Customers packing lunches to save money:
SANDUSKY - When Ben Balazs made his annual pilgrimage to Cedar Point this month with six friends and family members, he did something different to save money: He packed his lunch. "We went outside and ate outside, and did a sit-down meal for dinner so we weren't spending a lot of money on food," the 17-year-old Bedford Township resident said. Unfortunately for Cedar Point's parent company, he wasn't alone....
..."The parks that I've spoken to are all off on their gate count because of the economy, and off on their [per-guest] spending," Mr. Slade said. "Most are telling me that, where the guests in the past may have come to the park for the whole day and purchased two meals in the park, they're buying one meal and then either packing a lunch or eating off the grounds to save money."...
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...240335/0/NEWS02Mr. Kinzel has always been insistent that customers have to eat, presumably inside the park. I postulate that the in park pricing is driving many of those same customers to the parking lot and to outside eating establishments with higher quality, greater selection and lower prices.
