Attendance up 2.2% in top 50 parks for 2004

Jeff said:

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"That's still normal for CP, especially in a year with nothing new. Anything over 3 million is about where they should be.

I don't take a lot of stock in the numbers overall though. I know for a fact that their 2003 numbers for SFWoA weren't even in the neighborhood of being correct, as managers from other parks in the chain enjoyed having some of the heat deflected from their own parks for not hitting numbers."

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Considering the late date of the deal closing, I wonder how much CP was affected by the problems at GL? Considering GL hit less than half of CF's attendance projections, I could envision situations where resources may have been pulled from CP to "throw at" GL's problems. Just a thought...

Still, CP finished at 3.1 million (as opposed to 3.3 million in 2003 with a brand new TTD). Paramount Park's "Canada's Wonderland" is the one that amazes me! They jumped from #21 (2003) to #16, one spot AHEAD of CP! I realize they were down significantly (8%) in 2003 due to the SARs scare, but still! I wonder how PGA's attendance improved withe the addition of CDBB? (They were #31 with 1.9 mil in 2003).

The attendance figure that has always surprised me is SFGA... Considering it's the only park in the country's third largest metro area, their numbers have always seemed suprisingly low to me.

Joel

Chitown, yes, because a coaster will boost your out-of-town visits as well as your local visits, but a killer whale will probably (at best) increase local attendance, while the out-of-town attendance wouldn't be as affected. Would you travell 100 miles for a new, first in America roller coaster, or a killer whale??

Is SFEG even in the top 13 SF parks?

Yes, in 2003 it was the 13th, though the lowest of the SF parks in the Top 50. So, it couldn't go much lower... right? :(

What really surprises me is the 2 percent decrease at Hersheypark. With Storm Runner being the new ride, and heavily promoted, I would think they would have had a good year. A decrease in attendance must be a big disappointment for them.

Wow! I like to look at the Seasonal Park figures.

#1 PKI
#2 PCW
#3 CP
#4 Morey's Pier
#5 SFGrAdv

These five park are usually the same five over the past few years. Except that SFGrAdv was usually at the top. PKI and CP have always been neck and neck but what surprised me was my home park overtaking CP. Way to go Paramount. #1 & #2.

Regards,
Kevin Reid
www.PCWjunkies.com

Yea, what on earth resulted in a 30% increase for Wonderland?

30% Increase.

That was an easy one since 2003 was there worst season ever. Here are some of the things that made 2003 so bad:

Terrible weather, the Parnoid left over from the GTA SARs scare, Mad Cow disease, the mid August Electrrical Black Out that socked the NE US along with Southern Ontaio. Should I go on?

Regards,

Kevin Reid

www.PCWjunkies.com

Mad Cow Disease? As a reason not to take a vacation?