(The author is a Reuters contributor.)
By Mitch Lipka
May 25 (Reuters) – With summer fast approaching, the
nation’s theme and amusement parks are gearing up for the
seasonal explosion of visitors. If you’re going to be among the
millions packing these parks, it’s time to develop your strategy
for maximizing the fun without going broke.
Attendance at the 20 largest theme and amusement parks in
the United States far exceeds 100 million people per year,
according to the Themed Entertainment Association. (Major League
Baseball’s 30 teams drew a combined 73 million fans in 2011).
Overall, the approximately 400 parks in the U.S. draw about
300 million people a year and generate $12 billion in revenue,
according to the International Association of Amusement Parks
and Attractions.
Walt Disney parks dominate the top 20 list, holding the
first six slots in the most recent report (2010 data) with
Universal Studios’ Islands of Adventure – home of the Wizarding
World of Harry Potter – nipping at the heels of Disney’s
California Adventure Park.
Disney’s Anaheim, California, properties, which just boosted
prices to $87 for park-goers older than 10 (a $7 jump), are
getting the big buzz this year. In June, the California
Adventure Park is to unveil a 12-acre Cars Land, an area made to
look like the animated Radiator Springs featured in the “Cars”
movies.
“It’s not every year you get a big new attraction from
Disney or Universal,” says Robert Niles, editor of the consumer
website ThemeParkInsider.com.
Closer to home for most are regional amusement and water
parks, such as the 19 owned by the Six Flags Entertainment Corp
or the 11 controlled by Cedar Fair Entertainment. They’re more
geared to the day-trippers and usually pull from a 75-100 mile
radius, says Jefferies & Co analyst John Maxwell.
“Both Cedar Fair and Six Flags have performed well over the
past couple of years in a tough economic environment. They’re
giving the consumer what they want,” he says. “They still
provide what people are willing to pay for.”
The parks are in the business of keeping people happy,
Maxwell says. They try to keep their venues clean and up to date
because they need visitors to return and stay at the property as
long as possible. “They always have to reinvest into their
business. You have to keep them fresh. You have to keep them
attractive.”
While Disney and Universal try to deliver a broad experience
for visitors connected to their brands, regional amusement parks
are most closely associated with their roller coasters, Niles
says. High-speed winged roller coasters – riders are suspended
on either side of the track – are new this season at Dollywood
(Wild Eagle) in Tennessee and Six Flags Great America (X-Flight)
in Illinois. “Dinosaurs Alive! On Adventure Island,” featuring
about 50 life-sized animatronic dinosaurs, just opened at Cedar
Point in Sandusky, Ohio.
COSTS
The big resorts in California or Florida may offer the
broadest range of attractions, but many families cannot afford
the cost of travel, let alone what they’ll pay for entry. The
cost of a single day’s admission for a family of two adults and
two children at Walt Disney World in Orlando is just short of
$350, including tax. Add in an optional upgrade that admits the
family to more than one park that day and the cost swells to
$488.
Costs for visitors are far less at regional parks, although
not necessarily cheap. At Cedar Fair’s flagship Cedar Point
amusement park, a family of four’s admission costs $158 at the
gate.
A theme park/amusement park visitor, on average, will be
able to get on 10 rides in a day – a figure that can vary widely
depending on how crowded the park is and how ambitious the
visitor is, Niles says. So, if you’re doing math by the ride,
using that average, it’s costing the family going to a Disney
Park in Orlando just under $9 per ride compared with about $4 a
ride at Cedar Point.
But, theme park expert and Orlando guidebook author Jason
Cochran notes, the options for lowering the price at the parks
are numerous. At Disney, you can drop the daily admission rate
when you buy multiple-day passes. With a seven-day pass, daily
admission drops to about $146 for the family of four – a bit
more than $1,000 for the seven days.
Here are tips to make park visits work for you this summer:
CONSIDER A SEASON PASS
Discounts are everywhere, from buying your ticket on the
park’s website to codes found on soda cans to newspaper ads.
And, if you plan a return trip (or more), a season’s pass is an
option at most of the regional parks, Cochran says. At some
parks, such as Six Flags’ Great America in Illinois, the cost of
a pass that will get you in all season is $260 for a family of
four compared with $200 for a one-time admission purchased at
the gate. Most of the parks, Niles says, will let you apply what
you spent on admission if you upgrade before you leave. As a
bonus, the Six Flags season passes allow admission to 13 of its
parks.
PAY TO CUT THE LINE
If money’s not an object, Cochran points out that you can
upgrade your admission at many parks to skip the lines. “You can
essentially end up paying double your ticket price, but you can
enjoy the park in half the time,” he says. At Great America, for
instance, a group of four can pay $135-$320 a day for a variety
of line-skipping options, from being paged when it’s your turn
to ride to being able to avoid an estimated 90 percent of the
wait-time.
OR SPEND REALLY BIG
Not everyone is looking to save, says Niles, who has been
running his theme park website since 1999. For some,
particularly those headed to the destination parks, they want
the full treatment. “There are certainly ways to cut costs, but
also some people like to treat it like they’re at an
all-inclusive resort,” he says. That means on top of tickets,
using the theme park’s often pricey hotels and buying the resort
meal plans.
ON THE OTHER HAND …
If you’re not prepared spend thousands of dollars and you’re
sticking with a more frugal amusement park experience, in
addition to scoping out all the admission pricing options,
Cochran suggests car pooling as a way to lessen the blow of
often bloated parking fees, refilling water bottles at
fountains, trying to bring in your own sandwiches (something
often prohibited but not always enforced) and avoiding
souvenirs.
F If you’re close enough, Cochran suggests checking out
throw-back parks such as Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg,
Pennsylvania, where admission and parking is free and the
costliest ride is $3 (plenty are $1 or less).
Niles likes Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana, where
your $45 admission ($35 for kids) includes free soft drinks.
“You don’t feel nickeled and dimed and gouged there.” In
contrast, a single medium beverage at some parks could cost $3
or more.
(Editing by Linda Stern, Beth Pinsker Gladstone and Steve
Orlofsky)
