How Cedar Point Covertly Doubled Their Admission Price (And How Apple Stole a Page Out of Their Playbook)

There was a minor controversy recently regarding the release of the iPhone Xs and Xs Max. Apple managed to dramatically raise their prices and very few people even noticed.

Last year the iPhone X was released as a "premium" phone and the iPhone 8 was released as the standard flagship.

This year the premium-priced Xs is the "flagship" and the Xr, which is the same price as last year's flagship, is now the "budget" model.

In one year Apple made "Premium" the "New Standard". What was previously standard pricing is now the budget line.

Recently I made a trip to the Point. Throughout the day I realized that Cedar Fair already made the same play years ago. To explain, I need to make a minor digression into a trip report.

I live around 3.5 hours away. I got inside the park about an hour after opening. In 10 hours I rode two roller coasters, ate lunch, and walked my dog (Pet Chek). The rest of the time was spent waiting in line. Essentially I drove 7 hours, paid for a hotel room, and spent most of the day waiting for just under 6 minutes of ride time.

I love roller coasters. Cedar Point was a huge part of my childhood. I'm no stranger to waiting in line. Yet, from a business standpoint, it's fascinating how Cedar Point has used their lines to maximize their profitability.

During my last visit many of the Fast Lane lines were 45 - 60 minutes. This is what I would have considered a standard wait 5-10 years ago. Now the "Standard" wait is 2.5 - 3 hours while the "premium" wait is 45 - 60 minutes. Just like Apple, Cedar Point has made Premium the New Standard.

Fast Lane has moved from being a nice "convenience" to being non-optional if you actually want to ride anything. Essentially Cedar Point's ticket pricing now has three tiers:

"Economy" (Standard Admission):
This gets you into the park to enjoy the atmosphere, buy food, and possibly ride 1-3 of the major rides.

"New Standard / Premium" (Fast Lane):
This gives you the normal wait times you'd have expected 5-10 years ago. This is the new "typical day at the park".

"Exclusive" (VIP):
This lets you skip all the lines and ride as much as you want with no waiting.

Here's the thing... As a "middle middle-class" person I have to make choices about how I spend my entertainment dollars. I decided to run some numbers:

Cedar Point:
Admission Ticket: $57
Fast Lane: $85
Gas: $56
Hotel: $117
Total: $315

Walt Disney Magic Kingdom:
Admission Ticket: $127
Air Fare: $60 (We pack light and fly Allegiant)
Uber: $40 (Roughly)
Hotel: $137
Total: $364

Is a day at the Magic Kingdom still more expensive? Yes, but not wildly. Not now that Fast Lane is pretty much a requirement for the "New Standard" experience.

This doesn't include the hidden charges CP has built in to riding their coasters. Steel Vengeance now has a mandatory $2 - $3 charge per ride. Expecting me to leave my cell phone in the car isn't realistic. Not because I can't live without my phone, but because my phone is also my camera. I want to be able to take pictures to remember the day.

Cedar Point *could* choose to offer free lockers like Universal, but they don't.

I'm sure many of you are local season pass holders. For you, it's easy to show up on a specific Tuesday when you know the crowds will be lighter. I'm sure many of you will quibble that grabbing a Subway cup can get you a discount on regular admission. You know what? I'm happy for you.

...But for those of us who aren't locals, your reality isn't our reality. We have to go when we can get off work to go. For many of us the "Economy (aka: standard)" admission is already pushing the edges of what we can afford. We have to make hard choices about how we spend our money.

While I admire Cedar Point for optimizing their profitability, I'm not sure I'll choose to spend my entertainment dollars there again.

The thing is as much as I don't like watching people in Fastlane go ahead of me if it didn't exist that would not solve the particular problem you had. If the park is busy enough that the Fastlane waits are that long the park is just super busy. Aside from turning people away or raising prices so high that way less people could afford to go the park at all I'm not sure there is a whole lot the park can do to fix your problem. Some days at the park just suck compared to others.

Grumble, grumble, I hate capitalism. Grumble, grumble, I don't understand supply and demand.

Got it.

The whole "covert" argument regarding Apple (and CP for that matter) is absurd to me. Just because Apple didn't explicitly announce their new pricing strategy doesn't mean it was "covert". They can charge those higher prices because people are willing to pay them. Period, end of story.

The same is true of Cedar Fair. And your complaints, validity aside, illustrate a major part of the problem - they, like Apple, are in some ways victims of their own success. Based on your wait times, I'm guessing you visited CP in the absolute height of the season - either late July through August, or during HW (consider this the analogue to buying an iPhone at launch). You are going to get a worse value for the same product compared to someone who visits on a Wednesday in early June (just like someone can buy the same iPhone a year after launch at a lower price... I think, I don't pay attention to their pricing these days).

But back to your visit, are you saying that you can only get time off during those specific few weeks of the year? That it is impossible to shift that time off until, say, mid-June? Or to visit the park on a Wednesday in July if June doesn't work?

One thing the park could do to ease peak attendance during the uniquely-narrow window during which you're available would be to increase the gate price. Of course, that wouldn't solve the problem, since you'd wait less, but pay more. And you seem to already be against your limit as far as the value proposition is concerned.

It sucks that you can't find a time to go when it's less busy, or spread a visit out over a few days, but this is what happens when a product is successful.

So many reasons to not visit. Especially concerning funds. I can’t speak for you but I don’t have children. I’m not sure how families even swing it, but they do. And they swing it so much that the park feels confident in their pricing. If/when that changes, for their worse, perhaps the current price bubble will burst. I wouldn’t hold your breath.

This is where local parks can excel. My area park has exponentially increased prices in every conceivable way since they sold out and went corporate. So now I just travel to fulfill my amusements.

Luckily we have choices because no matter where, we pay to play. (Sent from 2 year old iPhone SE)

Paisley said:

The thing is as much as I don't like watching people in Fastlane go ahead of me if it didn't exist that would not solve the particular problem you had. If the park is busy enough that the Fastlane waits are that long the park is just super busy.

Perhaps, but it's only logical that Fast Lane slows down the regular line. The lines still would have sucked, yes, but Fast Lane creates the aforementioned tier system where "Premium" payers get the old "Standard" experience and "Standard" users get a subpar experience that isn't worth the price tag. I feel confident in saying that without Fast Lane it would have sucked less for more people.

Grumble, grumble, I hate capitalism. Grumble, grumble, I don't understand supply and demand.

Not actually anti-capitalist. I was an economics major in college. Believe me, I know my way around a demand curve. I'm merely stating that the cost to get what was once a "standard" experience has risen to the point that it's not longer worth it to me to pay. I will be looking for alternatives for my entertainment dollars.

Based on your wait times, I'm guessing you visited CP in the absolute height of the season - either late July through August, or during HW

I've had similar experiences the last few times I've been to the Point. The most recent was indeed Halloweekends. Over the past few years I've visited in May, June, and July. Aug / Sept is my busy time and I usually can't take vacation.

This is where local parks can excel. My area park has exponentially increased prices in every conceivable way since they sold out and went corporate. So now I just travel to fulfill my amusements.

Luckily we have choices because no matter where, we pay to play. (Sent from 2 year old iPhone SE)

I too am rocking a 2 year old iPhone SE! It's a good phone! The one thing that doesn't make my comparison perfect is that, unlike CP, I feel that Apple's phones are worth the price. I can get a good 4-5 years out of an iPhone.

You're right, and that was honestly the point of my post. CP has gotten to the point where the value for what I pay is no longer worthwhile. If I just save for a little longer I can actually spring for Disney, which is crazy.

I'm not poor, but I also don't like being ripped off. Walking into CP definitely feels like I'm being shaken down for my money at this point.

Fast Lane only incrementally makes the regular line longer, the analysis you presented is too simplistic. Once you enter the line, all the people in both Fast Lane and the regular line would be ahead of you if Fast Lane didn't exist. The only increase in your wait time would be people entering the Fast Lane line after you enter the regular line. Fast Lane does make your wait longer but not as long as you stated.

As far as Disney, I'm sure you can make a CP vacation just as expensive as Disney if you stay in some of the more expensive Breakers rooms, not counting air fare if needed. As far as if it is worth it depends on which product you like better. CP offers a unique thrill seeking product that Disney can't match in the thrills department. Same can be said for Disney if you prefer a more role playing highly themed experience with fictional characters. Apples and Oranges.

I know someone from California that flies to CP about four times a summer and stays at Breakers each trip. Never visits Disney even though Disneyland is in their back yard. As with anything, the value you get out of something is highly dependent on personal taste.

This is also not factoring in the investments CF made to the park which reduce queue times as well.
From my first visit in 2007 to the now 4-6 trips a year from Wisconsin, wait times are much less than they were in the first few years we visited.
-There are the obvious additions of large coasters which spreads the coaster lines out.

—The improvements to the once mostly unused beach and boardwalk that now regularly has hundreds of people utilizing it for free (gasp!).
- CPS much needed improvements pull people out of the main park.
-coincidental improvements to the hotel pools and recreation areas in and out of park also give people more leisure time at the hotel instead of queuing up.

The 5 multi-day trips I’ve been this year, the only Ride I’ve seen with more than an 1.5 hour wait was SV and that was never more than 2 hrs. (Note: I’ve not been to HWs yet till this weekend.)

jadams said:

In 10 hours I rode two roller coasters, ate lunch, and walked my dog (Pet Chek). The rest of the time was spent waiting in line.

Assuming 30-45 minutes for lunch (I'm also assuming you are by yourself), and 30-45 minutes for a dog walk, that means you spent roughly 8 hours in line. For two rides. Did you ride Steel Vengeance twice? Because no other ride in the park has a line that long.

I'm also confused about what you mean about what a standard visit "used to be". When Magnum was new the line could easily get to 2-3 hours long (or longer). The same can be said of Millennium, Dragster, Mean Streak, and even Corkscrew when it opened...especially on the comparable peak days from those "good ol' days" you speak of. I can remember many visits as a college kid in the 90's visiting with friends on busy weekends and only getting in a few rides. This is nothing new...and we didn't have a dog to walk.

Not to sound cynical, but if you live that far away and you want your visit to be meaningful, you need to plan a lot better. It's not the park's fault that the times you choose to visit are (obviously) some of the busiest days in the park.

If you went to Disney World on a comparable peak day, you would have the same experience...or worse.

What Cedar Point has done is actually something designed to help someone just like yourself. If you truly cannot make it to the park on a non-peak day, they have created a product to help you enjoy your day better. Fast Lane was not created with season-pass holders like myself in mind (I think). It was created for someone like you.

In the days of lore you speak of, you had no choice. If the park was rockin' the day you showed up, you had to wait in the same line as everyone else. In 2018...if it's worth it to you...you can now bypass all that waiting.

You mentioned above that you had previously visited in May/June...that's more or less the ideal time to visit if you want a less crowded park. We vacation at the Point for a week every year in early June, and aside from Steel Vengeance this past year, I can say with 100% certainty that we have never waited more than 30-45 minutes to ride anything in the park in the past 3 years. Sans Fastlane.

And people complain about their trips in May/June because nobody's in line for food, but it takes to long.

Nobody that is pulling out their phones on rides is calling someone. The reason the phones come out it to take photos or videos.

If your going to travel that far stay for a few days and you'll get better service at a sit down restaurant than the food stands. Costs a little more but the quality of the food is a lot better. I'd suggest Famous Dave's or Melt.

Everyone wants to go on the same days. It doesn't have to be sunny and warm and the crowds keep getting bigger. But it doesn't stop people from changing their plans. Halloweekends is not the time to make your only trip. Maybe make 2 trips.

jadams said:

...Fast Lane creates the aforementioned tier system where "Premium" payers get the old "Standard" experience and "Standard" users get a subpar experience that isn't worth the price tag. I feel confident in saying that without Fast Lane it would have sucked less for more people.

This is only true if the sole focus of your visit is to ride as many thrill rides and coasters as possible, while forgoing everything else the park has to offer. As XS pointed out, the park offers things it didn't, even a few years ago - the beach is the most obvious, and the value of that improvement cannot be overstated in my opinion.

We used to make several trips each season, usually for 1 or 2 nights at a time. With the changing demands of family life, we can't make as many trips, so we usually make one 5-ish night trip, and another for 2 or 3 nights. Ultimately we spend basically the same number of nights each season, but I feel like we get more value now.

Perhaps you can employ a similar strategy. Rather than visiting for one day each year, maybe visit every 2 or 3 years, for 3 nights each visit. This allows you to experience the park more fully, while reducing the likelihood that you'll encounter huge crowds or poor weather.

Looking at your cost/day above ($335/day - you forgot to include parking), you'd come out ahead as far as value:

• Platinum Pass $195
• Fast Lane $75 (for one of your days, to guarantee a "riding day")
• Gas: $56
• Hotel: $352
• Total: $678

That works out to $226/day. So you would spend less per day, and I bet you'd have a far better time. So I suppose it comes down to a choice - visit once a year for 1 day and take your chances, or visit every few years and virtually guarantee an enjoyable time.

I was at the park Saturday, which arguably was the busiest day I have ever seen the park in my 20+ years of going. And the first Halloweekend Saturday I have attended (normally I avoid Halloweekend Saturdays due to their insane crowds) ever, but due to some schedule conflicts it was my last available day to attend for the season.

Was at the park from 1030-3p and rode 5 rides. Ate 2 meals, spent some time doing things on the Frontier Trail and stopped in 5-6 different gift shops to see if there was anything I'd like to buy before the end of the season.

For just 2 rides in 8 total hours of inside the park you either were ungodly unlucky with the lines or you chose poorly and really had to ride Maverick and Steel Vengeance before the end of the season.

Every other visit I have had this season, usually on a Sunday has been for the most part fantastic ride wise. Usually getting 10 plus rides in, including re-rides on most coasters excluding Steel Vengeance. Most of my complaints this season have been centered around the staffing levels for food stands, poor service at food stands or seeing majority of the Freestyle stands closed.

But to bring up the waits you're talking about it seems like you only are at the park on August or October Saturdays. A little better planning could prevent a lot of those waits for rides you're referring to. For example, this Saturday excluded I have not been to the park in the last 3 seasons where after 5pm or so the lines for Raptor, Gatekeeper, Wicked Twister and Rougarou were more than station waits.

While I can't agree with most of OP's comments, I've been saying for the past 2 or 3 years that they grossly oversell Fastlane. Not that I'm a fan of price increases but personally I feel for what the product is supposed to be, it is too under-priced. I believe this under-pricing does dilute the value of the overall ride product to those with and without it.

In my opinion the Fastlane wait should never be more than 20% (on the high end, ideally less) than the regular wait. This past Sunday, the posted stand-by time for SV was 1.5 hrs and Fastlane was 50 min. To me, that is not how Fastlane was initially designed and the price upgrade, in my opinion, is not worth it. Had I not used my renewal Fastlane freebie that day and actually paid, I would've been upset.

The only solution to this problem is to raise the price. Obviously the product is in demand and we all know how that works. The park will still make their money (higher price x less purchasing) and therefore both purchasers and non-purchasers will get better value overall.

Scott Cameron said:

In my opinion the Fastlane wait should never be more than 20% (on the high end, ideally less) than the regular wait. This past Sunday, the posted stand-by time for SV was 1.5 hrs and Fastlane was 50 min.

What were other FL waits like? Because I don't think SV is a reasonable case study, considering it's the new ride, and is running in a neutered, low-capacity mode.

Many rides were similar that day unfortunately. Maverick standby was 1.25 hr, Fastlane 35 (posted 45 but I've been going for years and know to gauge lines). MF standby was 1 hr and FL was 35 (true wait - I did it).

Of course, Valravn and Raptor have similar problems early in the day but later afternoon not so much. Either way, there are too many FL sold in my opinion. They really should raise the price like 50%.

In my case it cost them. Real world example, I wanted to go back this Sunday. I can afford Fastlane and will gladly pay. One can assume there will be similar crowds. I won't pay $85 for Fastlane as is to barely save time on rides. And I won't go without it because I'm not one for waiting in long lines anymore. Therefore, I'm not going.

Would I still go and pay a higher price for Fastlane if I knew for sure waits would be near to nothing for most and no more than 20 minutes for SV? Absolutely.

As an aside, I don't know if you've been since they've been running 3 trains on SV but I wouldn't consider it running in low-capacity mode anymore. Sure it could still be better but capacity on that ride has greatly improved.

djDaemon said:

What were other FL waits like? Because I don't think SV is a reasonable case study, considering it's the new ride, and is running in a neutered, low-capacity mode.

SV has been running 3 trains since Labor Day weekend.

{quote]Would I still go and pay a higher price for Fastlane if I knew for sure waits would be near to nothing for most and no more than 20 minutes for SV? Absolutely.

Simply because you would pay more doesn't necessarily mean the park maximizes its profit by charging more. Same is true with lower prices. For years on this site there have been many people stating that the park should reduce prices on x, y or z (drinks were very popular topic at one point) because they would buy or buy more at a lower price. That doesn't necessarily mean that a lower price would maximize profits either. Park has a lot more info than any of us has in terms of setting prices. Absent more info, I would go with prices they set as better profit maximizing.

I have only paid for front of the line passes at parks I don't visit often. At Cedar Point, I just pick days when I am looking to ride and if I need to go on a crowded day, resign myself to riding smaller rides, relaxing or waiting for bigger rides. Used the free fast lane with my pass renewal a couple Fridays ago. Was great. Made Steel Vengeance pretty much a walk up ride (7 laps when we first got there and another 8 at close). Other rides were a mixed bag. Valravn was walk up. Raptor was a stair wait though the regular line was as well. MF was a "long" wait -- about 30 mins -- for everyone because they were running 2 trains and crew that night was very slow. Would I have paid that night for the experience we got? Yes. Just for SV alone. In several years after I have ridden SV a lot, maybe not. Only previous ride on it was once during opening weekend.

Scott Cameron said:

While I can't agree with most of OP's comments, I've been saying for the past 2 or 3 years that they grossly oversell Fastlane. Not that I'm a fan of price increases but personally I feel for what the product is supposed to be, it is too under-priced. I believe this under-pricing does dilute the value of the overall ride product to those with and without it.

I think the last few weekends a good number of Fast Lane users are taking advantage of their free Fast Lanes for renewing passes. And this year, marina dock holders received two Fast Lane + vouchers for renewing their boat dock. I used mine for the past two Sundays and had a blast. I avoided peak times at Maverick and Steel Vengeance but everything else had a very short Fast Lane line. When I did ride Maverick, the Fast Lane wait was only about 10-15 min. and the regular line was 1.5 hrs. Had four rides in a row on Valravn in the last 30 mins. of operation. Beautiful weather this past Sunday also, overall a stellar day at the park!

GoBucks89 said:

{quote]Would I still go and pay a higher price for Fastlane if I knew for sure waits would be near to nothing for most and no more than 20 minutes for SV? Absolutely.

Simply because you would pay more doesn't necessarily mean the park maximizes its profit by charging more. Same is true with lower prices. For years on this site there have been many people stating that the park should reduce prices on x, y or z (drinks were very popular topic at one point) because they would buy or buy more at a lower price. That doesn't necessarily mean that a lower price would maximize profits either. Park has a lot more info than any of us has in terms of setting prices. Absent more info, I would go with prices they set as better profit maximizing.

I have only paid for front of the line passes at parks I don't visit often. At Cedar Point, I just pick days when I am looking to ride and if I need to go on a crowded day, resign myself to riding smaller rides, relaxing or waiting for bigger rides. Used the free fast lane with my pass renewal a couple Fridays ago. Was great. Made Steel Vengeance pretty much a walk up ride (7 laps when we first got there and another 8 at close). Other rides were a mixed bag. Valravn was walk up. Raptor was a stair wait though the regular line was as well. MF was a "long" wait -- about 30 mins -- for everyone because they were running 2 trains and crew that night was very slow. Would I have paid that night for the experience we got? Yes. Just for SV alone. In several years after I have ridden SV a lot, maybe not. Only previous ride on it was once during opening weekend.

True, and in no way am I saying that everyone would pay more. In fact, I'm saying the opposite. I know you weren't saying that's what I said but this thread was started by someone who felt that their perceived value of a day at CP is diminished by the "need" for Fastlane. They're not the first among people I've talked to that feel that way.

While you're right I may not be privy to the same data CP upper management has, I bet (or at least hope) that they think or realize that they are over-selling FL. You mentioned profit maximization. I was talking about profit equalization with better value for both payers and non-payers. Meaning that the park could (and should) find the equalization point. That is, raise the price, sell less, and profit the same (assuming they are currently happy with FL profits now).

The park has data not only in sales volume but also keeps track of FL use, overall ridership, and wait times for both. I'm sure you'll agree that FL waits, by design, shouldn't be over 50% of the stand-by time. And again, I'm sure (or at least hope) park management feels this way too.

It's just like anything else in economics. When demand is high you raise the price until you reach equilibrium. If 1/3 of the people in the park buy FL, they have not reached equilibrium.

Pete said:

Scott Cameron said:

While I can't agree with most of OP's comments, I've been saying for the past 2 or 3 years that they grossly oversell Fastlane. Not that I'm a fan of price increases but personally I feel for what the product is supposed to be, it is too under-priced. I believe this under-pricing does dilute the value of the overall ride product to those with and without it.

I think the last few weekends a good number of Fast Lane users are taking advantage of their free Fast Lanes for renewing passes. And this year, marina dock holders received two Fast Lane + vouchers for renewing their boat dock. I used mine for the past two Sundays and had a blast. I avoided peak times at Maverick and Steel Vengeance but everything else had a very short Fast Lane line. When I did ride Maverick, the Fast Lane wait was only about 10-15 min. and the regular line was 1.5 hrs. Had four rides in a row on Valravn in the last 30 mins. of operation. Beautiful weather this past Sunday also, overall a stellar day at the park!

While I'm inclined to agree that people redeeming their renewal freebie (myself included) contribute, I've still seen all year what I feel is an oversell of the product. Maybe it's just my opinion and that's why it's the way it is. But if you compare it to how it was when it began it was different. People who purchased it had virtual walk-on status and the lower counts didn't disrupt the non-payers as much.

What's different now? The economy has improved so more people can afford it, but the price hasn't increased with the increased demand. I had a good time Sunday don't get me wrong, but I wish I would've seen the same wait swing for Maverick you are talking about. Granted I went midday so peak time applies, but standby at that time was 1.25 hrs and FL was 35. It's crazy that the standby increased when you rode but FL decreased.