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

I used to be a FL hater. I had felt that all people should be equal in their wait times and that people who are paying extra to cut were terrible people. I felt this way for a few years and then something magical happened.

I used it at Knott's. I justified it as I used my Platinum pass to get in so paying the $60 for a FL that day was equal to paying admission. This was my first and well...so far only visit to Knott's. I wanted to enjoy it and get all the rides in I wanted to ride and enjoy my day. And well, guess what? I did.

Since then my point of view has changed. At CP a park I visit between 10-20 times a season depending on the season I do not see value in it. But at parks in which I'm visiting for the first time and may never visit again I have since started investing in their line skipper programs and including at least one day of it in my budget.

I no longer look at people at CP with anger and feel they're "rubbing it in my nose" for all I know this is their one big vacation for the year and they're going all out. Or this could be their first and only lifetime trip and wanna get to experience everything at a leisurely pace. If they can afford it and they see value in it then good for them. They're helping Point continue to improve and add new rides. From my point of view a 30 minute wait is a 30 minute wait.. an hour is an hour. Regardless of how many FL users ride before me. Very very rarely is a posted wait time at a ride entrance wrong in my experience and they usually seem to be an over estimate. Even Steel Vengeance when waits were posted at 1.5 hrs on my visit I rarely waited that.

There is a tendency to think that if a given business isn't maximizing the money I spend there, the business is doing it wrong. If they did a, b or c or stopped doing x, y or z, the business would get more of my money (and that of my friends). May not be the best overall options for the business itself. Even if other businesses are doing a, b and c or not doing x, y or z.

Any by all means, if you are not finding value at a given business or find more value elsewhere, don't spend money at the given business (or spend less there). That is how it works and why there are different options. But don't necessary expect that given business to make changes to bring you back if they believe what they are doing is the best approach for the business.

My wife and I went to CP this last weekend for our last trip of the year. The weather sucked big time on Friday night and Saturday, but Sunday was a lot better, which meant the crowds would be heavier than normal, and for that reason, we bought FL. I sure do value the option on busier days, and haven't witnessed much of an extended wait time for rides. The only long wait is for SV, which is similar to the early entry wait time, roughly 20 mins. The only gripe I have with the system is the merge point on MF at the ramp. There is still a significant wait time once you hit the ramp leading up to the station and merge in with the stand by line. If I'm not mistaken, didn't the FL line lead directly into the station in the past? Or am I thinking of Freeway?

I never noticed until this year that the FastLane coasters merge into the line with a bit of a wait but the FastLane PLUS coasters dump right into the station. Thought that was an interesting distinction and I wonder if that’s coincidence or by design?

^ I've not seen that, but I've never purchased regular FL. Love the fact that passholders get the free upgrade.

^^^ I love this perk as well, and wish other parks would offer it...

FL ends up costing me alot more than the price listed. Without it I would likely only go every couple years and spend my money elsewhere. However with it, it makes my stay at Breakers, the beach and petting a goat much more enjoyable. Thus making the overall experience worth the cost.

Each year that goes by it's much less about the rides and therefore waiting for them even less enjoyable. It's not necessarily because of wanting to marathon them but to enjoy the place I call "My home away from home". With folks in my family and at work it always puzzled them why I would go so often. Past few years instead of talking about the rides and other things I love about the place I just say "It's my home away from home". Now most just respond with "Ah now I get it".

Can't wait till tomorrow and head "Home". Happy Closing Weekend!

^^ THIS... I find it so much more relaxing when I’ve had FL+. It’s not a matter of finding the short line, baking in the sun for an hour, and just wanting to be done by the time you get to the coaster. Allows me to spend that time that would’ve been in line doing other things like enjoying some food, watching a show, petting a goat (LOL), checking out the beach, or just sitting and watching the park. It’s not always about getting 59 laps on Steel Vengeance in a day.

DRE420 said:

If I'm not mistaken, didn't the FL line lead directly into the station in the past? Or am I thinking of Freeway?

Yes, circa 2011 or so when Fast Lane was new there used to be an entrance on the far side of Panda that went directly to the station. A couple years later it was gone. I'm unsure why but it's unfortunate.

Shane Denmark said:

I never noticed until this year that the FastLane coasters merge into the line with a bit of a wait but the FastLane PLUS coasters dump right into the station. Thought that was an interesting distinction and I wonder if that’s coincidence or by design?

It may be a bit of both; meaning, the newer ride queues (which are likely to be the current and future plus rides) were built with Fastlane in mind, while the other merge points, like Magnum and Millennium, were put in with the old Freeway system on top of already existing queues.

I'm a bit late, but... a few posts ago "Online Enthusiast Morals" reared its ugly head again... :P

In what way?

^^Also, no link this time? ;)

^Nah, mixing things up a bit :P.

If we could mix some Drone Morality into it as well it would be a real party.

Don't worry, chill out season is coming soon. If you ask some folks (as I've seen on the Twitters), it's already here...

GigaG said:
I'm a bit late, but... a few posts ago "Online Enthusiast Morals" reared its ugly head again... :P

Please elaborate.

Finally got around to looking at this again...

Many of you seem to be justifying Fast Pass because you feel the additional revenue enables Cedar Point to do more capital improvements.

The problem is that they're not investing in the area where it matters most: ride maintenance.

Every time I've been to the park for the past few years there have been tons of ride breakdowns. During my last trip one roller coaster broke down three times in two hours.

To me, this is a clear indicator that Cedar Point simply isn't taking care of their rides.

Let's use my car as an example. I frequently take it into the repair shop to have the oil changed, fluids checked, and other inspections completed. If my tires are showing wear, I replace them. I don't wait until I get a flat in the middle of the highway to get it taken care of.

Yet clearly the approach Cedar Point is taking with their rides is "wait until something breaks then fix it". There's no other reason for the sheer number of breakdowns that occur. I recognize that you'll never get 100% up-time, but the sheer number of "mechanical difficulties" makes me believe that clearly corners are being cut in the preventative maintenance department.

Even if the rides were running reliably Fast Lane would still be non-optional, but the lack of ride up-time makes an already bad situation even worse.

^ This is one of the worst hot takes I've ever seen here.

It's all anecdotes. "I saw a ride down" is not indicative of a systemic problem.

The company has very detailed data on ride up time, maintenance cost and ridership. They can tell you specifically how much it costs for a single person to ride something. They have standards and targets, and when they don't meet them, they figure out why.