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

I was wondering where that info came from as well. I don't have any argument with the idea that CP per caps probably dwarf the company average.

The only thing I can think of is they've done a few investor presentations where the slides show a pie chart with each park's percentage of the total revenue. Perhaps combining those percentages with the quarterly/annual reports leads to his numbers for CP alone. They sound reasonable, but I'm not 100% sure they're accurate. I haven't seen anything that just lists out revenues by park. Same with attendance. Those numbers seem to come from that one trade group (name escapes me) which have supposedly not been very accurate.

Grobble's account was deleted today and Sven18's account was just created today....

Therefore, Grobble=Sven18

Yes, it's the same guy, same IP.

Fast Lane is teaching people, especially younger ones who are becoming adults, who don't have their own money, that if you don't spend at least $200 to go to Cedar Point, you won't have a good time. The placing of their new FL lines on the new rides forces those in the regular line tells me that that is what Cedar Fair, especially, is going for. That is going to dissuade this demographic from going there and will have them spending their money on other things...I, being 50, making decent money and loving coasters, can not ever imagine spending over $100 to spend a day at an amusement park, much less $200. There are so many other and/or better options out there for far less cash.

In an earlier comment, someone mentioned that those using FL would still be in front of you anyway are assuming that those using FL will only ride one time while you wait in that regular line...The fact that I saw the same purple haired person ride Valravn at least 3 times while I waited for 1 ride, says otherwise.

Fast Lane isn't doing any teaching, but the adults surrounding those young people very well may be. If anything, Fast Lane provides parents and/or legal guardians to have a conversation about value propositions.

Really, Zoug? I've admittingly never purchased Fast Lane, but I have never failed (nor have my children) at having a great time at the park without it.

I guess I'm a better teacher than a product.

It's worth it to purple-haired lady. It's not to you (or myself). We get it. But to suggest you need it to have a good time (or that it's teaching anything) is a bit of a stretch in my opinion.

Now, if I lived in Florida and had only a couple days to spend at the park a year and those days happened to fall on a busy summer weekend I certainly would purchase it.

And maybe dye my hair purple.

Zoug, if that were true than you would see lots of unhappy faces in the regular line. That is not the case, I see plenty of people without Fast Lane that look like they are having a good time. If you need Fast Lane to have a good time, logically no one would have had a good time at CP before they had Fast Lane. That is also not the case. The only people I can see who don't have a good time without Fast Lane are the butt-hurt people who have a problem seeing people who spend more money than them walk past them in a shorter line. Thankfully, those seem to be a minority.

No one has fun at Cedar Point. That's why people keep going back.

While I realize that "value oriented queue" options are relative new to the amusement world, paying more for a better experience has always been a thing, whether you pay to be closer to the stage, in front of the plane or for a table in a private room. I'm not sure why it offends people.

My 25% discount on the Breakers room this weekend just paid for our FL+ passes.
I sure got taught a lesson I will never forget!
Gonna be a great day :)

Now we will get FL Friday and Sunday. Fright lane on Saturday.

^^ I am sick to death of the false equivalency comparing Fast Lane to first class on a plane or a better seat at a concert. That isn't even close to apples to apples...the only thing I can think of at Cedar Point that is is preferred parking...Everyone still gets ONE parking space. What would be similar to first class on a plane is everyone getting one ride in the same amount of time, but if you chose to pay extra for a certain seat on that ride. The only system I have had any experience like that is at Six Flags...with their cheapest Flash Pass, you reserve a spot on the ride, but you wait as long for the ride as the regular line, but, you don't have to stand in that actual line.

Do first class passengers on a plane take 3 flights while the others are still waiting to board? Are the people in the concert venue with better seats getting to watch more performances during the same time those in cheaper seats are still waiting to get in? As far as I know, everyone gets one flight or one concert during the same time period.

^So, when your kid is old enough to go on his own, is he going to be able to do that too? Or will they have to ask Mommy and Daddy to pay their way?

You d obviously never flown anything but coach.
Try it, it’s worth it.

And yes, you board early, front of the train/plane, deplane first, and all out better service without being sardines.

And it’s a seivice your paying for> apples=apples

Quantity or quality... so what? Paying more gets you something more in either case.

If you think people getting Fastlane are marathon riding in front of you, I think you're looking at it with enthusiast eyes. Most people don't do that. I'm sure some people do, but as a percentage, it's likely small. So with that realization, Fastlaners are in front of you whether they are in FL or the next person in front of you in standby. You cant even argue that a longer composite line is a deterrent, because the posted wait will be the same in either situation.

I would feel a little better about it if there were limits like other parks have or if they didn't rub your nose in it like Cedar Point does...Take Hersheypark's pass, for example. For about $100, you get a list of rides and you get to cut in line 1 time per ride....I honestly have no idea if anyone has used it while I have been there because it's not in my face like FL is on so many rides at Cedar Point, plus Cedar Point has absolutely no limit on how often you use it. One of the last times I was at CP waiting for SV, I saw them let 10 FL users in. Then 10 regular guests and then stop me and my 2 friends off to let 4 more FL users on, I got a little ticked off...For those who can't do math, they let 58.3% of the seats on the train my group should have loaded go to FL users and only 41.6% of the seats go to the regular guests. And, I DO hear people complaining quite often about FL, especially while waiting for SV.

People will complain no matter what. Same people that will complain about the wait on the causeway or too many people at the park.

Should they limit the amount of guests in a day, that affects your wait time more than FL does.

^I'm not crazy enough to go on a Saturday at any time of the year, so, I haven't had to deal with a huge crowd in the past several years, other than a Halloweekend Friday I attended last year. They need to limit FL use, not the number of guests that they get on most days. I think the only park I have seen that implements a fast pass system worse than Cedar Point does, and I've been to at least 16 different parks this year alone, is Kings Island. On Diamondback and Banshee, I've seen them clear the entire stairway for each ride on several occasions while not letting a single person from the regular line enter the station. How is that even remotely close to not being screwed up. It's a huge reason I skip that park and hit Kentucky Kingdom and Holiday World even though I have a Platinum pass for Cedar Fair. By the way, even with all of the renewals, I have never once used the free FL pass since I think it's pretty crappy to cut in front of 10 year old kids, even if the park gives me permission.

Someone needs a Snickers bar.

So can I have your free fast lane plus then? ;)

Zoug68 said:

^^ I am sick to death of the false equivalency comparing Fast Lane to first class on a plane...

It is absolutely a solid comparison. There is a finite amount of floor space on a plane. In your "everyone must have the same experience" world, the airline would equally divide the floor space among all the seats. Everyone would pay the same, and have the same amount of leg/shoulder/headroom.

But, they figured out that some people would be willing to pay a premium price to have more leg/shoulder/headroom. So they offer various price points:

• Want just a couple inches of extra leg room? Sure, you got it - that will be a $40 upgrade. We'll just scoot the other seats a bit closer together.
• Want extra legroom, and early boarding so that you can get situated and comfortable before others? Not a problem - that will be a $70 upgrade. We'll scoot those other guys just a bit closer, and make them wait while you board first.
• Want even more room, a vastly superior chair (that turns into a bed), premium service, the whole shebang? We got you covered - that will be roughly double/triple the price of the standard fare. We're gonna scoot everyone else just a bit tighter still, plus make them wait longer to board, and give them cheaper snacks so that we don't sacrifice our margins when we give you delicious food, champagne, and a warm towel. Oh, and those folks back there are also only going to get about 20% of the flight attendants' attention since our staff is going to be so focused on your comfort, big spender. Enjoy your flight!

Zoug68 said:

...I have never once used the free FL pass since I think it's pretty crappy to cut in front of 10 year old kids, even if the park gives me permission.

Joke's on you - those 10 year olds have FLP. They're cutting in front of you while you take your "principled" stand against the awful reality that you get what you pay for.

Without all the added revenue from FL, there’s a good chance that SV and possibly Valravn wouldn’t even exist. I’ll take the coasters, please.

^In part, true.

But to play devil's advocate, what paid for the just-as-massive coasters in the 80s-2000s? Magnum through Maverick were all built without FL. (And possibly GK too considering it was introduced in FL's infancy.)

True, CF had some financial troubles after that, but IIRC that was more because of the massive cost of buying the Paramount parks and the fact that the economy nosedived right after that.

It's probably a good thing you never used your free Fastlane passes Zoug, because you wouldn't go back. I know I won't. I live in St. Louis. No way am I paying for a line skip at Six Flags St. Louis, I'll just come back another day if it's too crowded. If I drive 10 hours to CP and it's a busy day, I'm more than likely getting FL+ and same with KI. I almost wish that it cost more to lower the number of people using it, but $150 is pretty pricey. If I have the means and my option is to stand in the regular line and be pissed off by FL, or do FL and piss others off...welp, sorry.

And I don't know how the line skip works at Hershey, but I really like the setup Cedar Fair has. I don't want to come up the exit and sit in the seat you're next for. Would you rather that or have fast lane be merged with the regular line and fast lane still takes half an hour for MF, or at the very least the station wait for most of the rides? It kinda pissed me off when I couldn't afford it and am happy now that I can, and everyone in here knows when to go if you don't want to feel like you need it. I'm glad it's there so I can go from 10 hours away during Halloweekends and not spend hours on end in line for everything.