Bottle-free Season Pass Drink Plan coming in 2017

[Mushroom]

Looks like the idea of a bottle-free all-season drink plan that Cedar Fair has been flirting with has finally become reality.

Choose between the All Season Souvenir Bottle or go bottle free with the all-new Season Pass Drink Plan and refresh every visit in 2017 with unlimited drink refills for one low price! Enjoy refreshing Coca-Cola products including Minute Maid Lemonade and Fuze Iced Tea!

Link

This plan might make me feel guilty as it would certainly be a waste of disposable cups, but from a practical standpoint, I'm really looking forward to not having to lug a souvenir bottle with me all the time.

 

[Pretzel Kaiser]

To address Joe's concern about waste, the environmental impact of a number of paper cups is nothing to a plastic bottle, even less if the paper cups are recyced (which I'm not sure KD does). And yes, this is much better from a practical view.

I'm quite happy with this news.

 

[Nicole]

This news is fantastic. Maybe I am the only one, but at least once per trip my straw drips on me. Additionally, at least once a season I forget my plastic cup.

 

[MAZ]

Once ey...that's pretty good! I'm around 3 or four times a year.

 

[phurst]

Super happy they have decided to give this a try. We are a family of four, and keeping up with all of those cups can get to be a real hassle, not to mention the fact that we have had 2 cups "go missing" at rides last year. Now, they just need to devise an easier way for guests to grab a drink than standing in a food line.

 

[Pretzel Kaiser]

I just got off the phone with the park because I previously purchased the bottle option before. I was told that if you had already purchased a pass with the bottle option, all you have to do is when you redeem it for the first time is pretty the person know you want the bottle-less option.

 

[Alpenscoot]

Its 15 minutes in-between refills. That seems like a long time. I thought the old time of 5 minutes was too long sometimes, especially when you are eating a meal.

 

[Mushroom]

^The 15 minute gap prevents guests from abusing the system by providing free drinks to members of their party who haven't paid for the drink plan.

 

[Pretzel Kaiser]

KD just posted a blog with more info.

This is the interesting info.

What if you decide to give the paper cups a try and after a few trips you just can’t contain your jealousy for those sweet souvenir bottles? Just swing by guest services and confess, they’ll be happy to switch you back over for just $2.99.

I got to say, they're trying to cover all their based.

 

[UncleDuncan]

Pro tip: alcohol eats through paper.

 

[Alpenscoot]

^The 15 minute gap prevents guests from abusing the system by providing free drinks to members of their party who haven't paid for the drink plan.

Even if one person uses the cup, the drink will either be finished or flat way before the 15 minutes are up.

 

[Nicole]

There is a 15 minute gap for both the bottle and the paper cup plans:

If you are a previous season passholder you are probably familiar with our All Season Souvenir Bottle. This option gives you a souvenir bottle that grants you free refills all season! Who doesn’t love an awesome bottle to mark a new season of fun?

Now wait, I know some of you are saying “Me! I don’t love carrying around awesome bottles, even if it does mark a new season of fun!” We’ve got you covered too. This year we are rolling out the NEW Season Pass Drink Plan! This plan has all the benefits of the souvenir bottle plan without the nifty bottle. Instead of keeping track of the all-powerful bottle, you will receive a new disposable paper cup every time you get a drink. Just scan your season pass and you are ready to go!

Both drink plans can be used every 15 minutes. That means if you got a drink every chance you had on a normal operating day you could get 46 refills every time you visit.

So now you’re thinking “Great! I already added the bottle onto my season pass. Guess none of this helps me.” Once again, have no fear, just bring your voucher and your season pass with you to guest services and let them know you’d like to switch it out for the Season Pass Drink Plan. (However, you can only switch once without a small fee.)

What if you decide to give the paper cups a try and after a few trips you just can’t contain your jealousy for those sweet souvenir bottles? Just swing by guest services and confess, they’ll be happy to switch you back over for just $2.99.

Hopefully now you are equipped to make this crucial decision, unless of course you haven’t got your season pass yet. If that’s the case, what are you waiting on? We’re only 18 days away from Passholder Preview Night! Can’t wait to see you there! Until then, stay thirsty my friends.

I can't personally imagine needing a drink more often than that.  I spend most of my time in the park on rides, anyway.

 

[coasterdude205]

I don't know what soda you are drinking if it's flat within 15 minutes. On the other hand I think this is much needed and will be a lot easier and full proof(I have gotten a bottle taken from ride bins 2 times).

 

[GoHokies87]

Wanna keep your bottle from getting stolen? Put a sticker on it that says "tracking device". I bet anyone stealing bottles wouldn't go for that one. For added effect you could put something under the sticker to mae it more convincing.

 

[jeffh]

I got my 2017 bottle at the preview night, is not as wide as last year's version and looks like it holds about 10-15% less (ballpark estimate) content.

Oh well, I kept the bottle option and wife is taking the paper cup option; we'll see how things work out.

 

[MAZ]

Bottle is definitely smaller. Bad thing is, it's the same color as my BG cups and sooner than later, I'll end up taking the wrong cup to the wrong park.

 

[Pretzel Kaiser]

Another thing I noticed is that if you get the paper cup option, you get a small cup, smaller than a "small" that you would pay for.

 

[Nicole]

Since you aren't paying by the cup, and you can get a refill every 15 minutes, I'm not sure why the size of the cups matters that much. The paper refills are about the size a medium drink, which is all I would want anyway. Even if you want a larger drink, all you have to do is get a free refill. Similarly with the plastic cups, why do you need the larger bottle, when you can fill it back up so often?

 

[strycker]

We picked up our bottle yesterday and used it all day. Definitely smaller than last year. Make sure they don't fill it with ice full (did to us 2x) and there was one a few sips in the bottle and half ice liquid when done with the drink. 4 refills between the wife and I yesterday. I wish they'd link the bottle to the season pass though in case it's stolen. Still haven't fixed that issue besides to take the disposable cups. I handed the lady the bottle the first time and asked if she needed my pass and she said no.

 

[Mushroom]

I wish they'd link the bottle to the season pass though in case it's stolen.  Still haven't fixed that issue besides to take the disposable cups.  I handed the lady the bottle the first time and asked if she needed my pass and she said no.

They do! You can immediately link a new bottle to your pass if you purchase online, or if you already have a bottle you can link it to your pass at Guest Services.

You still won't need to scan your pass to use the All Seasons bottle; they just scan the code on the bottle. However, if you lose your bottle, they can use your pass to deactivate the missing bottle's code and link the pass to a new one for $3.