The good old days

In my spare time i have coincidentally come upon some footage of the good old days. Back when Cedar Point was a family park instead of a high thrilled and crazily priced amazement park. It's a 9 minute video from 1963. I hope you'll all enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgSktHEAGZQ *** Edited 8/5/2007 11:02:26 PM UTC by SweeperAlex***

Do you have a link?

I think he is talking about the ones on youtube, man how the park has changed. I think there is 3 or 4 of them.

I think i would call these the "good ol days", and those days "the days with nothing to do at Cedar Point".

My grandma, though, thinks otherwise. :)

SweeperAlex said:
Back when Cedar Point was a family park instead of a high thrilled and crazily priced amazement park.

Wow am I tired of reading things like that. As I recently posted on CB, since 1999 they've added Camp Snoopy, an ice show, a great set of Halloweekends activities for the kids, and already had the Gemini kids area, Kiddie Kingdom and the Peanuts Playground. That's 25 kids rides not counting the carousels, more than the total count of all rides for most small parks.

Jeff, I don't think CP isn't a family friendly park but I don't think they have upgraded the family experience THAT much since '99. When I took my 4 year old son back in early June there wasn't a whole lot that has been added that we could experience together. The 3 kids areas you mention are good for him...but not good for us. Camp Snoopy is borderline family friendly.

I can't speak to Halloweekends but there is no doubt that event is primarily for the teens and older folks.

When I go to Disney I can count on a couple of hands the things that he and I can't do together. When I go to Cedar Point I can count on two hands the things we can do together. (Car rides, train, observation tower, sky ride, merry-go-rounds, shows).

To be truthful, I think this perception is more of a marketing issue (problem?) than anything. I agree it's not Disney and that it'd be nice to see another nice modern kiddy area to replace Kiddy Kingdom, but I think Camp Snoopy is one of the nicer kiddy/family areas around I can think of several rides just off the top of my head that little ones and adults can do including Tilt-a-whirl, Lolli-swing, Balloon Race, Woodstock, etc. I'd like to see another flume to replace WWL eventually too.

But to say that other parks up in this area of the country offer more stuff for kids to do is in most cases just not true. I can't really argue about Disney since I know very little about those parks so I'll just say that I think CP compares rather nicely to most Six Flags, Paramount, Kennywood, etc when it comes to kids areas.

But Cedar Point should really be compared more to Disney than Six Flags as they are trying to be a total resort destination...filling hotel rooms with families. In fact, hotel rooms are still where the significant growth at Cedar Point will be.

I have to agree with Jeff. Having 25 out of 69 (I believe) rides for youngsters is a pretty good percentage. I wonder what the Disney percentage is.

One must consider the fact that Disney is orders of magnitude larger than CP (and the land they own in the Orlando area is only about 30% developed) and that an ultimate day pass rivals, if not exceeds, the cost of a seasons pass at CP. Our family just spent 5 days at CP and there was enough to do to keep everyone happy considering the extreme range of likes and dislikes of we have of park activities. On thing I know is for sure - you cannot compare CP to Disney, 6 Flags or anything else. CP is just CP, experience it and enjoy it. Nothing else has it's history, eloquence or ambiance.

Janis Joplin wrote and sang "these are the good old days". Lets remember that.

*** Edited 8/1/2007 10:16:15 PM UTC by acrossthelake***
*** Edited 8/1/2007 10:16:52 PM UTC by acrossthelake***

Why does every park have to be a "family park"? Why can't there be parks for older kids and young adults (or even older adults without kids)? If you want a park you can basically do everything with the whole family, go to any of the six Disney parks in the US. Cedar Point has PLENTY to do for the entire family. But, there are many many people that never step foot into the "kids" areas of CP.

Regardless, I visited CP while a little kid without any of the "recent" kids areas and we always had an amazing time. Now that they probably have tripled the kids areas since I was small, people are complaining there's not enough to do?

There are plenty of family things to do at CP. I don't see the reason to complain. In fact, I am sure most kids are entertained by just going to the park and seeing everything, and I am sure the parents are just happy that their kid is having a good time. Of course it gets better when you can bring your kid on MF and TTD and other coasters and big rides.

Here's the link to the video.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3P0Pv84cPWU

acrossthelake said:

Janis Joplin wrote and sang "these are the good old days". Lets remember that.

Not trying to show my age, but that line is actually from a song by Carly Simon call "Anticipation"

There is a lot of family/kids stuff at CP, but they need a dark ride and a flume ride to round out the family offerings.

Pete said:
There is a lot of family/kids stuff at CP, but they need a dark ride and a flume ride to round out the family offerings.

What do you call Disaster Transport?

Nobody has mentioned they dropped the kid tickets down to $11.99. That's pretty darn cheap, especially considering that nearly a third of the rides there can be enjoyed by smaller children.

I would disagree about Halloweekends being only for teenagers. While people should (but often don't) keep their kids out of the out Fright Zones and haunted houses, there are plenty of kid friendly things to do. They offer face painting/mask making (for free I believe), costume contests, lots of friendly midway monsters, the Boo Hill house designed for kids, Camp Spooky and several kid-friendly shows. This year they're even throwing in a parade. I'll stop sounding like an advertisement now, but you get my point.

Enjoyed the video! I can remember a lot of those attractions from when I was a kid. I remember having to plead to my mother to let me ride the Scamper, as it was too "dangerous" in her opinion (probably not too far off considering the nearly non-existent height requirement and just a lap bar).

In those days, most of the attractions accomodated both kids and adults. The technology was less sophisticated, so rides were more sedate. Over the years, CP has definitely moved away from that to marketing itself more as a thrill park. This was good strategy (lots of money came in and big growth occured), as it distinguished them from places like Disney and played well to baby boomers and their teenagers.

But, do you think the market may be changing slightly as the boomers retire and look for places they can go with the grandkids?

I'll concede to what Matt is saying about the perception and marketing of the park, but just because they don't add anything doesn't mean there isn't a lot to do already.

halltd said:
Why does every park have to be a "family park"?

Because families spend more money.

I guess my thinking is that Cedar Fair officials themselves have pointed to the family demographic as the area they want to target for growth. So, how have they done that in the past 5-10 years.

I'll give you Camp Snoopy (nice) and the ice show but the "major" attractions that have been put in do no target the family and, in fact, they demolished a family attraction (log flume) to make way for a thrill ride.

Again, I'm not saying the rides they have added aren't nice. They certainly are. But, I don't think they have boosted family interest in going to the park.

There is a lot for kids (under 10/8 lets say...or under 48" may be a better way to look at it) to do at the park. There is a lot for teens and adults to do at the park.

I don't think there is a lot for those two groups to do together. At least nothing "new" that would drive attendance.

Look at what Disney has done in the past few years. Outside of Mission: Space and Everest I'd say they are very focused on the family. Buzz Lightyear's Spin, Nemo Ride at Epcot (Living Seas), Nemo show at Animal Kingdom, the Dinosaur Spinner at AK, the stunt show at the Studios, Stitch was an attempt to make a thrill ride family friendly (though I think they didn't pull it off), Philharmagic, etc. All can be enjoyed by all but the smallest of children. In fact, for the past couple of years they have been marketing the "Reunion" strategy quite effectively.

I think some of you do a disservice to Cedar Point by comparing it to Six Flags and Busch. Cedar Point is the closest thing to a Disney resort experience outside of Disney...except for Universal Florida. For Cedar Point to take the next step I think they need to get into the mindset that they ARE comparable to Disney in many ways...at least for 128 days per year.
*** Edited 8/2/2007 3:00:31 PM UTC by Chief Wahoo***

The Chief makes a good point here. 128 days is a pretty short operating season. I was in Tampa visiting a friend last weekend and we were talking about Busch Gardens and she says "Its really nice in November when its cooler." I'm thinking...the park is open in November??? Of course then I realize that it almost 70 degrees in Tampa in November! I think this helps the Disney parks and not to mention that they tend to be located in tourist hotspots.

You would be amazed at the people down here in Tennessee who have never heard of Cedar Point. Everyone has at least heard of the Disney parks. Of course...maybe that is a marketing issue, but location does help in my opinion.