The Sandusky, Ohio park has announced that it will cut its regular adult admission price by five dollars, to $39.95. In addition, the park's everyday price for kids under 48 inches and seniors 62 and over will be just $9.95. Cedar Point also is offering an additional five dollars off adult tickets purchased online.
Cedar Point's aggressive kids' price continues a strategy initiated at Cedar Fair's Knott's Berry Farm, in Buena Park, Calif. Knott's slashed its everyday kids price to $14.95 in an effort to lure families from nearby Disneyland. The move helped boost Knott's attendance, making the park a favorite for school and camp groups throughout Southern California.
Cedar Point's across-the-board price cut follows industry-wide price increases, led by Disney, Universal, Busch and, in a change from previous years, Six Flags, which under the new ownership of Dan Snyder's Red Zone LLC, has upped one-day ticket prices to Disney-levels in some markets.
I'm a bit surprised that Knott's lowered prices. They're perfectly positioned demographically between Magic Mountain and Disneyland, and have carved out a good little niche in Southern California. With the addition of Silver Bullet last year and Disney and Six Flags raising prices, leaving prices alone would probably have been sufficient. I do like their attempt to attract more families to the park, but I wonder what a family with smaller children is supposed to do at Knott's.
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Some may say that Cedar Point's declining attendance the past few years is attributed to the marketplace leaning more towards family entertainment and away from thrills. I say it's because they haven't installed a major ride in 4 years. Thrill rides have and always will be huge draws and big moneymakers when done correctly in the right setting. Declining attendance will be out the window when the empty land footprint that used to be White Water Landing is filled.