News: 2007 Season Passes on sale September 22

I guess everyone has different preferences. I'd be upset if they ever moved from car decals to putting it only on the pass. It seems obvious to me that families would prefer to have a car decal and singles would prefer to have it on their pass. I don't have the stats, but I'd be willing to bet that most of those with a parking pass had on it on their car.

*** Edited 9/9/2006 7:13:01 PM UTC by Walt***

I've actually sat down and figured the differences in price between this year and next:

This is for a regular adult season pass.

This year: GL season pass w/ CP add on - $130 x 2 = $260

GL/CP parking pass - $75

Total for this year = $335

Next Year: CF Maxx Pass from GL or CP- $125 x 2 = $250

GL parking pass - $45

CP parking pass - $50

Total for next year = $345

CF Maxx Pass from PKD - $89.95 x 2 = $179.90

GL parking pass - $45

CP parking pass - $50

Total for next year = $274.90

All in all they're getting an extra 10 bucks out of us next year but at the same time limiting the vehicles that can enter with parking passes. Again, I think we may make a trip to PKD and actually save some cash.

*** Edited 9/9/2006 7:33:20 PM UTC by Loopy***

bholcomb said:
Not allowing parking on the pass is going to stink. No longer can I tell friends 'I'll pay for parking if you drive', etc. There's many times in the past where I haven't driven my own vehicle and ridden with someone else. Parking really needs to be on the pass, even if we have to scan the pass at the tollbooths.

Yeah, this is just riddicious. Cedar Point tried to come accross last year as being the "people's park." Dropping prices on admission and food and then heavily promotting it. Now this crap happens? What are they trying to pull? Like seriously though, this is stupid.

Just as Ben said above, there have been many times when my friends are going to Cedar Point, I pay for parking and then they drive. Thats the exchange, and with the price of gas these days, it really worked out quite well. I can't count the number of times I have done that over the past years. One thing is for sure, I'm not driving my car 60 miles there and 60 miles back everytime I go to Cedar Point. And, I sure as heck am not paying the freaking $9 parking everytime I go with someone else.

This is a HUGE step back for Cedar Point, I can't believe they would even consider doing this when the system they had was so great.

The bottom line is, I will not be going as much next summer. If I don't go, my friends don't go (everyone goes with me to Cedar Point). If my friends don't go, then Cedar Point loses out on admission ticket sales, food sales, and any other expense they would have while in the park.

And really, if you think about it, isn't that the whole thing Cedar Point was trying to incorporate with lowering ticket prices this year? Get people in the park to buy things, food, games, etc. Lower the price of food to get people to buy more, you know supply and demand economics?

But whatever, sorry to get so upset on this post. I rarely get down on Cedar Point because I love it so much. But whoever made this decision...well I can't believe it. Something should be done.

Walt said:

It seems obvious to me that families would prefer to have a car decal

Well, this family doesn't. My wife & I each have cars, like most families. Sometimes I drive and sometimes my wife does, like most families. Having parking on the passes made things very easy. MOST families are in this situation. MOST families like parking on the passes.

I don't understand what's so difficult about having it on the passes. The computer system was in place to do it, and the parking booth attendants just waved you through. It was simple and efficient. Everyone who had it on their passes loved it.

They apparently gain nothing (if anything, it will create more work as some employee has to put all those decals on the windows,) and will result in almost universal condemnation from the people who used & benefited from it (probably 80%+ of the combo pass holders). I'm at a loss to explain their thinking.

With Geauga Lake attendance as poor as it is, the parking changes REALLY surprise me. You'd think they'd be going out of their way to encourage people to visit. Adding an extra $9 to each trip (or forcing them to pay $45 more for a pass) is certainly an unusual way to go about doing that. In my opinion, they should have done the exact OPPOSITE: give Maxx & Maxx Pass holders a FREE GL parking pass with the purchase of a CP parking pass. Whatever they lost on parking they'd surely make up with in-park spending. They might even get a few new customers to check the park out.

So you both bought parking passes? Or you always went together? What if you had the parking on your pass and your wife wanted to go, but you couldn't? I think it's just the opposite, where most families don't need the flexibility. I don't see how inconvenient it would be you to just designate one of your two cars as the one you take to Cedar Point. We have two cars. We always take the same one.

Let's take a step back and ask the question, why would they do this? They don't make decisions like this on a whim, so there's obviously a reason. Not allowing parking on the pass doesn't look like to be a money issue. It would seem to me to be a system that could be abused. Maybe they had trouble with it? I guess we'll see if an answer comes out of the woodwork.

*** Edited 9/9/2006 9:12:38 PM UTC by Walt***

We also have two cars. The problem we have is that when we go for the day we take the Toyota because it gets much better gas mileage, when we go overnight we have to take the van because it hauls the camper.

It's a load of crap and it's just one more way CF is going to drive more and more people away from the parks. Attendence has been down this year already (even after lowering admission) and now we're going to make it a bigger hassle next year for you to come back. That makes sense.

Walt, I would think you're in the minority here. As you can see by the problem it presents for us. We're the same people coming back every time just in a different vehicle for a perfectly good reason. Now we're going to be punished because we don't want to fork out the extra cash every time to drive the van there.

I'm very disappointed about the whole parking pass thing. Not only did I purchase and use the Geauga Lake Parking Pass, but I also really liked having the pass on my ID. I don't always go to the park in my vehicle. When I go with the family or friends, I'm not always the one to drive, and it's been really nice being able to take the parking pass along with me.

*** Edited 9/9/2006 9:51:45 PM UTC by DBCP***

I may not do the parking pass now that it's on my car now (on the inside of the windshield i presume). I'm the kind of person who hates stickers of anykind on my car. Especialy bumper stickers. They are virtualy impossible to get off your car without leaving somekind of mark behind. Then it detracts from the resale value of the vehicle. At the end of the season when you remove the sticker, does it leave any kind of mark? Or does it clean off easily?

How long has it even been an option on the pass? What did everyone do before? It's not like, "that's the way it's been for 30 years."

This thread is hardly a scientific survey. With the exception of some demographics, you can't convince me that most season passholders have the need to take more than one car to the park. It might be more convenient for some, but is this really the end of the world? And I just can't see how it would be more convenient for the typical family to have the parking pass tied to one person instead of one vehicle. If it was on my pass, my wife wouldn't be able to take my son to the park during the week.

On the flip side, I can see how it could be abused. The more I think about it, the more I wonder if that's the ultimate reason why the perk is gone. I really don't know.

The sticker on the windshield comes off clean. It's on the outside and if you took it off, you'd never know it was there.

*** Edited 9/9/2006 10:41:02 PM UTC by Walt***

My gripe is that I don't want to drive around screaming "I go to Cedar Point a lot!"

Though, maybe having XL200 as a license plate might not be the best way to avoid that...

Comes off clean? Alright I'll probably still get it then.

I don't know how long they've been doing it. I've only been a pass holder since 2002. So they've always done it for me. ;)

They've been doing it since 01 Ihink when JCC came out.

Walt said:
And I just can't see how it would be more convenient for the typical family to have the parking pass tied to one person instead of one vehicle. If it was on my pass, my wife wouldn't be able to take my son to the park during the week.

How about this? Instead of creating the issues of having to designate one car (What if the designated car is in the shop? What if mom or dad are out of town on business with it?), offer a “family parking pass.” For say $10-$20 more you can add it to immediate family members pass (mom or dad) and not have to worry about having to take one particular car.

Walt, that is one of the reasons the parking pass on the Season Pass ID is gone. One other reason that I found out (only after being bounced around the CP phone system by many people that didn't know what was going on) was that with PKI being a CF park, they would have had to do a 2 park an All Ohio pass and that would've gotten too complicated, or so they say. Overall, I am not happy with the decision made. If I want all their parking passes, I will have to buy each parking pass individually, which would run me $95 total, 50 for CP & 45 for GL, when last year that was only $75. And another reason for their decision is that they found out that people were abusing the parking passes, how (as long as the person with the parking pass on their ID were in the car) I don't understand.

CP, please reconsider this decision. Thank you.

Walt said:

I guess we'll see if an answer comes out of the woodwork.

I can't imagine seeing anything that will make an ounce of sense, other than they're trying to squeeze a few more bucks out of everyone in one of the most objectionable ways possible (parking cost was already a sore spot.) Our family now has two choices: buy 2 parking passes or lose flexibility in which car we take. Neither of those options is desirable.

What percentage of last year's "early combo pass purchasers" (you got Joe Cool for free and therefore could get parking on either the pass or windshield) opted for the "windshield" option? I'll bet the percentage is VERY low, maybe only 1 out of every 5. It's not just me upset with the change. Probably 80% of the previous combo pass holders will be.

If there was ANY abuse, they'll probably lose more business by the change than they will save by thwarting the abusers. For instance, we will likely not buy a GL parking pass, and as a result will not go to that park next year (or if we do, it will be once rather than 3-4 times). That's why the change baffles me. Geauga Lake attendance is terrible, and this discourages Maxx pass holders from going (I'd still recommend they consider a "Buy CP and get GL for free" parking pass option. That will at least get Maxx passers into the park.)

All I can do is hope they "see the light" before it's too late, like they did at Geauga Lake with the "Read To Succeed" program. That showed me they DO listen to feedback and make adjustments when warranted. I think this is a case where one is warranted.

Today, i purchased my 2007 maxx pass through

kings island's site. They sent me a e-ticket to my

email address. I take this to the season pass center

and have my photo taken and free parking for all

2007. I will be going next month to fearfest and will

take care of this then. When cp's parking passes

become available,i will buy one then. As for geauga

lake,i may only be there 2-3 times-so buying a parking

pass is not feasible. It would be less money to pay

for the parking instead of buying the parking pass.

Cedar Point needs to reconsider this decision about the parking passes. When I called them to complain about it, they were telling me about how some people were abusing the parking pass (I don't understand how, as long as the person with it on their ID is in the vehicle, that it can be construed as abuse), and that with PKI being a CF park it would be too complicated for them to have a 2 park or All Ohio parking pass.

Can the sticker be peeled off and applied to another car, in the event that I travel in another vehicle? If that is the case, I may not be as upset as I am about this decision. However, I do not appreciate the prospect of having to buy both parking passes separately which will cost me $95 if I choose to do.

I can't imagine seeing anything that will make an ounce of sense, other than they're trying to squeeze a few more bucks out of everyone in one of the most objectionable ways possible (parking cost was already a sore spot.) Our family now has two choices: buy 2 parking passes or lose flexibility in which car we take. Neither of those options is desirable.

Again, the tone is like this is the way it's always been. This is the way it was for 20 years and people got along just fine. Most people didn't think anything of it. But now it's a cash grab? They did something one way forever, they tried something different for a few years, for whatever reasons they decided it wasn't working out for them, then they go back to the way it has always been. I'm not seeing the need to set up a picket line at the toll booths. Is everyone who is complaining recent season passholders? It's obvious there are people who find that it's convenient to have a parking option on their pass, but a car-only option isn't a new concept.

It's pretty simple - how many trips am I going to make versus how much a parking pass will cost me. If you make 10 trips at $9 each, you save $40 with a pass. If you decide to take the other car twice, you're still saving $22.

The parking pass is deal. I'd hazard a guess that everyone here who gets a parking pass will save money over paying for parking each time they visit. Isn't that the point?

*** Edited 9/9/2006 11:33:18 PM UTC by Walt***

You know what, I don't care what reasons Cedar Point did it. I just can't see... I mean, I am trying really hard, how the system could be abused? The season pass holder has to be in the car for the car to enter the parking lot. You can't get out of your car after you enter the lot and walk through the entrance to another car back in line, obviously because people would see you, and thats just stupid. I am sorry, but I just don't see the system could be abused.

-The way I see it is, I went 22 times last year. Around 12 of those times, I took my car, the other 10 times I rode with other people and they used my parking pass. Do the simple math folks:

2006- 12 times in my car---> free parking with pass
10 times with friends---> free parking with pass

2007- 12 times in my car---> free parking
10 times with friends---> Cedar Point collects money

Bottom line is that all the Cedar Point cares about in this decision is.....the Bottom Line $$$.

And for me, the bottom line is.....they lost my business for those 10 times. *** Edited 9/9/2006 11:35:58 PM UTC by ejh1701***

I've always had the parking pass right on my pass. I haven't had a season pass many years though (Since 03?).

I can see myself 'changing' vehicles a few times next season. Good thing I've got a sticker scraper already. Going with someone else? Scrape the sticker, bring the paperwork and have the attendant put a sticker on their car, then scrape it off when you're done. Sounds like I'm creating a lot more work.

Quite simply, I can't carry more people than myself in my truck. That's fine for most of my trips, but what if I go with my parents? What if I go with friends? Someone else has to drive. I don't have the capacity in my small truck to carry 4 people for 3 hours. The people on the jump seats would go crazy.

Yes, people tried to abuse the parking passes. A parking attendant that is paying attention should have been able to catch most attempts at this.

I guess I'm just rather disappointed they decided to stop that 'perk'. Whats the point of Joe Cool anymore?
*** Edited 9/10/2006 12:03:14 AM UTC by bholcomb***

We're skipping BooBuzz this year and taking a trip to PKD. We'll actually save more money than what it cost us this year. If you visit PKD before the end of the season and buy a pass for next year you can use that pass for the remainder of this year.

We wanted to go there anyhow, just didn't really have a good reason to travel 6 hours. Now we have a good reason and we'll save 70 bucks.

We'll get the CP pass when we go the first time next year and the GL one may take a back seat, we'll see.

$89.95 x 2 = $179.90 for season passes and another $50 for a parking pass. $229.90 Total. If we want the GL parking pass it'll be $274.90. Both of those figures are less than what we paid this year for 2 combo passes with combo parking ($335).

My suggestion...take a weekend trip to PKD and get your season pass there. Hell, BGE is only an hour away from PKD so you could even do both parks in 2 days!

Have fun!

*** Edited 9/10/2006 12:49:37 AM UTC by Loopy***