Disneyland Seeks To Scare Up Halloween Parkgoers

[The Interpreter]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/feature...-halloween.html

By Gina Keating

REUTERS

3:34 p.m. September 29, 2006

LOS ANGELES – The ghosts came out at Disneyland Friday to help Walt Disney Co. bump up park attendance and scare up a piece of the nearly $5 billion U.S. consumers are expected to spend this year on Halloween.

For decades, rivals Cedar Fair LP, which operates Knott's Berry Farm parks, and Six Flags Inc have held monthlong Halloween events aimed at teens and adults.

Tiffany Fessler, spokeswoman for the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, said Disney was â€Âdefinitely a little late to the party.â€Â

“These events have been around since the 70s...(but) you can show that through retail sales in the last few years it's really catching on,†Fessler said.

Disney said although its parks in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Paris throw Halloween parties, the Disneyland event in Anaheim, California, is among the most detailed as it involves a transformation of the entire park.

The park declined to say how much it is spending on its HalloweenTime promotion but it is hiring 75 new workers and supporting the monthlong event with a regional TV ad campaign.

The park invested in elaborate decorations, alterations to its restaurant menus, Halloween costumes for the Disney characters and a slew of not-so-scary activities such as a Petting Boo and Spookie-Kookie-Cookie decorating.

Disney was guided by market research showing that parents wanted to celebrate Halloween but were concerned about the safety of letting their kids trick-or-treat, said Lisa Cotter, vice president of marketing strategy for the park.

Haunted attractions, both free-standing and at theme parks, generated about $275 million in revenue in 2005. That's a fraction of U.S. theme parks sales of $11.2 billion in 2005, but a lucrative niche market, said Haunted Attraction magazine editor Leonard Pickel.

“There is major money to be made in those attractions,†Pickel said.

The park needs to find special events to attract customers as its 50th anniversary celebration ends, park officials said.

Sanders Morris Harris analyst David Miller said in the last five years, Halloween “has become a very important event for all theme parks but more important for commuter theme parks like Six Flags and Cedar Fairâ€Â. Disneyland draws about half its attendance from Southern California.