Unlimited soda wristband with CF Season pass

[JFrombaugh]

A little comment about my upcoming KI/CP trip and admission…I have one day planned for KI and two days at CP and figured the best deal was a season pass...or so I thought.

 

A Platinum CF pass costs $150. This allows you free admission to any Cedar Fair park (meaning admission for all three park days is covered). A Platinum pass also covers parking, and for $9 extra at KI you can get a wristband that allows free sodas and unlimited refills for that day, which was a really good deal in my Dad’s eyes. This would bring the total cost to $318 for the both of us.

 

So, in the end, is the Season Pass worth it for my trip? No, not really. Even though my Dad has the money, we discovered that the individual tickets were better bargains. Admission to KI for one day is $30, and CP costs $44. Add in a $10 parking charge for KI, and our total cost comes to $254 (Breakers is within walking distance of CP so we don't need to pay for parking there). We'll assume that we get our sodas from vending machines that charge a dollar per can.

 

At these rates, we would have to drink 65 cans of soda total at KI (not counting any sodas we may drink on our two CP days, as they don't have the wristband deal) before the Season Pass deal becomes cost efficient VS paying as we go along. Even if we were to buy the larger sodas from stands that cost substantially more ($4 a soda, let’s say) we would still have to buy over 16 of them throughout the day before the season pass is worth the money.

 

Plus it has the annoying drawback that you must go to the processing center to get a photo and get the pass made. That’d mean we’d have to either go to KI late Thursday night, or go even earlier Friday morning and risk missing out my ACEer Beast ERT! If there was a CF park near Houston that I could visit later this year, and the soda wristband was a free add on available at any CF park, then it would be worth it.

 

This was my decision for my trip, but I’m sure many enthusiasts find value in the Platinum Pass deal. Anyone else who lives near KI have any opinions on the CF Season Pass or the soda wristband deal?

[hemmy]

SFMM has their souvenir cup + wrist band for $13 I think, and that made my crappy day quite a bit better.

 

IMO, everyone should be entitled to it though.

 

No holiday world, but very convenient.

[Wes]

Wait wait wait. You're telling me a premium level season pass doesn't make economic sense for someone making three visits in a season?

 

Mind. Blown.

[niiicolaaah]

$1 for a can of soda from a vending machine at a park? More like $3.50 if you're lucky. I've never been to King's Island but I remember never getting a can of soda at CP last year because it was so ridiculously expensive. I assume the prices are the same at King's Island. Just putting it out there. Visit 1 more CF park and your pass is worth it.

[307]

Do they even sell cans of soda at CF parks? I've only seen bottles... which, as Nicole said, are $3.50.

[JFrombaugh]

^^I've seen vending machines at a few parks I've been to, but I've never actually tried buying from them, so I assumed they'd be cheaper than the stands...but still, you get my point.

[YoshiFan]

I just wish the refill prices were cheaper at Dorney. The cup is $5.99 and refills are $1.98. Not that great of a deal. That is one place Six Flags has CF beat. $9.99 for a souvenir cup (with SP coupon from the booklet) with unlimited free refills that day and $0.99 refills the rest of the season. If I didn't have to get a locker for it on almost all rides I would have bought one this year.

[IggyACE]

We'll assume that we get our sodas from vending machines that charge a dollar per can.

 

What cave have you been living in? J/K That phrase did make me laugh though!

 

Craig

[haux]

Get the Platinum Pass. You'll be saving money just with parking not tacked on! And the all-day drink wristband at Kings Island was only $6.99 when I went a few weeks ago, so it's not too bad.

 

Also, soda is sold in bottles in parks (at least parks I've been to). They wouldn't charge $3 for a can. That's pretty absurd.

[JFrombaugh]

^^My Dad laughed when I told him we'd need to drink $65 worth of sodas using the wristband before the Season Pass would be worth it.

 

(drinking bottle after bottle of coke) "Must...compensate...for...extra...cost of...Season Passes..."

(an hour later, while riding Firehawk) "Need...bathroom...OOOHHHHH!"

[Big Mike]

I am not sure about the soda deal, but I bought a platinum pass and I have gone to Kings Dominion, Canada's Wonderland, Dorney Park, and Cedar Point already. I also am going to Worlds of Fun next week. Also Knotts Berry Farm and Great America in October. I am still trying to get to Kings Island this year. I also have plans of hitting Kings Dominion and Dorney Park one more time.

 

Plus all the free parking with my pass at each park.

 

I think I got my monies worth.

 

Peace, Big Mike

[Yeti762]

$1 for a can of soda from a vending machine at a park? More like $3.50 if you're lucky.

 

I was there earlier this year and Nicollah is correct, they are about $3.50 for a bottle of soda from a machine.

 

I think if it is really hot/humid out, the drink wristband would be well worth it.

 

I know we personally have gotten our money's worth out of our pass already: KI 2x, CP 3x, Dorney 1x, & Canada's Wonderland 1x. Plus the season is not over yet...

[Devious]

[Quick Reply]

 

Cedar fair is getting desperate, adding perks like this for passholders just to get people to spend money on them

 

Too bad all they will find are bad operations, bad park expiriences, annoying (often) staff and stupidly overpirced food and things that are subpar

 

when other parks are far better for half the price =/

[AmyUD06]

[Quick Reply]

Too bad all they will find are bad operations, bad park expiriences, annoying (often) staff and stupidly overpirced food and things that are subpar

 

when other parks are far better for half the price =/

 

Six Flags parks are on the same level, if not worse, in terms of operations, experiences, and park food cost. DEFINATELY worse on the staff scale of things, compared to CP, KI, and Dorney at least.

 

The only parks cheaper are private owned non-moving carnivals with less than a quarter of the ride selection.

 

Seriously, where does this CF hate come from? You can either have big corporate parks with lots of rides (and the pitfalls that come from big corprate parks) or you have small parks with low prices and staff that're all related to each other. You can't have both as it stands now.

 

On topic, I too bought a CF Platinum pass when I went to Ohio earlier. Two days at CP and one day at KI. I've since gone to Dorney once (and may again by the end of the season) and am hoping to go to KD this coming weekend. I've gotten my money's worth.

[geaugalakeinexile]

Seriously, where does this CF hate come from? You can either have big corporate parks with lots of rides (and the pitfalls that come from big corporate parks) or you have small parks with low prices and staff that're all related to each other. You can't have both as it stands now.

 

When the CEO says stuff like the following it's not too hard to feel a little miffed about the parks.

"We've been able to pass along higher food costs very easily," he said. "When people come to the park, they have to eat."

 

Basically, Cedar Fair feels that they have a captive audience and will overcharge at will. While the above statement is somewhat true, admitting it is just plain stupid customer relations.