Goodbye FreeWay, how we will miss you so...

Truthfully, I usually don't stay at the park long enough to use the freeway stamps - but I did really like the free "fastpass" system. It is true that it is really only necessary on Mantis, MF, and TTD. They could have saved money by cutting it for Magnum, Raptor and Wicked Twister.

Anyway, I do think this is another thing that takes away from the perceived value of the park. It is one less thing that your ticket buys you. As for free water - I don't see that going away. Even Six Flags Great Adventure does that (I'll be it in tiny plastic shot glasses).

I was just thinking the other day that one way to expand there attendance would be to do things to make their passholders come more often - something that PKI does very well. This is a move in the opposite direction.

I would be happy to see a skip the lines Sunday for Joe Cool members or something like that in the place of fastpass.

Anyone else think that the dispatch rate on MF was so bad that Freeway people couldn't get through the line before their hour was up? Not out of the realms of possiblity to think that a Freeway stamp could take close to 45 mins for a ride.

So then some managerial-type decides that the problem must surely lie with Freeway, and not with the seatbelts....?

Anyone else wondering if Joe Cool is next on the axed list?

Steve, I woulden't be suprised if the whole early entrence thing is axed next year.
*** Edited 8/15/2005 11:53:29 AM UTC by CP4eva'04***

No, Joe Cool makes cash for them.

Why pay money for a QBot pass when you can have Joe Cool for $15? Forget it! I will stick with Joe Cool and take my chances.

The only ONE good thing about Freeway being abolished. NO MORE TAR ON SILVER HAND RAILS! That was my only complaint about Freeway. Ride hosts would redeem your stamp with black tar ink and then most guests would wipe that wet ink on the silver queues. It made the area look really bad.

Wow. The wheels are coming off now. I don't like to say, "I told you so...", but.........................

I won't miss it. Maybe it's because I've seen how nice Disney's solution is (which would be overkill for Cedar Point).

FreeWay is not without its issues. It is a pain for employees and it angered its fair share of guests. I know they were going for a low-tech solution, but I never liked the idea of stamps. The way the system was implemented just seemed a little too low-tech. This was a system with problems and a system that, outside of two rides, wasn't even necessary.

*** Edited 8/15/2005 1:45:01 PM UTC by Walt***

Being at the park yesterday I can say I didn't see any freeway action. The merge sign was still at Raptor but nobody was coming in there with no stands anywhere around.

It may have not been the perfect system but once again what gets guests is the perceived value. There is another customer service item gone. A guest gets to the dragster line seeing it is 1-2 hours and is a bit angry for the wait, but he is told about freeway and gets a stamp for a shorter wait to comeback later. That helps the situation some, and he most likely is not completely disappointed.

That may be true to a point Walt, but so far they are not putting in anything to replace it. If I was going to ditch it I would have the new system up and ready the same day it was ditched. Perhaps they are forgetting the rule, you have to spend money to make money?
*** Edited 8/15/2005 1:49:04 PM UTC by Hooper***

My feelings are mixed on Freeway. The systems wasn't all that great, but I used it for TTD and MF.

If they did some research and found that many guests really didn't like it then I don't have a problem with it going away. But, the timing sure makes it look like a desperation cost cutting move.

I was at the park Sunday with some younger kids who enjoy all the flat rides. I was shocked at how many rides only had one person working. Even with minimal lines, a cycle took forever. When I was a kid, these rides ALL had two or three people working them.

How Dick Kinzel can say that the cost cutting is not reducing the guest experience is beyond me. CP is taking ideas from the Six Flags playbook, and look where Six Flags is.

Freeway is gone? Good riddance.

There are some major problems with the way Cedar Point is operating this season, but the elimination of the Freeway system is not, in my opinion, one of them.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

It seems to me that if you greet every new addition to (or retraction from) the park with pessimism, as I have this year, you aren't as disappointed by the ending result.

This is the type of thing a few of the former employees were talking about earlier this season when we said that if things didn't get drastically better soon that it was a trend we would be seeing for quite some time. It turns out that my pessimism isn't unfounded.

I agree that it's not necessary for WT, Raptor, or Magnum. WT never really gets long lines, and Raptor & Magnum are people eaters (when run properly) with little to no lines later in the day. But the other three it is necessary because of their poor capacity.

It wouldn't be as upsetting if the rides where FreeWay is most necessary were run at full capacity, with their crews hitting interval nearly every train. If MF were run like it did during the peak of the 2001 season, it would be no problem, but they aren't even close to those numbers because of seatbelt issues and lack of hustling from the crew. I've watched all three trains sit for a minute without moving three staight cycles--that's just unacceptable. MF has some of the worst capacity of all the premier coasters to begin with, but the crews decreased efficiency this year makes it that much worse. They have gotten a bit better as the season has gone on, but they are still by no means efficient.

The problem is by no means confined to MF though. Stacking is commonplace on every coaster that can stack--even on the rides that now permanently only run two trains per track (Mantis & Gemini). The rides that can't stack have set up much more this year than ever before.

My little rant goes back to the whole perceived value of a trip to the park. Unfortunately most guests will be unaware of these changes until they attend the park. When they are greeted with no FreeWay and decreased ride capacity how do you think it will affect their opinion of the park?

Does anyone else think that it was a bonehead decision to revoke FreeWay prior to arguably one of the most busy days of the year?--Next Saturday, the weekend before most schools resume fall classes.

I can't believe that cp would take out something that made national news coverage last year. They did a segment on abc or nbc nightly news about how parks are now offering line cuts and cp was featured along with Disney and Universal. While the system is obviously not needed at all the rides, it was especially nice at MF and being that is the longest line in the park it came in handy. However lately for TTD, it seemed a person would have to get there at least 20 mins early to actually receive the stamp in a line that would move very slow; it was better just to wait in the normal line.
As a season pass holder, I would be extremely upset if they got a pay system next year. If a person comes once a year and wants to pay extra, thats fine, but I am not going to pay everytime that I go. Freeway was a cheap (FREE) and quick way to get on rides.
Yall can stop worrying about the free water, its here to stay. There are laws that require places like cp to provide free drinking water from glasses since sick people have difficulty swallowing pills using drinking fountains.

Is it a decrease in perceived value? How many guests really knew what FreeWay was to being with? It was hardly promoted by the park. I doubt most guests knew it was there or even cared that it was.

I'm really suprised they got rid of this. I never really used it, however, I know many who did, and I can't see how this is going the help the "slump" in guest service that seems to be all too apparent this season. It looks like they are going the way of Six Flags.

Walt said:
Is it a decrease in perceived value? How many guests really knew what FreeWay was to being with? It was hardly promoted by the park. I doubt most guests knew it was there or even cared that it was.

I know that you have seen the line for the freeway. When I was in line for the freeway there was at least 300 people in line waiting for there stamp and I am sure when they return for there next visit they will care that it is gone.

Walt, you're absolutely right. Throughout the month that I worked on MF, there were probably over a thousand times where I had to either explain what FreeWay was, or tell them that the stamps had already run out, and no, they will not give them out again today.

I actually got very frustrated with the system, because the guests usually knew nothing about it. I had even thought to myself how the system could be made much better, just by doing little things like giving the stamps from 1-6 out at 11, and then give the stamps from 7-11 out at 5. I had to deal with many upset people because they missed their chance to get a stamp because they didn't know about the system. There were also people who almost didn't get in line because they thought that you needed a hand stamp to ride.

The merge point also had its problems. Angry guests that had waited an hour and a half already didn't know that they could have used FreeWay to cut in front of everybody, and did not appreciate people cutting in front of them. Another thing was the ink. In the entire month of working at Millennium Force, I think I actually used the stamp pad two or three times. There were a lot of people who got double or even triple rides because they didn't know that they could only use it once, and their stamp was not void. Ink was a very big hassle.

I do hope they implement a new system, but I am glad that FreeWay no longer exists, because it caused so much confusion with the guests, and so much frustration with the employees.

It'd be interesting to hear the numbers on how many people actually used the system. 300 people in line doesn't convince me that this was wildly popular and well-known. How many of those just happen to be walking by and got in line? How many thought they were in line for the ride itself?

Will they care when they come back and see it's gone? I'd bet the most common reaction will be "meh."

Standing in a long line to get a messy stamp that will, in turn, allow you to have a shorter wait later points out one of the flaws of the system.

*** Edited 8/15/2005 3:15:56 PM UTC by Walt***

Yes; the system was offered for one reason, and one reason only: to placate the people who said, "Six Flags has this FastLane thingy so you can reserve ride times, why don't you do something like that?" Cedar Point responded with FreeWay, so they could say, "We have something, and unlike the system at Six Flags, our system is FREE." It didn't matter that for 100% of the people riding the coaster it made the total wait time longer, or that only about 5% of the total riders could possibly take advantage of the program. Well, guess what: Six Flags' FastLane system is no longer a direct competitor to Cedar Point. Freeway was a messy system from the beginning, it served its purpose, but reality has caught up to it. The people who staffed it can be better used in other places, and they can finally clean the ink off the handrails.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Removing it isn't really the problem, in my mind. Removing it during the middle of the season is the issue. Someone who was able to use the system last week cannot this week. That is the loss of value, and it isn't a perceived loss...it is a real loss. This would be akin to raising the parking fee during the middle of the year. Wait, they done that before too.

If the system had faults, so be it. But don't go into the season with it or just get rid of it when the season is over. Was their some kind of major reason for this to happen now? I can only think of one issue...staffing. We are likely reaching what is affectionately known as Hell Week. Though, these days, it is more like hell weeks. The high school kids are preparing to go back to school, many colleges have already started going back and the foreign kids start dropping off like flies.

Now, before the season started you can be sure they knew all of this. But, are the admission prices going to drop this week and through Labor Day because service is going to be diminished? No. In fact, the day shortens a little as the hours are cut back some.

Again, this thing with Freeway is only one item. But it is ANOTHER item.

As for the system itself it was basically Disney's system but without all the bells and whistles. Of all the "line skipping" systems out there I believe it is the most fair...not that I really agree with any of them. But, I have taken advantage of it at Disney when I visit. If it is there....

I was just there yesterday 8-14-05 and every freeway was gone they didnt even have them sitting out anymore. I ask someone and they said there atendience dropped and they had to make cuts.