Will we know by Christmas?

Will CP give enthusiasts a nice and very BIG Christmas present by announcing the new ride before the holiday?

Most parks would usually make an announcement before Christmas. Season Passes make good Christmas Gifts, so it's good for them to announce before christams.

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Hey.... Whatever
http://coasterplace.web1000.com

Except that we are well into the holiday shopping season. If they wanted to stimulate pre-Christmas pass sales, they would most likely have announced before Thanksgiving, which is the "traditional" start of the holiday shopping season.

Several people have posted the following observation. Since CF would prefer to sell more passes at full price, the announcement could be made after prices go up, increasing revenue for the same set of pass sales. People who already have passes are likely to renew (or not) based only on their past year's park experiences. The new ride probably doesn't increase renewal rate. On the other hand, first-time passholders likely have no idea that a sale period exists, so won't feel "ripped off" by paying the full price later in the Winter or at the beginning of the season.

Furthermore, since per-capita spending is one way in which (potential) unitholders judge the park, and pass sales tend to depress per-capita spending, CF may not be overwhelmingly enthusiastic about selling even more season passes, particularly at discounted prices.

I put less stock in this second supposition, since I think total revenue is likely to go up with more pass sales. After all, each day I am in the park I'm liable to drop at least $10-$20/person on food alone. Furthermore, we've booked two multi-night, on-point stays in Lighthouse Point for next season already, where last year (without passes) we booked only one multi-night stay on-point for the entire season. Given the growing resort revenue, our pass sales have certainly already paid for themselves in additional resort revenue, even if my family goes to the park frequently otherwise, spending nothing while there.

In any event, People That Know (tm) seem to be implying that the announcement will not be until (early) 2003. So, don't hold your breath.

It'll be announced when it's announced. Don't get your hopes up for the next couple of weeks.

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Jeff
Webmaster/GTTP - Sillynonsense.com
DELETED!