Morey's Piers attendance figures

After reading another thread, I began to think about this, and figured it justified its own discussion...

Amusement Business lists Morey's Pier's yearly attendance at about 3.5 million.  That is a number which I believe to be true, going by how crowded the Wildwood boardwalk and the three "Morey's" piers are on Friday and Saturday nights during the summer.  If you have ever seen it, the boardwalk is literally an ocean of people (bad pun intended) on the weekends.

With theme parks like Six Flags, Paramount, and Disney, attendance numbers are probably quite easy to come by.  Since everyone, regardless of whether they are one-time visitors or season pass holders, passes through the main gates, I'm sure that calculating attendance is almost as easy as counting how many people pass through the turnstiles.

With parks like Morey's Piers, there is no main gate, therefore no turnstiles except on the individual rides.  People can come and go on all three piers as they please, and pass from one to another freely.  Access to rides is granted by either individual ride tickets or P-O-P wristbands.  Which bring me to my question... how are those attendance numbers found?

Think of this... someone purchases a book of tickets, a sale which would indicate the presence of a "guest".  Now, suppose that "guest" gives his tickets to four other people with him.  How do those four additional "guests" get counted, since they didn't make an actual purchase?  On the flip side of the coin, if one guest purchases two books of tickets in the same night, that guest would be counted twice, correct?

Going with another theory, where guest counts are tabulated through some kind of "head count", would the same guest moving from pier to pier to pier be counted as three guests, since he or she ventured onto all three piers?

Perhaps I sound like I am nitpicking, but I am really just curious as to how attendance figures are found when there is really no way to get exact counts.  Any ideas?

The Morey's reach their attendance by using a set calculations in the industry. These are the same set guidelines that other piers and open gated parks use.

They have historical figures that indicate how many tickets each person uses. Example, each guest uses 20 tickets per visit. They know how many tickest they sell every year. They also have on-demand knowledge of the exact number of POP wristbands and waterpark admissions used throughout the operating season.

Also take into consideration the number of games and f/b transactions. Every theme park has a 'per cap' knowledge of their guests. The Jersey Boardwalks are just more scientific.

You can always rely on Agent Johnson when it comes to any info on Moreys Piers. I was wondering that myself.

Agent Johnson always answers my questions about Wildwood... I would e-mail him personally but then I feel I would be cheating a lot of other 'buzzers who may find interest in the topic, and may have something to add.

So, what you are saying, is basically the numbers are just guesses, albeit really educated ones?

No matter... I am happy to see that attendance rose for 2001 (not that they were hurting beforehand).  Of all the parks I have visited, I think the Morey's have one of the tightest operations, and definitely know how to entertain a guest better than almost anyone else out there in the industry.  All of their success is well-earned and well-deserved, if you ask me.

The guesses are a scientific formula. An educated guess might better desribe it, but they know how many tickets are moving out of the boxes, how many armbands, waterpark admissions, etc. The Moreys do not count season pass visits as 'paid admissions'. And if you can belive this little known fact, there are actually people who visit the Wildwood boardwalk but never step foot on the piers. That attendance could drastically change if they were to gate in the future.

Wow, I am surprised that season pass visits are not counted as admissions, whether paid or not!  Is this the case with most theme parks, or do all parks not count these visits towards their final attendance figures?

I have heard many rumors that Morey's is going to "gate" in the future.  I have always thought that would actually hurt more than it would help them...

As an "outside observer", I'll add my 2 cents about the "Gate" issue.

It would certainly be great for control and security (and in these post Sept 11 days that is more and more of a concern).  It would also be better to keep an accurate count of attendance on individual piers with out having to rely on calculations.

Unlike other parks, I would think they would run into a unique situation of having 3 different piers.  If they would go with a two tier admission it would work... 1 price for 1 pier, a different price for all three piers.  Problem with that is this... while Morey's Piers is a great place, all three piers add up to a great place... is any one pier by itself enough to get people to pay a "gate" admission?  Therefore, they would have to offer a one price for all piers.  Essentially this is what a one day wristband and a season pass does. 
Where it would hurt would be the "walkups".  The people who are on the boards and just happen to wonder into the piers, see something neat, buy a few tickets, ride a few rides, and go on their way.  It may also hurt because of families who are there and spend a few hours on the piers so the little kids can ride while mom and dad do not... would they want to pay an admission price if not riding?  With tickets and wrist bands, if you don't ride, you don't pay. 

Bottom line... if you are going to Wildwood and one of your main points of your visit is Morey's (like with me and my wife when we went), then being "gated" would not hurt.  However, since for the vast majority of people the beach is the reason they go to Wildwood and Morey's just happen to be there (sorry, hate to break this to some...) and I believe a gate would keep some of those people away.
Where do the disadvantages outway advantages? Who knows.  That is why they have marketing people etc.  Let the riding to people like us... let the decisions to the professionals.

*** This post was edited by SLFAKE on 1/22/2002. ***

*** This post was edited by SLFAKE on 1/22/2002. ***

I completely agree about there being pros and cons to the "gated admission" idea.

Pro:  Control.  Plain and simple, its a good thing.  You can keep track of everyone that walks onto the piers, and that alone is a big plus.  Right now, there is no way to "check" people as they enter, and with so many people on the piers, there really is no other way to accomplish that.  It doesn't help that you can enter the piers from both the boardwalk and from the beach (at least on the two piers with waterparks).  I assume that those "beach" entrances would become gates, too, or would cease to exist.

Cons:  Of which there are many.  The main one being walk-ups.  I know my Wildwood "vacation" habits when I spend the week there... even though I don't spend the night on the boardwalk everyday, I may go to Wild Wheels for an hour or so after a few hours on the beach just to grab a few rides on the Great White.  With so many Wildwood vacationers, I am sure that a lot of Morey's business comes from these types of "spur of the moment" trips to the piers in addition to passer-bys on the boardwalk (undeniably the bulk of their guests are "boardwalkers".  Would a gated admission prevent people from walking or hopping a trolley from their motel to sneak in a few rides between an afternoon on the beach and dinner?

Regardless of what ever happens, I will be a Morey's "die-hard" for life.