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Little games also big draw at Point

By BRANDI BARHITE
brandibarhite@sanduskyregister.com

SANDUSKY - The roller coasters are by far what draws people to Cedar Point.

But once in the park, many guests can't resist the game stands.

Sometimes it is the lure of the big plush Care Bear or funky hat that comes with winning.

For others, it's purely the challenge of conquering the ring toss, the bushel baskets or half-court hoops.

Austin Stultz, 12, of Romeo, Mich., stands outside Johnny Rockets and MaXair with a large red bulldog he won with his first try at Cedar Point. Register photo/JASON WERLING

It also can be a combination of both.

"As long as the park has been here, games have been here," said Tim Boals, director of Cedar Point's merchandise and games division.

"Without games, it would leave a void in the Midway."

Last year, 3.65 million games were played at Cedar Point -- more than the 3.2 million guests that visited the park. Of the games played, 600,000 prizes were won.

Cedar Point won't say how much it makes from games, but game spending is down this year because of the economy, said Vice President and Corporate Controller Brian Witherow.

"It's the first thing that (guests) pull back spending on, merchandise being next and food last," he said.

The cost to play a game ranges from 50 cents to $5.

Brad Marcy, manager of games and arcades, said when he was a basketball game operator, a guest once spent $250 to win a stuffed animal for each of the six kids with him.

"There's no real age group that likes the games more, but in a lot of the more competitive games, it is more of a draw for men," Marcy said.

The most popular games are the guessing games, where a guest pays $5 for a park employee to guess their age, weight or birth month.

Long-range basketball is also a favorite among the 42 game stands and three arcades at Cedar Point.

Nicole VanCamp, 13, spent $10 on Tuesday trying unsuccessfully to make a shot. For $5, a guest gets three tries.

She likes to play the games for the prizes, but never wins, she said.

"I always play a few games, but I really come to Cedar Point for the coasters," VanCamp insisted as she wistfully watched her friend make a basket and get the prized basketball.

By design, many of Cedar Point's games are along the Main Midway as guests enter the park, but games are also near the Gemini and the Millennium Force.

This year, part of $10 million in capital improvements at the park was renovating the game area on the Main Midway.

"The games, the smell of food - all draw people in," park spokesman Bryan Edwards said.

Edwards said when guests get off a roller coaster, their adrenaline is pumping and they feel they can do anything -- include win a prize, he said.

Participation gets a boost when a ride is down or it is raining.

"From a guy's standpoint, especially if you are on a date, you want to do the macho thing and win a stuffed animal for your girlfriend," said Brian Richardson, author of "The Secrets of Amusement Park Games Revealed."

Richardson said the games enhance the amusement park experience because it's fun to master the games.

"At large amusement parks like Cedar Point, you will not see any rigged games," he said. "Amusement parks have extremely good record of being fair and giving you a chance to win, but that doesn't mean the games are easy."

Marcy said the park wants guests to win, and give tips on how to do so.

Among this year's prizes are huge plush Care Bears and SpongeBob SquarePants, as well as the popular Cedar Point pillows.

Past prizes have included the popular Shrek stuffed animal.

Although movies and trends play a large role in what the park buys, poker chips and video game equipment are now being offered, as well.

Unlike the rest of the park, games don't change from year to year.

Occasionally a modern game may be introduced, but mostly the games are the same ones played by your parents and grandparents.

"The ones that are really good stay," Boals said.

The park's three guessing games are some of the most popular.

Because $5 is a lot to lose, the park gives away Mardi Gras beads to those that don't win. Beads are also given away at some of the water race games.

Guesser Lindsey Paskvan said guessing a woman's weight and age are usually the easiest for her. It's also easy to guess that for children.

"Be aware of everything, and things aren't always as they appear," Paskvan said of her techniques.

Boals and Marcy said a lot of adults think they look younger than they are, while kids think they look older.

Sometimes adults get so upset when they are guessed older than they are, they don't even want their prize, they said.

But that's rare.

On any given day, stuffed animals on the shoulders of the guests is common.

Boals said the more guests carrying around prizes the better because that will entice others to play.

The park has $3 bins to store prizes if you don't want to carry them, though.

Barb Biddle, Orchard Park, N.Y., was with a party of 20 on Tuesday afternoon. Ten of them were children, and all had stuffed animal prizes.

"Each one was under $30," Biddle said, laughing.

Tom Kipp of Chardon, Ohio, tries to win the Rebound game at Cedar Point. Kipp was trying to win a stuffed gorilla for his niece. He was at the park with his wife, Catherine, left, and their friend Krista Byler. Register photo/JASON WERLING

Justin Eby of Nebraska tries his skill at the Ladder Climb game across the midway from Millennium Force at Cedar Point. Register photo/JASON WERLING

Isaac Warmack, 6, picks out a tiger as a prize after the guesser, Cedar Point's Lindsey Paskvan, guessed his birth month as January. Warmack was born in October and was at the park with his father John, both of Plymouth, Mich. Register photo/JASON WERLING

Chris Hahn of Whitehouse, Ohio, yells draws attention to his game as he declares another winner at Cedar Point. Register photo/JASON WERLING

FunCoast.com is your online guide to summer fun for Cedar Point, the LakeErie Islands and Sandusky area. Our site offers up-to-date information on area attractions, restaurants, hotels, gasoline prices, ferry schedules, swimming, birding and fishing, along with a complete listing of events happening in the Sandusky/Cedar Point area. To use our Webcam and zoom in on Cedar Point's rollercoasters, go to http://funcam.funcoast.com