They raised price of parking

All they need to do now is to run only two trains on MF and Raptor (which happens more often than I'd care to see), and continue the troubles with TTD, and you have the complete SF experience.

Speaking from someone who lives in NE Ohio: What other parks do we now have a "choice" to go to anymore that's a one day trip? Hardly any. Indiana Beach? Holiday World? A bit too far for my tastes for just one day. Next closest thing would be Kennywood. A nice little park that offers a lot. OK, so there's one. Hershey? Again a bit too far for just a one day trip. At least when SF was in charge of the park to the east, and Paramount to the south, we had a choice on where to go. Ever since this acquisition of the new parks, I've been skeptical. Hell, why not charge $15-20 for parking? Where else are people going to go for their thrills?

Dick and the gang sure have some big ones. I really don't have an issue with $10 parking. I drove by the Florida Panthers arena yesterday and parking there was $15...for a Disney on Ice show of all things. Funny thing there is that there is a big Sawgrass Mills mall across the street and you can just park free there and walk over to the arena. Most people do.

My issue with Cedar Point is raising it during the season...which they have done several times. To me that is a slap in the face of your most coveted guests...those who come multiple times in a year. Yes, you can get a parking pass but there has to be a happy medium.

And, I would be MUCH more willing to pay for parking if there was a nice tram to get me to the front gate instead of hauling myself and the kids from Goofy 226. Parking at Disney is almost a joy. You get whisked away on an efficient tram right to the ticket booths. THAT is worth it to me.

Ok, raise the parking price...but do it next season...not with 6 weeks left in this season.

I, for one, agree with Jeff on parking. It holds absolutely NO value to me, and I have many things I would rather spend my money on.

Honestly, I wish I lived closer to Santa Claus. :)

Loopy said:

It's still over $2.25 for a gallon of gas here in PA and eastern OH.

Where I'm from (chicago) gas has gone down 60 cents a gallon over the past 45 days. The money I'm saving (since I've gotten used to the $3.19 price) from 2 gallons, will make up that dollar.

And I would think people would rather pay 1 dollar per car instead of $5 more per ticket. If I remember the ticket prices went down since the gas is so high right!

Chief, I assume the regular season is over, bonus weekends are done and now it's halloweekends the event!
*** Edited 9/22/2006 3:17:11 PM UTC by 901liveson***

Stop you crying people if $10 is too much for parking why dont you make a trip to Great Adventure and pay $15 maybe you would be happy then. The best park in the world raises it $1 and its a big deal

Come on people if you dont have something to complain about you arent happy!!!!!!!

Right. Well said.

Of course, by "well said" I mean that was pretty dumb and shortsighted.

arms_down said:
The best park in the world raises it $1 and its a big deal

Disney World raised parking $1?

I expected parking to go up next season. What I did NOT expect was it to go up before the end of this season. Now what is that going to do to the people who visited this summer and decide to come back for Halloweekends? Yes, it's only a buck, and even those who never expected it will pay it (especially if they've driven 2 hours from the Detroit Area), but they won't like it.

I know the raised prices aren't much for a lot of people, and I've had a season passes since 1992, Joe Cool since it's inception, and parking passes once they allowed them on the Season Pass.

The higher price on the regular season pass that no longer includes additional parks, (and I can't afford the Maxx or Maxx Plus), higher cost of the parking pass which is now limited to decals only and no cheap option for a second vehicle no longer makes it worth it for me to purchase a season pass. This year, I will have made 6 trips to the park...including Boobuzz and providing nothing comes up to prevent me from going on closing day.

If I lived closer, it would be worth it as I could make many more trips. But I'm better off now to just cut my trips to a couple times a year and get dicounted tickets through my credit union.

They have pretty much lost the ROI for me, my son and his girlfriend, along with my coasterbuddy Catherine. They lost my husband when they messed with the seatbelts on MF because he's too tall for WT and his thighs are too big for MF.

How much do you want to bet the regular ticket prices will go up next year as well??

Saying paying high parking prices is part of the amusement park experience is like saying getting mugged is part of the New York City experience.

It may well be...but we don't have to like it. And Jeff is right, there is a simple answer. Add another buck to the ticket price and then eliminate the parking fee. It is acutally going to MAKE money but there will be a perception that you are getting something for nothing.

I think it is very telling that folks like OldCPer, who in the past rarely...if ever...critized the park are now doing so on a more regular basis. I don't think it is that our expecations are getting higher.
*** Edited 9/22/2006 4:34:54 PM UTC by Chief Wahoo***

Chief is exactly correct, if they'd put a tram or two in the parking lot then I'd be more inclined to understand why they're charging $10 for parking. To just raise it for the sake of making more money seems pretty greedy to me.

Hershey Park only charged $7 for parking and they have a whole fleet of trams to carry you to the front gate. You don't feel as though they just bent you over for nothing at least. I loved that park, if I only lived a few hours closer.

Its a buisness and in order for a buisness to stay open they have to make money. Would you all be alot better if they would lets say raise the admition prices back to what they were. Its a dollar just dont order that extra fry at Mc Donalds or get the apple pies. I dont know how many times at Entrance I have given someone a dollar just so they could ride Dragster. I know that I dont have to but sometimes I do feel for the guest that make trips just to ride our ride. I realize that there are other things that they could do to make more money but after making trips to other parks this year and payin $20 at one park just to park I just dont get why people are so upset over $10..... Last year going to hockey games I would spend in a range of 15to 25 just to park. I am sorry I just dont get why people would be so upset over a dollar.... If I was a guest it still wouldnt stop me from going to the park and if I was that tight on money maybe I would not take the turnpike to save that dollar. Or I would get some people to go and split the cost.

If you were paying closer attention, you would notice that nobody here is threatening to boycott the park, and nobody is claiming its going to break their bank account. Everyone is giving their thoughts as to the implications such a change has on the overall experience at the park.

You are the only one making a ridiculously big deal out of anything.

EDITED for clarity's sake.

*** Edited 9/22/2006 5:16:03 PM UTC by djDaemon***

arms down, it's more than just raising the cost of parking. They raised the cost of the regular season pass by $5 and it no longer includes the other parks. I used my CP pass to go to Michigan's Adventure as well. Now if I want that option, I have to pay $125. Immediately my cost has risen by $36 if I wish the same option I had for the 2006 season.

They raised the cost of the parking pass from $40 last year to $50 this year, and discontinued the the parking option on the season pass which allowed me to take either of our two cars. If I wish to have a pass for both cars, it will cost an additional $60 over what I paid last year. We are now up to an additional cost of $96 if I want the same options I had this year.

So...my choice is to lower the options I currently have and still pay more. A regular season pass that is ONLY good for CP for $5 more, and a parking decal for only one car which may limit the number of trips I can take for $10 more.

I don't think you can fault them for changing that particular policy. They added all the Paramount parks, so it makes sense that they're going to redefine how the season pass works. It's an extra $30, but they're adding five new parks to the mix, including one that is only three hours from Cedar Point. That might be not better for your specific situation, but overall most people will benefit.

Im just reading this and boy am I glad I added parking to my season pass.:)

IMHO, $10 isnt at all that bad. I mean it could be worse.....SFGADV and SFMM are prime examples.;)

*** Edited 9/22/2006 7:44:22 PM UTC by TTD 120mph***

SFMM was $10 if I remember correctly.

I understand completely Walt. I'm just one person. (well, it's actually 4 people if you count my friend Catherine, my son and his girlfriend).

And overall, this is a great thing for all Ohioans. It's the Michigandars that will suffer. Considering the shot economy here, another 10K jobs being lost at FoMoCo and the trickle down effect, there will be a lot more Michigandars that will be cutting out those extras as well.

To arms down...why everyone is voicing their opinions is because CP has always been one of the parks where there was a perceived value, that you got more than what you paid for. Now they are charging $10 just so you can park your car ($9.50 technically) in one place all day. Like Jeff said, take away parking and add a few bucks to admission. Something like that adds perceived value, whereas taking a $10 bill from someone before they're even in the park doesn't.

And then there is the whole parking pass issue. I really want to know the reason behind this.

Back in 2003,parking was $6.00 now its $10.00,but it still wont change my plans to go.