New for 2013

The title of this thread is "New for 2013"

Most of these posts appear to be reruns from 2012, AND 2011, AND 2010. . .

Please change either the title or the posts

One great new thing for 2013 is the Yogurt shop near Gatekeeper. Not a bad value, and a great selection.

Avalanche Sam said:
The problem with the food at Cedar Point is not the price. The problem is the quality, and lack of perceived value...

Agreed 100%

One of the biggest things the park, and Cedar Fair as a whole is doing, is hiring actual chefs...

I had not heard that, that is outstanding!

Cedar Point's culture has been that of crappy food at inflated prices. They need to change this culture, and are taking steps to do it...

Just out of curiosity, why does the park need to change the culture if it is making so much money? That would seem to me that people like crappy food, lousy value, and virtually non-existent customer service. Sounds like some of the whining worked.

Please pass the Cabernet and Brie.

If it was bought in the park the cheese would be $4 for a generic Kraft Single.

I was not aware that speaking my thoughts on CP's food pricing would consist of internet bullies relying on sarcasm and being called an idiot. I'm not talking about just my pocket, I am talking about everyone's. I KNOW I don't have to eat there, my family always brought coolers. I worked at the park for four years and I had the same thoughts then as I do now.

The park needs to change the culture because if it doesn't, per cap spending will suffer. People are more sophisticated than ever when it comes to food, and Cedar Point needs to recognize this.

I also know they are exploring the whole all-inclusive concept. From what I am told, prepaid meal options should be arriving in the coming weeks.

CP_Obsessed_Freak1987 said:
I was not aware that speaking my thoughts on CP's food pricing would consist of internet bullies relying on sarcasm and being called an idiot. I'm not talking about just my pocket, I am talking about everyone's. I KNOW I don't have to eat there, my family always brought coolers. I worked at the park for four years and I had the same thoughts then as I do now.

Welcome to the Internet. I apologize if you took anything I posted personally. I am just sick of people whining about an avoidable problem. I did it myself, but little positive came of it.

It wasn't until after I stopped purchasing food from Cedar Point that I noticed baby steps towards it being improved. If you don't like the food, don't buy it. If enough people don't, the park will have even more motivation to improve!

Anyway, back to new for 2013:

The evacuation contraption for Windseeker!

Job title changes for Rides leadership.

Sweeps returning to Park Services from Rides.

New "Plinko" style game.

And most importantly: new Police Chief!

-Sam

Avalanche Sam said:I used to complain plenty about the food at Cedar Point. One year, I complained so much that it got me into serious trouble. Some people here know what happened, and it wasn't pretty.

Being a new guy around here, I would love to hear this story. What if I start a new thread just about food complaints? Would you care to rehash this?

Avalanche Sam said:

From conversations I've had on Thursday and Saturday with people in the foods department, including someone at the corporate level, I can tell you that management is well aware of this problem, and is working to correct it.

One of the biggest things the park, and Cedar Fair as a whole is doing, is hiring actual chefs, and people with culinary experience to work in their foods departments. One of the people I spoke with the other day was the head chef from Canada's Wonderland. I actually enjoy the food at that park, and this chef, along with people from other parks, including Knott's, were at Cedar Point during the Media Preview.

Also during Media Day I saw a chef from Worlds of Fun at Midway Market. I have to say I enjoyed the meatloaf at Midway Market during Media Day quite a bit. It was hot, fresh and had some bell peppers in it which made it flavorful.

That said, some of the new food at Knott's, as shown on the Knott's website last year, looked really, really good. The problem with CP food isn't that it is horrible, it's just horrible for the price paid. What happened to the fresh, never frozen burgers that Matt Ouimet talked about last year? Nowhere to be found at CP as far as I know.

Last Saturday, I paid I believe a little over $14 for a cheeseburger (frozen patty, same as always), shoestring fries and a Coke Zero at the Lakeside Express. The food was OK, about what I would expect at McDonalds or Burger King for about $5.50.

Now, lets compare that to two venues in Cleveland, Progressive Field and the Horseshoe Casino. At both places you can get a similar burger meal for about the same price (give or take a dollar) as the meal at CP. But quality and value is where CP has a big disconnect.

Burgers and Fries by section 107 at Progressive Field has 1/3 lb fresh not frozen burgers, the buns are buttered and toasted and the fries are fresh cut on site and taste much better than frozen shoestrings. In addition, I had a loaded ticket which gave me a $3 discount and sode refills are $2 for the rest of the game.

At Horseshoe Casino you can get a Michael Symon B-Spot burger, fresh cut Lola Fries and a soda for about the same price as the CP meal.

It's OK to charge high prices at an entertainment venue, but give customers a premium product that is a cut above what you get at a typical fast food joint and people will see the value in that. That is what CP needs to work on and strive for.

Lesson: If you do not agree with something and speak about it, then one is "whining".

Avalanche Sam said:
The problem with the food at Cedar Point is not the price. The problem is the quality, and lack of perceived value.

Bingo! And I'd throw service in there as well, as the in park food stands still appear to be a complete mess when it comes to actually taking and filling orders. Three times this weekend I tried to buy food and walked away without making a purchase. The first was Saturday at the fry place across from Gemini. I was simply told to come back in 15 minutes with no further explanation. The second and third was the elephant ear/taffy place at the front of the park. With the elephant ear, they refused to give us a second plate so we could cover it on the way to the car. At the taffy place, they yelled through the closed glass that it was too windy to open their windows.

Thankfully Chet and Matt's is nearby, tasty, and cheap! :)

I have to admit Avalanche Sam and Chief Wiggum have been able to express better than I have what my biggest gripe with the park is. The lack of perceived value and correspondingly customer service. I love Cedar Point. The park does some things exceptionally well; but, most of the time if you need help with something in the park you are left to fend for yourself. I don't have a problem shelling out big money for something I enjoy. I am a proud foodie. I don't always have to eat steak and lobster. A Big Mac will do just fine now and then; but, under no circumstances should I be paying 4 star restaurant prices for food that is barely edible.

People should not have to a Rosetta Stone App. on their cell phone just so they don't have to engage in some sort of game that involves charades, acrobatics, and saying your order progressively louder and slower, to the poor foreign kid behind the food stand. (Ok, I used similar wording in another post that was removed but it illustrates my point). People can't always vote with their wallet. The squeakiest wheel usually gets fixed first. Greed is good, but so is whining.

Opening day MM was $18/$10 all day, no difference for lunch or dinner. This was painted on the sign so I'm assuming it's that way moving forward. I think it's an ok value, assuming you eat enough. If you can get by with drinking water, you are probably better off eating somewhere else because cups of water are always free at all restaurants.

Don't forget the new platinum pass values also. Like you can get 2 hot dogs (or cheese) on a stick with 2 pops for $11, which is not bad really. There's some decent values to be had, but you have to remember to request them, because they don't ask you.

I always get the biggest kick out of the Subway prices. With most things it's fuzzy to equate value to the "real world," but with Subway, you know what the exact prices are for things you buy, so when you have to pay $14 for a 6-inch sub combo, you really feel the markup.

Can we please split the thread here? This has derailed almost entirely into a food pricing/quality/service, uh, debate, more than anything.

Oh, I also forgot to mention that MM also did away with individual servers this year, which I always feel is completely unnecessary for a buffet anyway, so good move there.

That said, the staff on opening day, they sucked. Slow like they were moving through molasses. Plus it was filled with dirty tables and when they did bother to clean a table, they spritzed the cleaner over the table, salt, pepper, etc. then just wiped around the condiments, never lifting or moving them. I hope you like cleaner with your salt, cause when I sat down, the top of the shaker was still wet with cleaner. Yum.

I read through this morning (though i was half asleep so sorry if this was posted already lol) but the chippery is now a panda express and there is only a small chippery stand in the park now.

I was surprised to get the Platinum pass deal from last year where you buy a chili cheese fry and get a regular fry and 2 drinks for free! I had this happen both Saturday and on Sunday at Fresh Cut Fry on the main midway by Raptor! Apparently the workers there are unaware that deal was removed from the platinum pass perks for this year.

^ It was added back to the perks, at the same time the 10% off sit down restaurants was removed.

Nickpa, are you sure about the Chippery? Doesn't seem likely to me as Panda Express is across from Red Garter next to the Millennium Force station. The Chippery is just down the Frontier Trail a little, also on the left as you head to Frontier Town, in the building that is called Toot Sweets. I think maybe you have your buildings confused.

oooo thank you. I printed off a mini copy to keep in my wallet the day they posted the perks for this year but never checked back to see if anything was updated.