Is the attendance slipping?

I just checked out the web cams and the parking lot looks almost empty. Is it the economy, or is it because school is not out yet. I have been to CP in May many times, but never have I seen it so empty at 1:30 PM.

I thought it was just the opposite. I was there on Sunday, expecting a typical May Sunday afternoon, and that was not the case. That parking lot was pretty full when I left.

Other than that, the weather today looks pretty gross.

It's May with poor weather. That's hardly indicative of anything.

Yeah, I was pretty surprised with Sunday's attendance as well. When we left the park (around 2:00PM), the lot was full back to row ~35. Not bad for a mid-May Sunday.

It has been a pretty lousy May weatherwise. Sunday was one of the nice days. Weather is supposed to be nice this weekend.

I would imagine the park views May as dress rehearsals for new employees. Depending on the weather, crowds will vary. Gets the staff ready for the prime operating season of the summer months.

I went Sunday through Tuesday, and they were pretty busy, I bought Fastlanes each day. Today does look slower than the last 3 days though.

I say it's because of school. I'm having a hard time convincing myself to do the adult thing and not drop everything and go right now. Kids, grab your homework and get in the car! LOL

Weekdays in May are historically low-attendance days. However, there have been days that were quite busy, as indicated. This is hardly indicative of an attendance issue, however. Now, if the park were dead on the 4th of July, then you'd have a problem..

Gee, when I was in school, I wish I had enough money to go to Cedar Point for three days AND buy Fast Lane all three days.

Was in the park all day Tuesday and was thrilled to see how quiet it was. Front row on Millennium was only about a 35 minute wait, if that, around 4pm. Dragster was a walk-on or max three train wait after 5pm. Gatekeeper front seat was a walk-on as well. Longest we waited all day was 45 minutes for a back row seat on Millennium at peak hours (between 1pm-2pm).

A huge part of it was that there was only about three school groups there, when usually there's closer to ten or eleven during this pre-Memorial Day week.

Also, it rained until almost 9:30am, and was forecasted to rain until 2pm. However, the sky cleared by 11am and the weather was beautiful all day. The downpour in the morning definitely kept people away.

Also, I've seen the park more quiet than yesterday. A few years ago, on a tuesday and wednesday, every ride was a walk-on at any point in the day. I think it's really a combination of elements and this just happened to be a day where they all aligned.

Saw that on Wednesday and figured I'd be all set for my solo trip on the 22nd to ride the big rides.

Well, Thursday this week was not Wednesday that's for sure. Only walk-ons I had were Lake Erie Eagles and Gemini early in the day. As the day wore on the lines did get longer (except Gatrekeeper) and the crowds bigger.

Not the day of walk-ons and repeat coaster rides I had fantasized about seeing Wednesday's web cam images - but it sure beat being at work.

Judging by webcam since Thursday I would say there is no attendance slippage. That's one full parking lot today.

Bluestreaker said:
Gee, when I was in school, I wish I had enough money to go to Cedar Point for three days AND buy Fast Lane all three days.

When I was in high school, our neighbor was an amusement park named Riverview. It was great, and many of us went there once it opened in the spring. Sadly, they tore the park down in 1967. RIP Riverview. It now is just a part of Chicago's history.

I've questioned why they choose to open CP this early in May. Back in the 1970's the staff started arriving in the middle of May. We aided in the final cleanup of the park, and started training at our assignments. The weather was always "iffy". The week prior to Memorial Day there were several buyout days for several firms, mostly radio and TV stations from Detroit and Cleveland. Memorial Day weekend was the formal start of the season. Attendance was light to moderate the first two weeks in June, and picked up after the last of the schools let out.

We usually don't go until the shows opened. However, King's Island used to open in the middle(I think) of April, and back in the day (before 1993) we used to go every month at least once. They started their shows right from opening day. All of them. After Paramount ruined that park, my opinion only, that was our park. After that Cedar Point took over for my family and his been Park of Choice ever since. Missed having passes only one year. Sorry ,a bit off topic.

I have noticed attendance seems to be quite low for this time of the season...

Anyone think for the first time in a while CP will report lower attendance?

Maybe that's why they took the Dragster cam down. ;)

If they wanted more people to attend, they would leave it up. If anyone saw the parking lot on the cam with not many cars in it, I think then they would want to go.

On topic, I thought last Sunday was pretty slow for a holiday weekend, and the live web cams on Saturday looked like the park wasn't very busy. I think hyped events give the park the opposite of what they expect. Many people probably don't go because they think the park will be crowded.

Also, there isn't a new major ride this year to draw crowds. I think King's Island is probably busy because they got a new coaster this year.

I didn't even consider going Saturday because with all the events planned and the free admission for the military on top of being a Saturday I figured people would be parking on the grass like they did on the 4th some years. I'm sure I'm not the only person that avoided the park for that reason and without the webcam nobody can tell any different.

Thabto said:
I think hyped events give the park the opposite of what they expect. Many people probably don't go because they think the park will be crowded.

I was kind of wondering this might be the case over the weekend too.

I think you were the one who originally said that in another thread, and I think it makes sense.