concerts

I know at some amusement parks they have amphitheatres and places like that where they have concerts... I don't think Cedar Point has ever done anything like this, but I do think it would be a great idea! Any comments???

I think they used to have a ampltheater in frontier land.

They use to have a theater in frontier land. 92 was the last year for it, it use to stand right where the lines are for Snake river falls! It was empty most of the time anyway, but at that time there wasn't really any real attractions then.

The Ampitheater mentioned was used for "The Country Show" each season.

That part of the park used to be quite an exciting area...Mine Ride running five trains...The Frontier Lift running right overhead the Mine Ride exit...You would hear "Rocky Top" as you came down the Mine Ride exit...

There's a large semicircular stage in the Ballroom above the Main Arcade. It's used on the Music Showcase Festival and Music in the Parks weekends and for some other in-park events.

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CP Schroeder
CP Resorts Reservations '00, '01

and if you review your CP History that Ballroom was used by most of the Big Bands in the 30's & 40's for dances:)

And if you review the past posts, you'll see that this was discussed a few months ago where I was about the only person who thought it'd be a good idea to book some quality names in for shows on a stage somewhere on site.

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i'd book tool...

Mine ride running five trains??? I'm not one to dispute your facts Tim but wasn't lsat year's control's upgrade done to allow Mine Ride to run 3 trains for the first eim on 3 years????

Let alone 5 trains???

Maybe it's the beer's doing the thinking...

I won't be there for the first country show on the 12th (mother's graduation from college and all) but I DO owe you a round for not getting the video edit finished...


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MF 2000 - 269 laps

MF 2001 - ???????

This is an idea whose time has come, but unfortunately no park has really persued it, except for Darien Lake, NY. (Six Flags). There is big money in concerts these days, and people who come for the concert would also spend money at the park. I spend many more of my leisure days at rock concerts than at amusement parks, and I often forego the parks to go see concerts I want to see. If some forward thinking executives (like those at CP?) would try it (and discover that it could be profitable), they are reaching a segment of people who otherwise would not go to the park.
There are two reasons concerts at parks may not work. First, most of the revenue from ticket sales goes to the artist. The venue makes money on food and drink sales, parking, and so forth. If the park isn't getting a significant portion of the ticket dollar, the park gets less return on the investment. Second, parks do not like the element that rock bands bring. Parks are typically "family oriented" and would not want to tarnish thier image. There are other artists/genres they could book, but that wouldn't be as much fun! I attended a Tubes concert at SFGam (then Marriott's) and it made for a fun day - I may have hand picked a different band, though.
I'd book the String Cheese Incident, and get a suite at the Breakers.

PKI has had the Timberwolf stadium for concerts for a few years now and have avoided that "element" by booking bands like Brittney Spears, Sugar Ray, and Weird Al and having the Annual Spirit Song (I think that's it) that has all Christian bands. That brings the young people and parents to the park so they have to pay for parking, food/drinks and whatnot. In my opinion, I don't see how a park can lose money from booking big names to play at the end of the day.

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tool has a bad crowd...

Weird Al at CP... now there would be a dream come true.. Caught him at two shows on his last tour.. Fantastic showman...

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MF 2000 - 269 laps

MF 2001 - ???????

Mine Ride did run 5 trains during the 60's and 70's at least. The station admitted two trains at a time. There were separate load and unload areas in the station. There was also an extra set of block brakes on the straight track before the final helix. Mine ride had great popularity back when it opened, as it and Blue Streak were the only coasters in the park. From what I understand, the control system was modernized to allow state certification to run three trains. There apparently was some obscure way for operator error to occur with the old system. The old system was set up to run 5 trains however, at least when it was new.

And I stand corrected.....

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MF 2000 - 269 laps

MF 2001 - ???????

CarroWinds in Charlotte has (or maybe had at this point) a several thousand seat concert venue. And then of course there's the Hard Rock at Universal and all the Disney stuff in Orlando. So actually a number of parks have done it very successfully. It's a fantastic combination for guests, and also a very good revenue generator for the parks. And I seriously doubt if they worry a lot about bringing bad elements in. A little extra security is all they'd need.

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Dave McWilliams

Now really...let's look at the "concert" issue from CP's perspective.
While we, the few, the proud, the CP fanatics, would find a concert an excellent addition, since we are familiar with the rest of the park...what would CP gain by having ____________ (fill in the blank) perform a concert.
Does CP need a Concert to bring in the crowd? No...so, while it may sound cool, neat, or whatever, it just doesn't make sense.
Disney does have separte areas...Pleasure Island...for one where concerts are held but this drives attendance at that area...CP does not have a separate area for this sort of event.

P.S. Thanks Pete for clearing up the Mine Ride running five trains...I knew it wasn't the beer:)