SFWOA Frightfest attendance

Midwave, some of those rumors originate from inside the park and are spoken among employees.

I think there needs to be a distinction made between attendance and admissions sold. The two are very different numbers and I'd imagine that, if you looked at other parks, you'd see that a large part of the attendance is made up of 2-for-1 admissions.

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--Maddie--
What do I Listen-To?
Hot stuff.

Scooter , that's how rumors starts...still no validation, and 97 percent of rumors aren't or never are fact!

I don't have the time or patience for rumors, and no wonder this country is in trouble, cause The National Enquirer sells more papers than the Wall Street Journal! (haha..rumor or true..who knows, and I really don't care)

Now let me enjoy my SFWoA!!!! :)

Im not sticking up for cp, but I visited woa and cp and have to say that cp had a much better halloween setup. For many reasons.1.cp does not charge extra for the haunted houses. 2.the decerations were much better and more common thruout the park at cp. 3. the costumes were a lot better at cp.

I have to disagree with the posts about SFWoA being the best value. The park CHARGES EXTRA for their haunted houses. An hour and a half away I can go to haunted houses for free.

The thing I like best about the park is the old Sea World part. The rest of the park to me is a dump, and I don't see it as a good value, especially when the wildlife part is closed.

The park is in need of some serious work, and I am one of the many people who think it is much worse now than it was when it was Geuagua Lake. I used to love Geagua Lake, as it was a nice small park, which was cheap, and had some nice rides. They added too much too fast when the park became SFO and SFWoA, and they are paying for it now.

Maybe in a few years, and a few million more dollars for infrastructure and operations, they will become a decent park. Until then, I could only hope they don't ruin the wildlife side like they did the rides side.

Anyway, enough ranting for tonight. I need to get to bed, so I can get up early to go to my 5th Halloweekend in a row!

One more thing: I feel real bad about bashing SFWoA, because I really used to love Geauga Lake (sp?). I want my old park back!
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Avalanch Run - My first Roller Coaster.
Magnum XL-200 - The BEST Roller Coaster!

SFWoA Wildlife only closed on Friday evenings during Fright Fest, open till 6pm Saturday & Sunday, cause at 6pm its HAUNTED! WHOOO!

You are speaking to a Season Pass holder for 3 years at SFWoA, who takes children. Fright Fest haunted houses are $4.99 for us, and free for the first weekend of Fright Fest. You must not be a season pass holder, nor have kids, and probably a single person who pays full price at CP? You drive 75 miles to get in Haunted Houses for free? You're losing that in gas you are spending to get there!

FREE!??! and 1 1/2 hour away? Plus, we've talked to CP guests, and they say that CP Halloween event is a joke, and admission is so high up there, its not worth the effort. You must be single and don't have to pay for kids admissions at CP, do you?

Do what you want to do, but Geauga Lake is SFWoA, if you read corporate statements...Geauga Lake was nice, but there is so much to do now, the thing that is strangling SFWoA is corporate domination that looks at the Cleveland area as small, and they'll continue overpopulating areas like L.A. and such, and make our regional park constantly wait for new things. Its all business, but sometimes the best approach is the 'old-fashioned' approach, which corporate must learn. They treat us in NE Ohio like the rest of the country, and thats a mistake on their part. Treat us like the middle America that spends on value and trust, and they'll go far.

GLP traditionally relied upon season pass holders and group/catered organizations. With that being the case the average amount per head in the park is ALWAYS under full gate price. It was the money brought in by foods/games/gifts that really lined the owners pockets. The gate/parking cover the operation of the park, but with the Retail Department headed by someone without a clue (and too much on his plate) there goes all ability to keep your head above water.

SFI corporate has shown it was willing to invest capital money on rides (which is the only investment the company believes in (except during the begining of the merger)) at WOA as long as it was returning ON that investment. Until the 2001 season there was profit returned to the parent company and look at all the investment made at GLP and WOA from 1996 to 2001. As soon as the park proved in 2001 that they couldn't run their own affairs the company has held off on major new rides/attractions.

SFI has A LOT of problems but spending on rides in a successful park is NOT one of them. As soon and WOA can turn a profit again you will see the major investments return. A series of bad decisions on both the corporate and local level has given us the mess that is Six Flags Worlds of Adventure.

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midwave said:

FREE!??! and 1 1/2 hour away? Plus, we've talked to CP guests, and they say that CP Halloween event is a joke, and admission is so high up there, its not worth the effort. You must be single and don't have to pay for kids admissions at CP, do you?

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Who ever you talked to must be in the minority. CP puts on an excellent Halloween event with lots of Halloween related things to do, all included with admission. Two magic shows by nationally known entertainers, fright zone, four haunted houses and Werewolf Canyon, a Halloween musical show, lots of kid's entertainment in Camp Snoopy and Snoopy's Playground, plus a bunch of other things makes it a very nice event.

Also, I wouldn't assume that being a parent means a person finds CP too expensive. There are lots of families with enough income to easily afford a trip to CP.

I haven't been to SFWoA's Halloween event yet this year, but I'm going on the last Friday of operation. If it is at least half as entertaining as CP's event, than I will be pleased.

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I'd rather be in my boat with a drink on the rocks,
than in the drink with a boat on the rocks.

Pete,

At SFWoA, I take me and my 2 Godchildren, ages 5 and 10, we all have season passes, I get 30 percent off most everything we buy, and spend about 100 bucks each trip, making it 800 bucks for the season that SFWoA has seen out of us.

We enjoy every day we're there, and CP is a 2 1/2 hour drive, instead of a 55 minute drive, both one way...its more than the cost of CP that keeps me away from there, but the distance, and the overall time spent at the park...CP will only be a 1 time visit a year for us, if we go in 2004, cause I'll be driving the 5 hours and spending the $200 bucks for a limited 8 hour visit , becaue I work both my fulltime job 5-6 days(10 hours a day 4 days of them) a week, and starting my own business.

Basiclly, I guess it comes down to, I don't have the time for CP, and until I can quit the fulltime job and work for myself in my own business fulltime, I don't have the money or time for CP.

Midwave,

I'm glad you enjoyed SFWoA this summer, I understand what you are saying about your particular situation. For others who have the time to go to CP, I think the Halloween event is very nice. Certainly not a "joke" as the people you talked to described it as. A good overview of CP's Halloween event can be found in a trip report here.

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I'd rather be in my boat with a drink on the rocks,
than in the drink with a boat on the rocks.

Everyone,

Thanks for your replies. However, does anyone have some actual attendance figures or know who does?

That is all subject to opinion. Numbers that are released aren't even necessarily the accurate numbers. In the past they will count one number on that day and then revise it by a thousand or more the next.

I would say that 2.7 mil for 2001 is quite an accurate number, and 2 mil is the estimate i hear most for 2002. 1999 was around 1.8 mil.

Folks are saying a 1-2 percent increase on this season over last... so is that 1-2 percent over the claimed 2.2 mil or the real 2.0 mil?