CP in Consumer Reports

I just received my latest issue of Consumer Reports and they rate Cedar Point in comparison to other major parks.

It rated CP high in rides, mediocre in shows, and low in crowds (as in big crowds).

Mediocre in shows? Um, check the awards.

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Jeff
Webmaster/GTTP - Sillynonsense.com
"Pray that your country undergoes recovery!" - KMFDM

If they were compairing the shows to Disney or Universal then yes. They are less than them.

But to other amusement parks they are better.

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"I can't make a movie or write a song either, but that doesn't mean I'm not entitled to think they suck."
-Jeff

Drags: 0 Forces: 0 Twists: 0 Kick the Sky: 0

I love the shows at Cedar Point. I also think they are comparing them to Disney or Universal Studios. I have never been to either theme park chain but I bet they would be better since they have alot more money to invest in them (movie studios, merchandise, ect).

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Eric Morrison (Coast)
Drag Races: 6
Point Hype
http://www.pointhype.com
*** This post was edited by Etrain 5/11/2003 5:43:50 PM ***

Can't wait to see the actual article...

CP and knotts both seem to have very good shows. I know at knotts they have mystery lodge, which was originally planed for disney's america until knotts bought the plans. Also, can't beat those snoopy on ice shows for the children (and older audiences also) at both CP and knotts. But nothing, NOTHING, beats the hanging!!!!

I've noticed that Consumer Reports and I do not agree about a lot of things they report on, especially cars. They do an OK job, but they just give an opinion, and you know what they say about those!

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Florida may have Disneyworld and Key West,
but Ohio has Cedar Point and Put-In-Bay.
It's great to live in Ohio!

Why would they rate Cedar Point in low crowds. They have huge crowds.

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Gas for drive to Cedar Point: $25
Ticket to Cedar Point: $43
Drink while in line for ride: $3
Travel 420 feet in the air: Priceless

Well, maybe that's the point (I haven't seen the article). Higher crowds == lower ranking.

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--Greg
My Home
MF count: 54 TDD: 4

Not seeing this thread, I started another one (sorry Jeff), and here is what I wrote about to article (Note: other thread about to be DELETED!):

In the June, 2003 issue of Consumer Reports, there is an article about amusement parks. In this article, based on a survey, 14 of the most visited amusement parks in the USA were rated. The results may surprise you.

My favorite park, and the one this entire website is about, was rated 9th overall, based on visiter satisfaction. The eight parks rated higher than Cedar Point were all parks from Disney, Anheiser Busch, and Universal. Cedar Point received good ratings for rides, fair for value, and poor for souvenirs and crowds (based on my interpretation of the little red circles they use).

Knott's was included in the list, but did not rate very well on value. Interestingly though, the entire survey did not include a single park from Six Flags. According to the article, they did not receive enough responses for any of Six Flag's parks.

Commentary:

Based on the fact that the top 3 parks were all at Walt Disney World, with 4 and 5 being Sea World Orlando and IOA respectively, I think the ratings show the perception of Cedar Point as not the most well known place for families. I do agree with the souvenirs rating, though based on this year, I think that is improving.

Considering that 2 Cedar Fair parks were rated, joining only the 3 other major park operators mentioned above, Cedar Fair is a partnership that knows what its doing. Though I have not been to KBF, I think its great to see Cedar Point be one of the only "traditional" amusement parks rating relatively well in a group of parks that depend on theming or animals for their attractions.

Though I would like to see Cedar Point rated higher, I think it rated very well for a park open less than 6 months a year. Glancing at the ratings, it looks like the only seasonal park there.

-Sam
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Avalanche Run - My first Roller Coaster.
Magnum XL-200 - The BEST Roller Coaster!

CP has great shows. In the article, they were comparing it to WDW, Universal, SeaWorld, etc. So I can see why they wouldnt rate as hi because the other parks use a lot of expensive sets, pyrotechnics, etc...

I am happy to see CP that highly rated. Even thought the other parks are somewhat different than the park that CP is.

I imagine other parks get higher rankings just out of sheer marketing saturation and being well known.

The crowds rating could go both ways. A dead park shows that no one likes or goes to the park. A busy park shows that there must me something very good at that park if they are packing them in.

Its hard to make a fair comparison to other parks as WDW and Universal are a bit different in their style.

I'd take CP any day.

If you interpret from the article that the park doesn't have a family-friendly reputation, I think I would likely agree with that to a certain extent. It actually is, but the gigantic rides are entirely too distracting from that. Unless they're going to blow us away with something else entirely insane next year, I suspect you'll see more family-targeted marketing next year.

Of course, another thing to consider is that they aren't exactly a destination park. They still maintain they're regional, which is kind of weird that you'd build so many hotels with that mentality, but then again, they do fill them.

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Jeff
Webmaster/GTTP - Sillynonsense.com
"Pray that your country undergoes recovery!" - KMFDM

It would be interesting to see how many of the hotel rooms are filled by people within K miles, for some reasonable value of K. For example, we live two hours away, but splurge once or twice a year (for 2-3 nights each time) on an extended visit on-property.