disco2000

Absolutely! And there comes a point when having all your eggs in the passholder basket is detrimental. At some point the sheer number of passholders will have a negative effect on the bottom line and operations. Historically CF has said daily admissions and company outings make up almost 50% of their attendance. I think the number has been less post-covid, but it is still a good chunk. If those disappear, where does a large chunk of their "new" revenue come from? Is it squeezing more dollars out of the existing passholders with all these additional add-ons and one time purchases that keep popping up? Is it going to the extreme and the only entry is with season passes so that they truly have all the money up front and can better allocate the spending?

Unfortunately you know they are right - regardless of the product offered and conditions changing, people keep coming and keep renewing. As long as "new" passes sold every year exceed the number of existing passholders that don't renew, the number of passes sold show an increase and that is good enough for them with their model. Being a regional/local park in close proximity to so many that has a very strong season passholder base, people will renew even if nothing is added because the value is too great, especially now with the meal and drink plans. Where else can you be fed 2 meals a day for roughly 170 days (all summer and weekends in spring, fall and winter) for $130? People spend more than that in a mini quick trip to the grocery every week. Assume something like a lazer tag or putt-putt costs around $10 dollars and you spend an hour there, or a zoo or museum that is roughly $20 and you spend two hours there, the value to the consumer is $10/entertainment hour. And one will probably buy food or drink as well. For a daily admission to KI the cost/hour for entertainment is $3.5/hour, based on a daily admission that is $42 for 12 hours of entertainment (say a 10am to 10pm open to close), and the cost/hour of entertainment value is even less for a pass holder – far less. As it relates to Halloween, depending on the day, Dent Schoolhouse will be around $30 and Land of Illusion is around $60 for a daily or $100 for a Haunt season pass. On a cost/hr basis, KI beats that and offers more. Now it terms of scares and experiences during Halloween, the others will be better, but that apparently isn't the audience KI is marketing either.... Simply put, the cost/hour of entertainment value is a fraction of almost any other entertainment venue. The chain knows this. That is their model. Of course if enough time went by with no new additions and the park started to look run-down and not being kept up, then yeah they will start to see a decline in pass renewals. Unfortunately I think it would take about 10 years of absolutely nothing being added before an appreciable attendance drop would occur. Unfortunately, warts and all, KI is still an incredible value and hard to beat on cost/hr of entertainment value. As an example, people spend 4 times the amount of a gold pass per month for the privilege to belong to country club. Heck some swim clubs monthly dues are the price of a gold pass. So why spend on marketing and improvements other than some bare minimum? Until people speak with their wallets and take their discretionary spending elsewhere, the park has no incentive to do more than is necessary. They will still pull their 3.2million guests plus/minus 100,000 or so.

Contrary to popular belief, but Don hasn't been the "PR person" AKA comms director since late 2017 when they hired Chad Showalter and Don moved over to the position of Area Manager, Digital Marketing. We even had a thread about it when it happened:

The one thing the park is good at is being inconsistent with implementation/enforcement of policies!

Maybe that is operational issues or guest issues causing that but they are allowed to unload/load while moving and you simply haven't experienced it? Or maybe an older design with different manufacturer recommendations.

Wild Mouse at CP move in the station while boarding. At least they have every time I rode. What about Boo Blasters and White Water Canyon and a few other rides at other CF parks...not coasters lol but they do allow it.

Appears it will be getting a new name as Western & Southern backs out of sponsoring. Here is an interesting quote (and cross-threading about marketing dollars and that it isnt always about a tangible number one can tie to ROI that some here are adamant has to be the case LOL): “It’s not really about a return on investment for those title sponsors or expanding your brand reach. What naming rights deals are really about is you’re paying a premium for the perks of entertaining your clients, rewarding your consumers and there’s nothing better than sealing a deal with some courtside seats.” https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/i-team/the-tournament-stays-but-not-the-name-western-southern-steps-down-as-title-sponsor-of-cincinnati-masters

Welcome back! It's been a minute.

And this is exactly why they have the mentality of not having to spend any more on the event - people come regardless...

What if that meant Winterfest started two weeks later? Would that be a crowd pleaser? Would it be worth the investment for a shorter duration?

Bah humbug

Only Starbucks LOL. You think CF would use milk on the drink plan

@ Home store starts in July LOL

For as long as I remember it was as you experienced. If you entered the park any time prior to Haunt and left you had to return to the park before the no entry time. If the language is confusing, well seems to be the norm with Cedar Fair lol. They always figure out a way to make it confusing even though they think it is clear LOL. But yes, according to that screenshot, it is different than what they enforce. Yet the FAQ says something different:

Is it the 4th of July weekend

Scrutinize the quarterly and annual reports. Per caps are up since meal plans were introduced. Really dig into the numbers and you will see F&B has higher revenue with meal plans than pre-meal plans. Sure there are some like you that maybe spend less now, but it is more than offset by other people, along with how they allocate costs and revenue. While 2022 attendance was down 4% (over 1.2 million less guests) compared to pre-covid 2019, full year 2022 revenue was up 23% compared to pre-covid 2019. That is meal plans, buying snacks, other pass add-ons, t-shirts, etc.

Food prices have always been high at KI, or most amusement parks in general. It is generally cheaper to get comparable food outside of the park. People are paying for the convenience of not having to leave. And supply and demand comes into play as well. If they offered up "fair" or "reasonable" prices like one could get going thru McDonalds (even though that is getting high too), then the food lines would be crazy long as not enough supply for the demand. People already complain about the long food lines now - imagine if now nobody left the park cause they could get a $1 burger... So by having the prices higher, they can trim the supply and demand need. They know people leave or go their car to eat, but they run the numbers and the costs to provide enough food places to keep everyone in the park exceeds the return. Plus, if X number leave the park at any given time to eat in the lot or go down the street, that lessens the demand of everything in the park as well. I am sure they make more money on the meal plans than anyone can imagine....

At least they aren't blaming it on a certain person

Just a little windy LOL. Like you could literally see the fog completely dissipate within feet of leaving the machine.

Well they made it thru the regular season without lots of complaints of the closures...

Isn't that what I posted 7 posts up and the last 5 posts referenced lol

Sure they may have an article or two about KI, but Don has many connections within KI that he could reach out to. But even if they didn't return his call, Don is too much of a professional to call that out. He has enough experience and history in the industry to still story tell without quotes from KI.

Given the article says "expanded coverage of Cedar Point at the Sandusky Register" and Kings Island/Cincinnati isn't in the print territory of the Sandusky Register, nor is it owned by any media outlet with a presence in the greater Cincinnati area, I suspect that they are not looking for Don to make calls to KI....

Lined up a new job utilizing his storytelling skills: https://cpfoodblog.com/world-renown-amusement-storyteller-hired-by-register/?fbclid=IwAR0ltDKzPION5k6dSW6_GBB_JGlQ34kUH4PL7-oyOIDzAtUIhc-aEUYj7-U

Plus you didn't like her well enough for a repeat visit Also, if the meal plans didn't make them money, they would either get rid of them or raise the price. Food prices have always been high at an amusement park. But many people with a meal plan will now by a snack that they hadn't previously before the meal plans. All that adds up.