What makes a park "big"?

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Vertigo said:

Small Parks

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

Medium Park

Six Flags Marine World

Big Park

Paramount Great America

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by Vertigo on 10/16/2002. ***

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I guess you are not going by attendance numbers, since your largest park is the one that draws the least. In fact, it's SCBB, the smallest park, the has the highest attendance of the three, although it's free, so I don't know how they figure it. I guess they go by ride ticket sales?

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"Hey, man! Is that Freedom Rock?! TURN IT UP!!!"

I always thought they had people walk around counting people! Darnit guess I'm wrong again.

SCBB?

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www.moviecoaster.com

But, we all know size doesn't matter.

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Without the chaindog, you'd never get up the lifthill...

*** This post was edited by Chaindog on 10/17/2002. ***

If IAAPA bases "size" of the park on attendance i can't imagine any owner complaining that they have to pay more dues ;)

The thing is that size doesn't matter and it's the combination of atmosphere, quality of attractions and quality of employees (not necessarily in that order) that makes or breaks the park.

The growth and recognition that Holiday World is recieveing is very much deserved and it was only a matter of time before the word got out. People are looking for a refreshing alternative to the mass produced sterile mega park.

To me, it has more to do with the acreage of the park. I consider CP and PKI as "big" parks because of how massive they are. It can take you a good 15 minutes to get from one side to the other walking as a brisk pace. I guess this coincides with the amount of guests that attend these "big" parks too. The crowds flock to the park, but there is so much for guests to do that this hoards are not always felt.

When I went down to HW last year, I thought it was pretty crowded because the midways were pretty full, but this was just because the midways are rather small and there are less rides to keep people off of the midways. This is ok for a "small" park becuase they don't draw as many as the big parks.

Some parks haven't adapted to their "big" park status like SFWoA. They haven't expanded their midways to accomodate the large crowds they want to bring in. This was a major fallacy on the part of Six Flags. Instead of improving upon the inner workings of the park, like expanding capacity and hiring good upper management, they invested millions and millions in just a couple years to find out that coasters weren't the only thing that the crowds liked. Good atmosphere and hospitality is definitely something that people like to have where they go. Without it, bad publicity by word of mouth turned their big investment into a big flop.

I think that a small park (acreage-wise) can be considered a "big" park is they have a big daily draw, like HW. They are really in the middle of nowhere down in the southern part of Hoosier land, but they constantly increase their target audience, creating their own "big" park status. 750,000 people for the few months that HW is open, and given it's relatively small acreage, is simply amazing. Their ability to cater to everyone, and give such helpful, friendly service is really an example for some of the corporate parks to follow. They have obviously found out that all any park needs is one or two good coasters to spark the publics interest, great customer service, and something that everyone likes...free drinks!

Yes, you can be a "big" park, but if you retain that "small park feel" then you have succeeded in one of the best ways in the industry.

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LocoBazooka--Sevendust, Nonpoint, Stereo Vent, Mushroomhead
Korn Tour (With no name)--Korn, Puddle of Mudd, Deadsy

As long as the park is in Santa Claus, Indiana, it'll be a small park, even if it attracts 3 million guest a year!

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
"There's nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, when it's all in your mind. You gotta let go." - Ghetto, Supreme Beings of Leisure

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PkI FaNaTiC said:

I always thought they had people walk around counting people! Darnit guess I'm wrong again.

SCBB?

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www.moviecoaster.com

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They average ticket sales with the general amount of each person's usage. In terms of the people on the beach, I have no idea.

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Lake Compounce-So Fresh and So Clean Clean

Alright, since Paula started the topic, I've waited and *considered* what we mean by "big" and "small"....and decided to shake things up a bit, as is my custom...;)

"Big" is magnaminous and in that aspect, I'll say that I really feel comfortable and "at home" in a park that treats me like a longtime friend. We pull into the parking lot at HW and guess what's MISSING? That's right, a toll booth! Where'd it go? Who do I pay to park? Oh well, I'm sure they'll make up for the lost revenues somewhere....;). Drinks, inner tubes, even sunscreen come INCLUDED with the POP? I must be dreaming....and if so, I don't wanna wake up!

Small, OTOH, is another story altogether, with double-digit "value parking" fees, separate admission water parks, charging for inner tubes, overpriced (and nasty) food, "fast-pass" front-of-the-line access, overpriced drinks (combined with the total LACK of water fountains), etc.

Feel free to comment, but I thought it would be nice to remind Paula that HW is already "big" in the best way possible....I'll keep making the trek to Southern Indiana, and regardless of their overall attendance figures, I'm so happy to not go all that way for just another "small" park.....

bill, happy to be included in those helping HW break the 1M mark in '04...;)

I'm not 100% certain what makes a park big. I'd say it would be a combination of attendance, number of large unique rides, and the way the park *feels* when you visit. I definitely think of parks in categories though, with some of the divisions more along the corporate *big* type park and traditional park, although some parks that lean toward traditional are big also. I guess ultimately though I use the strict definition of big, medium, and small when I categorize parks. For me, that would be based on three physical measurable criteria: attendence (crowds), rides, and acerage. The feel of the park probably plays a role for me more in the borderline parks.

Here are some selected parks and how I would classify them:

BIG
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All Paramount Parks with Carowinds being borderline.
SFoG
SFMM
SFoT
SFGAm
SFGAd
SFWoA
SFNE
SFSL (borderline)
( I would suspect most SF parks I haven't visited belong in here with the
exception of SFEG)
CP
BGW
BGT
All Disney and Universal parks I've visited except one, see below!
Knott's Berry Farm
SWF
WBMW (Madrid)

Medium
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SFA (borderline big, due to number or rides and scale of some rides)
SFKK
SFDL
Parc Asterix (Has good qualites of a big park to me, but is more like a medium)
Kennywood
Dollywood (big in some ways but has small park charm)
Disney Studios Paris (Just not enough there and SMALL in size too!)
The Great Escape
La Ronde
Dorney Park (also borderline, has some traits of big parks)
Lake Compounce (just seems to fit in medium rather than small)
Canobie Lake (borderline small, but feels larger than HW or Knoebels to me!)
Legoland (great park feel, has all the good qualities of big theme park
AND the best qualities of a small park!)

small
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Knoebels (borderline, but simply has small park everything except for seasonal attendance)
Holiday World (borderline, but doesn't feel as big as the ones in Medium)
Michigan's Adventure
Lakemont Park
Funtown USA
Seabreeze
Lake Winnie
Most shore parks...each of Morey's piers is like a small park, combined they are more like medium.
All other PA parks.
Americana (LaSourdsville Lake?
Indiana Beach
Rye Playland

I would say that most of the parks Premier bought, including the ones that were badged SF a few years ago were medium parks. Some still are but I think in terms of attendance, rides, etc.. SFWoA and SFNE are clearly large parks IMHO where SFA and SFKK still seem more like medium parks to me.

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And I'm sure that everyone who responded with exact numbers (i.e. less than 750,000) actually uses their own chart they made. I'm sure, before they determine what Hershey is, they look up the attendance figures, numbers of acres they own, how many kid's rides they have...

My own opinion is that it is each person's opinion. I mean, somebody who only has been to a very small park may call Dorney park HUGE, but somebody who has only been to Disneyworld may call Dorney pretty small.