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Factors leading to attendance

^ I'll repost my previous post looking at park attendance figures year-over-year. There is enough data to show a correlation of increase park attendance the same year as new rides, but park attendance in some cases increases at a greater rate during years without a new attraction. Therefore, it is difficult to prove causality of new rides and park attendance.

In the United States, the biggest factor on park attendance has been the economy. We experience the Great Recession in 2008, which caused a major slump in major amusement park attendance figures in 2009.

Hyde244 said:
Rather than rely on anecdotal perspectives of individuals (though lot's of great input has been voiced), I would encourage us to look at theme park attendance numbers to see if it is possible to discern possible correlations and causations.

Linked below are attendance figures from 2007 to 2012, published by the Themed Entertainment Association:

http://www.teaconnect.org/sites/default ... report.pdf

http://www.org.id.tue.nl/ifip-tc14/docu ... s-2008.pdf

http://www.org.id.tue.nl/ifip-tc14/docu ... s-2009.pdf

http://www.aecom.com/deployedfiles/Inte ... 0Index.pdf

http://www.aecom.com/deployedfiles/Inte ... 202011.pdf

http://www.aecom.com/deployedfiles/Inte ... online.pdf

For this analysis, I will use North American parks.

1: How much of an effect on attendance do you think new attractions have?

It depends. That is, it is difficult to pick out large gains in attendance that would be solely due to the addition of a new attraction. Yet there is evidence to suggest new rides lead to increases in attendance, especially with the addition of new .

Let's look at some individual parks as examples:

- Cedar Point added Maverick in 2007, and saw a 1.5% increase in attendance. Cedar Point however saw a 2.5% increase in attendance in 2008, when no new rides were added to the park.

- Hersheypark saw a 6.5% increase in attendance in 2012 with the addition of Skyrush. This was a larger gain in attendance than in 2011 (2%) or 2010 (3%).

- Canada's Wonderland saw a 5% increase in 2012 with the addition of Leviathan. This was larger than the 3% increase the previous year in 2011.

2: Which sort of new attractions do you think help to raise theme park attendance? For example B&M Wing riders.

Large park expansions. California's Great Adventure saw a 22.6% increase in attendance in 2012, the same year that Cars Land opened. Islands of Adventure saw a 30.6% increase in attendance following the addition of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

3: How important do you think location is in correlation to theme park attendance?

It is pretty important. The largest amusement parks in the U.S. (Universal, Disney, SeaWorld) saw a drop in attendance during the Great Recession (2008-2009), in part because of their location. Families in the Midwest/East who lost jobs or income during the recession would have cancelled their expensive travel plans. Cedar Point actually came forward in 2009 and said they saw a boost during the recession from families looking for a cheaper vacation that was closer to home.

Overall, the biggest factor for park attendance has not been new rides, but economic activity. In 2007, 14 of the nation's top 20 amusement parks saw an increase in attendance. once the Great Recession hit in the U.S. half way through 2008, 8 of these same amusement parks saw increases. In 2009, only 7 saw an increase in attendance. 2010 marked the end of the recession and beginning of the recovery, which saw an uptick of 14 parks with increased attendance.

It is important to bear in mind that amusement parks are businesses, which are in turn vulnerable to changes in the market and economy. They can build new rides and perform good marketing to improve their performance, but are most affected by external economic factors that are out of their control. The best thing an amusement park can do is maximize profits during good economic times, and ensure average park goers can still see affordability/economic benefit when markets are down.
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And as I said, in response to your post, the big game parks aren't effected the same way as smaller attractions, that we gave no data for and which make up the majority of the market.

I wonder if, for example, smaller/cheaper parks do comparatively better in economic woe than the parks with high gate prices. It's certainly true that other attractions, like free museums, benefit in these times. (Read an article about this once... The free London museums experienced a rise when Tussauds, Dungeons, etc saw a dip.)

Sent from my HTC Wildfire S A510e using Tapatalk 2
 
I think you're right Joey, and in the separate questions Dan sent to me, I did cover this a little.

I do think when money is tight, people tend to look to smaller attractions to cover their outing needs. £10 for a day at a local farm is as great day out for a young family. It's friendly, you feel like you're supporting somebody local and there's no huge travel expense or accommodation costs.

I think a day at Blackpool Tower for our family would be about £50, plus spends - if we used vouchers, bogoffs, etc. We'd get maybe two hours out of that if we pushed and it wasn't too busy.

We spent six hours in Scarborough on Monday. £10 parking, a few quid in the arcades, treats and a boat ride. We spent about £40 -which is including food and drink.

Okay, we didn't have "The Tower Experience", but didn't need it. It was still a really good "day out" though. The place was packed too.

Okay it's all anecdotal, but I know lots of people who go to cheaper attractions now and fewer theme park trips. Though people do still do trips to really special places like Pepper Pig World (Paultons is on to a serious winner there).

Obviously, for the older visitors, theme parks are still a big draw. So why is Thorpe losing out? I still think it's simply because their catchment has reached its limit. They will always have xx amount of teens and older people visiting, but family visits drop off to Chessington and these local attractions.
 
Joey said:
I saw saw Pleasurewood hills stating that their attendance has been higher this summer than for 5 years. I wonder if 5 years ago was a good summer?

Note that they got a new attraction LAST year, nothing new this summer.
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what about hobbs pit?
 
It's funny though because in The Metro yesterday there was an article in the finance section about theme parks (I'll post a link once they get it online) saying about how well theme parks are doing, and even in the 'economic crisis' people are still willing to spend loads of money on them.

I would argue that they're on a sort of 'check-list' of things to do in the summer holidays? Like I remember being a child and in the 6 weeks off we'd certainly do a zoo, museum and theme park, like, they were on the check-list of stuff to do and if when you went back to school you hadn't been to one of these places it was a bit weird? I also think taking your kids to a theme park is a relatively easy way of entertaining them for a whole day. I imagine having to suddenly keep your child occupied for a whole 6 weeks whilst they're not in school is a massive burden so shoving them in Chessington for a day is surely one of the easier (although obviously much more expensive) options that would require little effort from the parents' point of view in terms of providing entertainment.
 
caffeine_demon said:
Joey said:
I saw saw Pleasurewood hills stating that their attendance has been higher this summer than for 5 years. I wonder if 5 years ago was a good summer?

Note that they got a new attraction LAST year, nothing new this summer.
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what about hobbs pit?
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I did forget about this, but anyone who thinks a scare attraction is definitely the reason they saw an increase when last year they added an actual ride is a loony.

nadroJ said:
It's funny though because in The Metro yesterday there was an article in the finance section about theme parks (I'll post a link once they get it online) saying about how well theme parks are doing, and even in the 'economic crisis' people are still willing to spend loads of money on them.

I would argue that they're on a sort of 'check-list' of things to do in the summer holidays? Like I remember being a child and in the 6 weeks off we'd certainly do a zoo, museum and theme park, like, they were on the check-list of stuff to do and if when you went back to school you hadn't been to one of these places it was a bit weird? I also think taking your kids to a theme park is a relatively easy way of entertaining them for a whole day. I imagine having to suddenly keep your child occupied for a whole 6 weeks whilst they're not in school is a massive burden so shoving them in Chessington for a day is surely one of the easier (although obviously much more expensive) options that would require little effort from the parents' point of view in terms of providing entertainment.
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I agree Jordan... In fact, I'd go as far to say that the answer to the question "why do people go to theme parks?" is "because they are a standard form of entertainment". The interesting one that actually relates to marketing efforts, etc. is "why do people go BACK to theme parks?" and the answer there is a mix of; because they enjoyed it, because it got something new, because they want to take someone who hasn't been, etc.

And this links up to the "why do people go to Disney?" - "because it's Disney" thing. Smaller attractions really need to try hard, because they are not "standard" or "check-list" things. The majority of park visitors did not respond to advertising or special offers, they were going to go anyway because culturally the concept of doing it was passed on by word of mouth.

(Pretty much) anyone who can afford to do Disney has been to Disney, regardless of whether it was their cup of tea or whether they enjoyed it and would go back. The majority of visitors, I'd argue, have no idea what to expect other than "it's awesome (for children) because it's Disney". Ask anyone who has never been to a Disney park what they think Disney parks re about and they couldn't be further off. They assume, rather logically, that it'll be a series of rides based off children's Disney films and that all the rides are aimed at young children.
 
I think this year is a little different.

We've had a few years now of "bad economy". I think that leads to a couple of things.

First of all, people eventually just come to terms with being poor. Instead of worrying all the time and counting pennies, they eventually just think "I'm stuck being broke, so will make an effort at least once to do something nice and go to a theme park".

Connected, I think people aren't as likely to look at going abroad. Anecdotal, I know, but several people I know who always head abroad (one always does DLRP) have stayed in the UK this year instead. They've done local theme parks instead while on a cheaper UK holiday.

Finally, this year has encouraged it due to actually being pretty nice for most of the "summer"

It's probably a mix of all these things which has made this year stand out a little for parks in the UK. We can't say for definite though, and certainly not about parks in other countries.
 
Well, when the attendance report comes out for this year, it'll be interesting to see how US parks did compared to the year prior. Because when I was out there, it did nothing but rain for all of July, which is the peak month for the East Coast parks.

I've heard several times that Busch Garden's Williamsburg isn't doing as well as they'd like it to. They've closed Europe in the Air, rumoured from fans due to budget cuts, and reduced entertainments. That park is weird though - they've been adding large scale thrill coasters for years, none of which get any significant queue times, despite the park being absolutely rammed through the pathways. Their target audience DOESN'T RIDE COASTERS. And then, last year, they finally do the "sensible" thing and add a family coaster, only to see dips in attendance?

I don't understand that park at all.

To me, what it suggested was that large thrill coasters make good marketing even to those who wouldn't ride them. Maybe they suggest a high-quality day out? Verbolten, perhaps, was simply difficult to market - much like most dark rides.

Do even Disney see significant non-annual pass attendance rises when they open new dark rides? I bet they don't.
 
When Disney added Toy Story Mania in Orlando the attendance in that park when up and it generates big queues.

The did not happen in California though, but people were probably waiting for cars land.

This year is meant to have been poor due to all the rain etc.
 
marc said:
When Disney added Toy Story Mania in Orlando the attendance in that park when up and it generates big queues.

The did not happen in California though, but people were probably waiting for cars land.

This year is meant to have been poor due to all the rain etc.
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You can write that off because of the brand associations. Really doesn't matter what the ride type had been.

If it was a non-film IP new Disney dark ride concept, I bet you'd not see anything like the crowds those were pulling.

Anyone heard how well the new Hong Kong one is doing?
 
Attendance is up in Hong Kong but remember two new rides opened there. The haunted mansions are well known though and people would still know what it is.

Btw the little mermaid ride did not boost attendance at the magic kingdom. The land has not done that well, but people could be holding off for the new coaster.

Wdw is a strange one as people do not go there on holiday every year, they do one year at Universal and the next at Disney.
 
^but how many non-enthusiasts would even know about the coaster? As much as I loved New Fantasyland I couldn't help but feel it was very dated in terms of technology, especially when comparing it to Harry Potter. I wonder if going for the 'classic' Disney IPs was not a very good move, stuff like Cars and Monsters Inc are much bigger crowd pullers at the moment and using characters and films from over 20 years ago seems like a bit of a strange move in my opinion. Yes you can argue that Disney is timeless but gate figures would beg to differ.
 
Joey said:
Anyone heard how well the new Hong Kong one is doing?
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Heaving. Admittedly, it was still the summer holidays and to be expected, but it was ridiculously busy a couple of weeks ago. You have to remember that the park has opened 3 new lands within 2 years though, so there's probably more to it.

It may be the small size of the area, but Toy Story Land seemed like the most crowded.

I personally thought it was awful, but it seems to be working for the park.
 
nadroJ said:
^but how many non-enthusiasts would even know about the coaster? As much as I loved New Fantasyland I couldn't help but feel it was very dated in terms of technology, especially when comparing it to Harry Potter. I wonder if going for the 'classic' Disney IPs was not a very good move, stuff like Cars and Monsters Inc are much bigger crowd pullers at the moment and using characters and films from over 20 years ago seems like a bit of a strange move in my opinion. Yes you can argue that Disney is timeless but gate figures would beg to differ.
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From reading stuff 2013 has been a weak year for wdw, but as I said this year could be the alternate year thing or people are holding off waiting for the new Harry potter land and will go next year for their holiday. Even non enthusiasts will know about that.

If you look at the figures you will see what I mean, every other year there is a dip in Disney attendance. Unlike us Americans do not take 2 weeks off to go so they just do one or the other, I know other people who do the same. They go every two years and alternate.

The new area has what one new ride that know one rates anyway, such a shame with what they done.

Anyway sorry have taken this off topic but it does show that so many things influence it.
 
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