When The Enquirer asked whether amusement parks like Kings Island and Cedar Point have become too expensive for the average family, you responded − loudly. Our inbox was full of frustration, nostalgia and blunt honesty.
The verdict? Clear as a Fast Lane pass: These parks are pricing out everyday people.
Here’s what readers had to say.
The joy is gone for the middle class
Amusement parks are extremely overpriced, although almost everything in the U.S. is at this point. It’s leading to the point where only the rich and upper-class citizens can enjoy such things. The horrible prices are taking away all the fun for people like me and others in the middle class. I do not like the impact it is having. People are becoming more depressed because we feel we don’t even have the simple joy of attending an amusement park. Unfortunately, I see this problem only getting worse in the future.
Christopher Anderson, Daleville, Ind.
From Reds games to ride inflation
I grew up near Kings Island. It opened in spring of 1972. Admission was $5.50 and had 60 rides. Fifty-three years later, admission (online purchase rate) is $45. Cumulative inflation since 1972 from the original admission would put it at just under $43. The park has 40 more rides since it opened.
I went to Kings Island exactly two times; that was enough. However, I was no longer a kid, and nobody − family, girlfriends, or relatives − had any interest in going. Reds games during the 70s were the ticket. I paid $4.50 for a blue seat on the third base side to see Tom Seaver pitch his first game as a Red in 1978 against the Dodgers.
My cousins lived five minutes from Coney Island. My family would make a few trips out there each summer in the ’60s. We’d go to the Sunlite Pool and hit the rides and play several rounds of Skee-ball. The Wild Mouse ride, my favorite, which, unlike roller coasters, made an endless number of sharp, quick turns. They took it down in the mid-70s.
Disneyland is as old as I am. I went there twice and paid about 25 bucks in 1990. Today’s admission starts at $103. Disney World’s cheapest admission is $109. Now, if you want to compare Big Corporate (amusement division), Disney is the Big Enchilada.
Jeff Hagen, formerly of Sycamore Township
When there’s nothing left for kids
I’ve said this for years. It’s a shame. It’s pitiful. There’s nothing for kids to do. So instead of going to Kings Island or Coney Island, what are they doing? Shooting others!
This is a very sad world we live in when kids cannot be kids, when there is no one willing to invest in their happiness and their future. Where does this end? When does it stop?
Marsha Brandenburg, Franklin
Even with a discount, it’s still too much
I like to go to Kings Island, maybe twice a year. I get a military discount.
I noticed that when I go there on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, the price for the military tickets is $45 each, but after Wednesday, they go up to $65. It is getting way too expensive to go.
I love the rides, and, yes, I have some favorite ones. But if they keep raising the prices, no one is going to be able to afford to go, except the rich. Oh, and the pizza is not all that good anymore.
Melissa McKee, New Lebanon
Greed is killing the magic
My first job was at Americana (formerly LeSourdsville Lake). I loved the park. It was smaller than most (amusement parks) but that’s what made it amazing.
Kings Island is a great park, but the prices have gotten way out of hand. Asking that much money for things you can buy at any grocery store for less than half the price is nothing but greed. I think the owners of both Kings Island and Cedar Point can use a little more consideration for the average working person.
I’m sure their kids and grandkids can live without a $100,000 car for Christmas.
Karen Tracy, Mason
Coney Island was a better value
I was a 25-year member at Coney Island. You don’t know what you have until it’s gone. A day at Kings Island costs more than Sunlite Pool’s season pass. Even on crowded days, there was plenty of room at the pool.
Kings Island’s passes and costs are not worth it.
Mark Ingram, Deer Park
Too expensive to enter, too big to ride
Not only have theme parks raised their prices beyond affordable for lower- and middle-class families, but they have also changed the seats on most rides so that larger and taller people are no longer able to fit. I know a man who is 6’4” and cannot fit within the harness seats. These parks have become prejudiced against a major portion of society.
Bethany Carpenter, Marion
This story was updated to add a gallery.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Too expensive to ride: Readers say Kings Island is no longer for the middle class |Letters
Reporting by Letters to the editor / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
