On shade and... charm (almost)

Well, it looks like two decades of enthusiast banter regarding shade has been validated. And he almost... almost talks about "charm."

Ouimet on the ROI of shade

I saw that and got a chuckle. I'll tell you what, Epcot could use more shade, particularly for eating areas during the festivals.

I still miss lampy the lamp post.

Epcot just has a few spots that aren't ideal during festivals, and even that's earlier in the day. The area between Imagination and Swirled Showcase, the bridge between China and vaguely Africa (where India is during F&W), and basically all of Italy, where the concessionaire is overcharging for everything anyway.

Windsneaker was almost always my first ride of the day.

I will never understand why Cedar Point didn't keep their playground back in the defunct Forbidden Frontier. Easily one of the best food-stands back there, awesome seating for parents/grandparents to just chill out, shade, best bathrooms in the entire park...all right there. Not to mention the walk back there (even with the "attraction" removed) was just relaxing with the rock-work, waterfalls, and trees.

And as I type this I see the Monster ride is gone with no plans for the (small) site left behind on the Gemini Midway.

I miss Matt Ouimet.

As summer heat and humidity increases and becomes unbearable during peak heat hours of the day, which is also peak operating hours, it behoves outdoor attractions across the board to consider the guest experience under such conditions. Shade, access to free water fountains, restrooms with HVAC systems, trees and shade structures, the choice in surface walkway materials, water displays, etc. all play a role in creating greater comfort. Comfort keeps guests happy and spending $$$$.

Discomfort also keeps guest spending $$$$.

For example, not having free water available means several $6 bottles of water. (It also means more guests passing out from heat exhaustion.)

I wish Kings Island has the same kind of shade that Kings Dominion has.

I'd really love to see how return on investment for trees and benches was actually calculated. Just curious.

Investment/cost part of the calculation is easier to determine. You know costs to install and maintain in terms of trees, benches, splash pad, etc. The return part of the calculation will be more subjective. You can look at traffic patterns to see if people tend to hang around the places with more shade, benches, splash pads, etc. And whether they are staying longer when you increase more of those features. Spending more money in those areas. Comparing data on warmer and cooler days, from historical norms, etc. Other factors you can also use to approximate benefits of those features. Then you need to get to $$. To a large extent, that will be subjective. Depending on assumptions you use, data you include, etc. you may get positive or negative IRRs and/or varying degrees of magnitude for any given project.

In accounting there as a joke (which presumably is the case with other people dealing with numbers) which had a company looking to hire an accountant. In the interviews, the CEO asked each candidate what 2+2 is. Everyone said 4. Except one candidate who said "How much do you want it to be?" That candidate got the job.

Confident that with the right calculations I could show a positive/negative IRR for a whole host of expenditures at an amusement park. Some would be more objective than others. Subjective ones will be easier to establish to people who are in favor of the given expenditures.

I was curious what Anheuser-Busch used for midways/pathways back in the day (and many of those parks still have) that was very natural looking....it's called exposed aggregate in design/construction world. It's a great surface material that is non-slip and also has the benefit of reflecting heat vs. absorbing it.

I hope this choice, along with pavers as well, is something more parks will consider using to replace black top (which many Six Flags parks have, as do others.) Black top retains the heat, creating an even more oppressive and uncomfortable midway. Plain concrete can be blinding in full sun. Decisions like this make a difference; I am thinking about Enchanted Parks specifically and what they might do to create a design standard for themselves going forward in their revamping of parks.

Hold up. Monster is gone? Forever?

Yep :(

https://www.wkyc.com/articl...8eb6e15c51

Shade is overrated and would ruin the aesthetic at Epcot