This has been talked to death on this forum. We understand families spend more per capita. However, what few here ever seem to realize is that the families and the gold pass thrill seekers are the same people!
If the park plays its cards right, today's kids enjoying Camp Snoopy are the future thrill seekers who spend less. Later on, they become the parents of their own kids and hopefully bring their own families to the park and spend the big bucks. You cannot exist in the business and only cater to families unless you're on the level of Disney.
What also seems to be missed here is that the "family window" is a pretty short span of time. That's going to be parents with kids aged 3 – 12 or so. After that, the older kids will ride what they are tall enough for including The Beast and Diamondback. After this age the kids also tend to want to go to the park without their parents starting around 14 or so [insert chaperone disclaimer].
Regional amusement parks are low margin and must cater to both thrillseekers and non-thrillseekers just to get by. Ultimately thrills are what separates Kings Island from the zoos and museums of the world and even the lower tier amusement parks.
By
KI Guy ·
