Niagara Amusement Park & Splash World will not open in 2026

I'm hoping this is a regionally isolated event. I fear that it is not.

You must be a blast a parties. :)

The Niagara region is now down 2 parks that are not reopening (Marineland and Niagara Amusement Park)! Tough times ahead.

If there’s a desire to make Niagara work, I think its path forward is purely as a water park. Historically parks featuring dry rides and water rides always finds the water attractions busier than the dry rides. It’s less expensive to operate a water park vs. hard rides park which it sounds from the closed statement that operating expenses was the biggest issue. A water park with themed mini golf, ropes course, etc. could be the perfect draw for families visiting Niagara Falls from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Let Darien Lake deal with the thrill seekers market and all the issues that come with that.

Rick77:

The Niagara region is now down 2 parks that are not reopening

I believe you ignored this destination.

It seems like Niagara Falls ought to be able to support a full-sized, ride oriented park (and certainly a waterpark). Hard Rock Park may have found that it's hard to get people from the beach (among other problems), but for most folks, you look at the falls for an hour or two and then what do you do?

Nap and Splash World obviously is/was not a full-sized park, so that's the first problem. And it's out of the way, so that's your second problem.

Gunkey Monkey:

It’s less expensive to operate a water park vs. hard rides park which it sounds from the closed statement that operating expenses was the biggest issue.

Is it? Genuinely asking. I would think that water pumps, while not complex, would be expensive to run relative to, say, a flat ride.

I remember Bill Spehn talking in an interview when they were building Geauga Lake's Wildwater Kingdom about how much more you get for your dollar when installing waterpark attractions when compared with a coaster or dry ride. But as for operating costs once it opens, I'd be curious.

There are trade offs with running waterparks vs ride parks, mainly the length of stay and per capita spending is much lower. And yes, initial Capex and ongoing maintenance costs tend to be lower with water park equipment, but not necessarily utility costs. When parks decide to convert to waterpark instead of rides, they have to assess whether fixed costs (leases, prop tax, etc) can still be covered with lower revenues, and many times this is not the case. This is an example of why I am not a promoter of EBITDA in this industry because those excluded items are often material.

I can tell you from personal experience that water park maintenance is incredibly expensive. Slide refinishing, netting, cool deck resurfacing, and filtration, especially UV, will get you. Especially if you get hir with more than one in a year. Chlorinated water is hard on everything.

GoBucks89:

You must be a blast a parties. :)

Jeff actually posted a Debbie Downer gif for me years ago

Fun:

they have to asses

Hell yeah they do! 🍑🧐

Jeff:

Is it? Genuinely asking. I would think that water pumps, while not complex, would be expensive to run relative to, say, a flat ride.

I chatted with Eric Bertch about this a while ago (Lost Island).

The issue is one of maintenance and daily startup complexity. The vast majority of water slides in a water park are (mechanically) more or less the same and the inspections are quick. Every ride in a dry park has its own parts, its own maintenance procedures, its own software, its own inspection rules, etc.

Fun and Richard covered the reason water parks are less expensive operations. The challenge with water parks is navigating the issue of revenue generation once in the park. In the “old days” wet money was the problem, guests didn’t carry wallets (for obvious reasons) and the little amount of “wet bills” they carried in a swim suit didn’t generate the in-park revenue like in a traditional dry rides park. Today’s technology has helped to overcome the revenue issue whether it be credit cards, hotel key cards, wearables, etc.

From an operating expense perspective, the old wave pools from the 80’s-00’s were expensive to operate but today they are very efficient. The more expensive attractions are things like the Master Blaster type slides, surfing pools, etc. I knew of a manager at a major park who was given a significant expense budget for the water park but struggled to use it all, though they did in order to not lose that cushy budget.