Thoughts on CP while fresh from Disney
I'm a reluctant Disney fan. For the longest time I didn't want to like Disney because it's too universally well liked, and should be homogenized and boring for that reason. Plus, people throw money at them for arguably cheesy stuff like Hannah Montana. It just feels dirty.
But the truth is, Disney does almost everything right, and the more time I spend in their parks, the more I appreciate that. It brings up my expectations (as does Universal), which is perhaps contributing to the reasons that Cedar Point fails to meet them. I don't want to be a hater, but I do want to constructively point out some things about Cedar Point that are frankly less than stellar.
I talk about the value proposition a lot, and how Cedar Point's isn't what it used to be. It comes down to what I feel like I'm getting for my money (and what I feel isn't the same as what I get... only the feeling really matters in this business). I pay for my season pass, and then spend little money outside of the external franchise restaurants (Friday's and Dave's), because I don't think there's any value. I don't feel like I get anything worth my money.
Let's start with the food. Cedar Point sucks at food. They have for a very long time. The quality and variety sucks. The healthy options are hard to find. Putting in a Panda Express and a Chic-fil-A might attract the dollars, but I can eat that anywhere, and it's not that good anyway. The counter service locations offer some of the most dreadful service at any park I've been to, and it has been that way for years. I don't understand how they can continue to operate that way. Want to boost my cash input to the system? Don't keep me waiting.
Disney variety is a little hit or miss depending on the park (and no one will ever have a fleet of amazing restaurants the way Epcot does), but in the general sense they keep people moving, prices are lower and you can find things that won't kill you within 24 hours. Serving decent food in massive quantities is a solved problem. Why is CP so terrible at it?
And then there's the price of the food. Talk about feeling dirty! A fountain soda at Disney is $2.09. Not a bargain, but I can stomach it. A bottled water is $1.25. Also no bargain, but within reason and the range of expectations for a theme park. Asking me to pay three bucks for a bottle of water is insulting.
While on that subject, Skee-Ball is still a quarter at Disney.
Ride operations at Disney are amazing. Granted, a lot of the rides are engineered in a way that promote high capacity and efficiency. Their loose article policy is basically that there isn't one. I've brought my camera backpack on Space Mountain and Tower of Terror. But even at Universal, where it's not realistic to bring something like that on Dueling Dragons, they have the free lockers. People don't bring crap into line, and they don't complain or whatever because they aren't inconvenienced. The experience is simply better.
I personally don't have an issue at Cedar Point in this respect because I'm a minimalist when it comes to what I carry. But the truth is that crap bins on platforms are slowing rides down. And where they're not available, they annoy people, especially with the pay lockers. People have paid $40+ to get in, $10 to park, $3 for a soda, and now you want another couple bucks to pack their crap in a locker? What value is there in that locker? None. It's pissing away money.
With regards to resorts, I don't think Cedar Point has ever been a good value. The trouble there is that it's hard to find incentive to improve services or pricing when you're booking the place solid. When you stay in a lot of four and five diamond AAA rated hotels, you expect to get what you pay for. CP resorts are very hit or miss. In '06 I had a relatively trouble free experience. In '07, my Lighthouse Point stay was a disaster with a dirty cottage full of cobwebs, burned out lights and someone else's toothbrush on the floor of the bathroom. The staff was indifferent, and you can bet I didn't get any credit for the affair either.
Disney is responsive and on it when there is a problem, even in the value resorts. I keep going back to CP every year out of tradition, but I'm so reluctant because I don't feel like I get the service I should.
Overall though, Disney approaches their profit target from the view of the guest, and aligns that with its own goals. In other words, they're focused on giving the guest the best experience in terms of quality, pricing and waiting around, in a way that they can efficiently monetize. The Cedar Fair approach has become higher per cap to compensate for sagging attendance, and I think with numbers being essentially flat even with Maverick, we've hit the end of that run. They need to work hard to restore a sense of value and respect for their customer. I refuse to believe they have to do that at the expense of the bottom line. I know they have the talent to figure it out, if they'd be given the authority to do so.
I realize that in being critical, I'm not offering solutions. The truth is, that's not my job. As a fairly well-off 30-something, though I don't have any children, I'm spending far more money in Orlando than I am at Ohio Cedar Fair parks, and that should trouble them. If I'm doing it, imagine what a family of four is doing.
So this is my challenge to Cedar Point... restore my perception of value. Show me a good time, without me noticing it. That's what makes an amusement business successful.
Jeff - Advocate of Great Great Tunnels™ - Co-Webmaster - PointBuzz - My Blog