Cedar Fair revenue, attendance down, per capita spending up

You know, I was driving to work this morning under a drizzle with the temperature 65 thinking, "When is this gonna end?" I swear I've got my SAD (seasonal affective disorder) in the middle of freakin' summer.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
DELETED! What time does the water show start?

The only good thing from all of this rain is, the amount of rides my wife and I have been able to get in this year. With all this rain, we have still gone to PKI, SFWoA, CP, etc. If it even looks like it's going to rain or is raining, we still go. When it briefly does stop raining, you just ride as much as you can with no lines. :) Good for season pass holders, bad for the parks.

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"The Future of Roller Coasters"
-RollerCoasterGod
Ohio Theme Parks: Stricker's Grove

This has not been a great season period. I've made plans to go to Cedar point twice and have to cancel them because of weather. Not the fault of the parks just mother nature has been a very tempermental.

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Your Park only has 1 good coaster! That's too bad!

I'm with rollercoasterGod..more rides for us! Even though any of us would like a sunny day, rain doesn't bother me one bit. There is the obvious downside for us though.........less profit or revenue could very well affect the parks short term plans for the following year. In CP's case in particuliar, coupled with TTD's problems getting the bugs worked out and it probably spells doom for any potential plans for next year, assuming there were some.

If you're traveling and want perfect weather, no it hasn't been. But, as RCG said, just go anyway - I've had many days so far where I've done everything I wanted to at CP, SFWoA, HP and KP within 3 hours because of rain keeping away crowds!

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Formerly PittDesigner (graduating soon!)
Lifelong fan of all Impulses!
--Brett

Short lines are good for a bit, but when parks arent meeting their projected reveu, the parks cut back, and we don't see new rides.

Now, since Cedar Fair was up 6% last year, do you think this will balace out?

It's not over yet - the 3rd quarter is the biggest one and if the weather breaks, they might even make back what they've lost as far as numbers go. There are a lot of people that would have been put off by the weather that might go now if its nice in the 3rd.

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Formerly PittDesigner (graduating soon!)
Lifelong fan of all Impulses!
--Brett

I think to some degree it is normal adjustment for Cedar Fair, especially with two straight record years for Dorney, but I was expecting more flat year-to-year attendance, not a decrease. I doubt that CP had any huge cap ex plans for next year in the first place outside of the Lighthouse Point expansion they mentioned a few quarters ago in a conference call.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
DELETED! What time does the water show start?

Maybe it's just that people are just sick of paying $45.00 to stand in line all day. Everybody I talk to around here says their tired of going there cause its just to crowded, lines are to long. Maybe they would break even if they quit spending so much money. Even if they quit buying rides people will still go there. So there not making trillions like they were, everybodys buisnesses drop a little. It will go back up in time.

What do you mean "break even?" They didn't say they weren't profitable, they're just not as profitable as they were last year. Besides, how do you expect them to build new rides?

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
DELETED! What time does the water show start?

I guess this "cool and wet" must be at the other CF:LP parks, because it sure hasn't been that here in the 'City. WOF has been packed every weekend this summer with cars parking back in lot "K" (something that hasn't occured for awhile). Weekdays cars get to lot G which equals out to the parking lot being 1/2 to 3/4 full total. OOF has been really busy this summer and it's not unusual for the overflow parking to be full and cars parking in the grass median. Maybe this decline isn't at all the parks, because it sure seems that WOF is up this season.

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SW:):)SH Shaddy(president of LEMCCDWBLI)
MidwestInfoGuide.COM

I guess WOF really is the bastard child of the chain then. They didn't even get a mention for having a pretty good year!

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
DELETED! What time does the water show start?

I've had to cut back on the number of trips that I take to WOF this year. The wife and I have always had a lot of luck during the week but this year has been totally different.

I haven't tried week days at OoF but the weekends have been awful. The only room in the wave pool is at the bottom of the deep end. ;)

The rumored new ride might make things even worse (or better depending on how you look at it).

"It's not over yet - the 3rd quarter is the biggest one"

Impulse, it's over. July is THE most significant month, and, yes, it's in the 3rd quarter. Most schools start kicking back up in August and, well, September's mostly a wash. The fact that Kinzel tagged Halloweekends as "important" is a carrot to throw the analysts off the scent of the poor third quarter report.

Cedar Fair was coming off gains last season while most of the industry suffered so it wasn't going to be easy -- just as Six Flags had a lay-up when it announced that attendance was even with last year's showing over the last two weeks of June and the first two of July.

Cedar Fair will live to fight another day, only this time that day will be May 5, 2004.

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Jeff said:
I guess WOF really is the bastard child of the chain then. They didn't even get a mention for having a pretty good year!

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Well we are one of the redheaded bastard step childs of the chain - but I think that the real title should got to MiA. I did find it strange that Kinzel would use such a "blanket statement" when it's not entirely true.

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Jive said:
The rumored new ride might make things even worse (or better depending on how you look at it).

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I think a large cap at WOF would be good even if it does bring with it larger crowds. Larger crowds = faster ROI!!! I do think that one thing that will effect whether or not a large cap at WOF will bring in larger crowds or not will depend on what HFEC does down in Branson.

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SW:):)SH Shaddy(president of LEMCCDWBLI)
MidwestInfoGuide.COM

"Impulse, it's over. July is THE most significant month"

All my experience with parks has been that August is the busiest three weeks of the season (the fourth week being the first full week of schools). The entire summer seems to build up to those three weeks where the park can certainly pull in as much as it did in May/June.

Granted the bulk of my experience is in the great lakes/east coast regions where August is certainly the most summer-like month of the year. But outside of the week of the Fourth, there is no period quite as busy in my opinion.

Right, August is the biggest month. Ask Old Timer Tim/One And Only Coaster God, as he used to work sales for the park. School doesn't start until September in these parts.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
DELETED! What time does the water show start?

Start? You mean it actually ends? ;) We are year-round here, where it's three months on, one month off. I guess that hasn't started out in Ohio yet?!?! However to echo everyone else, August is the busiest month here in the Heartland as well - mainly because there are still some traditional schools that start the day after Labor Day (SEPTEMBER)

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SW:):)SH Shaddy(president of LEMCCDWBLI)
MidwestInfoGuide.COM

Yeah, I'd have to agree that up here in Ohio, August is the worst time to try and work on your coaster laps. At least this year I haven't had to spend a fortune keeping Coppertone in business like I usually do.

BTW- I love the acronym for Oceans: OOF!