Let's talk about Fast Lane

I go to the park enough and have ridden everything enough times that I am content not waiting in long lines and just enjoying everything else the park has to offer (which is getting better every year lately).

The three times we received four-pack Fast Lane passes free with room reservations, I gave them away; nine to families with well behaved kids waiting inline to get in and three to friends that were going the week after us for the first time there.

I knew those people would get a lot more enjoyment out of them then we would. And, yet we still had a great time at the park. Just knowing there are people that will never be able to visit CP or maybe not even occasionally, really makes me wonder how people can get so butthurt over the FL program to the point it bothers them enough to actually affect their visit.

One time in October 2014 we stayed at SouthShore Inn because On-Point was sold out. There was a down on her luck mother, a lady friend and two children that had been living in the hotel for awhile. They were very nice people and even invited us to join them for dinner in their room. The kids had never been to CP so I took them all to the front gate and got them tickets for the Saturday and Sunday.

I firmly believe you should enjoy what you have, with who you have, while you can and stop worrying about what everyone else is doing.

^Great stuff man, I owe you a beer this season, seriously awesome.

Pete & XS nailed it though, don't worry about others, worry about yourself and have FUN.

Don't be worried about every little thing or what-ifs, and get flustered about it. You're on a vacation, have fun with whoever you're there with (or on your own that's cool too), and enjoy the day. Clearly you're not working for a bit, enjoy that at a minimum!

Besides, if the peasants get mad you can just take off in your hot air balloon..

Taa-taa!

thedevariouseffect said:
Within the park grounds though, every person is equally capable of purchasing Fast Lane. The opportunity presents itself equally, so if someone puts more value in getting all the rides in vs. eating meals in the park or just packing, that's their prerogative.

Nonsense. Again, you as a single person with no kids has only to pay for 1 FL pass. A parent of a family of 4 has to fork out approximately 4 times as much money to achieve the same experience. Therefore, income being equal, you are 4 times more capable of purchasing FL.

I am all for enhanced experiences being offered for profit, but you and others (looking at you, Pete) have this short-sighted, self-centered attitude of "who cares what the ramifications or long term impacts are, I can afford it, and that's literally all that matters."

I submit that had this been offered 30 years ago (or whenever you guys visited as kids), you may not have ever developed a "relationship" with the park if your families were not able to afford FL. Your experience may have been more negative, and you may not have ever come back. And that's all fine-and-dandy. The park is obviously not having issues with attendance as of yet. But it's disingenuous to pretend as if FL has no impact on guests in search of their "best day" experience.

Brandon, when I was a young kid and developed a relationship with the park, the "haves" had all you can ride wrist bands while the "have nots" bought ticket books or individual ride tickets. I didn't have a wrist band every day we went, only sometimes, and still developed a love for the park, so your logic is slightly flawed.

I'm pretty sure what Devarious meant was that everyone has the same opportunity to give Cedar Point money for Fast Lane, not if an individual family can afford it. Some families can, some can't. That's life and that is why different price levels are offered. No different than as a single person flying first class to Europe but perhaps a family would have to fly coach.

As far as Fast Lane, if you buy it, enjoy it to the fullest. Anything else would be stupid. Re-ride as much as you want and hit as many rides as you can. Nothing wrong with that at all, you paid for it.

Pete said:

I'm pretty sure what Devarious meant was that everyone has the same opportunity to give Cedar Point money for Fast Lane, not if an individual family can afford it.

If that's the case, he has a terrible way of explaining himself. :-)

thedevariouseffect said:

...every person is equally capable of purchasing Fast Lane.

"Capable" means having the necessary means to achieve something.

Some families can, some can't. That's life and that is why different price levels are offered. No different than as a single person flying first class to Europe but perhaps a family would have to fly coach.

I don't disagree, nor am I suggesting offering FL is immoral in any way.

But the fact remains that FL negatively impacts non-FL guests. The same way the offering first class passengers more leg room comes at the expense of the leg room for those in coach.

But whether you're talking about Fast Lane guests or first class ticket holders or non Fast Lane customers or coach ticket holders on a plane -- they have the level of access they chose to pay for. I never spring for paid FOL access and rarely use Fastpass at Disney, and I have never given a second thought to how "unfair" it is that people who paid for expedited access are enjoying expedited access ahead of me.

I just can't see it as "negatively" impacting guests. You get what you pay for.

And we're talking about amusement parks: purely discretionary choices of how to spend one's income.

If a family is capable of affording the gas involved in driving to an amusement park, overnight accommadations at or near an amusement park, tickets into that park, meals at or near that park, it's hard for me to understand how FOL access is unaffordable.

Fast Lane ticket sales, being almost 100% pure profit for the park, contribute significantly to the bottom line. This directly increases the parks ability to re-invest and improve the facility, thereby benefiting all the park goers in a positive way. So there is good in the program for everyone.

Oh, yay. Another Fastlane debate.

noggin said:

If a family is capable of affording the gas involved in driving to an amusement park, overnight accommadations at or near an amusement park, tickets into that park, meals at or near that park, it's hard for me to understand how FOL access is unaffordable.

Every budget has a limit. And we're not talking about a few percent difference. For a family of 4:

• Gas = $30
• Lodging = $150
• Tickets = $220
• Food = $300
• TOTAL = $700

Adding FL+ increases that total to well over $1,000, and increase of around 45%. How is that not a huge difference? It's not as if we're talking about the price of gas going up $0.50/gallon (which would increase the total cost less than 1%).

t2fastspin said:

Oh, yay. Another Fastlane debate.

Thanks for that fantastic contribution to the thread.

I don't think myself or anyone else on this thread thinks the FL is unfair or should make someone that gets one feel guilty the entire day. Feeling bad that other folks can't afford such perks isn't indicative of having less of a good time at the park.

I agree with DJ that unless you are going alone or with a friend that is paying their way, once you have to pay for 3+ FL passes it's no longer just a drop in the bucket. Especially on the busy days where the price is jacked up even more. It goes without saying that if it was cheaper for everyone the whole point of the pass would be moot.

One thing I didn't mention and I'm not sure if this is something shared by others. If it weren't for FL there's no way with the distance and cost for 3 multi day trips a year that I would go as often. Dropping the cash down for these passes, while not everyday, actually adds to the overall value of going. So without those perks offered my money would go to an extra DMB concert or sporting events.

So Pete I will keep riding and re-riding and maybe catch ya at Breakers someday :)

djDaemon said]

Every budget has a limit. And we're not talking about a few percent difference. For a family of 4:

• Gas = $30
• Lodging = $150
• Tickets = $220
• Food = $300
• TOTAL = $700

Well, yes, every budget does have a limit. And if you have enough money to afford a visit to an amusement park, to pay for the parking, to pay for somewhere to stay, to pay for the food along the way -- all purely discretionary income -- I'm afraid I just don't have a lot of sympathy for someone complainng they can't afford a visit.

I for one enjoy Fast Lane threads. Especially in January.

I'll add that while it is asinine to suggest that Fast Lane does not have some type of impact on a non-FP guest's wait time, it's also not true that it impacts one's overall park experience.

If you fly economy, do the folks in first class negatively impact your flight? If you buy bleacher seats to an Indians' game, are you sitting in your seat upset over those in the VIP lounge, allowing it to negatively impact your experience? If you by seats to a concert, do the people who thought it was worth it to plunk down $2,000 to do the meet and greet before hand somehow infringe on your own personal experience?

If you said yes to any of the above, that's a choice you are making. If you can't figure out a way to not let Fast Lane guests bug you or somehow impact your day at an amusement park, life is a going to be a really long difficult struggle.

From my vantage point, it's equally asinine to suggest that Fast Lane negatively impacts one's own personal park experience. We have never, ever even considered purchasing it, and by some miracle my daughters think Cedar Point is the same magical place I did when I grew up.

Are my wait times impacted? Of course (although I would argue that it's not that grand of a difference).

Does that impact me emotionally someway?

Why on earth would I let that happen? I'm at Cedar Point for Christ's sake. If it was that important to me, I would find a way to work that into the budget.

It's just not that big of a deal. If it is, from my perspective you're responsible for allowing to be such a big deal.

In fact, here's a "radical" thought. When I see people going through Fast Lane, they look really excited; it's typically families with kids. You know what my first thought is (and what I have told my girls)? It's not "OMG those rich people taking away from my own enjoyment thinking you are better than all of us!"

Nope. My first thought is..."I bet they don't get to come here often. I hope they enjoy this place as much as we always do".

To me, Fast Lane does just that; it offers first-timers and once-in-a-life-timers who don't have the luxury of going on a non-busy weekday (like I do), or the luxury of having a season pass (like I do) the chance to really enjoy all the the park has to offer.

It's a wonderful thing for the park and for the people who have the opportunity to use it.

noggin said:
...I'm afraid I just don't have a lot of sympathy for someone complainng they can't afford a visit.

Whoa, wait a minute. That is a very different statement than:

...it's hard for me to understand how FOL access is unaffordable.

Originally you were saying that if they can afford to come to CP in the first place, they must be able to afford FL as well. That's simply not a remotely reasonable suggestion.

Kevinj said:

If you fly economy, do the folks in first class negatively impact your flight? If you by bleacher seats to an Indians' game, are you sitting in your seat upset over those in the VIP lounge, allowing it to negatively impact your experience?

While I agree with most of your point, I'll use the same analogy for this comparison that I've used the countless times I've defended FL.

First class does negatively affect me when I'm in coach. The plane is a fixed size, and they allow first class guests to purchase more leg room at the expense of everyone else on the plane. Which is a pretty good analogy to FL, in that the park is allowing guests to purchase more rides at the time expense of those in the standby line.

If you said yes to any of the above, that's a choice you are making. If you can't figure out a way to not let Fast Lane guests bug you or somehow impact your day at an amusement park, life is a going to be a really long difficult struggle.

I don't know that I'd necessarily agree that it's a choice. This past summer I was a single rider, since my Wife was unable to ride. So when the opportunity presented itself, I jumped into a relatively short line for a "quick" ride on Valravn. The wait time was listed at something like 30 minutes. While in line, watching FL guests marathon the ride 3, 4, or 5 times did affect me in a noticeable way, in the practical sense that the 30 minute wait turned into a 45+ minute wait. And yes, that's an issue that can and probably will be solved once the park figures out the impact of FL, but the fact remains that FL impacted my day in a way that was not positive. This is not to say it came remotely close to ruining my day, but it was a decidedly not-positive experience.

Does that impact me emotionally someway?

And here's where I wholeheartedly agree with you. Don't take my criticism to suggest that I'm stewing over it. I just think it's worth considering that there could be some impact on a guest's visit. Though I suppose the same is true of $4 bottles of soda (or whatever they cost these days).

It's a wonderful thing for the park and for the people who have the opportunity to use it.

Indeed, and I used it a couple times in what may be an unconventional way this season. Since my Wife couldn't ride, and my Daughter isn't yet tall enough to ride the "big" rides, I would purchase FL+ and get maybe 5 or 6 total rides in throughout the day. That's a lot to pay per ride, but the value was that I could get a ride practically anytime I wanted and be back with my family in about 15 minutes.

djDaemon said:

Originally you were saying that if they can afford to come to CP in the first place, they must be able to afford FL as well. That's simply not a remotely reasonable suggestion.

I may have been inarticulate.

But we're not talking about a necessity of life here; it's not food, it's not housing, it's not clothing, it's an amusement park.

People who choose to spend their discretionary income on gas and tolls and accommodations and food and park entry but complain that Fast Lane is too expensive, well, I'm afraid I just don't have a lot of sympathy.

On the admittedly rare occasions when I'm in a park outside of enthusiast events, I don't buy FOL access -- and I don't stand in the stand by line being concerned about how "unfair" it is that those who paid for expedited access have expedited access.

Kevinj said:

...In fact, here's a "radical" thought. When I see people going through Fast Lane, they look really excited; it's typically families with kids. You know what my first thought is (and what I have told my girls)? It's not "OMG those rich people taking away from my own enjoyment thinking you are better than all of us!"

Nope. My first thought is..."I bet they don't get to come here often. I hope they enjoy this place as much as we always do".

To me, Fast Lane does just that; it offers first-timers and once-in-a-life-timers who don't have the luxury of going on a non-busy weekday (like I do), or the luxury of having a season pass (like I do) the chance to really enjoy all the the park has to offer....

THIS. Thanks for saying this and I will personally admit my perspective on the FL issue has changed over the past year because I always didn't feel this way in years past. Along with you and Brandon(djDaemon), I also have a family of 4 and have never willingly allowed myself to pay additional money for FL. I guess I've grown accustomed to waiting in line over my 40 years of going and because I'm a local park goer, if I don't get to ride something one week, I'll come back the following visit and get to it next time. I will admit I renewed my Season Pass for 2017 because of the FREE FL+ perk that was being offered on Columbus Day weekend, the busiest weekend of the year. (I used FL+ for FREE for the first time ever this past fall on that Sunday visit). I was a nice experience to be able to skip some 2+ hour lines that weekend for Valravn, MF,etc. but I got to be on the other side, for once, of the glares that I used to give people in the Fast Lane line, (hey,at least I admit it!) when they would skip right past me while my family waited. I don't do that anymore because yes, my perspective has changed.

It was nice for FREE, for once, to be able to experience this perk, but like others have stated, I also have a budget (even living so close by) and I also can't afford the additional money to plunk down for Fast Lane (for a family of 4) or even if I did, simply won't allow myself to do so. There are better things to spend my money on. My 2c.

djDaemon said:

First class does negatively affect me when I'm in coach. The plane is a fixed size, and they allow first class guests to purchase more leg room at the expense of everyone else on the plane.

That is not quite true. If the first class and extended legroom was not a thing, the plane would be filled with coach seats. When you pay for more room on a plane, you are not taking room away from anyone else on the plane, instead you are paying for space the airline could put another seat.

djDaemon said:
Indeed, and I used it a couple times in what may be an unconventional way this season. Since my Wife couldn't ride, and my Daughter isn't yet tall enough to ride the "big" rides, I would purchase FL+ and get maybe 5 or 6 total rides in throughout the day. That's a lot to pay per ride, but the value was that I could get a ride practically anytime I wanted and be back with my family in about 15 minutes.

This. Completely this. I've been trying to get my wife to understand this plan of attack for going on 5 years now... She can't get over the sticker shock of the price so it doesn't happen. As a result I don't ride any of the ultra high thrill rides because I don't want to make them wait an hour or longer.

These are all good perspectives on FL/FL+. We're plat. pass-holders, and use that as our perk. We utilize early entry and ERT every chance possible, so typically, each visit is great for us. We have our routine & follow it to ensure we ride what we want(often quite successfully). And if for some un-seen reason it's not, as stated prior, we'll get a ride in next time. We're just happy to be there. I make the decisions on what my visit will be like, as well as the other guests enjoying a 'once a year visit '. if I was in their shoes, I'd go whole hog. But I'm not, so I don't by choice. I choose to spend any extra $$ on Hotel Breakers, and again, MY choice! Yeah, I used to sneer @ FL patrons out of jealousy (but got over it quickly when I saw the cost). Then I sneered at ride employees for not properly fluctuating the flow of non FL v/s FL guests into normal line. But that as well has quit bothering me. Only once have we enjoyed FL+, and that was 2 seasons ago with a promotion for the newly renovated HB. We booked & paid for a room (May or early June requirement) before a set deadline, thus providing each registered guest a (one) FL+ for any day of visit. Please remember a few things, the hotel was newly remolded, and with a new staff for the season. That being said, things probably weren't completely running as smooth as CP would like. In this case, it worked out for me! During check-in, our vouchers were printed for FL+ 'perk'. We were told to use them whatever day we wanted on our Sat./Sun. visit. I did the normal signing of papers, and at which that time, the woman(extremely proficient) stated she didn't think the vouchers printed, and were given new ones. In attempt to make a long story short- it turns out BOTH sets of vouchers were valid, un-unbeknownst to her(employee), so we enjoyed 2 days of FL+ and it was great! But for myself to go out of my personal financial preference & do so normally....NO(and never have). But if others want to-ENJOY YOUR VISIT!!

While I despise fast passes of any kind unless they are GIVEN to everyone for free, I will say that after going to 15 amusement parks last summer, that Cedar Fair has the absolute worst system while Six Flags was barely noticeable. The only thing Cedar Fair does to minimize impact on the regular line is to offer FL Plus on some. King's Island was, by far, the worst park at limiting the number of FL users entering the station at once. I've seen them let an entire stairway of FL users into the station at one time on both Banshee and Diamondback. Plus, they have unlimited access to the ride.

Six Flags, on the other hand, has Flash Pass users enter through the exit on most rides and really seems to do a good job at minimizing the impact on the regular guests. I RARELY ever noticed people using it.

Cedar Fair needs to stop being so fricking cheap with their system, especially considering how much more it costs to use their parks and they need to limit times per hour you can ride an individual ride. Plus, to make people feel a little less screwed, they could stop forcing people out of seats that nobody is waiting for. MOST other parks encourage you to stay on. They definitely need to bring back the single rider line for Maverick. Nothing more irritating than seeing several empty seats on a train that holds so few in the first place. The single rider line kept trains full and it running a lot closer to capacity. Moving the FL to the single rider line made wait times longer for everyone.

BTW, Gold pass good for all Six Flags Parks plus Gold Food pass good for all parks plus drinks cost me a total of $180 for next season.

Something that does make me feel warm and fuzzy inside is seeing someone who has bought a FL Plus pass only to find the line for TTD is only in the building. It actually take them longer to get to the ramp than the regular line. I love that!