OMG 10/12/2013

Staaber said:

On top of this they are turning into nazi's, you can't take a picture of your on ride photo without being accused of "stealing" or "theft" as I heard one employee say over the speaker. Really?

Yes, because they won't let you just take pictures of your on-ride photo so you can avoid buying it (which is theft), that must mean they are a bunch of genocidal maniacs.

+1 to John

I was there Saturday...Couldn't turn around cuz I had to be there for work. Had to park at TGIF and walk the causeway because my feet were moving quicker than the vehicles. It was quite a sight. As far as banning season pass holders on this day, I can see the argument, but disagree. How do you decide that, and when? What if it's a cold, rainy week? Even people who have to drive a long way to drive can decide to hold off until a different weekend. A rainy weekend with temps in the 40s would've changed the situation. Take out season pass holders, and CP has virtually nobody in the park.

I wonder what the percentage of passholders were there on Saturday.

JuggaLotus said:

Staaber said:

On top of this they are turning into nazi's, you can't take a picture of your on ride photo without being accused of "stealing" or "theft" as I heard one employee say over the speaker. Really?

Yes, because they won't let you just take pictures of your on-ride photo so you can avoid buying it (which is theft), that must mean they are a bunch of genocidal maniacs.

Then don't charge so much for a crappy photo....besides when you take a photo of a TV monitor with your phone it's not the best quality any way so what's the big deal....other parks don't seem to care much and allow it...I guess my point is handle it a different way and not be so nasty....here's an idea do something like this, offer to e-mail people their photos for $5 each or all their photos on any on ride for $20. Then no one needs to carry them around all day or rent a locker just to store them.

My reference to the nazi's was supposed to be more towards the soup nazi from Seinfeld.....No Picture for you!! Come back next year!!

It would be nice if they offered something like that.

However, just because they don't, doesn't mean you can just take a picture of it when they've posted signs asking you not to. And I don't see any problem with employees of a business not being exactly friendly with someone trying to steal from them.

Then take the overhead monitors down and make them individual.....where you need to scroll through them....it's funny how Disney let's you take pictures of your on ride photos. Heck the people who take your pictures in the parks will even take your camera and take the same exact picture as they do that they are trying to sell!!! It's called going the extra mile for your customers and making them happy.

You can't tell me that they still won't sell pictures and make a killing and make a killing on food and ticket sales and a killing on other items in the park. Like I said it's called making you customer happy and wanting to come back. To me it's not stealing if your taking a freaking picture of something that is posted in plain sight....move it if their so concerned....

I think if you are shocked by huge October crowds on Saturdays, you need to get with the times. This has been happening for 7-8+ years now. Maybe they did set some records, but a 1-2 hour wait to get out of the parking lot after the park closes is not uncommon, nor are 1+ hour waits for every coaster.

Cedar Point certainly has a maximum number of people that can be in the park at one time. They may have been very close to hitting it. The parking problem is likely related to many people going to the park alone to meet up with others, a scenario that happens more in October than it does over the summer.

If you want to go to the park when it is not so crowded, go on a Friday or a Sunday in September. This is similar to the summer, when it is better to go on weekdays in May and June, rather than weekends in July and August.

The problem with a cap is that they would most likely get plenty of complaints from people who drive a couple hours to get to the park only to find it is sold out. On Sat., I don't think the issue was that people didn't have a good time in the park, it was the parking situation and traffic after the park closed.

As far as on-ride photos, well CP paid for the equipment and are paying workers to run the equipment for the sole purpose of selling you a picture. Can't say I blame them for not wanting people to take pictures of the monitors. I do like your idea of sending photos via email at a discount, that is a fantastic idea.

It's not all that surprising that a different park, in a different state, run by a different company with a different target audience has different operating policies.

I was mainly disappointed with the way the employee was nasty about the whole thing. They could handle it differently. That's what upsets me the most. It's supposed to be a fun place, I guess they need to find a way to handle it differently.

Using Disney again as an example, they have a system called photo pass which was really cool. They take your pictures on and off rides and give you a card, like a credit card, you hand this to the on rode photo person or anyone who has taken your photo through out the park and then when you get home you can log on and see all your photos and purchase any of them you like. Loved how this worked.

Maybe with an ex Disney CEO in place up here things might change.

I can understand people driving from far away and being turned away but most of them purchase their tickets ahead of time but then again most tickets are not for specific days. So it would be hard for CP to determine crowds for this day.

I'd be very upset if I paid full price for a day like that. Waiting 2 1/2 hours for any ride (unless it's a new record breaker of course) is not fair when you would only get so many rides that day.

I guess us season pass holders are spoiled!

I went on Saturday. Since I have a pass and go often, the lines inside the park were not a big deal to me. I went in the evening and did all the outside walk thru haunts, none of which had a line that was long, if any line at all. The waits for food and drinks were longer than normal sure, but I still only waited a few minutes to grab a beer at the Red Garter, which had only 2 bartenders working (they should have had at least 3 for that crowd). I can understand people who paid being upset, but if you were coming from out of town, wouldnt you do a little research before making that drive to make sure you werent attending on one of the busiest days of the park's season every single year? I mean, this isnt a recent development. They were not charging for parking by time I arrived, and it did take over 2 hours to get out of the parking lot (we were in VIP/Employee parking underneath Gatekeeper where they store all the Halloween parede stuff), but that was really the only huge inconvenience.

I would have more sympathy for people if this was a freak day that it was so busy instead of one of the traditional busiest days of the season.

Yeah, I went Friday night, 10/11/2013, and it was pretty busy for Friday. I don't know if this is due to the fact that we're getting closer to the end of the season, or what, as this is the first year I've had a season pass. So, should we expect weekends to get busier the closer we get to the end of CP's operating season? And, I know to avoid Saturday's like the plague...just won't do it...

Pete said:
The problem with a cap is that they would most likely get plenty of complaints from people who drive a couple hours to get to the park only to find it is sold out. On Sat., I don't think the issue was that people didn't have a good time in the park, it was the parking situation and traffic after the park closed.

There was the complaint about the park experience, paying all that money only to ride county fair rides because the big rides were 2-5 hour waits. I don't blame her but back when we were one trip a year and even growing up, we'd always pick a day (usually a Tuesday) we thought would be the least crowded, usually in June.

I was there Friday night to and it was busier than normal for a Friday night, but I was with a friend that thought it was dead!! After going the previous Friday and everything was walk on it was a let down!! Like I said we are spoiled as season pass holders!!!

^Yea, being a passholder I've gotten plenty of walk-ons this year without having to buy Fast Lane once. I was there Friday night as well, and thought the lines were kinda long. My buddy just got back from a Universal/Disney trip and felt the lines were nothing compared to what he was used to for most of the week.

Well, here in C-Town CP is getting a lot of bad press....so I hope they plan to better this in the future....

Ha! one of the news stations even mentioned THIS blog (OMG 10/12/2013) on their article!!

http://www.wkyc.com/news/article/317929/45/Cedar-Point-guests-angry...bc%7Clarge

Staaber said:
Well, here in C-Town CP is getting a lot of bad press....so I hope they plan to better this in the future....

So what you are saying is that they are getting press. Good for CP.

Btw, if you get to CP and you're being directed to park on the grass, that's when you turn around and leave.

Scottyf said:

Staaber said:
Well, here in C-Town CP is getting a lot of bad press....so I hope they plan to better this in the future....

So what you are saying is that they are getting press. Good for CP.

Btw, if you get to CP and you're being directed to park on the grass, that's when you turn around and leave.

Bad press is not good!! People are upset!! Would rather see good news articles about CP not bad ones like I am seeing now....people are ticked off....

I agree with you, if you see parking in the grass turn around and go home but not everyone has this opportunity!