Annual "best guess" theme park attendance report posted for 2011

And being from Nowhere, WV, I have to drive four to six hours to get anywhere. I suppose that's why I thought that three or four hours is okay with everyone.

I suppose though, now that I look at it - CP has Detroit, Columbus and Cleveland/Akron all within 2 hrs/120 miles. That's 3.7, 1.9 and 2.8 million respectively. A total of 8.4 million within 2 hours where CP is the nearest 'big' park.

But I suppose on the same note that the point remains the same - there's no reason to expect CP to do significantly bigger numbers than KI.

Or something.

If KI and CP as parks alone, have the same numbers through the gate, CP as a group operation, would be the bigger cash cow due to the hotels, marina, separate charge for Soak City and Challenge Park, etc. So maybe that's why CP is the flagship.

One thing to remember is even though CP and KI are tied, KI includes Soak City. CP does not include Soak City.

Jeff said:

If you asked ten random people in Detroit or Cleveland about the Golden Ticket Awards, they'd have no idea what you were talking about.

While that's certainly true, most of those people would probably be familiar with CP being voted the best park in the world. That seems to be pretty well known around here, and in that respect, the marketing seems like it's doing its job.

And again... so what? Are people not going to visit, or visit solely because of the designation? I sure doubt it.

James Whitmore said:

If KI and CP as parks alone, have the same numbers through the gate, CP as a group operation, would be the bigger cash cow due to the hotels, marina, separate charge for Soak City and Challenge Park, etc. So maybe that's why CP is the flagship.

Exactly right. CP has much more revenue than either Kings Island or Canada's Wonderland. CP is the cash cow of the chain, though the Paramount purchase has made CP's performance less critical. It still brings in the most money however.

CW and KI also include that water park in admission and attendance numbers. If you combine CP and Soak City, the number would be 3,538,000, so the CP complex also has the highest attendance.

Jeff said:

jonnytips said:
If anything, one could debate what CP's attendance numbers would look like if it wasn't always winning golden ticket awards/publicizing them.

If you asked ten random people in Detroit or Cleveland about the Golden Ticket Awards, they'd have no idea what you were talking about. I'm sure it has zero material effect on attendance.

10 random people off the street, sure. 10 people randomly selected from a pool of people who are considering which amusement park to attend on their next trip...maybe slightly higher. And the word of mouth would be stronger with those people who pay attention to those kinds of polls too.

Which is almost no one.

10 people randomly selected from a pool of people who are considering which amusement park to attend on their next trip.

And the size of that pool is...what, exactly?

Once again, enthusiasts are the exception, not the rule.

Brian Noble said:

Once again, enthusiasts are the exception, not the rule.

And have one of the most inflated senses of self importance to their hobby that I've encountered in any of the many things I'm interested in.

Oh, and PS:

"random selection from the pool of people who prove your point" is not "random."

Experiment design: F.

Trackmaster said:

10 random people off the street, sure. 10 people randomly selected from a pool of people who are considering which amusement park to attend on their next trip...maybe slightly higher. And the word of mouth would be stronger with those people who pay attention to those kinds of polls too.

And how many people "are considering which amusement park to attend on their next trip?" If you live in Chicago or Milwaukee I would bet very few people "are considering which amusement park to attend on their next trip." They will go to SF Great America. If you live in Cleveland you MIGHT be choosing between CP & KI, but not if you live in Detroit--you go to CP. In Dallas, Frontier City in OKC probably draws very few people from SFOT, and I doubt many people in Atlanta drive past SFOG on their way to Dollywood or Carrowinds. And most of those that do are probably looking for an "out of town" trip and so wouldn't choose the "local" park for that trip.

There are fairly few places (Denver, PA, CT, LA, SF and others) that have competition between parks.

Saw an article in USA Today the day after HWN, and the impact of JK Rowling on theme park attendance and spending simply cannot be overstated. Universal paid handsomely for the IP, and there's no end in sight to the returns on that investment.

^^But the biggest competition to your local theme park is not "your other local theme park." It's the park, the zoo, the museum, a sporting event or concert, Xbox, etc.

I'm don't know how much it affects the decision, but almost every non-enthusiast I know who lives anywhere near Cedar Point (Chicago to Pittsburgh) knows that it's "the best park in the world for roller coasters," whether or not that's actually true.