Cedar Point 2024 Special Events

https://www.cedarpoint.com/events

New events include Total Eclipse of the Point on April 8 and Boardwalk Nights as a replacement for Cedar Point Nights from July 19 - August 18.

Winter Chill Out returns as a single day event on February 24.

No mention of Frontier Festival.

Tim

Also TT2 pre-season ERT

In regards to events, this year is gonna be AWESOME. And they got rid of the lottery system for WCO?

Skyhawk06:

In regards to events, this year is gonna be AWESOME

Nah, " Many, many people will be sitting this one out. People are saying."

I blame the environmentalists. When you go into these parks with new launch coasters, the launches go so slowly. Plod, plod, plod. Slowly, slowly. You used to have beautiful, nice, wonderful launches. Maybe some of the greatest ever in this country, some say. When I take a launch, i want to feel it strongly. Now it takes you three launches just to get over the hill.

Once upon a time there were drones in the sky

Flying all over the joint.

Now there will be none

A total eclipse at the Point.

sorry

Turn around bright eyes.

I noticed Frontier Fest is missing from the list. Bummer.

https://www.cedarpoint.com/...r-festival

The Frontier Festival page has been updated with the message "Frontier Festival will not be returning in 2024".

This ends to run of the event that started as Brew & BBQ at the Lakeside Pavilion back in 2015.

I wonder why, if it didn't perform as expected in the past couple of years?

I have a hard time believing that the thing wasn't printing money. And if it wasn't, they were doing it wrong. I mean, it's half of Epcot's strategy, and judging by the lines for most of the stands Friday night, it's winning. (We spent $50 ourselves in two and a half hours.)

Honestly, the event of the last couple years was a far cry from what it was to start with. They went super upscale, maybe a little weird with some of the more single themed food and cut way back on the beer selection, all while increasing the price significantly. People (many probably with meal plans to use) probably did not see it as a good value and not really special enough to drop a bunch of extra money on. At least that's how I felt. I really did enjoy the event and made it a point to visit during its run for a few years in a row.

That's good context. Epcot festivals are somewhat upscale, but even as a doesn't-eat-beef-or-seafood kind of guy, there are consistently amazing things I like in terms of chicken, desserts and drinks. The variety makes a difference. For example, in the current holiday festival... Morocco had chicken skewers and three different ciders. The "Swirl Showcase" had nitro-frozen cake pops, while Odyssey had some mint white chocolate mousse thing. Everything had a line Friday night.

I guess my point is that you need a diversity of offerings at the right price point, and not junk. I don't think the sophistication level of a Cedar Point audience should matter that much. But also, operationally, it has to be tight. Again, Epcot's American Holiday Table was selling turkey, some kind of sour-cream infused mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans and cranberry sauce for about $6. All of it was restaurant grade, and sold in massive quantities.

In 2015-2016 you could get a tasting sample of a BBQ rib, pulled pork or something that was simple but prepared very well.

These last few years the joke has been that everything is cherry infused and much of it was just 'weird' enough that I opted to pass. That plus the fact that you had to purchase the tasting card for a not insignificant amount of money and could not just purchase a $5-$10 appetizer sized plate of food was a big turn off for me.

A quick count from the menus at CP Food Blog lists 28 food items for Frontier Festival in 2022 but then only 13 food items for 2023 (which included items like kettle corn and walking tacos that already exist in the park).

This festival should have been a money printing machine. Were they not offering the world famous CP chicken tenders at every stand?

Cartwright:

That plus the fact that you had to purchase the tasting card for a not insignificant amount of money and could not just purchase a $5-$10 appetizer sized plate of food was a big turn off for me.

Oh, I forgot about this. That definitely changes the math. My assumption is that CP was doing that for operational efficiency, but in doing so they wrecked the value prop.

Yeah it wasn't a bad deal really as you'd get the tastings for $6 each if you buy a 10-card. And for $6 the portions were good and so were the items. But then you've committed $60 minimum. Although I think they also had a 6-card for $40. And you're right, I think that's what turned off most people and significantly contributed to the demise of the program. I still participated and enjoyed it this year. It helps that I live close enough to use the two $60 cards I purchased over 3 separate visits though.

Anyone there on a one-day trip who wouldn't be back during the festival (most folks I'm guessing) must've not have agreed with the value proposition. Looking back on it, the booths didn't seem as busy as prior years on any of the 3 days I visited this year (including Memorial weekend Sunday) so I guess I'm not really surprised. It's still too bad, I enjoyed it and will miss it. Ahh well, I'll be at EPCOT next month. FARTS here I come!

I tried to walk up to the Yuengling stand , asked for a Yuengling, they told me no, I couldn’t pay there. I had to walk back to the edge of the festival and buy some kind of $40 pass. Maybe that is one of the reasons.

That interaction was the first I learned of the festival pricing scheme. It went from , cool, a beer stand, to , where do I have to walk to, and how much does it cost? No, just give me a cup of beer, I have ApplePay right here in my phone!

Yeah that's what we're talking about. I think scheme is what killed it.