What else will be new for 2010?,other than STR

Vince982 said:
There is a Toft's ice cream parlour on the Main Midway, it was new a couple of years ago.

The Toft's on the main midway opened in 2008. I was just wishing that the Toft's brand would be offered near the back of the park. Although Beaches n Creame in the Breakers, I think offers it, but it isn't easy to get to.

My understanding is there will be a new Area Manager this season in Admissions!

If that person reads these boards, Congratulations!

I'd like to see the park bring in a managed services company like Aramark or Sedexho to manage concession stands and restaurants.

Or, I think the park would be smart to invest in automated ordering kiosks (similar to what Sheetz uses) at concession stands. I have quit buying food at the park, but aren't the long lines at the "food" stands an ongoing issue? This would help the park by substantially lowering labor costs, while at the same improving service.

I assume the former suggestion (of a 3rd party vendor) has probably been tried, so I doubt that would happen.

As for my second idea, I am afraid that Mr. K is probably too short sighted to invest in a long term money saving project when he can instead just continue to focus on the short term and lose out on an opportunities to maximize profits while cutting long term costs.

-Sam

TTD 120mph said:
Free water from the stands will now be given in medicine cups. :)

I took my mom to CP last year, after giving her a cup of the free water she said:

"These cups are the same size they give me when I'm in the hospital to take my pills."

This year they will downsize to the "Monopoly Thimble" sized cups...

Avalanche Sam said:
Or, I think the park would be smart to invest in automated ordering kiosks (similar to what Sheetz uses) at concession stands.

As much as I love the self service kiosks, have you seen how many stupid people can't figure out the self service checkouts at Kroger, Walmart, Meijer, etc? The pessimist in me believes that much of the general population is still too dumb to figure out these sorts of things.

I examined the concession stand problem a long time ago while I was waiting for a hot dog at the Grist Mill stand. What was particularly interesting was that the solution I came up with was actually implemented later that season at the Burger Patio. Then they took it a step further and turned the stand into a grab and go. Personally, I am NOT in favor of them outsourcing their food stands (you think they're expensive now...!) but I do think a lot of the food stands need to have some reorganization done to get the service under control. Heck, switching from single-window to two-window operations (order here, pick up there) would improve most of them...

As for the rest rooms, the one on the Frontier Trail near the Red Garter was actually renovated fairly recently...that's the one that was doubled in size. Trouble is, that was done before they started the more recent round of renovations with the new floors, hot water, Xcelerator hand dryers, better lighting, etc.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

In light of my experience with Aramark at other venues, I have to think that would not qualify as an improvement.

I am looking forward to STR! I hope that there will be some new stuf in the gift shops! i know they sold off allot last year!

Dave I was actually referring to the restrooms locate on the Frontier Trail itself. I think it is across from the petting farm between Grist Mill and Fort Sandusky.

If Aramark was brought in, Iwouldn't call it an improvement. The only thing that would get improved would be the new more expensive prices.

Mathyou said:
Bring back 25 cent cotton candy!

Yes!!!

In 2009, Geauga Lake's Wildwater Kingdom brought back the discounted cotton candy for their fan fun day. It was actually a big hit and I seen a lot of people walking around with it all day. Maybe Cedar Point can offer this during their Fan Week if they plan it for 2010.

Ralph Wiggum said:

As much as I love the self service kiosks, have you seen how many stupid people can't figure out the self service checkouts at Kroger, Walmart, Meijer, etc? The pessimist in me believes that much of the general population is still too dumb to figure out these sorts of things.

The solution there is to have one person responsible for overseeing the issues at the checkouts. You save on labor by having one person do the work that would previously require multiple people.

Plus, having such a system could potentially reduce the potential for fraud, as there would be fewer people handling money.

I don't generally like self-service checkout lines in the retail environment. However, an intelligent implementation in a food service type of environment could improve service and quality, while cutting labor costs, which are currently artificially high thanks to government (and voter) mandates.

-Sam

SuperNitroForce said:

Mathyou said:
Bring back 25 cent cotton candy!

Yes!!!

They tried that for a whole 7 minutes a few years back, and it didn't work, so I wouldn't hold my breath.

The 25 cotton candy concept seemed stupid to me...I never understood why they tried that. A larger portion for $1 or $2 would have made more sense.

CP's food pricing strategies are so poorly thought out. You go on a low attendance day, and you see the workers at stands doing nothing.

The high food prices on high attendance days seem fine to me, as they're a control for the lines. I mean...if they had really low food prices in July or August, they'd be throwing money away and upsetting customers even more by really long waits.

If I was part of CP's management, I'd experiment by offering reduced food prices, a value-menu of sorts, during low attendance times (Maybe Mon-Thurs or May-June, etc...an easily understood schedule / promotion), and advertise it well. Cover the basics...a fountain drink for $1, fries for $2, gourmet pretzel $2, large slice of pizza $2, hamburger for $3, etc... Combo meals for $5.

That would draw more guests to the park in down times and utilize the staff that sit idle at food stands. See how that works...

Ffej said:
The high food prices on high attendance days seem fine to me, as they're a control for the lines. I mean...if they had really low food prices in July or August, they'd be throwing money away and upsetting customers even more by really long waits.

So under your idea, people will wait in shorter lines on buisy days so they can get crappy low quality food at twice as much as they charge durring slower times? Your still going to have a bunch of pissed off people walking out of the gates at the end of the night because they just spent a small fortune for a terd.

That last line made me spit my coffee from laughing!

Here is a thought...How bout they get good tasting food with shorter lines for the same price.

Or how about good food for a good price? Oh wait, what am I talking about?! This is Cedar Fair! Of course it's good food at good prices! ::looks around nervously::

TTD 120mph said:
Or how about good food for a good price? Oh wait, what am I talking about?! This is Cedar Fair! Of course it's good food at good prices! ::looks around nervously::

I thought you were talking about disney there for a second.

Panda Express has good prices and good food. Chik-Fil-A has great food no matter if your at Cedar Point or in your neighborhood. The problem for them at Cedar Point is they want like $12.00 for a combo meal. I have yet to go to Johnny Rockets and see what they're like, but I'm sure they're good.

crazy horse said:
So under your idea, people will wait in shorter lines on buisy days so they can get crappy low quality food at twice as much as they charge durring slower times? Your still going to have a bunch of pissed off people walking out of the gates at the end of the night because they just spent a small fortune for a terd.

That is correct. Some people are going to be pissed off no matter what, so you have to find a way to piss off the least possible.

While I didn't pick this day, I was asked to go on a Saturday in July one year. There was a line about 30-40 deep for a gourmet pretzel, and we waited simply because it sounded good. It was very frustrating, and if that pretzel was a reasonable price of $2, the line would have been far worse than paying more.

My point being...offer that "value menu" on Satudays in July, and you'd find people far more enraged about the long waits than happy with the lower food prices.

I'm sure someone will chime in with "or Cedar Point could hire more staff to accomodate the longer lines." This is not the point. The point is that empty food stands on low attendance days with idle workers is a drain on profits. So, in my plan, CP would reduce prices to create demand on slow days. I only visit CP on low attendance days, and I rarely buy anything. If the prices were cut to my levels mentioned, I'd eat / snack at the park rather than leaving to go to Fridays or somewhere.

Also, over time, you'd probably see good word of mouth spread about the food prices on the promotional days, and you'd end up getting a more balanced attendance each day of the season. This is not a new concept...bars, pizza chains, restaurants all offer reduced pricing during slow days / times of the week.