In park spending up 4%. Park attendance down 2%. Operating costs up 7 million. JUL revenue up 1% compared to last year. Cash distribution of .40 per limited partner unit. Carowinds topic brought up, Ouimet excited about 2015 plans there. Conference call available to listen to 05AUG through the CF website

http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20140805-907700.html

They would have been about flat in attendance if Cedar Point had paid their water bill.

Remember, this result was achieved AFTER throwing pricing integrity to the wind AND virtually giving away the gate on many occasions, adding many, many special events, etc.

Cedar Fair (and Six Flags) uses a preferred metric of EBITDA. And EBITDA did not come in as expected, even after these gyrations.

One third of the season remains.

BooFest will be promoted this year like never before. So I predict.

Or Labor Day weekend. I wonder if Dollar Days will be back. That can't help per capita. Then again, I've heard it had the opposite effect too - guests saved money on food so they spent money elsewhere in the park - and many even ate at the traditional food stands later in the evening.

On the website KI announced dollar days 8/30-9/1. Hoping to drive in Labor Day attendance.

Profit (or even EBITDA) is far better than attendance.

Given a choice of Chain SIX with drastically lower attendance but increased profits and Chain FUN, with slightly lower attendance and lower profits...

This seems to be the right place for this.

https://www.cedarpoint.com/tickets/

One Day Sale

FREE Soak City ADMISSION! Purchase a one-day ticket and visit August 9 - August 24 and save $20 off the price at the park! Plus, receive FREE admission into Soak City Waterpark until September 1! This special offer is only available today so don't let it slide by!

Free Soak City?

This seems to be the right place for this.

https://www.cedarpoint.com/tickets/

One Day SaleFREE Soak City ADMISSION! Purchase a one-day ticket and visit August 9 - August 24 and save $20 off the price at the park! Plus, receive FREE admission into Soak City Waterpark until September 1! This special offer is only available today so don't let it slide by!

Free Soak City?

Please, please take it. Here's our gate. Take it. We're giving it to you!

Would love to see a park-by-park breakdown.

All I know is increasing capital the way they have while seeing profits decrease is not a good combination. What's the incentive in adding new attractions if your profit not only doesn't increase, but actually decreases?

Now I'm not an analyst or anything, but if prices were set prices, I suspect this may have not been an issue.

If plenty of guests come in and spend 30 on a ticket that is normally 47, that's a big hunk of money taken out with admission. Hopefully the trend goes up later this year. After CP losing thousands upon thousands for a closed weekend and then bad weather & whatnot all winter & summer for a few of the smaller parks, it's been a rough year. The money spent on improvements I believe will return it's investment.

I have frequently wondered what kind of impact the reduced ticket prices would have. In order for the deals to be worth it to Cedar Fair, the number of "I wasn't going to go to KI for the regular price, but I'll go now that it only costs $30 to get in" guests would have to outweigh the number of "Sweet, I was going to make my annual trip to KI this year anyway and now I only have to pay $30 instead of $47" guests, and I'm not sure that happened.

Plus the guests that can only afford to come for the discounted price aren't going to spend money in the park, and it costs you more to staff the park to keep up with the increase in attendance caused by cheaper admission. So your profit margin dips, and profit margin seems way more important to me than gross revenue.

Meanwhile, Six Flags gate pricing went up, fewer guests came, spent more money, and profits went up.

Could this all be part of a long term plan.

Throw pricing integrity to the window for this year. Get as many people into the park as possible. They see how nice the park is. Make plans to return next year.

Next year, a more stable pricing plan?

This is where I would become creative with things like Fast Lane Passes or Front of the Line type passes. I know people on here have mixed emotions on Fast Lane, but aside from the cost of the bands and staffing, everything is profit. I do think they need to do better on some rides to split the % of Fast Lane with non Fast Lane per ride. Let those who can afford to spend, spend liberally.

Adding additional options like $5 option for one chance to go to the front of the line could add up. Many people cannot afford to drop the big money on Fast Lane, but could easily afford a ride or two to go to the front of the line. They give you the opportunity to spin or play Plinko for a chance to win it, why not $5 to get it for sure. Prices could fluctuate upon demand just like Xtreme Skyflier or Slingshot.

I am sure there are other things than can generate more revenue for those who only go once or twice a season that those who go frequently would not spend. Not that I think they should necessarily pay more, but they are the ones more likely to spend a little extra. Discount at the gate, but recouping the cost in the park with something that's a deal to them might add up.

Perhaps they already do this, I do not pay attention to it too much since my daughter and I would not be the target audience since we go frequently.

Problem is that it would be a madhouse.

Saturdays in July or October - for half the cost of a cheeseburger, you can ride Firehawk RIGHT NOW. Woof.

I'd pay it, which is how I know many others would.

Or maybe go the way of Universal Studios? $40 gets you one time use on each ride while a more expensive option exists for unlimited.

Universal doesn't have an unlimited option, unless you have a hotel room key from a deluxe on-property resort hotel or bundle it with an admission package for big bucks - sort of a VIP tour equivalent.

Back when Fast Lane was first announced, I was STUNNED that the ONLY option was unlimited. Now that the system is in effect, I can see why. To limit once-per-ride means more work for the park. On the low end, they'd follow SeaWorld Parks' lead and use physical cards that employees punch or mark off at each ride. On the high end, they'd do what Universal Parks do and provide guests with bar-code cards and scanners at each entrance to virtually mark off one time on each ride.

Both of those systems require more employees than the "unlimited" plan where one person (usually who would stand at the ride entrance anyway) checks to make sure you have a wristband and that's about it. Talk about pure profit. No infrastructure changes, few extra employees, and a premium version of a premium product that commands big bucks.

Universal doesn't have an unlimited option, unless you have a hotel room key from a deluxe on-property resort hotel or bundle it with an admission package for big bucks - sort of a VIP tour equivalent.

At least as of August 2012, the unlimited pass was available for sale to the public at the parks (but not online). I know this as I inquired at Guest Services about upgrading my one-time-per-attraction pass that I had purchased online to unlimited, and was told that I could do so for the difference in price. I ended up not doing it because I didn't need it due to low crowd levels, but it is, or at least was, available to the public in-park.

KI: My (admittedly illogical) thought process is "I hope there are no crowds when I go, but that they have plenty of visitors on days I don't attend." I like not waiting in lines just like I enjoy having the entire movie theater to myself. But if parks and theaters always operated like that, they wouldn't operate much longer.

I think they've had a lot of these August deals over the past decade, and I seem to recall they are usually tied to the annual cancer research fundraiser. Before our kids started elementary school, I know the best times to go was a weekday in early-to-mid May or late August while most schools were still in session. We went once when most (if not all) of August was a $20/ticket month. All the snack stands are not open and often only one of The Racer trains is running, but it's still a great day at the park.

Universal: We're planning a trip to Universal Orlando for later this Fall, and yes, they do (now) have an Unlimited Express ticket option that works like the hotel unlimited pass feature. They have it available online now.

Universal doesn't have an unlimited option, unless you have a hotel room key from a deluxe on-property resort hotel or bundle it with an admission package for big bucks - sort of a VIP tour equivalent.

Back when Fast Lane was first announced, I was STUNNED that the ONLY option was unlimited. Now that the system is in effect, I can see why. To limit once-per-ride means more work for the park. On the low end, they'd follow SeaWorld Parks' lead and use physical cards that employees punch or mark off at each ride. On the high end, they'd do what Universal Parks do and provide guests with bar-code cards and scanners at each entrance to virtually mark off one time on each ride.

Both of those systems require more employees than the "unlimited" plan where one person (usually who would stand at the ride entrance anyway) checks to make sure you have a wristband and that's about it. Talk about pure profit. No infrastructure changes, few extra employees, and a premium version of a premium product that commands big bucks.

https://www.universalorlando.com/Theme-Park-Tickets/Universal-Express/Express-Passes.aspx#p2p

1 day + Both parks + unlimited Universal Express = $189

(Unless this is what you were refering to as a Bundle, then yes I agree with you)

I only knew of this option as we are looking to add Universal to our Orlando trip next year

Yep, that's the one I was calling an admission + Express bundle.

For $55 more per person, your Park-to-Park access with Universal Express Unlimited also includes a continental breakfast, backstage access, priority show seating, souvenir lanyard, and complimentary valet parking in the form of the VIP Experience.

https://www.universalorlando.com/Theme-Park-Tickets/VIP-Experience.aspx

Honestly, it's a great go at the Wal-Mart "for a few dollars more" scheme.

"Say, admission is cheap! We may as well add Park-to-Park admission! Well, if we're doing that, why not add Express? It's only $60 more per person, and if we're only going one day it's a must-have! And for $55 more, we get breakfast, free parking, a tour guide, exclusive meet-and-greets, and reserved show seating too...! I mean, at that point, we might as well, right? We'd spend $55 on parking and breakfast either way!" And so it goes...

Could this all be part of a long term plan.

Throw pricing integrity to the window for this year. Get as many people into the park as possible. They see how nice the park is. Make plans to return next year.

Next year, a more stable pricing plan?

That's one of the first thoughts that entered my head as well. That seems like an unnecessary gamble to me though. IMO the only area of CF parks where the pricing integrity should be challenged is with regards to concessions.

Remember, this result was achieved AFTER throwing pricing integrity to the wind AND virtually giving away the gate on many occasions, adding many, many special events, etc.

Cedar Fair (and Six Flags) uses a preferred metric of EBITDA. And EBITDA did not come in as expected, even after these gyrations.

One third of the season remains.

BooFest will be promoted this year like never before. So I predict.

Fast Lane reduced the value of a General Admission ticket (while CF kept the price the same) and the market is reacting in exactly the way that a High School economics class would predict.

Universal doesn't have an unlimited option, unless you have a hotel room key from a deluxe on-property resort hotel or bundle it with an admission package for big bucks - sort of a VIP tour equivalent.

At least as of August 2012, the unlimited pass was available for sale to the public at the parks (but not online). I know this as I inquired at Guest Services about upgrading my one-time-per-attraction pass that I had purchased online to unlimited, and was told that I could do so for the difference in price. I ended up not doing it because I didn't need it due to low crowd levels, but it is, or at least was, available to the public in-park.

Used to also get free unlimited after 4pm on my families Premier Passes. And I think in 2012 they did away with unlimited and dropped it to 1 per ride, after 4pm...

Me and my family go to Universal Orlando at least ounce a year, but due to their rising prices now, we aren't even going this year and possibly not next year either. ( would love to go for HHN 25 next year! I bet that year will great!)

For a 4 day two park ticket, that is about the same price as one adult platinum pass!

Could this all be part of a long term plan.

Throw pricing integrity to the window for this year. Get as many people into the park as possible. They see how nice the park is. Make plans to return next year.

Next year, a more stable pricing plan?

That's what I was thinking, too. Some years, I felt sure I didn't want a pass, until I went to Haunt, then mulling it over, yes I did want a pass for next year.

A good time at the park brings second visits.

I strongly suspect, given the macro trends seen, that there will be a marked price increase for 2015 season passes, particularly platinum. Pricing of 189 to 199 for renewals is my guess, with 99 for gold. A monthly membership plan, not unlike what Six Flags introduced last fall (and which SeaWorld has had for years) would not be surprising.

The meal plans are one thing to watch. Will they change? Will pricing? If so, how?

Add to this the uncertainty of continued predictions of inflation and virtual employment malaise...

I strongly suspect, given the macro trends seen, that there will be a marked price increase for 2015 season passes, particularly platinum. Pricing of 189 to 199 for renewals is my guess, with 99 for gold. A monthly membership plan, not unlike what Six Flags introduced last fall (and which SeaWorld has had for years) would not be surprising.

The meal plans are one thing to watch. Will they change? Will pricing? If so, how?

Add to this the uncertainty of continued predictions of inflation and virtual employment malaise...

Are you talking about a monthly plan that charges through the winter? If so, that's an intriguing thought to be brought back.

For those who might have missed it, CF put out a survey several months ago asking how you would feel about a monthly annual membership that would offer discounts at other retail and entertainment locations throughout the year.

Cedar Point just added another bring-a-friend-cheap day.

Tomorrow. Up to six $19.99 tickets per passholder. Both regular and platinum.

Gee, what a surprise.

Yet they squeeze season pass holders mid season when their kids grow...