New ticketing system

^hmm or even an PA system...

mk522 said:
if they were smart, whilst tearing out the old gate systems, they'd be installing the latest p.o.s. systems to expedite credit/debit transactions...but thats wishful thinking on my part.

This was addressed with this response on the Worlds of Fun Blog:

Yeah we've researched that here and there but to do something like thatusing our infrastructure is not possible. We would have to have a pointof sale system at every shop/register/location that would tie into ourSeason Pass system, and that would be a heck of a big project. Then,that system would have to 'talk' with our current accounting system. Itwould be awesome though! We are getting a new ticketing system for 2008though that should help with a lot of ticketing / season pass issues wecurrently have, so that is great news.

My guess is that Cedar Point sits in the same situation, or the idea is viewed the same way.

Jeff,

You are down here too?

Maybe I'll run into you!

Anyway, the gate system seems easy, though today at Hollywood Studios, there was a small line, and this was not at open.

Speaking of Disney (along with Universal) and Cedar Fair: My thoughts of Cedar Point's shortcomings are only being confirmed. I think a large Coke at Disney is around $2.39, compared to almost $4 at Cedar Point. Food quality at the less expensive restaurants though, doesn't seem great. Universal has MUCH BETTER FOOD than Cedar Point, and I think it is around $2.99 for a large Coke.

But then again, souvenirs seem more expensive.

Sorry for going off topic there, but since we were talking about Disney...

-Sam

$2.09 for a regular soda at Disney, $1.25 for bottled water. Shame on Cedar Point.

ChrisC. said:
^hmm or even an PA system...

No way, who wants to listen to a bunch of annoucements about car lights or lost kids. I like it how it is, with just the music.

DBCP,

That's an interesting response by WOF...but in my eyes, is a sad excuse by a park like Cedar Point. They've had years to catch up, and, I'm no expert on IT systems or infrastructures, but can't those types of systems be installed in stages?

Even if they couldn't, CP has six months of an offseason to work on a project like that, and they could probably even start well before the park closes...

It can be done...I think I'd be more excited if the "New for 2009" announcement was point of sale systems everywhere instead of a new attraction...

I would imagine that the park already has the capability to do a PA. I know GLP did. They have the speakers throughout the park. But like GLP I would wager that they don't want to open up the possibility of people looking to page their lost buddy.

I find it interesting that the criticisms of CP and value and guest experience continues to come up. This kind of talk wouldn't have lasted very long even five years ago. The real hook here is that we all are super huge fans (now that's a technical term) of Cedar Point. If we have these opinions, what does the average joe think??

^^Things such as that can indeed be installed in stages. You can roll out a few at a time, or you could roll out an entire system.

As for those food prices...I thought I remembered thinking that IOA seemed a bit cheaper than Cedar Point when I was down there a few years ago.

But anyway, most of the stuff could happen behind the scenes. Okay, maybe they'd need to run ethernet throughout the park or something, but the main servers and such would be done whenever. Then in the offseason, run the cables and put in the POS systems.

The problem is cost. Well, that and they probably don't see the value. If they can afford Maverick at $21 million, then they can afford decent infrastructure.

But that's the problem - its easier, presumably, for CP to justify a $21 million investment, because it contributes to maintaining their attendance. I'm sure at least part of the argument against a new POS system is that people are already buying crap using the old system, so why invest in a new one?

Most trips to the point are for 1-2 days. Yes, there are some people who stay a week at a time, but not many (and many is in comparison to the 3 million who walk through the gate). A POS system would only be useful for that handful that stay all week. If I'm there for a day or two, does it save me anything if I pull out my season pass to pay for it or my credit card?

As for the PA system I would assume that during an emergency they have the ability to tap into every speaker in the park to make an announcement. I know that at the beginning of everyday when they play the music it goes through every speaker, and again I assume that it is only from a single source.

Does anyone know if CP has ever had to be evacuated, and if so how that was handled?

As for the POS system, as was stated before the systems are not that hard to install and can be done in stages. In example:

Stage 1 - New Ticketing/Season Pass systems
Stage 2 - Installing servers for a POS system
Stage 3 - Run wiring to each permanent Merch location,
wi-fi to portable Merch carts
Stage 4 - Install POS system into Merch locations
Stage 5 - Connect the two systems, probably with a single cable, and upgrade software to talk between the systems.

The physical end should be pretty easy, though time consuming, while the software should not be that difficult, heck it has already been done in other parks so all they need to do is modify it to work with them. Of course I am not a programmer so I don't know how difficult that would be.

And of course that is only 1 way that it may be obtained, I know there are plenty of others.

So much experience with rolling out and budgeting for IT systems here. Brilliant!

I didn't say anything about budgeting, I know it would not be cheap, as for the physical side of it I have done that before, although on a smaller scale (in a 30,000 sq ft FEC) and this system tied into our membership system, our wristband system, and of course our credit card system.

But of course all I did was the physical install (which included installing a server, cable, and the POS systems) I know that we had some custom software made up (probably at great expense) but that is not that uncommon, especially in these type of systems.

JuggaLotus said:
Most trips to the point are for 1-2 days. Yes, there are some people who stay a week at a time, but not many (and many is in comparison to the 3 million who walk through the gate). A POS system would only be useful for that handful that stay all week. If I'm there for a day or two, does it save me anything if I pull out my season pass to pay for it or my credit card?

And that, unfortunately is the same narrow minded thought process the park shares....though I'm a little lost on why you're saying that you'd be using your season pass to pay for things in the park..

I'd rather carry plastic any day of the week than hundreds of dollars in cash around with me...it's a heck of a lot more secure, and a heck of a lot more convienent.

Think of it this way: most people put more thought into how they spend their money when they have to count actual cash in their pockets. Credit cards on the other hand, (the main reason why so many are in debt) are easier: they require no thought process. Someone goes to CP with a card thats got a 5,000 limit isn't even going to think twice about swiping, and will probably swipe more often because they won't see the numbers nor the cash until the end of the month.

Point of sale systems make so much sense it's not even funny. I'd be willing to bet any of you that upon installation, the park would see higher per-capita spending in the next five years than they ever have before. It's easier to swipe than to count.

I have absolutely no idea what it would cost to outfit every retail location with a POS system, so let's start there. For those of you who have any experience, could you ballpark it?

The ROI on a system like this is difficult to prove, especially when you don't know the real cost, but I believe it is easier to justify than spending $21 million on Maverick, as awesome as it is.

When people decide whether or not to go to CP, most of the general public probably doesn't factor in a brand new ride all that much -- at least not anymore. Attendance sure was disappointing this year considering they just built Maverick, and TTD was a much worse situation. Instead, people think about their last visit to CP and whether or not they had a good time.

On that subject, the reason why people don't have a good time at CP boils down to one thing: it can be a hassle. The food lines are always long, the ride lines are sometimes long, and the food is overpriced and generally sucks. Since CP is competing against other leisure markets such as video games, it really doesn't sound all that appealing to the average person these days to go to CP and stand in the sun for six hours, stand in food lines for two hours, and pay a ton of money for food you know is overpriced.

CP needs to fix this immediately or it will just continue to have attendance problems. They should invest in a five year plan that focuses solely on making the guest experience more enjoyable and convenient. The POS system is a start, but there is so much more that could be done. It'd be neat if they built some nice, air conditioned queue houses for rides like Raptor, MF, TTD and Maverick, and put significant shading in other queues. Hire a creative chef and have him put together a really interesting menu for all the food locations CP operates.

The list goes on and on, and a lot of these things should be considered. It's tough to prove the ROI on them, but also tough to ignore the gradually declining attendance each year also, despite pretty significant improvements to the line up of rides. They chalk it up to the economy, and probably somewhat rightfully so, but what better time to roll out a program that caters to guests than when guests are most concerned about the value of their dollar?

Onthat subject, the reason why people don't have a good time at CP boilsdown to one thing: it can be a hassle. The food lines are always long,the ride lines are sometimes long, and the food is overpriced andgenerally sucks. Since CP is competing against other leisure marketssuch as video games, it really doesn't sound all that appealing to theaverage person these days to go to CP and stand in the sun for sixhours, stand in food lines for two hours, and pay a ton of money forfood you know is overpriced.

CP needs to fix this immediatelyor it will just continue to have attendance problems. They shouldinvest in a five year plan that focuses solely on making the guestexperience more enjoyable and convenient. The POS system is a start,but there is so much more that could be done. It'd be neat if theybuilt some nice, air conditioned queue houses for rides like Raptor,MF, TTD and Maverick, and put significant shading in other queues. Hirea creative chef and have him put together a really interesting menu forall the food locations CP operates.

The list goes on and on,and a lot of these things should be considered. It's tough to prove theROI on them, but also tough to ignore the gradually decliningattendance each year also, despite pretty significant improvements tothe line up of rides. They chalk it up to the economy, and probablysomewhat rightfully so, but what better time to roll out a program thatcaters to guests than when guests are most concerned about the value oftheir dollar?

THANK YOU!! Upper management, are you reading this?

POS isn't going to speed up food lines though. I could pay with pennies, and STILL wait 5 minutes after paying before I get my food. The bottle-neck is not at the cashier (at least not when I've been there).

I will agree that it would make it easier if at any stand you could pay with card rather than having to carry cash, in that way it would help tremendously.

If the only reason for adding a POS system is that you can use a card, I'm not sure I see it being worth the money. Nearly every food and merchandise location, obviously with the exception of games, accepts credit and debit, even if it is using a dial-up Omni. What really is the benefit? That you can complete the transaction more quickly?

Edit: Grammar.

You can't use your card everywhere though. And with the glacial service, frankly any speed improvement helps.