I'd just like to throw a little bone in here regarding the finite nature of things. Excuse my lateness in response as I've been away at college for a while; but way back, back, back, back in this thread, someone remarked about the nature of room for expansion within certain parks. For example the contributor E-Stop can be more or less quoted as saying: PKI has hundreds of acres while Cedar Point has little to develop over the next few years.
STOP--perspective check: Amusement Parks may seem like open-ended systems, but they are not. They cannot expand limitlessly forever. For every ride that is built, for every foot of concrete that is laid, and for every plant that is watered(if the amusement park has plants), it costs money in one way or the other. Instead, successful parks must wisely use their resources.
To say that Cedar Point did not put in a roller coaster this year because they ran out of space is illogical. To say that SFMM is adding three new coasters this year solely in spite of Cedar Point's long standing record is also illogical.
Instead, we should think about these moves in different ways. Each corporation has a business model that they have supposedly derived from years of experience in the industry and the respective region that their park is located in. Business models can also be benefitted by simple equations that show things such as supply and demand and return on investment curves. Finally, there is always a specualtive nature behind cause and effect relationships, so some predictions about what will benefit the corporation most greatly also have to be made.
Now, put all this information together, and we have the decisions that each staff has made based on the input information. Hence we get: Cedar Point's cyclical business model which happens to be in a year of resort expansion, and SFMM's model which seemingly predicts a large investment in additional rides is what is called for to keep hte revenues up and the investors happy. Afterall, amusement parks are still JUST businesses
So then, who made the better business move?
Are any of us realy qualified to make that judgment? In my opinion, the final judgment is made only when the majority of the people have spoken, and long term company results are in.
HINT: we are not the majority.
Now off to bed where visions of sugar plum fairies will hopefully dance in my head...
Regards,
Dave Kochman