Reasons Cedar Point is going downhill

For some families... Cedar Point is their Disney World.

I agree about enforcing good work ethics to your employees. Every time I attend a park (or any establishment for that matter) and run across an employee that does a good job, I make sure to bring this to the attention of their management. At any Disney property, you can get cards to fill out to praise cast members. (At the moment, I forget what they're called.) These hold a lot of value to the entire organization. So, I'm always sure to fill them out when I'm at the parks. I received a couple of these while doing cross-U in the parks over the holidays and was amazed they existed much less how much emphasis my boss put on them. Apparently it's not very common for salaried cast members to get these things while working in the parks. So, that made me feel really good about my job and only made me want to do a better job even more.

Over the last two seasons at Cedar Point, I've emailed the park with compliments for different employees we encountered during our visit. I happened to talk to a couple of these employees via email or IM since then and they mentioned that they were never complimented by their supervisors. That part really surprised me. I mean, if a guest takes the time to email management at the park about a good experience, why wouldn't they pass that compliment along to the employee? How else are they supposed to know their efforts are appreciated?

In addition to the "details" I mentioned before, this is one more. It's something you can charge money for, but it goes a long way to making your product that much better (which then allows you to charge more).

One thing that sells the parks of Orlando is I think you can take a picture of any Universal park especially and just go "Wow, I would never see that kind of stuff in CP".

I know it snows in Ohio but those parks down in Florida live through Hurricanes so I know that we can get some of that eye candy.

It comes down to just how you theme things, if things look like wooden sheds painted...then it isn't that cool.

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1010415598027327548IaAAUintdl

How can you not go, jeesh this is freaking awesome. I love how this place feels.

I love CP.

But I feel that unless they do something to distinguish themselves from Six Flags they are just another park with coasters.

Maybe CP doesn't want to advertise to people they are the Disney of Ohio. They are just a one-day place to be and not worth traveling cross country when your local Six Flags has some cool coasters.

Just everywhere you turn in Orlando you drop your jaw. This is what CP needs.

One reason why I don't hesitate to spend $400+ on just theme park tickets.

Cedar Point you could of had all this money...
And more...all you have to do is build it.

Don't be afraid....... *** Edited 11/8/2007 10:31:28 PM UTC by factory81***

Ohio is not Orlando. You can make comparisons between the two, but expecting Sandusky to be anything even close to Orlando is a pipe dream. What other city in the world has as many well designed and amazing parks in it? NONE! Orlando is basically the perfect storm when it comes to theme parks and I doubt you'll ever see that anywhere else in the world.

mk522 said:

Maybe someday this will change, but who knows. Bill Sphen has a lot of work to do, lets hope hes up to the job.

If anyone can change things I think it would be Bill. I've only talked to him a couple of times, but he's a really great guy. People I know who know him better than I do have a lot of faith in him. I can see him turning the place around if you give him a couple of seasons.

Tim, there was one time this past summer that I felt the least bit appreciated by anyone other than my crew the entire summer. You're absolutely right that we don't get get much recognition for the things that we do right. Heck, I got more compliments and thank yous from guests during the entire season than I ever heard supervision and management give combined. I think the only thing keeping me there was knowing that my efforts were actually appreciated by the guests, despite not hearing much at all from supervision or management. That's certainly not to knock on my supervisors, because they were great guys; but when you get more recognition and appreciation directly from the guests, and they can tell you don't get much, if any from your employer(s), I think there's a problem.

I was in Orlando ten years ago as a kid with my parents, and I liked Cedar Point better than Disney even back then. Different things appeal to different people, I guess.

Every time I've been to the park, the midways have been spotless. I have had problems with bathrooms in the past, but nothing worse than any experience I've had at a local mall restroom before. CP is exceptionally clean in comparison to some other parks.

It's a shame that the employees don't get any recognition for their hard work. Many do a great job.

I never personally liked the cornerstone idea. Majority of the time, you have to just be in the right place at the right time to receive any kind of recognition

I hate to admit that I'm guilty of this, but when I see a garbage can full of trash and overflowing ( and it's my responsibility to empty it), I tend to pass it up and hope the next person that comes along will clean it up.

I would tend the believe the trash remover responsible for this can was in the process of making his final rounds for the day and figured the next shift would clean it up.

campfreak06 said:
...when I see a garbage can full of trash and overflowing (and it's my responsibility to empty it), I tend to pass it up

Great work ethic! You'll definitely go far.

Sadly, the same attitude is present in maintenance.

halltd said:

campfreak06 said:
...when I see a garbage can full of trash and overflowing (and it's my responsibility to empty it), I tend to pass it up

Great work ethic! You'll definitely go far.

I agree!

Jerreus said:

Top Thrill Dragster said:
And I don't mean that in a "let's talk trash about the park" sort of way. In response to the "Reasons Cedar Point succeeds" thread, I think some people are losing sight of things that Cedar Point lacks. Living in Orlando has opened my eyes to a whole new realm of this industry; down here the parks (except IoA) are constantly increasing in attendance, when they're charging SO much more for everything! It seems as if Cedar Point thinks that attendance is declining because of gas prices and the economy, but to me, that just seems like a way to cover up for why the park is really heading down.

Yes, CP has excellent rides. That's the claim to fame, and there's nothing wrong with that. But there is a more to a park than just rides.

Compare Cedar Point to a Disney park. They both have rides. Cedar Point has more, and they're more thrilling, with no need for theming. Disney parks have slightly fewer rides, but with a story that goes along with it, something to give the guests something to think about.

They're both very clean. They're both very safe. That's a given.

And there's one more thing: SERVICE. I've worked both for Cedar Point and for Disney, and I can tell you that I am ashamed at the way I spoke to guests or treated guests at Cedar Point, but there was nothing wrong with it. At Disney, the service is outstanding. And the best part about it, aside from training costs, it doesn't cost anything to have employees just be a little bit nicer to guests and ensure that they're having a good day.

The people who have had bad experiences at Cedar Point generally come back less often. If you look at the guests as individuals, rather just as a whole, you'll see that "gas prices" and "the economy" is not the big issue. Cedar Point targets to the midwest area, and most people may come once, maybe twice a year, but usually every few years. I've met several people at Disney that come from ENGLAND at least 3-4 times a year, and they love it. Why? Because the way they are treated.

Treat your guests well, and they will come back. Don't treat them well... well, they probably won't come back.

WOW cp is the best amusement park in the world for WHAT 10 YEARS?! definitely not going downhill when its the park with the greatest number of ride and like 4 rollercoasters in the top 20! How dare you talk about cp like that its amazing.

end of story
cool
:) *** Edited 11/9/2007 1:07:20 AM UTC by Jerreus*** *** Edited 11/9/2007 1:07:46 AM UTC by Jerreus***

Let's just face it. CP is not going down hill!

For anyone who is around the 13-15 year old range, CP probably isn't "going down hill", because you border on the edge of not being able to remember CP in all of its glory.

Let's not forget that the "Nuh-Uh, Is Notttt..." attitude, really doesn't help the "let's take an objective look" purpose behind this topic.

There are several things I tend to notice year after year that seem different from past years. Some of them are quite different, to the extent that they are downright upsetting, such as the addition of gates and subtraction of #5 and #6 on Gemini, or the rain policy from this year.
I don't particularly like either one of them, but both of them make sense from a couple of points of view. These are also things that are probably not going to change.

Then, of course, there are things that appear to have "slipped" from years gone by that could very easily change. Food quality and pricing, apparent capacity issues, and the non-enforcement of certain policies are probably the big ones.

Of course, as with any situation, there are 2 sides to every coin. I seem to notice plenty of good changes on opening day every year, too. Whether its repairs to the midway, certain new games, shops carrying new and different merchandise, different options in food (what happened to the chicken wraps? :( ) or even just a new area for flowers, etc..
Granted, CP changes every winter, and sometimes it just doesn't feel "the same", but eventually it grows on you and you tend to take a liking to "the Cedar Point of 2007" or whatever year we're talking about.

I love Cedar Point, and spend a lot of time and money there, but that doesn't mean that it is perfect. It's a business, and I have yet to find a business that is absolutely, 100% perfect in every way (even Disney does some things that don't necessarily seem "right", but it always works out.)

Point is, has CP gone downhill? Sure, at times it most definitely feels that way, but I think their overall objective has mostly remained the same throughout the years, and they've gotta be doing something right when on some weekends, they attract over 50,000 per day.

-Josh

Reasons Cedar Point is going downhill...... ZEEK!!!

If you're confused, see the "Reasons Cedar Point Succeeds" thread. :)

Ralph,

I remember Bill Sphen from my earlier days as an employee, he was intimidating at first, but just watching him go around the park and almost command a sort of order to everyone and everything around him was incredible.

I also remember that even then (2001) he seemed dissapointed in so many things at Cedar Point, and I think, in his eyes, so many more things have gotten worse.

I have faith in him as well, but its up to the rest of the park to uphold his standards, something that I haven't seen the park do for anyone in years.

For me it is an argument of balance. First - the food pricing/quality is out of balance as previously discussed.

I also think that CP is caught in between wanting to be a resort, but still needing to be single day destination. For a resort, lower attendance at a higher per cap is fundamentally the goal. Basically, you want the keep a person there longer and the will spend more, and you cannot expect as many people to be able to afford it. The problem is that they can't deliver on the whole resort approach and I think they are close to pricing a person out a single day destination.

My third item is balancing thrill and family attractions. For this I compare to Hershey, which in my mind the best family park out there. For CP a family has to split up to take the little kids to one of the 2 kiddie lands, while the other part of the family goes from large ride to large ride. At Hershey, the rides are more intermixed, so a family can walk around the park together, and basically everywhere you stop, there is a ride for any level of rider in the general area. It is not enough to have x number of rides for kids under 48”, but they need to located where you can get to them with having to walk a mile.

As I have stated before, I love CP and I also miss the CP of the ‘70s and ‘80s. I do not think CP is in serious trouble, but I do think the balance is critical and the entire industry has realized that big rides wont pay the bills.

*** Edited 11/9/2007 2:58:30 AM UTC by Spit***

^ That also may be why Hershey hit a historic high of 2.7 million guests this year. :)

I'm not sure if I'd quite say that Cedar Point is going downhill, but the park is not the same as it used to be.

Also, if you look at most rides, they have lower ridership than they did a few years ago. I'm not sure if this is due to changes in operation, or demand of the ride. I also agree that the food does seem to be slow.

I think a big issue is what they have chosen for their investments. They seem to have been focusing on installing the big thrill rides, and not installing rides for the entire family.