Our family first became Cedar Fair passholders for the 2015 season, opting for the Platinum pass because it offered us the most value by getting us access to all the parks. Since then, it has never been a question about renewing or whether we would stick with Platinum passes or downgrade to another level.

However, now that Cedar Point, Kings Island and Carowinds have introduced a new tier of passes for the 2023 season, we had to sit down as a family and evaluate what made sense for the new year.

The new passes are Prestige and Prestige+. The notable new benefits are as follows:

– 15% off food and merchandise
– Enhanced Pass Perk Rewards
– Preferred Parking
– Preferred Dedicated Entrance (2 hours each morning; does not mean 2 hours of ERT)
– 1 Front of the Line Pass per visit
– 2 Bring-a-Friend tickets per year (guests get same benefits for day as Prestige members)
– Access to VIP area
– Access to waterpark VIP area

The difference between Prestige and Prestige+ is access to all Cedar Fair parks (similar to Platinum), though the above benefits only apply to home park.

Our family then sat down and looked at the economics of the 2023 passes.

Platinum
$1,200 = $240 x 5 Passes
$745 = $149 x 5 Dining Plans
$174.95 = $34.99 x 5 Drink Plans
——————————-
$2,119.95 Total

After having the FunPix package for several seasons, we learned we barely utilize the program. So we will be dropping the program for 2023.

Prestige+
Given we are already Platinum passholders, getting the regular Prestige pass was not an option, as the Prestige+ plan was what made sense for us to visit other parks.

Since our home park is Cedar Point, we would be forced to purchase there to get the benefits. This presents a huge dilemma for us since we have renewed through Canada’s Wonderland for the past several years. Since Platinum passes are the same price at all the parks, and purchasing via the Canada’s Wonderland website would be made in Canadian dollars, the credit card conversion to US dollars saves our family roughly 20%. When you consider there are five of us spending several thousand dollars on passes and add-ons, you can see the big savings.

$1,995 = $399 x 5 Prestige+ Passes
$745 = $149 x 5 Dining Plans
$174.95 = $34.99 x 5 Drink Plans
——————————-
$2,914.95 Total

So our family would be looking at an $800 difference to “upgrade” from Platinum to Prestige+ (plus the CAD to US dollar conversion). The question then becomes does the benefits outweigh the cost to be a value added upgrade to our family. Let’s look at the benefits.

15% off food and merchandise

The Platinum pass gets guests 10% off; therefore, an additional 5% is not going to sway our value conscience family into making the additional pass investment.

Enhanced Pass Perk Rewards

We have been very upfront since the rollout of the Pass Perks program that it is pretty bogus and not the “rewards” program we thought would be implemented.

What cements that opinion even further is that up until the 2018 season, we used to get newsletter emails from all the Cedar Fair properties. Then they revised their system and started sending out more targeted emails. Since then, we barely receive any emails.

This all relates back to Pass Perks because technically our home park is Canada’s Wonderland (where we renew) despite living and visiting Cedar Point all season. Since we only visit Canada’s Wonderland about 1-2 times per year, the system must not think we are valuable enough to send Pass Perks. Let alone that since the pandemic, we have not been back to Canada’s Wonderland since 2019. Therefore the Pass Perks system probably does not even know we exist.

We have seen the Pass Perks that have come out from Cedar Point, and even though there is an occasional bring-a-friend offer, or free access to the Millennium Club lounge, none of it is enticing enough to sway our opinion one way or the other. Even if they “enhance” the program, it is likely not going to benefit our family in a meaningful way.

Preferred Parking

If you know Cedar Point, parking is in limited supply. Despite that, we have never had to park more than a couple rows back from the front. This includes coming at park opening or after work.

So quarantining off additional preferred parking spots is not a motivating factor for us.

Preferred Dedicated Entrance (2 hours each morning; does not mean 2 hours of ERT)

This is an interesting concept and something we have wanted for years. The fact that this option is now only available for Prestige/Prestige+ is another slap in the face to other passholders. At least through the 2022 season, the company has stripped any meaningful benefit to having a Platinum pass. Though for the 2023 season, Cedar Point has removed early entry from the Gold passes, making Platinum slightly more beneficial now.

So overall this is again an unmotivating benefit to sway us into Prestige.

One Front of the Line Pass per visit

This is a cool benefit that is worth considering.

Since first publishing, Cedar Point, Carowinds and Kings Island have all confirmed the daily single use line pass will be a Fast Lane Plus ticket.

Honestly, our family typically avoids Saturdays. So lines are not normally an issue outside of the attractions on the Fast Lane Plus list. Therefore, this benefit would provide some benefit, but not sure enough to make a difference to our visits.

2 Bring-a-Friend tickets per year (guests get same benefits for day as Prestige members)

This is another interesting benefit. However, it is going to benefit other people and not us (besides getting to hang out with friends and family). In addition, most our family and friends already have season passes.

Access to VIP area/Access to waterpark VIP area

For guests that are visiting Cedar Point for the annual family trip, where they are trying to fit everything in over a single or multiple days, the lounges may provide some benefit. Guests get free water and snacks, a place to relax and charge your phone in a shaded area.

However, as a local season passholder, the lounges do not entice us. We rarely see many people in them. Our visits might only be for 3-6 hours. So it is not like we are getting to the point in that time period where we need a break.

So what passes are we deciding to get for 2023?

Despite Cedar Fair stripping Platinum passes of benefits over the years, it still provides our family with the best access to the park. The Prestige+ benefits would provide little benefit to justify an $800 price increase. So for us it is a no-brainer to stick with Platinum.

Cedar Fair used to offer more enticing benefits to being Platinum. However, Cedar Point stripped all those away when they introduced the Gold pass AND allowed them all the same access as Platinum. Fortunately for 2023, Gold passes no longer have early entry, giving Platinum passes back an option only they and resort guests could access.

What would be nice is if all the parks actually offered an early entry or after hours time period that allowed guests to get meaningful time to get some of the rides done. While Cedar Point luckily does offer an hour early entry, the implementation has been abysmal, with many of the attractions never ready before the gates open to day guests.

Kings Island at least allows 30 minutes of early entry, but that is restricted to a small area of rides. It is a nice benefit, but at most guests may get in two rides before the flood of day guests.

Canada’s Wonderland offers Platinum passholders early ride time on select days at specific attractions.

Another benefit we would have loved to see rolled out was a bigger discount program. 10% is unmotivating given the already high prices. At least at Knott’s the discount is 20%. We have always been baffled why this was not rolled out corporate wide.

The single use Fast Lane was something we expected to see added to the Platinum pass program. However, that now does not appear to be feasible given the Prestige benefits.

We are also quite surprised to not see this new tier of pass available at the top attendance parks, Knotts and Canada’s Wonderland.

Where the Prestige or Prestige+ upgrade makes the most sense is for perhaps single guests, like our friend Andrew near Carowinds. He is a local to the park holding a Platinum pass. Given he was already going to drop $240 to renew for 2023, paying an additional $85 to upgrade to a Prestige+ pass ($325) makes sense for him. For the added cost, he will utilize the premium parking, occasional lounge access and single use Fast Lanes enough to make it worth the cost.

“I think it is worth trying for the first year. The bring-a-friend tickets, single use Fast Lane and preferred parking probably pays for itself. As an individual passholder without a wife or kids, the economics make sense to test out.” – Andrew S. (Coaster101.com)

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