Kings Island, other parks shift promotional focus

[pkiboy]

Attention turns to basic value, theme attractions.

In an industry that already attracts more than 300 million people a year, Paramount's Kings Island officials know there are limited numbers of new visitors available. So they're concentrating on keeping the ones they have longer and persuading them to spend more money.

Despite an improving outlook for parks nationally, most know they won't get more than 3 percent annual growth in visitors. Last year, Kings Island drew more than 3.3 million people.

So instead of just building more and bigger roller coasters, the focus is on new rides that play on the most popular movies and television shows and hotels and attractions that will appeal to a broad range of visitors.

Witness at Kings Island the Nickelodeon Celebration parade last year, the new Italian Job thrill ride this year, and the Great Wolf lodge scheduled to open in late 2006.

Another priority is finding ways to lower prices. This year, PKI added Kroger and Speedway to the list of retail outlets where you can buy one ticket that covers two visits.

Still, say some visitors, the price is about as high as it can get. Should the cost rise, many expect to find some other way to spend their fun money.

"Fifty dollars," Columbus resident and mom Renee Mills said as she ate lunch at the new Happy Days Diner with her two sons, two of their friends and her mother, Dorothy Kelly. "If it gets over $50, that will be the end of it for us."

"I think it's already too high," said Petra Hall, 34, who came 300 miles from Country Club Hills, Ill., to spend the weekend at Kings Island with 18 members of her family. "It cost us $44.99 (for a two-day ticket) and the only ride I've been on so far is the carousel."

Admission at the park is $34.99, but when tickets are purchased three days ahead of the visit, that one-day price drops to $31.99. Besides the two-day ticket, season passes are also available at $109.99 for adults and $75.99 for children or senior citizens.

'Better is better'

There was a time when bigger was better, said Kings Island general manager Craig Ross. But those days are gone.

"Now we think better is better," he said.

Driven by an improving national economy and strong performance from destination parks such as Disney and Universal Studios, theme-park performance should recover in 2005 around the country, said Dennis Speigel, president of Cincinnati-based industry consultant International Theme Park Services Inc.

For example, Sandusky-based Cedar Fair LP, the owner of Cedar Point in northern Ohio, reported that although attendance dropped 8 percent for the first five months of the year compared to the same period last year, average in-park spending for each visitor increased 6 percent.

Speigel said that reality means it's "time to change the model."

"We've hit the wall in terms of pricing," he said. "And the times (of visits) have been shortened."

Ross agreed.

"We've been holding the price steady and working on a broader distribution of tickets at that value price point," he said.

Nationally, the industry has just about recovered from its severe slump following the 2001 terrorist attacks, Speigel said. This year, the industry celebrates its 50th anniversary, noting the 1955 opening of Disneyland.

Lengthening the stay

Ross said 2004 attendance topped 3.3 million and should go up about 3 percent this year. With a limited pool of new visitors, lengthening the average stay from its current six or seven hours is critical, he said.

That makes food a key part of the mix. Thus the new Graeter's and Happy Days Diner outlets.

"We're hoping we're a part of their plans to stay later and have some dinner," Ross said. "We're hoping to be more like a studio park than a theme park. Those attractions hopefully justify the drive from your local amusement park to Kings Island."

To that end, the park has added a nighttime hour on the weekends, to 11 p.m. on Friday and midnight on Saturday.

Also part of the strategy is finding places for people to stay on the park property. Great Wolf will a huge step, and Ross said the park owns more than 100 acres of surplus property that is "easily developed" into food, entertainment, hotel or campground offerings.

"With the Great Wolf lodge, it's more the synergy that's created," he said. We'll move those guests right from the hotel to the park."

This was in the paper today.

[pkiboy]

HOW TO BENEFIT

How you can capitalize on the changes at Paramount's Kings Island:

The Top Gun roller coaster at Paramount's Kings Island. With limited numbers of new visitors available, amusement parks are concentrating on persuading the ones they have to spend more time and money.

Ride the newest attraction, Italian Job: Stunt Track. With a cost of more than $10 million, PKI officials are counting on the ride to lure more movie fans into the park.

Find a way to buy a ticket for less than the full price: Only about 10 percent of visitors pay the full $44.95 general admission price. You can get $10 off that price by buying a single-day ticket online at www.pki.com. And you can buy one ticket that covers two visits at retailers including Meijer, Kroger, Blockbuster and Speedway.

Find a place to stay. This summer, the park's campground will be closed as construction starts on the new Great Wolf Lodge, scheduled to open in late 2006. With 404 suites and a 70,000-square-foot indoor waterpark, it will be PKI's first on-property hotel.

Eat and drink. The park's first Starbucks opened this month. It's also added the new Happy Days diner and a Graeter's.

Hope this helps

[hauntguy]

Wow!!! Great post man...

As you stated, people will need and expect transportation from the hotel to the park... Do you think that a monorail system will be good to put in or do you think the park will stick with those old "train pulled buses". Great stuff man, thanks for posting this... gets me thinking. -Hauntguy

[Vortex]

Wow!!! Great post man...

As you stated, people will need and expect transportation from the hotel to the park... Do you think that a monorail system will be good to put in or do you think the park will stick with those old "train pulled buses". Great stuff man, thanks for posting this... gets me thinking. -Hauntguy

I think Kings Island will have a van or bus to the hotel and back. Why would PKI put the monorails they have left back up? While taking a ride on SOB you can see two monorails sitting in the park, not sure if they work or Jungle Jim would have took them.

Also Jungle Jims will reopen the Monorail soon.

[pkiboy]

Well i guess we can all tell that PKI is going for movie themes for ther rides.

[BoddaH1994]

Wow!!! Great post man...

As you stated, people will need and expect transportation from the hotel to the park... Do you think that a monorail system will be good to put in or do you think the park will stick with those old "train pulled buses". Great stuff man, thanks for posting this... gets me thinking. -Hauntguy

I think Kings Island will have a van or bus to the hotel and back. Why would PKI put the monorails they have left back up? While taking a ride on SOB you can see two monorails sitting in the park, not sure if they work or Jungle Jim would have took them.

Also Jungle Jims will reopen the Monorail soon.

Those are actually old trams... in fact, they're the old trams from Coney Island. To my knowledge, the only monorail is at Jungle Jim's.

[Captain Picard]

They have started the Lengthening the stay plan by giving you a speed lane tickets spread out till closing.

"time to change the model."

So instead of just building more and bigger roller coasters, the focus is on new low cost ways of lining their pockets.

limited numbers of new visitors available

This tells you PKI will not expand, there is no need to.

That is a sad story to hear, they are looking get more money out of you and give you less in years to come.

[CoastersRZ]

That is an interesting opinion. After I read the article, I took it to mean that they would focus less on the superlatives, and more on fun exctiing rides, such as what IJST has turned out to be. IJST apparantly cost more than $10 million. But, that is still less than the $17 million they approximately spent on Son of Beast, but look how that ride turned out.

I think that PKI will expand some in years to come, because new rides do bring in more people. But there will also be more removing of older less popular ride and replacement with new rides, which will help keep people coming back.

The one thing the article didn`t mention which you did Captain Picard, is the Speedlane tickets. While they have started spreadin them out, so people stay longer, it also allows the passholders to spend less time in line for the rides. In turn, they can spend more time in the shops and the restaurants.

[pkiboy]

Well i hope they expand soon. look at all the land they have.

[CoastersRZ]

I doubt they will expand rapidly. It will probably be more like a slow consistent growth that we have seen the last couple of seasons. Taking out a couple of rides and adding new ones with only a net gain of one or two more rides. Just a personal opinion PKIBoy, but in the future you might want to include a link/the name and date of the publication in which the article appeared.

[Scooby_Doo]

I will tell you this if they want to lure me or my family they should install something themed to the addams family or get another dark ride or have something themed to spongebob I nor my family wont go to PKI just to ride IJ:ST because it's to short and not our thing.

[pkiboy]

where would they put the addams family coaster.

[Jasper]

Well i guess we can all tell that PKI is going for movie themes for ther rides.

That sucks!

[Scooby_Doo]

where would they put the addams family coaster.

Plenty of places..behind FOF...In RiverTown...Behind TR:TR..PKI has Plenty of room to add new rides to.

[RevengeofTheSmurfs]

where would they put the addams family coaster.

Plenty of places..behind FOF...In RiverTown...Behind TR:TR..PKI has Plenty of room to add new rides to.

PKI has room to expand on so I guess if PKI ever got the ride ( that every PKI fan wants) it would most likely go around FOF or I could be wrong and they would install it in RT.