It's so nice out shouldn't Cedar Point be open today?

bholcomb said:
Hooray for Towering CU and 1/2 inch hail in Michigan and Wall Clouds while chasing in Arkansas!

I'm pretty sure we officially broke the streak at Lansing too. 170ish days between 70 degree temps!

I was outside during the hail, and it wasn't very fun!

There's Xavier, Cincinnati, and Cedarville Univ. all right there in Cincinnati (and Cedarville is just 25 min. away, stayed there for SpiritSong), plus some I'm sure I'm forgetting. Not to mention that Cincinnati is a large metro area with enough people that are probably always looking for work that are 18+ that they don't have to worry about staffing issues.

Now, how many major colleges are in Sandusky? How far away is Cleveland? How far is the nearest major (D1) college/university? There's your answer, Loopy.

Loopy said:
So what's stopping CP from using high school students? And to add, I don't recall THAT many HS students at KI's OD last year.

Sounds like a pretty lame excuse.

There are numerous factors that prevent it from opening early.

1. Cedar Point is in Sandusky, not 15 minutes outside of Cincinnati.
2. Cedar Point is a more "expansive" park, with more positions to staff to operate.
3. There's a greater population surrounding King's Island from which to get those high school students from. Ohio Population Desnsity.
4. Cedar Point uses only 18+ year olds to operate their rides. King's Island uses a combination of minors and those who are of 18 years of age or older.
5. The weather in Southern Ohio is much more condusive to an early opening. Heck, it snowed in much of Northern Ohio today!
   

6. Average precipitation is 3 inches, and average high 56 in April. High potential for crappy weather.
7. Kids are in school having exams, proms and other high school nonsense.

Seriously, don't you think they've thought of this before? If they greedy money hungry company that closed Geauga Lake (cue dark clouds, thunder and evil laugh) really could make money in April, don't you suppose they would?

The probably ran the numbers and found that people coming that early in the season wouldn't stay long and wouldn't spend much in the park, hurting their per-cap spending numbers.

Long live the per-cap! ;)

Seriously though, it just doesn't make much sense anyway you look at it, to open earlier than they already do.

Visit CP during the first couple weeks it is open on a weekday; then you will understand why it does not open earlier; after your 10th dragster walk-on.

I am not a proponent of opening any earlier than they already do. But, I would like to see them have an Erie County day (or a Sandusky/Perkins day) prior to the first day of the season where they would allow free or discounted admission to the park. It would provide for some goodwill, offer training under "real" conditions for the staff, etc. In fact, it need not be a whole day for that matter.

Maybe it could be the Friday night before the opening day Saturday. I see a lot of upside and very little downside...which is why it will likely never happen.

It would provide for some goodwill, offer training under "real" conditions for the staff, etc. In fact, it need not be a whole day for that matter.

That is an excellent idea. Win-win for everybody.

^^That's not a bad idea, especially with the half day. Open at 4 pm until 9 or 10 on Friday before opening day. They could even go for a "soft" opening without all the attractions open. For some people, especially CP enthusiasts, it would be nice to just have a few hours to roam the park, see the finished products of off-season construction, and catch a few rides.

I believe they had Sandusky day, or something like that, way back in the day but it predates me if they did. I believe my inlaws told me about it.

To me the issues of "goodwill" (hey, here we go again clogging up the roads for the summer but why don't you come on out and check out the new additions before we get going) and training (nothing replaces actual "doing" when it comes to training) make it a decent idea.

Now, since the locals would be paying little, if anything, to get in then I think it would be fair to expect less than perfect service, slow ride cycles, etc.

But once again, like you said before, it seems like a perfectly good idea...that doesn't result in a higher per-cap, or money at all, so there goes that ever happening. Because heaven forbid lately that there be any kind of investment that doesn't result only in long term benefits. Looking short term is only profitable for exactly that, short term.

Kevinj said:
Visit CP during the first couple weeks it is open on a weekday; then you will understand why it does not open earlier; after your 10th dragster walk-on.

That was the case a few years back but that certainly did not happen last year at least the two days I was there (Monday and Tuesday). Much more crowded than I expected. Not horrible, but much worse than the first week typically was.

Perhaps a nicely worded letter to Park Operations would get a response as to why the park isn't opened in April.

Of course I'm sure all the people with Business Degrees (at least I'm assuming some of them have those) that work for the park NEVER, EVER thought of opening earlier than they do.

Again, this idea came out of a visit to HP for their "Springtime in the Park", which was April 5th and 6th. The average high in April for Hershey, PA is 61 degrees. The average high in Sandusky in the month of April is 56 degrees.

I'm not saying that they should open for the whole month of April or even the first half. What they should consider is opening maybe the last 2 weekends in April in order to possibly train some employees, sell some season passes and make a trip up there for season pass processing worthwhile. Not only would it make the trip for pass holders worth it, it would also alleviate some of the crowds come opening day for pass processing.

Like Hershey, they wouldn't need to open the entire park, just maybe 2/3 of it for training and goodwill for locals. Heck, just open a few rides for whatever staff you have available.

^Does Hershey charge full-price admission for that event?

Ok YES it should but come on you can't wait what is it 26 days now?

^^

No, we went both Saturday and Sunday for $28.95 a person. If I remember correctly it was $22.95 for one day and another $6 for the second day.

Most everyone we saw there were coming to process their passes. Other than a few enthusiasts here and there.

They also had the preview plan in full effect on Saturday night

Loopy said:
What they should consider is opening maybe the last 2 weekends in April in order to possibly train some employees...

So the employees should all drive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5+ hours to the park, to work for two days only to drive back to school? (Not to mention being in the midst of the end of the semester and finals.) Most have enough of that for 8-9+ weekends in the fall.