NO FAMILY FRIENDLY KIDS PROGRAMS HERE

[realreddy]

So I call Killington to buy my 5 and 6 y.o. frequent kid card for mini stars and I was told by "Tom" if I put $3,000 on today I get 35% off, great, but if I need to re up in mid season, which I will need to do because I purchased a season pass for my wife and I, I don't get this discoount. Oh and by the way you need to buy your 6 y.o. a season pass for $779.00 if you want to ski with her after her lessons or on a Sunday morning if she is not in the $180 class.
Tom told me, again, about the Max 5 craop and the quality of the food my kids can eat anywhere on the mountain. But guess what, they still eat the same crap, Mac and Cheese, Chicken nuggets and pizza.
The instructors are the same and nothing was differenmt last year from the previous 4 years I had the kids in the program.
But he did throw in that the Skye Ship will be open 7 days a week. My kids arer 5 and 6, who cares.

These people are completet A**holes.

I told "Tom" that last year I had 4 families who did not come to Killington because of the cost structure of the day care and ski school programs. He said in not so many words that PWDR really doesn't care.

Can someone explain to me what they are thinking by making the kids programs so unaffordadble to their season pass holders and their future customers?

[TwinsWillSki]

That is why we left K last year. It is $900/year/child for our 5 y.o. twins at SR for Sat/Sun/and holiday weeks. The coaches take them all over the mountain, and don't keep the kids cooped up at Ramshead like K. We miss our friends, but K doesn't want us.

[johnny the jibber]

powdr does not like children.

[icedtea]

basin ski shop loves children

[Dr. NO]

basin ski shop loves children

Now Now, let us not indict the entire ski shop due to one person's failings.

Guess my grandkids will have to settle for discounted weeks at Sugarloaf and discounted Connecticut Ski Council tickets and days elsewhere because Killington and POWDR just do not care about the future skiers.

KillingtonsZone must continue the protest, and by all means mention KillingtonZone in all your posts.

[Kskiier1]

So I call Killington to buy my 5 and 6 y.o. frequent kid card for mini stars and I was told by "Tom" if I put $3,000 on today I get 35% off, great, but if I need to re up in mid season, which I will need to do because I purchased a season pass for my wife and I, I don't get this discoount. Oh and by the way you need to buy your 6 y.o. a season pass for $779.00 if you want to ski with her after her lessons or on a Sunday morning if she is not in the $180 class.
Tom told me, again, about the Max 5 craop and the quality of the food my kids can eat anywhere on the mountain. But guess what, they still eat the same crap, Mac and Cheese, Chicken nuggets and pizza.
The instructors are the same and nothing was differenmt last year from the previous 4 years I had the kids in the program.
But he did throw in that the Skye Ship will be open 7 days a week. My kids arer 5 and 6, who cares.

These people are completet A**holes.

I told "Tom" that last year I had 4 families who did not come to Killington because of the cost structure of the day care and ski school programs. He said in not so many words that PWDR really doesn't care.

Can someone explain to me what they are thinking by making the kids programs so unaffordadble to their season pass holders and their future customers?

So, did you buy it?

[SkiDork]

He said in not so many words that PWDR really doesn't care.

Can someone explain to me what they are thinking by making the kids programs so unaffordadble to their season pass holders and their future customers?

To quote Geoff, what kind of heroin dealers are they? Maybe they should go to the streets of some urban drug dealer area to learn a bit about cultivating future customers...

[Mister Moose]

KillingtonsZone must continue the protest, and by all means mention KillingtonZone in all your posts.

Of course you have to spell it right for this to work Doc.

[boston_e]

So I call Killington to buy my 5 and 6 y.o. frequent kid card for mini stars and I was told by "Tom" if I put $3,000 on today I get 35% off, great, but if I need to re up in mid season, which I will need to do because I purchased a season pass for my wife and I, I don't get this discoount. Oh and by the way you need to buy your 6 y.o. a season pass for $779.00 if you want to ski with her after her lessons or on a Sunday morning if she is not in the $180 class.
Tom told me, again, about the Max 5 craop and the quality of the food my kids can eat anywhere on the mountain. But guess what, they still eat the same crap, Mac and Cheese, Chicken nuggets and pizza.
The instructors are the same and nothing was differenmt last year from the previous 4 years I had the kids in the program.
But he did throw in that the Skye Ship will be open 7 days a week. My kids arer 5 and 6, who cares.

These people are completet A**holes.

I told "Tom" that last year I had 4 families who did not come to Killington because of the cost structure of the day care and ski school programs. He said in not so many words that PWDR really doesn't care.

Can someone explain to me what they are thinking by making the kids programs so unaffordadble to their season pass holders and their future customers?

Their kids programs are 2x the price of almost every other resort in North America.

Obviously they don't want kids here.... or, more accurately, they only want kids with super rich parents... but honestly I would think that even if someone was very wealthy, that $180 for a kids lesson would seem very expensive.

Unless that changes, that will be my ultimate reason for leaving Killinton permanently.

[Bubba]

Powdr's approach to management is that each part of the resort's business has to be profitable on a stand-alone basis, thus leading to the kind of pricing we now see. It is a financial guy's way of doing things, with no regard for marketing impact.

[jimbolla]

why not go to the hopeful program at killington or the KMS/KSC program.
The cost about 800 dollars for Saturday and Sunday and holidays plus season pass.

You are looking at the ski school prices not the kid frequent program.

[Mister Moose]

One of the aspects of running a multi profit center business is deciding how to apportion the overhead to each department. This has a tremendous impact on how profitable each department is, or appears to be.

For example, one way would be to give the kids programs a percentage of all costs, everything from debt service to parking lot plowing. Say, if kids programs bring in 4% of the revenue, they get 4% of the costs. This makes the kids programs appear to cost a lot, and requires high prices to cover those costs.

Or, you could allocate only those costs directly related to kids programs - square footage of occupied building space, kids staff salaries, period. Much cheaper costs, much easier for the department to show a profit, and would allow lower pricing to competitors levels.

Frequently the industry associations will have guidelines on how to do this apportionment, gather and publish composite data, and then the industry can compare numbers and see how each business compares with its peers on costs and revenues, on a percentage basis. Individual numbers are not published.

As the president, you have the choice of letting a department run in the red, knowing it contributes to the overall operation, or require them to be profitable with your own arbitrary apportionment.

Nyberg may have chosen the latter.

[laseranimal]

I'm taking it that Chris isn't familiar with the term "loss leader" or its usage in terms of growing and retaining a customer base then

[Chaz]

It's sad what is happening to the Kid's programs.
My oldest son was in the 7 yr old Hopefuls program and had a blast. he will continue this year. My youngest son turned 4 this last April and I was going to have him attend Ministars this Winter ( about 17 days) but with the elimination of the Bobby Issac's 5 yr old program, I will not to start him at 4 but to wait untill 5 at Ministars . I cannot afford 2 yrs of Ministars. In this enviroment money counts. Chaz

[Bubba]

One of the aspects of running a multi profit center business is deciding how to apportion the overhead to each department. This has a tremendous impact on how profitable each department is, or appears to be.

For example, one way would be to give the kids programs a percentage of all costs, everything from debt service to parking lot plowing. Say, if kids programs bring in 4% of the revenue, they get 4% of the costs. This makes the kids programs appear to cost a lot, and requires high prices to cover those costs.

Or, you could allocate only those costs directly related to kids programs - square footage of occupied building space, kids staff salaries, period. Much cheaper costs, much easier for the department to show a profit, and would allow lower pricing to competitors levels.

Frequently the industry associations will have guidelines on how to do this apportionment, gather and publish composite data, and then the industry can compare numbers and see how each business compares with its peers on costs and revenues, on a percentage basis. Individual numbers are not published.

As the president, you have the choice of letting a department run in the red, knowing it contributes to the overall operation, or require them to be profitable with your own arbitrary apportionment.

Nyberg may have chosen the latter.

My impression is that this is a Powdr issue, not a local issue.