Article on Park Attendance

[mjstaceyuofm]

Motley Fool
Rough Ride in the Parks
Monday July 21, 1:41 pm ET
By Rick Aristotle Munarriz

Seems like only yesterday that regional amusement parks were gearing up for a solid 2003 season. Gas prices were falling. The economy hadn't bounced back to the point where a European vacation was in order, but a trek to the local thrill park seemed doable. The rides were revving up. Funnel cakes and Dippin' Dots prepared to be munched. The turnstiles beckoned.

Then the rains came. Then the patrons didn't. Friday's news that Six Flags suffered a 4% decline in attendance in June was particularly harsh. After an 8% slide in park traffic last year, a year-over-year gain should have been a layup. Instead, the operator of 39 amusement parks worldwide must come to terms with fading cash flow and a coaster-high mountain of debt -- oh yeah, and a 20% haircut.

Attendance for regional rival Cedar Fair isn't holding up any better (though the stock has). After posting healthy traffic gains last year, the company behind thrill havens like Cedar Point in Ohio and Knott's Berry Farm in California had a rough start to the new season when June attendance fell by 7%.

Big players with park interests like Anheuser-Busch and Viacom report this week, but park operations make up but a thin slice of their revenue pies. Disney, on the other hand, will have quite a bit more riding on turnstile clicks when it reports its fiscal third quarter next week.

As they sometimes do in the summer, rainbows may follow these heavy rains. As bad as things were for Six Flags, the company has seen a modest trend reversal. Over the past four weeks, park attendance was up a scant yet welcome 1%. And, remember, eligible families will be receiving child-tax credit checks in the coming weeks. Some, undoubtedly, have those $400 checks (per child) earmarked, but others surely will check out our Travel Center to book late-summer treks to area amusement parks.

So hope springs eternal, even when it's stuck on a slow chain lift. After all, Six Flags owes its name to six distinctive territorial flags, but the white flag of surrender is most certainly not among them.

Just putting this article out there for your perusal. Perhaps after all the "local travelling" that went on last summer, people truly are bored with the local amusement park sights and sounds... Or it could just be that the economy is that bad and Disney's "bad economy=poor attendance" spiel rings true...

 

[Pinnie]

I don't honestly think that people are "Bored" I do think that the weather played a very important role in some of those low attendance figures. We had plans to go to Cedar Point a couple of days this summer and both times we cancelled due to lousy weather.

I was at WDW in June for a long weekend and the rains did NOT let up the whole time I was there. The parks had people in them, but not at the rate I am used to seeing during a June weekend.

I am heading back down in a few days, and I will see if the pent up demand for a vacation is there.

pin

 

[Bob O]

I was at Busch Gardens Williamsburg/Paramounts Kings Dominion for a coaster event in mid June and it rained almost every day of the 12 days we were in the area. And alot of rain was early in the day or forecast the day before which would reduce single day admission people from coming. And from reading reports they have had alot of rain out east and i know in the midwest near Six Flags Great America we have had alot of rain and that has to affect attendance. It may not deter people who are vacation who will go anyway but it will keep locals out of the parks.

 

[mitros]

There has been a TON of rain down here for the last month! That's got to have some bearing on the situation

 

[genealle]

It's the economy.
Look at the unemplyment figures-more workers laid off for longer periods. The fear that YOU may be next. Under-employment, lack of benefits that you must now pay for, streatching that car out for another year! That all adds up on our choices to travel.

We spend two to four thousand on our yearly trips to see Goofy & Gang, and I'm sure many folks postponed or simply cancelled their trips. Maybe next year will set records with the pent up desire to travel!

 

[Willowwind]

Originally posted by mjstaceyuofm
Or it could just be that the economy is that bad and Disney's "bad economy=poor attendance" spiel rings true...

Hrmmm... go figure, unemployeed and underemployed people can't afford to go to amusement parks. Who would have thought!?

It is the economy, no matter what line the folks in Washington are trying to feed us, the economy is in the toilet.

 

[PKS44]

Strange how an economy in far worse shape for far longer than ours in Japan has not led to similar problems for amusement parks in that country....

Paul

 

[mjstaceyuofm]

Maybe next year will set records with the pent up desire to travel!

That's what they were saying early on about WDW in 2003 after being caught off-guard around Christmas and Easter with surprisingly large crowds. They were ill-prepared to handle the crowds "en masse" then as the bookings didn't come as early as they would have liked. Early bookings continued to run below expectations in the spring of this year even after the sizeable holiday crowds. When summer bookings weren't what they expected, we got the Fairy-Tale Package.

Somehow, I just think that peoples vacation desires/realities have changed slightly. Maybe visiting uncle Bob and aunt Maggie in Tuscon wins out over the week in WDW or a cruise or Colorado, etc. this year.... Maybe that's how it's gonna be for a while now.

 

[Willowwind]

Not for us, I couldn't honestly care less about visiting "uncle bob", but that's just us, and we don't have a big extended family. We've canceled our past two planned trips. The 1st was right after 9-11 and I was being a big chicken. I'm still mad at myself about that. And this year's trip just didn't make it in the budget after we bought a house. Now it's scrimp and save and cut corners everywhere we can. Looks like reading other's trip reports is as close to as vacation as I'm going to get for quite some time.

With all the people I know getting laid off, we're just happy my hubby has a job.