A Disney Parks Monopoly?

[radiohost]

I was just curious to how many people WDW and othe Disney parks draw in each year compare to other competitors? In the news today Six Flags is selling all 7 parks for 315 million dollars do to poor attendance and debt...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070111/ap_on_bi_ge/six_flags_sale

Also, Universal has seen a drop in attendance the last few years as well. I believe this goes to show that when it comes to family entertainment, nobody beats the Disney parks at providing quality family entertainment. Radiohost

 

[sbkline]

I thought this was going to be a thread about the WDW Theme Park edition of the Monopoly game. :lol:

btw, there are alot more than 7 Six Flags parks. So are they selling all of their parks, or just 7 of them?

And I'm not sure that WDW and Six Flags can really be compared. IMO, it's almost like comparing apples to oranges. Disney and Universal Orlando bill themselves as tourist destinations whose main clientele are just that...tourists. Sure, they have their share of locals and other one day visitors who take a day off work during the week to visit, or go on weekends, or whatever. But for the most part, they are tourist destinations in and of themselves, whereas Six Flags is strictly there for locals who want to take their family or friends for a one day activity. So I don't think that you could really say that Disney is much of a threat to Six Flags. Six Flags apparently is having some trouble, financially, if they are having to sell parks, but I don't see Universal or Disney having much to do with that. I don't make a choice between Six Flags and Disney, for example. I try to do a Six Flags park once or twice a year. It's something where I can take a day off work and drive a couple hours and spend the day with my wife and friends. But it's just a one day road trip, whereas WDW is a full blown vacation that requires much more planning and money. And since the closest Six Flags to Florida is the one in Atlanta, I just don't see the Orlando tourist destinations as being any kind of threat to Six Flags. People in the Atlanta area will choose between Six Flags and a host of other nearby places in regards to where they want to take the kids on Saturday, while they will choose between WDW and a host of other vacation destinations in regards to where they want to spend their two week vacation in the summer. They aren't going to sit there and say "well, I was going to take the kids down to Six Flags this Saturday, but instead, I think I'll take them on an 8 hour road trip to DisneyWorld". Two totally different things. I think that people all over the country who want to go to Six Flags will have one fairly close to them such that they can take a day off and go, yet many of these people will still plan a couple weeks off for vacation and trek to Orlando.

So again, two totally different destinations which really can't be compared. Whatever troubles Six Flags is having, IMO, can't be blamed on Disney in any way, shape or form.

 

[PintoColvig]

With the closing of Amusement Business magazine, a main source for attendance figures was lost. I'm not sure if someone will step up as an alternative source. For some perspective, you can check out the 2005 end-of-year figures from Theme Park Insider...
http://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/200512/2/

 

[MainSt1993]

Yes, Six Flags will continue to be a big player, as will Cedar Faire (Cedar Point, Knott's, and the Paramount branded parks), but as you can see their attendance numbers come nowhere close to what Disney draws in. And they're still doing great in spite of FastPass dramatically reducing MKs and DLs in-park capacity.

Keep in mind these regional parks operate seasonally. Disney and Universal are the only ones open 365 days a year. I certainly think there is room and a place for both. I'm surprised though that DCA beat out IOA.

 

[Robfasto]

It is none of their Major market parks... 4 Amusement & 3 Water parks

The seven parks include Six Flags Darien Lake in Buffalo, N.Y.; Six Flags Elitch Gardens in Denver; Frontier City and the White Water Bay water park in Oklahoma City; SplashTown in Houston; Waterworld USA in Concord, Calif.; and Wild Waves and Enchanted Village in Seattle

 

[sbkline]

And they're still doing great in spite of FastPass dramatically reducing MKs and DLs in-park capacity.

Just to elaborate on my previous post, this is the one example of where I can see Disney being competition for Six Flags. DisneyLand is located in California, as are one or two Six Flags Parks. So a person in California may very well find himself deciding whether to go to DisneyLand or Six Flags on his day off next week. So I can see in that instance how Disney can pull business away from Six Flags. But like I said...in my case as well as millions of other people across the country, there is a Six Flags fairly close, while Disney is a vast distance away, so there is no comparison. They will do Six Flags on a weekend and do Disney on an actual vacation. So there is no real competition between the two in that case.

 

[CHAPPS]

I was just curious to how many people WDW and othe Disney parks draw in each year compare to other competitors? In the news today Six Flags is selling all 7 parks for 315 million dollars do to poor attendance and debt...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070111/ap_on_bi_ge/six_flags_sale

Also, Universal has seen a drop in attendance the last few years as well. I believe this goes to show that when it comes to family entertainment, nobody beats the Disney parks at providing quality family entertainment. Radiohost

FYI - Disney having a larger market share than any of it's competitors is not the definition of a "monopoly". A monopoly is when you own all of something. For example, if Disney owned all of the theme park companies, then it would have a monopoly.