Interactive storyline attraction closing at Cedar Point

Editor's note: Justin Dietz is a Register correspondent representing CPFoodBlog.com and @CPFoodBlog on Twitter. SANDUSKY — Opened in 2019, Cedar Point debuted the Forbidden Frontier on Adventure Island, which was marketed as an experiential attraction. Guests came over to the island and interacted with actors, props and sets to advance a storyline that evolved throughout the day. By solving puzzles and playing games, guests could find details about the characters that called Forbidden Frontier home. During the annual Winter Chill Out event, which recently took place, the park announced Forbidden Frontier would not be returning for the 2023 season. Access to Forbidden Frontier was tucked into the Frontier Trail near the back of Cedar Point. Once guests made the turn back to the island, they walked a long path to eventually get back to the set pieces including a fort, farm, camp and "highground" playground. In addition to the various sets, guests had access to new restrooms and a dining facility that offered great promise when it opened. Throughout the day, guests encountered anywhere from 10 to 20 actors responsible for acting out a storyline that included everyone doing their part to advance the narrative. Parents often loved Forbidden Frontier for the highground, giving kids the chance to run free on the playground while often catching a relaxing chair in the tree-covered shade. Forbidden Frontier also included a new ground-up quick-service restaurant called Provisions. When the place first opened, many guests said one of the best meals in the park could be at this dining establishment with the introduction of new shrimp and steak skewers. There were even unique panini sandwiches and a Buckeye Fizz drink that made guests go crazy when first introduced. Following the 2019 debut season, Forbidden Frontier showed promise. We spent many days over there, letting our family get lost in the storyline, interacting with character actors and enjoying the food. Then, of course, the pandemic happened in 2020, limiting access to live entertainment and Forbidden Frontier. This included the reveal of and expanded storyline with the new Snake River Expedition, which had a delayed opening until 2021. When Forbidden Frontier and Snake River Expeditions finally opened together, it provided a great opportunity for a new kind of entertainment. While Snake River always had a long line, interest in Forbidden Frontier began to wane: • The first nail in the coffin of course had to do with the pandemic itself. Told to stay away from other people, the interactive and up-close nature of the exhibit surely kept some people away. • Second was that, despite initially hinting at a revolving storyline, investment was not really made into changing things not only throughout the season but also from year to year. Many fell into the camp of "once you have done it, no need to do it again." • Third, the park quickly dropped staffing Provisions until all other locations were manned. Of course, staffing has been a concern for Cedar Point for a long time, but the pandemic and lack of workforce, including international students exacerbated the problem, created issues. Many guests with dining plans would venture into Forbidden Frontier solely for the purpose of grabbing the steak and shrimp skewer meals, trying to decide whether it was worth the trek was often a factor. In 2021, Provisions did not open until July 3 despite Forbidden Frontier opening on June 11. In 2022, Provisions did not open until late June. Forbidden Frontier opened on June 6. • Lastly, as hinted above, access to the Forbidden Frontier was severely lacking and was one of the ultimate deciding factors to its demise. Cedar Point planners made the decision to only be able to enter the island via the Frontier Trail. This was like putting milk at the back of the grocery store. Cedar Point made you walk a long distance from the park entrances to get to the island. For the target audience, likely many with strollers, this was an undertaking. The park went to great extents to add a walkable elevated pathway that would traverse the water and go over the Snake River Expedition boats. However, it should have added a secondary access point from Camp Snoopy. Your target audience is already there, enjoying the kid rides and characters. Guests are also getting onto the boat ride around the island. If you had a secondary access point to Forbidden Frontier, it would have made walking all the more easier for guests. Thinking back, access was probably the biggest factor for our family actually going back to Forbidden Frontier. It was not the actors or lack of new storyline, because we loved seeing the people that brought the story to life. Visiting the attraction meant a lot of extra walking because of only one entry. When it came to food, going way out of the way to visit Provisions was not high on our priority list, especially with so many better options throughout the park. Ultimately, while we are sure foot traffic was likely down to Forbidden Frontier, Cedar Point deciding to close Forbidden Frontier in 2023 is also a cost-cutting measure. We are already seeing live entertainment being trimmed back at various Cedar Fair properties for 2023. This is a continuation of that measure. In 2022, Forbidden Frontier operated from June 6 to Aug. 14 or a total of 70 days. Let's assume it takes 20 people to operate the rafts, Highground and all the actors. The island was open from noon to 7 p.m. each day, but let's assume eight hours due to prep and closure. While the starting rate was $15 per hour for new hires, let's assume most of them returned from the 2021 season and were still making $20 per hour. That means in labor costs, it cost Cedar Point roughly $400 per hour or $3,200 per day to operate Forbidden Frontier. By comparison, a major roller coaster in the park takes, say, 10 people to operate. Of course, roller coasters are always going to be a major driver of foot traffic, but you can quickly see, from the park's perspective, for half the number of operators, it can run a coaster or man a food stand or gift shop. We fully expect to see a lot of cost-cutting measures taking place in 2023 despite Cedar Fair having a pretty good financial year in 2022. We think the cuts may have to do more about the future trending patterns of the economy versus their current state. Regardless, Forbidden Frontier has ultimately met its demise, and, for that, we are sad to see it go. Had some better decisions been made about its implementation, maybe we could have seen the program grow and continue to pull guests in off the midway. It should be noted that the park has acknowledged that the Forbidden Frontier area will not be used for the reimagined Top Thrill Dragster.