Amusement Parks in tough times

Amusement parks are looking for debt relief by bringing in new customers. Both Disney and Universal theme parks are facing a tough time. They know that to get back on track, they need new customers, as the bottom line here is cash. These two, and many smaller parks, are looking to deep discounting prices of entry and ride fairs, to spur attendance once again.

Operators are trying to come up with the lowest admission prices they can reasonably work with. “This is the most aggressive year that I’ve ever seen for discounting in the theme park industry,” said Robert Niles, who is editor of the website Theme Park Insider. The recession has driven many families to cutting out their vacation plans altogether, opting for close-to-home activities or visiting and staying with relatives.

Discounts are huge

For the first time, Disneyland, Universal Studios and many Six Flags parks are digging deep to bring their prices down. Besides the prices of admission, they are discounting items and rides inside the park.

Disneyland currently offers three day passes for $ 99. Many of the Six Flags parks are offering buy-one-get-one-free ticketing. Universal Studios is offering a $ 60 six month pass for anyone living in the vicinity. This is the first time parks are offering discounts beyond normal “slow season” prices, normally only offered during late fall and early spring.

Staycationers

A trendy term in the amusement park industry is “staycationers.” A staycationer is someone who lives close to the theme park. Parks are trying hardest to lure these visitors in, because they seem to be the most receptive to advertising.

A spokesperson for Disneyland, Haley Marks, said, “It’s unrealistic to think families will drive hundreds of miles to Disneyland anymore. At least not during the recession. … So our marketing and advertising is focusing on the families already in the area. We are trying to bring them in to keep our finances flowing, even though it’s at a much slower rate.”

That seems to be the philosophy behind wooing staycationers into parks. Although the numbers will be down, there will still be people in attendance. For parks to remain open and manage to find debt relief, they need to keep revenues coming in, regardless of how slow them become.

The future of amusement parks

Like businesses in all industries, amusement parks are going through a change. Smaller parks are unable to withstand the drought of customers and closing. Mid-sized parks are fighting for their lives. Large parks are the only ones with enough capital to be creative with marketing and advertising, hoping to bring in a new customer base that will carry them through the recession.

Mark Kane, park president of a Six Flags park stated, “The whole world is on sale, and we are emphasizing our sensitivity to the economy and trying to offer more deals … not only at the gate but throughout the park.”

Take advantage of savings

This is a great time for consumers who are looking for debt relief to still find fun vacations. Eliot Sekuler, the Universal Studios Executive, said “I can’t remember a time when we really worked harder to come up with new things for people to come see and more value to make it more affordable.” Everyone believes that the discounting will remain until the market recovers. Sekuler added, “Parks are competitive and will not give up their market shares. We will fight for customers for as long as it takes.”

Whenever we are stressed after a long day at the office or after a long day at home with kids, we try to find a getaway for releasing the stress. Amusement parks are one of those popular getaways that anyone can go and enjoy.

From the construction of the first amusement park, it has come a long way with many additions to its domain. Amusement park is also called the theme parks as virtually all of the amusement parks promote themes. When it comes to the story of amusement park, the history goes back to England in 1133. Although these fairs such as Bartholomew Fair are kind of amusement parks, they lack some of the characteristics of modern amusement parks. Therefore, these carnivals are thought as the parents of amusement parks. The modern amusement parks are the derivations of these old models.

Only at the beginning of the Elizabeth era that these carnivals became amusement parks by accepting many varieties of activities such as rides etc. Then it was one of the best periods for the amusement parks as it was thought as one of the accessible leisure methods for most of the classes of the society. Although these events had amusement park characteristics, they were annual events contrast to the modern amusement parks that runs for the entire year.

With the rise of industrial revolution, the need for amusement parks increased. With the increasing urbanism, people found amusement parks as the ideal getaway. Therefore, the amusement parks at this era were also themed as gardens, so there were a lot of flora and fauna present in the amusement park.

Glided Age of the American history was the golden era for amusement parks. The latter half of the 19th century is noted as Glided Age where Americans had to work only a few hours a day and earned a lot of disposable income. Americans were looking for new ways of entertainments due to the available disposable money and time. Amusement parks were a great way of utilizing the time and money, so more and more Americans individuals and companies started building amusement parks in major cities and rural areas. By 1900, there were hundreds of amusement parks all around the America and the popularity of the amusement parks were peak until the end of 1920s.

Then it was all bad luck for amusement parks. With the depression of 1930s and the World War II of 1940s, people started gathering around the television as it was one of the cheap entertainment and families started going to amusement parks less often.