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

Dvo said:

Obviously the park doesn't know what crowds will be like on a given day, so it's difficult.

The park has a really, really good idea what the crowds will be like on most days, with weather being the largest variable. There is a budget number they intend to hit every day.

There are certainly some perceptions to consider, but based on the annual earning results, per capita spending hasn't increased very much in the last five or six year. In 2012 it was around $40, now it's $43 and change. Basically it's tracking with inflation. So "it costs more" depends entirely on who you ask.

I struggle with the overall value proposition relative to other forms of travel and vacation, since I'm no longer local. Getting three humans on a plane is expensive regardless. I want to visit next year, but with a Breakers stay plus tickets, for three nights, I'll be flirting with a grand plus flights. Universal's current resident pass deal is for 18 months, and the premium passes (with better parking and after-4 Express pass), for the three of us, is about $500 right now. The CP visit is largely a nostalgia trip for us, since Simon is still not quite 54" and can't ride everything. I'm not saying I won't, it's just a hard sell relative to other options.

Grobble said:

Dvo said:

I'm curious if CP will make the FL pricing more dynamic. I went a few days in August, and I agree that the lines (for both GP and FL) were very long. On days like that, it probably makes sense to raise the prices even more. Rather than reducing the number of sales, just make the price point such that the FL lines are shorter. I imagine that people who spend $85 or whatever would be willing to spend an additional $30 (or more) if it meant that they were getting good value for the purchase.

Obviously the park doesn't know what crowds will be like on a given day, so it's difficult. But I think Saturdays in July, August, and October are good candidates for steep increases.

The pricing is already dynamic weekdays during the summer is Fl+ $98, weekends$125 (might be off by a couple of dollars), Weekends during prime season, holidays like the 4th, and Halloweekends it's $155. Of course Platinum gets the discount which can make a huge difference during a "prime day", dropping it from $155 to $105

Speaking of dynamic pricing, last Saturday I saw the price for FL+ hit $169 in park. That's the highest I've seen it. Ever. So I'm sure the park is already testing the upper limits of what it can charge. I wouldn't be surprised if you see it pushed closer to $199 by the end of next season.

This is all just a conspiracy to make money at prices the market bears.

Shame on them.

It's bad enough that I have to endure on / off years of major capital improvements or between years of modest but needed revamping - and now this? For what, profitability?

We all should be outraged. I for one plan on marching thru one of the fairly new and attractive entrances and tell them exactly how this makes me feel. (Of course the smell of fresh hot pretzels or a cup of frozen custard seems to soften my resolve at these sort of things. I feel so whole afterwards).

Jeff said:

Dvo said:

Obviously the park doesn't know what crowds will be like on a given day, so it's difficult.

There are certainly some perceptions to consider, but based on the annual earning results, per capita spending hasn't increased very much in the last five or six year. In 2012 it was around $40, now it's $43 and change. Basically it's tracking with inflation. So "it costs more" depends entirely on who you ask.

Wrong! Per Caps past $43 in FY 2013...Per caps for FY 2017 were $47.30 and 2018 year to date thru labor day they were up 5% compared to 2017.

2012 was $42. I was looking at quarterlies, but as of 2Q18, it's at $45. So adjusting for inflation, the 2012 per cap was $46, meaning the per cap has gone down, not up.

Jeff said:

2012 was $42. I was looking at quarterlies, but as of 2Q18, it's at $45. So adjusting for inflation, the 2012 per cap was $46, meaning the per cap has gone down, not up.

Please stop you were caught making a blatantly wrong statement and just can't admit it. The per caps thru Labor Day 2018, the most recent data until 10/30 conf call, were $47.46 You said it was $43..BLATANTLY WRONG! The inflation spin was a desperate attempt but still wrong. Look up the facts before spouting falsehoods next time and save yourself the embarrassment.

FYI, I only corrected the lie and not the entire ignorance of the premise since you were trying to make a point about Cedar Point using across the chain per caps. Cedar Point's per caps alone are the best in the chain by far. 2016 CP revenue was 276M on 3,604M visitors..that's a per cap of about $76.50. Back in 2012 where you claim per caps aren't up CP did about 190M revenue on 3.22M visitors, per caps were just over $59.

* grabs popcorn *

Wow, dude. Take it easy.

The lie? Dude, put your pants back on and tuck it back in or show yourself out. Now click the links I posted. 3Q18 hasn't been released yet, and I didn't imply anything beyond the half-year results. Inflation adjustment is the only meaningful way to reflect cost over time.

You just can't stop embarrassing yourself b/c you have the Trump logic, tell a falsehood and keep telling more and spinning b/c you can't admit you had no ideal WTF you were talking about. You were proven wrong on Cedar Fair's per caps on the numbers. Your first error besides living, was you were not bright enough from the start to know Cedar Fair per caps are not Cedar Point. You foolishly tried to cite CF's per caps as CP's and couldn't even do that right. Pull your head out of your ignorant ass and maybe you wouldn't be shown to be an idiot, Now go run along and don't comment on things you have no idea about, which is everything. You're better off being thought to be stupid than commenting and proving it definitively.

LULZ

Yikes, this guy lost his mind quick.

F1rePhant0m said:

Yikes, this guy lost his mind quick.

They were actually factually correct.

1)The per caps stated originally were wrong, it was not $43 for 2018.

2)Cedar Fair per caps are not Cedar Point's, so making a claim on CP's using CF's as a whole is not logical

3)They provided data on per caps on Cedar Points showing a large increase, which the original poster claimed wasn't occurring.

I'll give it 10 minutes before you're banned again.

What? They are clearly different people. Different names and everything. LOL

Just b/c another person stated the clear summary of facts in the thread, . Jeff made incorrect statements.

Weeeel, that got ugly very quickly.

Consider my man-fruit smacked...

Post deleted.

Sven18 said:

Jeff made incorrect statements.

Jeff pointed out that through Q2 (the most recent full-quarter results available), CF per cap was $45.42. Adjusted for inflation that comes to $41.48 in 2012 dollars. That is less than the 2012 per cap of $41.95. So I'm not sure where he's incorrect, unless I too have gotten something wrong.

It is true that the 2018 report on August earnings mentioned per cap through August of $47.46 ($43.34 in 2012 dollars). But that doesn't mean CF will end the year at that per cap level, so it's a moot point until January when they release the full year report. After all, who would be naive (or misleading) enough to conflate quarterly or monthly performance with annual performance? Maybe that other person who's definitely not you might be that naive, but I'm sure you wouldn't. Right? ;-)

djDaemon said:

Sven18 said:

Jeff made incorrect statements.

Jeff pointed out that through Q2 (the most recent full-quarter results available), CF per cap was $45.42. Adjusted for inflation that comes to $41.48 in 2012 dollars. That is less than the 2012 per cap of $41.95. So I'm not sure where he's incorrect, unless I too have gotten something wrong.

It is true that the 2018 report on August earnings mentioned per cap through August of $47.46 ($43.34 in 2012 dollars). But that doesn't mean CF will end the year at that per cap level, so it's a moot point until January when they release the full year report. After all, who would be naive (or misleading) enough to conflate quarterly or monthly performance with annual performance? Maybe that other person who's definitely not you might be that naive, but I'm sure you wouldn't. Right? ;-)

He was using CF per caps and talking about CP to make his point on the question being responded to. CF per caps are always way higher than the chain. Error #1.

Parks do not and never have talked or analyzed with a caveat on their per caps, revenue , EBIDTA realted to inflation. Error #2

The actual per caps for CP 2012 compared to 2016 were given and disproved his notion CF's weren't up. Error #3

Do you have a link to the CP per caps?

Yeah, where does this CP only information coming from? I've never seen it broken down by park.