News: Cedar Point expected to be cashless in 2022

RideMan said:

About twice a season I see stories about people at Kings Island (specifically) being double- and triple-charged for purchases because of some processing error.

I wonder how many stories there are of people losing a $20 bill at the park?

The overcharges inevitably get fixed, but can leave people scrambling for liquidity for a week or more.

If you are scrambling for liquidity because you got charged twice for a burger and fries at an amusement park, maybe you shouldn't be going to an amusement park?

If any business is in the habit of making those kinds of mistakes I think I would be inclined to find ways to keep from being bitten by that particular bug. Like being selective about my payment methods.

And they have - they offer a cash exchange kiosk. Feel free to take advantage of that free perk!

The only issue with payments I have had at a CF park were in 2016 when CP’s internal systems went down and we could not pay for our lunch with the dinning plan. They (Corral I think) kept telling us to try back in 15 minutes. Well after 45 minutes of that we were hangry and just paid with a credit card. The plan was take the receipt to the Be Made Whole Again Department for reimbursement but time was short and the walk long so the thought was deal with it next trip. Unfortunately after an afternoon in the park and a 2 hour ride home sitting in my wallet the thermal paper they use in the registers had faded beyond recognition.

This is in contrast to SFSTL that had major internal IT issues in 2014 and frequently couldn’t process dining plans but choose a different route called the honor system and the cashiers would just write down your pass number and let you enjoy your best day ever.

Some of y'all crack me up.

I spent a decade working at Cedar Point and don't ever recall a massive outage that required guests to use cash all day long. That's not to say a terminal on occasion didn't work, but it's hardly something that a company is going to lose sleep over. How many years have we been using credit cards now?

I have pretty much been 100% cashless for about 10 years now and I can count on one hand the amount of times I couldn't use my credit card... 1) At Starbucks but they were just giving their product away for free. 2) Gift shop but the owner just copied my card info and charged me when it came back up. 3) Earlier this year my barber lost internet due to a storm so they just weren't charging people for haircuts. Funny enough the internet also controlled whether or not you could pay in cash, not just credit. 4) Most recently I drove through Taco Bell who were only accepting cash so I drove next door to Wendys and oddly enough they were only accepting credit cards. I legit thought they were joking with me.

Even if the world went cashless, which I don't believe we will see in our lifetime, I can't think of anywhere that I would suffer if I didn't have cash on me. I can go without my Taco Bell.

RCMAC said:

Somebody help me understand the line of thinking that says Amazon, Chime, Lyft, Uber, Cashapp, etc etc are things that should be avoided. I see them as marvelous inventions that have come along to save, if nothing else, time. We use most of those services and I can honestly say that nothing bad has ever come of any of it.....

Try working in the fraud department of a major national bank, especially talking to those customers who lose their phones/ leave them behind in Uber rides/ have them stolen on a daily basis. Alot of these customers have these apps linked directly on their cell phones. I see THOUSANDS of dollars of funds being stolen by criminals and people experiencing heartache on a daily basis. Yeah, I unfortunately see the downside all the time of these apps.

I see two personal downsides to the park going cashless, but neither of them will have a widespread negative impact on the GP and I will adapt.

Every year, my wife, daughter, and I have a bragging rights competition to see who can find the largest sum of spare change in the park over the course of the season. We have a friendly competition and track every penny, nickel, and dime, etc. that we find on the midways and queue lines. I'm sure there will still be some spare change dropped here or there, but I'm guessing it will be a lot less.

I am also a participant on the WheresGeorge.com web site where people can log and track paper currency in their possession to see where it came from and where it goes next. It's a dumb waste of time to a lot of people, but I find it interesting. It is always fun to send a dollar bill loose in the wild and months or years later see it pop back up by another user in some distant zip code halfway across the country. Cedar Point was always one of my favorite places to set paper bills loose because of the tourist-travel factor where there was a slightly higher chance of one of my bills given back as change and traveling away from Sandusky.

Neither one of these cash games is a primary reason for going to the park or spending cash money at the park, so I will survive when they go cashless.

Even if the world went cashless, which I don't believe we will see in our lifetime, I can't think of anywhere that I would suffer if I didn't have cash on me. I can go without my Taco Bell.

I disagree. I think it's happening at an accelerated rate. And heaven help your privacy. The "theys," will know everything you like, your medical status, your views, you name it can be found by our purchasing habits. Living off the grid will be next to impossible & that's what the government wants!

Before you know it grocery stores will start requiring special "cards" to qualify for in-store discounts to track your purchases, and places like Pointbuzz will track your IP address so that the moderators can go to your home and dig through your trash to figure out how good of a recycler you are.

Your medical history is strongly protected, though.

Communes will always exist for those who want to live off the grid. An ex-college roommate of mine has lived in one for almost two decades. PM me if you're interested.

randi b said:

Even if the world went cashless, which I don't believe we will see in our lifetime, I can't think of anywhere that I would suffer if I didn't have cash on me. I can go without my Taco Bell.

I disagree. I think it's happening at an accelerated rate. And heaven help your privacy. The "theys," will know everything you like, your medical status, your views, you name it can be found by our purchasing habits. Living off the grid will be next to impossible & that's what the government wants!

Btw, if you're so concerned about this you should stop using the internet.

^ my point is it's coming whether I stop using internet or not

What's coming, exactly?

The new record breaking gerstlaur! The height, inversion, angle of descent, airtime, and speed records all in one ride!

I always have to laugh wherever I see someone getting paranoid about all the information that "they" are after. If you carry a cell phone or use the internet, "they" already know more about you than you know about yourself, and you pay good money for the privilege.

^ laugh all ya want, but just because I'm paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't after us.

Kevinj, what's coming is a new world order.

The commune idea works if they are 100% self sustaining. Any interaction to purchase say flour, sugar, would put them on the grid though when society goes cashless. The thing is that you can stop going on the computer & using a cell phone, however you can't stop needing to purchase necessities. I don't like knowing people can track EVERYTHING about me. And our buying habits tell that. But honestly I'm such a hippie, a commune isn't far from consideration.

If you don't like knowing people can track everything about you (location, purchasing habits, etc.) I definitely do not recommend going to Disney World and using a Magic Band. :)

Who are “they” and why are “they” after me? What happens when “they” catch me?

Shades, you don't want to know!

Shades said:

Who are “they” and why are “they” after me? What happens when “they” catch me?

Why, "they" of course are "The Black Shirt Higher-ups"! When they catch you hopefully they issue you a Ticket of A Lifetime.

randi b said:

I don't like knowing people can track EVERYTHING about me.

I'm not accusing Jeff or Pointbuzz of doing anything nefarious with my information, but if I was extremely opposed to being tracked, one of the first things I would cut out is a web forum where I have to login to post comments and opinions. 😉

Kevinj said:

places like Pointbuzz will track your IP address so that the moderators can go to your home and dig through your trash to figure out how good of a recycler you are.

Excuse me. Does an NDA mean NOTHING to you?!