Gold Pass - Justification

Cargo Shorts said:

What I am seriously lacking is patch jacket. What do you think Skyhawk, should I start with a denim Mickey patch jacket or go more grassroots and check out the thrift shops? Keep in mind I plan on having a ton of patches so will probably need some sort of sash for it like Scouts use.

I guess I would go with the thrift shop option. If anything I would love some Cedar Point patches for my lab coat. I have some pins that I wear on the collar lapels and on my pocket though.

Lab coat, interesting, well It has the advantage of more room for patches. 😂

And bacteria.

^And bodily fluids from dissections. I'm a biology student if you're curious to why I have one.

That’s great and all, but until the supervisors and managers can stop with the passive aggressiveness any time someone has a question or concern, things won’t get better. It’s the same clique each season for the past 8 or 9 years. Perhaps getting out of the office, visiting the locations you’re in charge of, helping the crew or leadership at that location whenever they need it, and thanking the employees for their hard work. Like I said, incentives are cool, but the things I listed above doesn’t cost a thing. It’s showing your appreciation to your team members. Something that has been lacking (at least in ride operations) for quite some time. One of the many reasons they cannot retain employees each season.

TwistedWicker77 said: ...Perhaps getting out of the office, visiting the locations you’re in charge of, helping the crew or leadership at that location whenever they need it, and thanking the employees for their hard work. Like I said, incentives are cool, but the things I listed above doesn’t cost a thing. It’s showing your appreciation to your team members. ...

This is interesting to me. I was a seasonal supervisor for 2 seasons under CF at GL and everything you said here is the complete opposite of how we ran things. I remember management getting very grumpy with us if we were in the office longer than necessary. The only times we were allowed in the offices after the park opened was when we were doing payroll, coaching or counseling, scheduling, etc. And typically only after the other area supervisor was in to be out in the park.

I had a pretty strict routine. Visit all my locations, sign necessary paperwork, help where needed, lunch. Then repeat. But I loved being out there giving breaks, operating rides, interacting with my team members and guests. At least this is how things were in 04 and 05. I can't speak to the culture after those seasons.

Very very interesting that it seems the leadership culture has changed that much.

Yeah, things have changed a lot. It really shows you the pros and cons from the Kinzel era to the Ouimet/Zimmerman era in all honesty.

In case anyone was wondering, you can still get the Gold Pass for $99 if you book a stay at one of the resorts. I just booked Breakers for June and was able to score the $99 Gold Passes for my family. Good deal if you were on the fence and still wanted in on the Gold party.

Tilt-a-Whirl said:

...you can still get the Gold Pass for $99 if you book a stay at one of the resorts.

We have in recent years made it a habit to spend 5 nights at Breakers in mid-June, and in light of this above was curious as the cost comparison.

• If we had 3 Platinum Passes plus 1 Pre-K pass: $2,720
• If we use the above deal: $2,600

The only differentiation between Gold and Platinum is access to other parks in the chain. This part of the value was never one we counted on, but enjoyed as a potential benefit that we used for a few days at KI one year.

It "feels" like they should have made more differentiation. Maybe not include the 10% discount on purchases? Maybe not include water park access? I don't know. But what I keep coming back to is that they've diluted the integrity of the gate price. Yes, it makes sense to drive attendance, but not at the expense of per caps, which I can only assume is where they're headed, if we're to use Six Flags as the most relevant example.

One very small differentiation is Gold does not get bring-a-friend discounts at CPS. Mostly an issue for locals.

Cargo Shorts said:

What I am seriously lacking is patch jacket. What do you think Skyhawk, should I start with a denim Mickey patch jacket or go more grassroots and check out the thrift shops? Keep in mind I plan on having a ton of patches so will probably need some sort of sash for it like Scouts use.

Thrift shops for sure. Mine was $2 at my neighbors garage sale.

Also, Gold does not get the FLP for the price of FL offer like Platinum does.

GigaG- Carowinds seems to have dropped the FL+ distinction and put all the rides on one Fast Lane tier. I wonder if other parks will follow suit?

It seems like a possibility. Why they even had fast lane plus in the first place never made any sense to me.

Cargo Shorts said:

One very small differentiation is Gold does not get bring-a-friend discounts at CPS. Mostly an issue for locals.

As a local, I doubt it will matter too much. Literally everyone I know has purchased a gold pass...

Skyhawk06 said:

It seems like a possibility. Why they even had fast lane plus in the first place never made any sense to me.

The only scenario in which it doesn't make sense would be if the FL pass were much, much more expensive. Having a second tier acts as crowd control on the newest and/or most popular rides, preventing the FL lines from becoming absurdly long.

I wonder if CF has researched the possibility of doing even more tiers of FL at parks like Point. Or simply changing how FL and FL+ work.

For example, Busch Gardens has Quick Queue which is 1 ride only on all available attractions. Their QQ Unlimited is, as described an unlimited option. I personally wouldn't mind seeing a shift to this structure.

Another example is how SF does their Flash Pass, disregarding the concept of you reserve your time, they have unlimited rides on all attractions included BUT limit new attractions to just 1 ride for the day. Helping to some what control the crowds at new attractions.

I know FL isn't exactly broke and it works for the purpose. But I wouldn't mind seeing some changes or tweaks. Heck, even if there was an option to buy a FL where it was only 1 ride on say 5 eligible attractions of your choice. That's something I wouldn't mind investing in on trips. As the days I go, typically only SV and Maverick really justify FL anyways.

Even with FL+ tiers, they still sell alot and FL+ lines still can exceed an hour on some attractions, which kind of dilutes it's value. I think limiting it on rides like SV along with increasing it's price and decreasing the number of sold to offset the lower number would help. I really like Disney's way of doing it. You get 3 free Fastpasses included in your ticket and lines for FP are never long. But they limit the number of FP per attraction and you pick from available times. Even for those I couldn't get FP, I got on within good time in standby. Actual wait times are usually less than posted wait times.

Speaking of Fastlane+, when is it available to purchase? And will it be cheaper to buy now as opposed to waiting for day of when we go in June? Website is only selling ALL-season FP. CP did not offer the FL+ in a Breakers package like they did the last two years so we are left with buying as a separate add-on. I'm bracing for what this will cost the six of us going this June.