They raised price of parking

OldCPer, you left out the part about your college's football team and how bad they are. :)

OldCPer said:
another 10K jobs being lost at FoMoCo and the trickle down effect

Thanks for noticing. Most people it glosses right over them. I will be one of those worried few, although I think I'll probably make it through (hopefully). There still is this nervous feeling in the air when I get to work every day.

I do understand the severity of the Ford cuts, and its harsh. In fact, I know someone who at least used to work for Ford in Dearborn and am afraid they may be one of those cut. This is serious, and shows that Michigan is going even further downward. I don't mean to instill politics into this situation, but that's kinda necessary and inferred. Granholm has done nothing for this state, she has led us into the state we are in today. My brother, who was looking for a co-op job for Kettering in Flint, was unable to find anything, yes anything, in this state. He's off to South Carolina, for Bosch's facility there. My dad couldn't find work for three years, until June last year. Something needs to be done, and giving failure another try really shouldn't be considered.

Anyone wanna tell me why so many people still support her??

Good luck to you and all you family members. I don't think you can blame it all on Granholm, there are a lot of other factors at play here ... there's a big one in the white house.

Enough on politics, however this economy is not too good right now. Knowing that, I don't think it is wise for Cedar Fair to be raising all these prices so soon to alienate all the customers they just won back from all the "giving back" and "price breaks" this season.

If you want to take a stand against the park, pay your admission, pay the toll, once inside the park, spend nothing! Pack a lunch, go out to the car to eat, take advantage of the free cups of water. Walk right past the games and gift shops. Enjoy the rides and go home.

We are all still going to go and enjoy the park. Your only was to speak up is by your spending habits. Once you are parked and in the park it cost's you nothing more. Maybe then, the park will get the message that screwing the customer before he even makes it to the turnstile is not the way to run a business. I have a season pass and a parking pass, they already got their money. I will buy a Maxx pass for next year and stickers for CP and GL, that is all they are getting from me. Nothing else, zero, zip!

bholcomb said:
SFMM was $10 if I remember correctly.

Parking at SF:MM ,SF:GADV, SF:America, SF:DL, SF:EG, SF:MW, SF:NE, and SF:OG are all $15. I think SF:OT and SF:SL are too but I'm not sure.

Sorry but Dick De Voss is a total jerk voting for granholm here.
*** Edited 9/23/2006 1:18:11 AM UTC by brieeee***

I wouldn't blame Granholm for everything. An besides, the economy is tough right now and Michigan is in the forefront of it all. You have to remember that Michigan relies heavily on automobile production. This decade has really been a downside for the whole state of Michigan and the auto industry. The Republicans ruled the governorship in Michigan for 12 years prior to her being elected and they had somewhat of a better economy. I would give a lot of credit to Granholm, she can't say what Ford Motor Company does, its all just part of the business. I think Michigan has to be more diverse in the industry and not just focus on autos. One day Michigan will have its day in the sun.

Try starting with auto companies that don't build cars people want to buy. There's a conversation starter as to why the Michigan economy is in the crapper. For years people have blamed the US auto makers' failure on unions, pensions, steel costs and the Japanese. Why not start by blaming them for the quality of their own product?

Its not so much the quality as it is the actual product. The quality difference between domestics and imports is significantly smaller than popular opinion would have you believe. In fact, a certain Japanese carmaker took over the top spot this year in terms of recall rates.

The problem seems to be the get rich quick mentality and lack of forward thinking in the big 3. SUV's and trucks have a higher margin that other vehicles, so that's what they like to sell. Of course, its hard to make money on those vehicles when you have to discount them enough to make them appealing when gas prices have everyone raising an eyebrow.

I'm just wondering what everybody did with that extra dollar change other than put it into your pocket. Other than cotton candy, and a snoopy cup refill, you can't but anything with that dollar. It saves space in your pocket plus moves the line along quicker! I've read you get no value in the price of parking but I can say some bigger people will say they dont get the value in a regular ticket since they can't ride half the rides. The parking charge is no secret extra thing. It's been around forever. A price hike should shock no one and since admission costs less than most(all) parks it's size. Enough already!!

Or, you can look at it another way. Let's assume there are 8,000 cars in the parking lot each day of the remainder of the season. So, there are making an extra $8,000 by raising the fee $1. Probably less considering the parking passes but for simple math we will move on with that premise.

So, perhaps they will make in the ballpark of $100,000 over the remainder of the season. (I think that is high but it's early and I haven't finished my second cup of joe.) The question:

Is it worth it? Well, some folks on here are expressing disappointment and anger but not in great numbers. Some folks might arrive at the park and express dissatisfaction but will still pay. Perhaps it will linger in their minds and start their day off on a bad foot but they just may forget about it after their first ride on Raptor.

That extra $100,000 is pure profit. There is no more expense to collect that money. Maybe Dick's bonus was looking a little bleak this year so an extra $100,000 will pay for one of the grandkids' college education.

Frankly, even as a shareholder, I think it is in bad taste. Yes, they are a business designed to make money. But, you don't have to do so by slapping your customer's in the face. That is what this comes off as and it should be beneath them.

But it isn't.

I personally think that Cedar Point will be alright even though they raise the prices for the season passes. Cedar Fair has spent a lot of money this with the addition of buying the Paramount parks and now Cedar Point is building Maverick. So with all these expenses, it makes sense to raise the cost a little bit. Parking I think they should've kept at $9.00. The price hike for this is part of what I just mentioned. I betcha one thing that will stay the same is general admission will most likely stay at $39.95 a ticket.

ok...lets actually use our minds right now...ALOT of people will be coming to the park in the next few weeks! That means traffic will be REALLLLY backed up at the tolls. Think how much easier it will be for the employees to not have to deal with one dollar bills. It will make the lines go much faster and people will be able to get into the park faster. Honestly, if cedar point wanted to make more money, they would start charging you for cups of water...BUT THEY DONT! GET OVER THE $1 raise! Ohh...by the way..PKI parking is $10

Well, aside from laws prohibiting places from charging for tap water.

And these weekends aren't all that much different from a Saturday in July or August, and they don't jack the price up then.

drewk said:
Honestly, if cedar point wanted to make more money, they would start charging you for cups of water...BUT THEY DONT! GET OVER THE $1 raise! Ohh...by the way..PKI parking is $10

It is a law that they have to provide water free of charge. If they could sell a $2 sip of water, they would!

For those of you looking for a way to place value into the money spent on parking, there is one often overlooked option. Listed on the back of ticket you receive is a list of restaurants that will discount your bill the (now) $10 if you give them your stub. I believe most only require you to spend $20 in the first place.

Just one thing you can do to save a little here and there...

They can charge for cups, Idiot.

901liveson said:
I'm just wondering what everybody did with that extra dollar change other than put it into your pocket. Other than cotton candy, and a snoopy cup refill, you can't but anything with that dollar. It saves space in your pocket plus moves the line along quicker!

I'd rather have a dollar in my pocket than not have a dollar in my pocket. To say it saves you space is just dumb. If you want some more space you can give me some money. And for all of you people saying it will save time to not have to 'deal with $1 bills', how long does it take to hand them that $1 bill while they are already handing you a park map?

And for Vince, $1 in the US is a lot when converted to Canadian. :)