CP Pass as debit card?

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avalanche runner said:
I just have a question. how would cedar point let you charge up the card? also, would the pass cost more?

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Look here, to see how Peak Resorts does it at Boston Mills ski area.

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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 just stumbled upon this page today, and it sparked my memory concerning this thread. (Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page)

http://resorts.cedarpoint.com/public/guidelines.cfm

This implies that a debit system is already in use, or at least in its infancy throughout the peninsula. It brings up some interesting questions...

Does anyone have an idea why its use is limited to the listed establishments, rather then being available all across the park? Why have the Resort Card access limited to those staying in Hotel Breakers...why not give the same benefits to other resort guests? If they have Resort Cards available why not use apply the same technology to season passes?

If this is what I think it is, then it's just a paper card that hotel guests get. When it is used, the info is manually entered into the computer later and it shows up on your bill when it works. This is the system that Brian Noble is complaining about above. Personally, I would love it if they had an electronic system, especially on the vending machines in lines. I would probably buy more $2.50 pops if I didn't actually need cash since I usually don't have that much in change.

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It's Stanley Cup time! Let's Go Red Wings!!
Less than 1 month till opening day!!
*** This post was edited by Coasterfan 4/19/2004 9:08:02 PM ***

The resort card used at Cedar Point is pretty primitive. It's basically a piece of paper and the room charges are done by hand.

It's nothing at all like the Disney system. I agree with Chief Wahoo's statement above. We stayed on property at Disney last month. The resort card was very convenient ... too convenient. It was nice, though, to have a detailed, itemized list of just about every penny we spent. In the week we were there, we literally spent $5 in cash. The rest - down to bottled water in the parks - was on the card. We just paid one big bill at checkout.

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Walt Schmidt
Virtual Midway
*** This post was edited by Gemini 4/19/2004 9:00:32 PM ***

Gemini and Coasterfan are correct. The Resort Card is that beige businesscard-like piece of cardboard that Resorts guests can get from the front desk area of wherever they're staying. It's the same card that these guests use to take advantage of the early entry ERT; the only technology vaguely attached to it is the computer program it was designed with and the machinery and printers actually used to make the cards.

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~Lee~

Group Sales ATL '01
Group Sales TL '02
Park Admissions Zone 5 Supervisor '03
Park Admissions Supervisor '04
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"The greatest leaders don't take credit for their actions; they don't have to."

I think the easiest way to get people to buy more 2.50 pops is to replace them with 1.00 or 1.25 pops instead....I'm more likely to wait until I get through the line than blow 2.50 for a pop or bottled tap-water.....

OK juggalotus, since you changed the subject for a second. $2.50 really isn't too bad considering a gas station or a store would charge around $1.40. You are at an amusement park. When you go to the movies , you'll pay top dollar for anything. A concert t-shirt lately costs around $35. A beer at a ballgame is around $6. A $1 mark up isn't to bad. I do have an idea for you, buy one of the all you can drink cups, then all you have to pay is a locker fee($1) each time you want to ride a coaster.

Back to the subject, I think CP should try to promote a system like that more. I know I spend more money when you don't think about cash. Cruise lines handle everything that way. It's great until you get the bill. But for most guests who stay at the CP resorts, money I don't think is an issue. Otherwise they would stay somewhere else alot cheaper.

This past Saturday, I bought 2 bottles of water at Jacobs Field for $3.25 each. Later that night, at the movie theatre, my wife and I shared a medium Diet Coke for $4.50.

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Walt Schmidt
Virtual Midway
*** This post was edited by Gemini 4/20/2004 2:35:53 PM ***

Two hot dogs, some cracker jack, two hotdogs and a large coke at the ice show at Joe Louis arena on Saturday: $17.27.

I don't like carrying a lot of cash with me to amusement parks. If they don't take the credit or debit card, I do without. Having a CP debit card that could be used for the drink machines in line would mean I'd more likely make a purchase.

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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead
http://www.webtechnik.com/ebony/CPLady.htm

I would love to see my bank debit card accepted at small vendors, but if it is going to take money out of my checking account everytime I make a transaction, that wouldn't be much fun.

But I think a great idea is to have prepaid cedar point cards! The card can be purchased and wired to your checking account, it will add up the transaction that you made up that day and wire the amount to your checking account at the end of the day. That way you don't have to go to ATM's whenever you want a $2 dollar soda. It would cost alot to implement but the rewards would be huge if people actually take time to pick it up. Sorry I was thinking out loud, but it sounds like a good business. The only problem is security, maybe the cards can have pin numbers when you purchase the card so that if you lose it people can't use it.

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Life has it's ups and downs, might as well make it on a coaster!

M Cards where students/faculty/staff can pay at the cashier's office to have the card swiped and the amount added (think of the gift cards you get at Best Buy, etc) is a great system. But on the Dearborn Campus, we also have "copy cards" that can be purchased from vending machines for varying amounts. The expense to CP would be in setting up the scanners, and having Pepsi provide vending machines that would accept these cards for the purchase of pop/water.

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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead
http://www.webtechnik.com/ebony/CPLady.htm

The Ann Arbor campus used to have m-card vending machines, but they went away. I was very sad to see them go, but at least the current machines take paper money.

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Lee said:
The Resort Card is that beige businesscard-like piece of cardboard that Resorts guests can get from the front desk area of wherever they're staying.

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~Lee~

Group Sales ATL '01
Group Sales TL '02
Park Admissions Zone 5 Supervisor '03
Park Admissions Supervisor '04
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"The greatest leaders don't take credit for their actions; they don't have to."

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Yup you're totally right and from a merch standpoint (after working at the hotel twice - luckily only twice) the room card is totally inconvenient for the employee as well. You have to pull out a piece of paper and do the math by calculator. It's pretty time consuming.
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2004 - Speed Zone TL
2003 - Speed Zone