Park at capacity - 10/19/19

https://twitter.com/cedarpoint/status/1185643349665046528

Will they hit 4 million in attendance next year? If we get good weather I say it's possible. Wow.

Commence the whole making!

Twitter is about to be a real riot. And I thought it was entertaining with Wisconsin getting upset and the Sooner Schooner crashing.

“Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.”

I mean . . . it has to be the Gold Pass, right? I know Halloweekends are always busy, especially a Saturday, but this seems like next-level crowds this year. I would expect a lot more of the same next year.

Probably good for attendance, but I wonder how many people will be turned off by the crowds. It's like Disney-level crowds there . . .

I can’t ever remember Cedar Point closing because they reached capacity. To me, this is just more evidence that the gold pass is drastically underpriced.

Just a hunch, but the Gold Pass promotion has been successful.

Cedar Point should be ashamed of themselves. What a joke. They’ve lost it all they care about is $$$$ they could care less if you get in or even have a good time. My daughter has been in line to get in the park since 2 and still isn’t in.

Cedar Point is turning into a crap park. I’d rather spend my money going to Kings Island. You can’t even call cedar point they’ve turned their phones off. Great customer service.

Ive been a pass member for the last 10 years not doing it anymore since they don’t care I don’t care. I’ll spend my money elsewhere.

I don't think they've turned off their phones, I think their system is getting overwhelmed with calls right now.

Love how they are telling people to come back Sunday. Like everyone just sits around waiting to change the day they want to go to cedar point.

This park has been going down hill over the past few years. All they see is $$$$ and don’t give a rats behind if you have a good day or not. They get you in the park and then rip you off with concessions.

Yeah I want to go to a park and wait 3 hours for a ride. What a joke...

I wonder if the decision to announce "at capacity" was Cedar Point at all, or whether any city or county agencies encouraged them to do it due to the traffic issues I've seen pictures of today?

When I saw it on Twitter, I knew this site would have a field day. While the gold pass is underpriced, they should change the benefits of the gold pass.

To late to make changes for this year. Gold Pass holders paid for those benefits and to eliminate any of them would entitle the pass holder to a refund. They paid for all the benefits and CP has to deliver them.

They're open for parking again now, because some people left.

I'm sure the Gold Pass has something to do with it but I grew up in Sandusky - during the summer it was like this every day. Maybe not capacity, but crazy busy. You just rolled with it.

We actually didn't mind because it paid for the winter months, when Sandusky totally died. The shopping mall was empty, the restaurants deserted. Shop owners loved the tourists, especially on rainy days. That's when they made the money.

That said, Cedar Point needs to seriously consider buying some land along Cleveland Road, putting up a commuter lot, and getting a bus line going for next year. Shuttle busses to Cedar Point, with a dedicated bus lane up the causeway, would do a lot to alleviate the parking and driving hassles around the area. That's the way Disney does it, and it's a good idea.

CP and Disney isn't a good comparison. CP is a park that is only open every day 4 months out of the year and only on weekends 2 months after that. Disney is open 365 days a year and draws large crowds every day. The costs for CP to invest in purchasing land and paving a huge parking lot plus running buses probably isn't worth it. Crowds only get to this level a handful of days through the entire operating season. I think the best solution is raise prices, it will weed out a few people while they still make the same amount of money selling cheaper tickets. I'm sure the gold pass will cost alot more next year.

Not so sure about that Thabto. CF was more expensive, they lowered the price to bring in the crowds. Sounds like they are getting exactly what they wanted. The question I have is will people want to spend $300/night on hotel rooms for a jammed park. Sure those guests can probably afford FL+, but there are no FL+ midways or food and drink lines. Even then some may balk at 90 minute FL+ lines.

Too be fair, Disney has a much better infrastructure for that. Things like viable, multi-lane highways throughout the resort. CP is painted into a corner, with two-lane roads for access. I like the option of off-site parking, but will that reduce traffic enough when busses will be sitting there, too?
And typically, for 90% of the season, it’s not that big of a problem. Halloweekends has grown to be huge. Everyone wants to go. And many people wait until that time to go. It’s busy, no doubt about it.
I’m not 100% buying into the notion that Gold passes have caused this, nor do I think the predictions of ruined seasons to come will necessarily come true. The Gold Pass has replaced the old regular pass, the Platinum option remains. The price is right to attract new customers and many here attest to having switched from Platinum to Gold. It seems an affordable option is precisely what people have asked for. In the end it can’t be a mistake. I’m amused by those here who think the park belongs to them alone, with no regard for basic business principles. No operator on earth will admit that busy isn’t good, it’s money coming in. All day on FB and here as well, I’ve read where people are incensed that they’ve been going to the park all summer and their Last Day was ruined. My choice, quite simply, is to not go. I’d rather die than deal with the crowds on a Halloweekends Saturday. It’s pointless, especially for people on a forum such as this that should know better. If somebody’s daughter sat three hours waiting to get in today, a good part of me wants to put that squarely on her. I mean, at what point do you say “This is not a good sign, not just for now but surely for the rest of the day as well, and I’m going home.”?
Cedar Point has had nightmarish days due to over-capacity. So has Disney. Just because they’re open for business doesn’t mean they’re obliged to let everyone on earth in, whether they are passholders or not. This is not the first time and it won’t be the last. Aside from the poor souls who are manning the phones and the social media sites this week, the good folks at Cedar Point are crying all the way to the bank. I don’t have a problem with that.
I’ve noticed there are plenty of people who find a reason to complain about the park no matter the season, or the weather, or the promotion. Those folks are mad when it’s slow and when it’s busy too. If I was that cranky about it, I’d find another activity to occupy my summer.

Having said all that, get this. I’m going tomorrow. Due to circumstances, it will only be my second visit of the season. I plan to leave home very early and get there in the morning long before ride time. I plan to renew my Platinum Pass, and see if FL+ will be of any help. And if not, so be it. I’ll be back on the road by noon to come home and happily relegate next year’s visits, lord willing, to days that won’t cause me to worry about it. Leaving early tomorrow should be nice and easy, traffic-wise, right?

As I posted in another forum, the current regime clearly values profit over guest experience. If they did not build a deck they would be better off just attaching a parking surcharge to the price of admission and getting rid of the tollbooths all together.

I agree with Staaber 100 percent about the misplaced priorities (and the Blue Gemini observation...). But if you think their greed is unseemly now with the fast track, fast track pluses, preferred parking, super preferred parking, etc. , Wait until next season. They clearly no longer consider admission a revenue driver. With 300000 gold pass holders (or Passholes, as they say in Anaheim) flooding the park next season in-park spending will tank. Guess where they will make up the deficit.... get ready for the ten dollar hotdogs and 15 dollar lockers.
The whole place has become a miserable cash grab. Maybe next summer will involve more rain and even worse flooding. Would serve them right. Is it too late to revisit the Six Flags idea?

For SarahB1863, I also live in a tourist town. Folks complain when the roads are crowded in the summer with cars, bikes, golf carts, & pedestrians. It’s just human nature, but, still everyone knows that’s what carries us through the winter. After Hurricane Dorian flooded us and abruptly ended our tourist season on 9/6, everyone would LOVE to have that congestion now!