift shop, a cup of hot chocolate, and a spin on the carousel than it did from the weather. I think the event failed because there wasn't enough to do to make it worth driving there unless you were a local.

Jeff and I were just talking about this very topic the other day. With Sandusky's winter potential, I think the market could support "Christmas in the Park" in the future."

Walt said:
Eight years later, I'm still convinced it's a population problem, not a weather problem. But the indoor waterpark business in Sandusky didn't take off like a lot of people, including myself, thought it would.

It looks like population may be the big factor in CP not doing such an event. It looks like Kalahari and CB are about the only draws to Sandusky during those times. I was pretty sure that weather would at least be on the low side of tolerable. Even though as I look out my window now, it's snowing it's just right at the freezing mark, but that would probably make me not go that day. Just like when I plan trips to CP during the operating season, if the forecast looks unfavorable, I choose another day.

But cold and snow is part of Christmas (most people who despise winter still want there to be snow on the ground at Christmas) which would make the weather different that bad weather during the summer.

I would expect that most people would spend an hour or two at a winter event at the park. The willingness of the drive to and from the park from Cleveland, Detroit or Columbus is a lot less for 1-2 hours than it is for a whole day or weekend at the park in the summer or the indoor water parks. And if you look at other holiday events that are much closer and offer most of what Cedar Point could offer, I think the drive makes even less sense.

Park may have used season ticket sales as a benefit of a winter event 10 years ago. But now people can buy passes online.

There are so many other Christmas events that would be in competition with the park when you consider that most of CPs business comes from outside Sandusky. Towards Cleveland there are plenty of smaller local Christmas events and Zoo Lights in Cleveland. Just in my area I can think of at least 2 Christmas events within 5 minutes of my house and at least one of them is free. I don't even live in a city, either. There would be no reason for me to pay admission and drive an hour to the park with no or only one or 2 rides available.

Unless somehow Cedar Point and Kalahari decided to make this a combo deal, with a discount stay at Kalahari an optional add-on for amission into CP's Christmas event.

I would not hold my breath for such a combo deal.

I think there's a better chance of you winning the lottery than such a combo deal happening. A combo deal between Castaway Bay and CP would make alot more sense because they are owned by the same company, where Kalahari is a competitor.

I completely forgot about Castaway Bay. Oops. Forget I ever said Kalahari haha.