The Interpreter Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 Article published Saturday, September 9, 2006 Price cuts fail to aid some Cedar Fair parks By JON CHAVEZ BLADE BUSINESS WRITER Cedar Fair LP, which cut gate admission prices at several of its amusement parks this year, said yesterday that combined attendance through Labor Day at the same parks it owned last year dropped by 100,000 visits or 1 percent. Even though attendance dropped, a spokesman said the Sandusky amusement park company was happy with its price cuts but hadn't decided what its prices will be in 2007. "We feel it really worked well. It didn't increase attendance as we hoped, but we were only down 100,000 visits," said Stacy Frole, Cedar Fair director of investor relations. "With the economy, gasoline prices … we think it actually helped our attendance. We definitely feel it was the right decision this year." But Cedar Fair, which owns Cedar Point, 11 other amusement parks, and five water parks, also reported that average in-park spending by guests and revenue at its off-site hotels and restaurants were flat. Besides lower admission prices, the company cut some food prices. The company expects full-year revenue of $815 million to $835 million, down from a July forecast of $835 million to $855 million. Last year, the firm had $569 million in revenue, before it bought Paramount Parks Inc. sites in June. "We tried a number of new marketing initiatives during the season, some of which worked well," Richard Kinzel, Cedar Fair chairman, president, and chief executive, said in a statement. Industry watchers this year focused keenly on the pricing structure. While Cedar Fair was lowering tickets by $5 at Cedar Point and Knott's Berry Farm, rival Paramount kept prices steady and competitors Six Flags Inc. and Disney Inc. raised prices. Gary Slade, publisher of industry newsletter Amusement Today, said Cedar Fair officials believe their price cuts helped. "When I spoke to them they said they were still happy with their decision," he said. "I would anticipate that they would carry that program through for next year." However, Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services Inc. in Cincinnati, said Cedar Point cannot keep its prices low, especially after spending $21 million for a new roller coaster to open in the spring. "You can't put a coaster of that magnitude in and not raise prices. You want to see a bump in attendance of 3 percent or 4 percent when you put in that kind of attraction, and when you spend that kind of capital, you've got to promote it. That takes money." http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...403/-1/BUSINESS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKlockster Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 Their admission price right now is very reasonable. They could probably get away with raising it 5 bucks or so. What I really like is how the child and senior admission is only 1/4 of regular admission. At Kings Island it is over half. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cstrwomann Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 I think their prices are very reasonable at Cedar Point/GL. I feel admission at PKI is very high compared to CP. If they are having problems with attendence figures it doesn't make any sense to raise prices. People will not go to the parks if you raise the prices too high. $40 for admission plus $10 for parking. That's $200 for a family of 4 to go for one day. Not all families can afford that price. Alot of things to consider also gas prices, unemployment, income levels, and temperature for this summer wasn't very hot. You can't swim at a water park that's outdoors if the temperature is cold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted September 10, 2006 Author Share Posted September 10, 2006 And yet, of the parks Cedar Fair now owns, the former Paramount Parks, which held prices (and increased food prices) seem to be doing better than the original Cedar Fair parks, which cut admission prices and food prices. The latter set of parks are actually down marginally, in per caps and admissions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragerunner Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 Maybe attendance has more to do with product than price. I still believe (with current US market demographics) the average person wants a 'theme park' experience, not a midway experience. Cedar Fair's parks (not counting Paramount parks) will increase in attendance if they start focusing on themed rides, areas, and family experiences. Paramount parks, Busch Gardens, Silver Dollar City, etc... have all figured this out, and are doing well, and Six Flags is trying to figure it out. Its time for Cedar Fair to let go of the 80's and 90's demographic numbers and start building for the 21st century. This means more theming, and family experiences. I am a huge coaster fan, but coasters can only take a park so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 I think that they might be learning that lesson some what. Look at Maverick. I`m sure others have noticed its similarities to IJST. It is not an extreme ride, and from the animations I`ve seen will have some elaborate theming to make the ride more interesting. Theming that, unlike IJST, actually fits into the themed area in which the ride is being built. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheKlockster Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 Wait till after you ride it to say its not extreme. I think it will be intense, and that high speed ending will be very extreme. That third inversion will be sooo good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avatar Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 And yet, of the parks Cedar Fair now owns, the former Paramount Parks, which held prices (and increased food prices) seem to be doing better than the original Cedar Fair parks, which cut admission prices and food prices. The latter set of parks are actually down marginally, in per caps and admissions. Very true and just think what Paramount Parks would have brought in as far as attendance and sales wise if they had lowered the prices for those families. If you were a family and decided to go to an Amusement /Theme Park, which park would you go to the one with a lot of Mega Extreme coasters or the one that has a huge kids ride area and a great kid’s water area. Then you as the family would need to look at your budget and decide to go to the more family affordable priced park or the more expensive one. Both former Paramount and Cedar Fair parks are right and wrong when it comes to trying to get more attendance and per capita spending per person at their parks, in my humble opinion. Former paramount parks for focusing in on the whole family as far as attractions for the whole family to raise sales and attendance or the Cedar Fair parks for aiming to be more affordable to families to attract more guests to the park. We the Guests and also the Amusement /Theme parks could really benefit greatly if they would just learn a little from each others successes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted September 10, 2006 Author Share Posted September 10, 2006 Amen. I just hope they don't learn from each others failures...in a bad way. Failure can be good, as it can teach one what NOT to do. If you ignore it, it is a bad thing. The classic management definition of business insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Until this addition, in recent years Cedar Point had been there. Install new megathrill ride. Expect major attendance increase. Doesn't happen. Repeat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StXsteven Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 Don't say parks like Busch Garden learned that people like theme parks better, because it didn't learn that, it's what kind of park itr was and is from the beginning. PKI has added alot of Theme Rides in the past couple of years, so yes, maybe they are learning. The fact that PKI did a huge makeover on the kid-park now Nick Universe, ad the amount of people who came this year didn't rise much at all should make you think. Your only seeing it from your side, big rides hurt a park, little rides help it, when your ignoring what happened with NU. I think the reason Cedar Parks numbers arn't larger because it's a far ride to nowhere, nothings around, just farmland. At least from the route from Cincinnati the last hour of driving is all just farmland. Maybe there is city life in a different direction within 30 minutes, I don't know. Kings Island is surrounded by citys. But hey, just my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragerunner Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 Don't say parks like Busch Garden learned that people like theme parks better, because it didn't learn that, it's what kind of park itr was and is from the beginning. PKI has added alot of Theme Rides in the past couple of years, so yes, maybe they are learning. The fact that PKI did a huge makeover on the kid-park now Nick Universe, ad the amount of people who came this year didn't rise much at all should make you think. Your only seeing it from your side, big rides hurt a park, little rides help it, when your ignoring what happened with NU. I think the reason Cedar Parks numbers arn't larger because it's a far ride to nowhere, nothings around, just farmland. At least from the route from Cincinnati the last hour of driving is all just farmland. Maybe there is city life in a different direction within 30 minutes, I don't know. Kings Island is surrounded by citys. But hey, just my opinion. "Do you know what PKIs attendance numbers are for this year?" If the park's attendance went up, with a limited budget for the NU project, I would consider that very good return on the investment. Example: If a park spends $5 million on a new family addition (NU), and gets a 2% increase in attendance, that is a lot better than spending $7 million (Skyhawk) on a thrill ride and having attendance drop or stay flat. (These are made up numbers but, I hope they explain what I am trying to say) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StXsteven Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 "Do you know what PKIs attendance numbers are for this year?" If the park's attendance went up, with a limited budget for the NU project, I would consider that very good return on the investment. Example: If a park spends $5 million on a new family addition (NU), and gets a 2% increase in attendance, that is a lot better than spending $7 million (Skyhawk) on a thrill ride and having attendance drop or stay flat. (These are made up numbers but, I hope they explain what I am trying to say) It doesn't matter if they had a limited budget for it, most people don't know that, they still advertised it as a very huge thing, so you would think a huge new crowd would of came to check it out. It wasn't one new ride, it was a whole new themed area and advertised very much on television. And your examples explain everything fine, but according to many posters on here in various posts, the attendance didn't increase much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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