Incident at the Vending Machines...

Although, couldn't you walk up the chausee? It'd be one heck of a walk, but it could be done.

Here's the problem they're running into. For guests with Season Passes, it may not be a problem. After all, they bring a few bucks in but they've already paid for the park...they're not dropping $100 in one day.

I live in the Detroit area. It takes a full tank of gas for a round-trip to cedar point. Plus admission. Plus the outrageous price of food during the day. So, figure this...

$30-gas

$42-admission

$9-parking

$35-food throughout the day.

What should be a cheap day trip costs $116 easily. And that's just a one day trip for one person. for families or people staying over night, a trip to Cedar Point is almost like planning a major vacation--why not just save up some more money and go somewhere like Disneyworld, that actually feels like a resort?

Jeff said:
If we wanted you to be a moderator, John, we would've made you one.

OMG Can i b a modurater?!?!111 Just kidding ;) I'm too irresponsible to be one.

But seriously though, we're still discussing this three years after they jacked up the prices of pop (yes, POP!) at the $3 mark and beyond. I wonder how this affected the sales of pop from the vending machines when this price increase happened?

I'm guessing it hasn't changed since we're still seeing guest spending going up and up.

People need to realize that WE as the consumers control the prices of anything, and that goes for gas as well (although I feel gas prices are heavily inflated). If we're willing to shell out $3.50 for a bottle of pop, then they can try to see if we'll shell out $3.75. You saw this when we complained about pop going to $3.50 at the beginning of the 03 season and then jumped back to $3.00 a few weeks into the season.

However for those of you who continue buying pop from the machines, the stock holders of Cedar Fair thank you :)

~Rob Willi

Yeah, my comment on walking was (at best) a half-serious one.

Rob - that is a very valid point. If we as consumers would act, rather than simply complain, things would change. Gas is inflated, thanks to the media. Gas prices went up while Katrina was still pounding the gulf coast, and I don't know any gas stations that get their shipments on an hourly basis. Do you? ;)

Cdubbs - I also live in Metro-D, and am having trouble finding the money to make my last trip on closing day. I don't get a season pass, cause with work, its too hard to find the time to go often enough to justify it.

Anybody want to buy a kidney? ;)

dj-

You forgot to add how the death of the King of Saudi Arabia drive up gas prices? It's insane!

But hey, I still bought gas when it was $3.09 a gallon. I'm sure if I had a truck or an SUV I would probably restrain myself from driving. Since I have my little Civic I really don't care.

~Rob willi

djDaemon said:

Gas prices went up while Katrina was still pounding the gulf coast, and I don't know any gas stations that get their shipments on an hourly basis. Do you? ;)

Some gas stations must pay for their next shipment with the profits from the current shipment. If they know the next shipment is going to be more expensive, they must increase their profit on the current one, thus raising the price. This usually goes for private owners and franchisees and not those stations owned and run by the corporation. Also, it usually does not go the other way (ie, gas is going to be cheaper so I do not need to make as much on the current batch). This is not always because of greed however, but simply because of fixed costs.

Yeah... I drive a Dodge Ram QuadCab 4x4... so I'm hurtin. But, I did it to myself, so expect little to no sympathy with a slight chance of pity... but, please, no snickering.

;)

Kahnvers - Touche... So, you have debunked my snyde (sp?) remark. All the same, you can't tell me that gas prices were actually affected THAT much by a hurricane that hit only in the gulf coast. I realize that there are a lot of refineries there, but its not like SE Michigan gets all (if any) their gas from there. I realize that the larger "parent" companies often set the costs, which would (should) make it easier to offset the increased cost of shipping gas to A & B, when you can still ship for the original (unaffected) cost to C-Z. Instead, they just feed off the media-created fear and drive prices up by 30-60%, which is absolutely irresponsible.

.
*** Edited 10/20/2005 7:28:05 PM UTC by djDaemon***

It wouldn't be so bad, but my weekly profit is directly relational to how much I spend on gas. I couldn't buy a small little civic because that would not provide enough room to haul what I needed to haul on a daily and weekly basis.

My small truck works, but the gas mileage (about 20 MPG) isn't great. These hurricanes driving gas prices sky high is killing my wallet.

Well sheesh, write to Bush and tell him to stop casting spells against the Gulf Coast! ;)

I do sympatize for those who have bought a useful vehicle and are finding themselves paying almost double in gas as compared to last year. For example, my sister who is in high school also drives to the local college for some of her classes. Her little Cavalier is great on gas, but she's finding herself spending a quarter of her paycheck each week from Subway just to fill up her car with gas. It was a much different story last year...

I still think gas is inflated, even though its dropped to $2.39 a gallon around here. Of course there are other factors that played into the going price. Stricter oil guidelines, fewer refineries and higher consumption (not just by the US) played a part in it.

But enough about that... weren't we talking about an incident that happened a few years ago? ;)

~Rob Willi

Yeah, finding a balance between the usefulness of a vehicle and the economics can be tough. For me, I know that I will be moving at least 2 more times in the next 2 years, so I need something that can haul a bunch of stuff (including my 4-wheeler - YAHOO!). Sadly, the compromise I had to make is that I only get 14mpg city & 18mpg hwy. And, it costs me $65 to fill my tank, which makes my butthole pucker every time... ;)

But, yeah... we'Ve gotten of topic here. Oops!

I realize that CP needs to make their money, and perhaps they've found their price balance with soda. Although I do find that hard to believe, since I know that I would buy A LOT more pops & water if they were $2.

djDaemon said:
it costs me $65 to fill my tank, which makes my butthole pucker every time... ;)

I realize that CP needs to make their money, and perhaps they've found their price balance with soda. Although I do find that hard to believe, since I know that I would buy A LOT more pops & water if they were $2.

1st off.. LMAO at the 1st quoted statement. I know the feeling, as I drive a minivan with a massive gas tank and fuel up's consistent of 2+ dollars make my bunghole do some pretty creepy stuff that I wont go into detail about.. It's not lady like ;)

back on topic...I agree that even at $2 a bottle, it would be likely that they would sell alot more. One could expect to pay a standard 20 oz Pepsi machine (anywhere outside of Cedar Point's gates) a dollar per soda. People expect to pay more when in the confines of any amusement park. On a (mini) vacation I don't mind splurging a bit. It's apparent however that Cedar Point could (and does) charge more than that and people still pay it. How much is too much? Depends on who you are I guess. I can honestly see myself standing in line for 2 1/2 hours on a 95 degree day with nothing to drink and thirsty, feeding a vending machine a 5 dollar bill for a water or a Pepsi. You can call me crazy or a sucker all you want, but between being put in the middle of a rock and a hard place and having that convienience under those circumstances, the high cost doesn't seem to be that big of an issue to me.

I do find it ironic tho that we complain about paying 2+ dollars for a GALLON of gas to keep our vehicles on the roads but we'll stick $3 into a vending machine in exchange for a 20 OUNCE sized beverage to keep hydrated without much of a fuss. "Only in America" is about the only thing I can think of to conclude my comment. LOL!! Have a great day all!

Does anyone know for sure if CP even sets the price for vending machine pop? Most vending machine prices are set by the vendor, not the vendor's host.

MrScott

I always assumed CP owned the machines themselves - which would seem the only logical business choice.

Owning your own vending machines is rare today. Vending companies are very widespread. A lot of the pop machines are owned by the distributors of the product and serviced/stocked by them.

I wouldn't be suprised to learn that CP "lease's" the space for those machines and that the price of the pop is set by the distributor, based on the cost CP is charging them. So, CP still would be ultimately responsible for the cost of the pop. If that's the way it works at CP, both the park and the distributor are each partially to blame. Who knows how much the distributor is taking advantage of the crowd?

MrScott
*** Edited 10/22/2005 4:29:35 AM UTC by MrScott***

Thats interesting. However, I'd put the majority of the blame on CP, since if the brass felt the prices were too high, I'm sure they would be lowered, unless the distributor wanted to lose a pretty huge contract.

.
*** Edited 10/21/2005 8:02:29 PM UTC by djDaemon***

Of course, the distributor could be paying CP a contractual fee to get the machines in there in the first place. They pay a flat fee and get all the profits. So, they have to cover the cost of just getting the machine in there as well as the cost of the product.

CP does have a contract with Pepsi (Pepsi, I imagine, is paying a not so small fee to have Pepsi products as the only thing in the park), so it wouldn't suprise me if this is the way it works.

Well, I still feel that CP could have a pretty big influence over the pricing - one way or another.

Think about it this way. I would say that more than half of us wont buy a bottled water or Pepsi becuase of the big $3 and you can get it much cheaper other places. So is they say lowered if to $2.00 I would think that alot more people would buy it and then inturn creating larger profits. If only half of those people that wouldnt buy it before, now buys it, then that is big profits.

I can tell you with a reasonable degree of certainty that Cedar Point doesn't even pay for the soda. It's a marketing expense for Pepsi, and CP makes the profit.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Jeff wins the prize!

Now, MrJeff, who do ypu think is responsible for 3 bucks a pop (pun intended) ? CP, Pepsi, or the distributor?

MrScott
*** Edited 10/22/2005 4:28:11 AM UTC by MrScott***