All things Knotts Berry Farm

Phroobar

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Knotts1984A.jpg
 

cmwade77

Well-Known Member
Disneyland spends a billion dollars on a new land that no one shows up to see while Knotts spends a million on year round live entertainment and gets record breaking attendance levels. Go Knotts!
Yep, had Disney actually added some real entertainment to Galaxy's Edge, it would have made a major difference. Imagine if the Cantina had a live alien band, if there was a Broadway quality stage show from another Galaxy and even some singers around the land. Of course that fact that Disney only had two attractions in a massive space and only one of them opened with the land didn't help anything either. 9h, right they list the expensive light sabers and build your own droids as attractions, sorry but if they cost extra, they aren't attractions.
 

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member
Cedar Fair Press Release

>>Cedar Fair Reports Record Results for 2019; Declares Quarterly Cash Distribution

  • Strong performance driven by increases in attendance (+8%), in-park per capita spending (+1%) and out-of-park revenues (+11%)
  • Company sees significant increase in sale of 2020 season passes and all-season products
  • Company sets new long-term annual Adjusted EBITDA1 target of $600 million2 by 2024
Cedar Fair Entertainment Company (NYSE: FUN), a leader in regional amusement parks, water parks and immersive entertainment, today reported record net revenues for its full-year and fourth-quarter 2019 results. The Company also announced a new long-term Adjusted EBITDA growth target.

Full-year 2019 results are not directly comparable with full-year 2018, as 2019 includes results from the operations of the two Schlitterbahn water parks since their July 1, 2019 acquisition date. For purposes of same-park discussions, current year data excludes the results of the Schlitterbahn water parks.

2019 Highlights

  • Net revenues increased 9% to a record $1.47 billion; same-park net revenues were up 6%.
  • Attendance at Cedar Fair's parks increased 8% to a record 27.9 million guests; same-park attendance increased 5%.
  • In-park per capita spending increased 1% to a record $48.32; in-park per capita spending on a same-park basis was up 1%.
  • Out-of-park revenues were up 11% to a record $169 million; same-park out-of-park revenues increased 8%.
  • Net income increased 36%, or $46 million, to $172 million and Adjusted EBITDA increased 8%, or $37 million, to $505 million. On a same-park basis, net income increased 27%, or $34 million, and Adjusted EBITDA3 increased 5%, or $21 million.
  • Through Dec. 31, 2019, sales of 2020 season passes and related all-season products, are up more than 40% from the same time last year.
<<
 

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member

>>Some of that increased attendance was driven by a 40% increase in season-pass sales at the parks, “fueled in large part by the hugely successful introduction of the Cedar Point Gold Pass,” said Brian Witherow, executive vice president and chief financial officer.

“Few indicators reflect the appreciation and demand for the entertainment product we provide better than seeing a 40%-plus ramp in the early season sale of season passes,” he said.

Sale of the new Gold Pass at Cedar Point has been controversial since its introduction last summer, with some park-goers blaming it for overcrowding during the park’s popular HalloWeekends event.

On one Saturday in October, Cedar Point officials were forced to, for the first time, close roads into the park because the streets were so jammed with people trying to reach the park.

In a December interview, Cedar Point General Manager Jason McClure said the park is working to alleviate some areas of concern related to overcrowding, although he declined to be more specific.

He noted that Cedar Point, despite some well-documented parking challenges, did not set any single-day attendance records in the fall.

Part of the problem is that on Saturdays in October, in particular, crowds tend to arrive in the same mid-afternoon timeframe. “We may try to educate guests more about the anticipated crowds,” said McClure.

He added: “Anytime a guest comes to the park, we want it to be a good experience. If we sell a lot of passes and no one has fun — that is not what we want.”<<

>>Zimmerman noted that the company was only about one-third of the way through its typical season-pass sales cycle.

He also noted that Cedar Point was not singularly responsible for the company’s season pass sales success in 2019.

“Cedar Point was the last park where we implemented the Gold Pass program. It’s now got the same three tiers as the rest of our parks,” he said. “We saw tremendous response and that’s been a significant driver of the growth. However, taking Cedar Point out of the mix, we are still up double digits across the rest of the portfolio, at virtually every site.”<<
 

Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member

>>Knott’s Berry Farm was one of several locations in the Cedar Fair amusement park chain that saw record or near-record attendance and revenues in 2019, according to the company’s latest earnings report.


Knott’s parent Cedar Fair announced that 2019 was its “best year ever” with an 8% increase in attendance and record revenues during an earnings call on Wednesday, Feb. 19.

Season pass sales were up 40% at Cedar Fair’s parks in California, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina, Virginia, Missouri, Minnesota and Canada. Cedar Fair parks drew a record 27.9 million visitors in 2019.

Cedar Fair said four of its largest parks saw record or near-record attendance and/or revenues in 2019: Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, Canada’s Wonderland outside Toronto, Cedar Point and Kings Island (both in Ohio).


Cedar Fair officials cited two key reasons for the record year: Improved in-park per capita spending and favorable weather conditions in the summer and fall.


Knott’s is already off to a “very strong” and “outstanding start” in 2020, Cedar Fair Chief Financial Officer Brian Witherow said on the call.


One reason for the “great start” to the year at Knott’s: A relatively dry and mild January and February in 2020 compared to wet weather during the same period in 2019, Witherow said.

Rainy weather led to “soft attendance” in December at Knott’s, Witherow said. Rain forced Knott’s to close the park on Dec. 4.


Cedar Fair parks saw record attendance in October with an “extremely strong” Halloween Haunt season, Cedar Fair CEO Richard Zimmerman said on the call.


Cedar Fair had record season pass sales in 2019 and is already seeing 2020 season pass sales up by more than 40%, Zimmerman said. The record sales pace of 2020 season passes was fueled in large part by the launch of the Cedar Point Gold Pass, Witherow said. Season pass visits represented more than 50% of Cedar Fair attendance, Witherow said.

The Cedar Fair officials offered some insight into the importance that big ticket new rides play in driving attendance and increasing revenue at its theme parks.


The $30 million Orion roller coaster debuting this summer at Ohio’s Kings Island will be among the tallest and fastest coasters in the world. With a first drop of 300 feet and a top speed of 91 mph, the custom ride will feature 8 airtime hills over 5,300 feet of undulating steel track.


A ride like Orion increases demand, drives attendance and allows Cedar Fair to increase ticket prices, Zimmerman said. The introduction of Orion follows the removal of two older Kings Island coasters — Firehawk and Vortex -— that will result in cost savings on the operations side, Zimmerman said. New rides like Orion help increase season pass sales and in-park spending on Fast Lane front-of-line passes, Witherow said.<<
 

NobodyElse

Well-Known Member
Who are you again?

Wait. Did you just "@ me bro"? (I'm still trying to get your etiquette guidelines straight.)

Who am I? Just one of the many members here that didn't feel the desire nor need to react to a horrifically tragic story with a "laughing hysterically" emoticon.

(And my mouth is still shut. That should cheer you up.)

Carry on...
 
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Darkbeer1

Well-Known Member

>>“We’re extremely pleased with our 2019 season, which was the most successful year in Cedar Fair’s history,” said Richard Zimmerman, the company’s president and CEO.

He credited the increase in revenue to initiatives that broaden guest experiences by creating immersive attractions and entertainment.

“The successful execution of these initiatives by our talented park teams and the early contributions from the newly acquired Schlitterbahn water parks combined to produce our record results in 2019,” Zimmerman said.<<
 

THE 1HAPPY HAUNT

Well-Known Member
Wait. Did you just "@ me bro". (I'm still trying to get your etiquette guidelines straight.)

Who am I? Just one of the many members here that didn't feel the desire nor need to react to a horrifically tragic story with a "laughing hysterically" emoticon.

(And my mouth is still shut. That should cheer you up.)

Carry on...
😂 good. Glad we cleared that up. I wish I could give that post that contained the "horrifically tragic story" a infinite number of 😂😂😂😂😂😂 if this site allowed cuz its still funny to me.
 

NobodyElse

Well-Known Member
He added: “Anytime a guest comes to the park, we want it to be a good experience. If we sell a lot of passes and no one has fun — that is not what we want.”<<

If only Disney had this philosophy.

I'm glad that Knott's and CF are doing well. That usually ends up being good news for most everybody.

But, one of the things that always seemed to stand out to me when comparing Disneyland to Knott's (and Magic Mountain) was their comparative ride throughput. (Disclaimer - I haven't been to Knott's or MM in well over 5 years) It seemed to me that both those parks constantly ran coasters with less than optimal number of operating trains, leading to longer wait times. Part of it might be due to the ride design itself. Montezuma's Revenge is clearly only going to run one train :) , and other coasters likely don't have as many brake blocks as a ride like Space Mountain, Big Thunder or Screamin'. Otherwise, I suspect it's due to keeping down maintenance costs by running fewer trains less often. It always kind of irked me waiting in line seeing one train dispatched, with no train waiting to roll into the station to replace it.

Is this still the typical M.O.?
 

Phroobar

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I'm glad that Knott's and CF are doing well. That usually ends up being good news for most everybody.

But, one of the things that always seemed to stand out to me when comparing Disneyland to Knott's (and Magic Mountain) was their comparative ride throughput. (Disclaimer - I haven't been to Knott's or MM in well over 5 years) It seemed to me that both those parks constantly ran coasters with less than optimal number of operating trains, leading to longer wait times. Part of it might be due to the ride design itself. Montezuma's Revenge is clearly only going to run one train :) , and other coasters likely don't have as many brake blocks as a ride like Space Mountain, Big Thunder or Screamin'. Otherwise, I suspect it's due to keeping down maintenance costs by running fewer trains less often. It always kind of irked me waiting in line seeing one train dispatched, with no train waiting to roll into the station to replace it.

Is this still the typical M.O.?
I don't really see that practice at Knotts however Magic Mountain does it all the time even when the place is packed. Knott's coasters such as Hang Time has three cars on the track. Silver Bullet, Ghost Rider, Excellerator and Jaguar have two. Obviously Montezuma only has one. I can't see them operating more than that. The rides aren't designed for it.

However over at Magic Mountain, you always see things like Goliath, Riddler's Revenge and Batman have one train on the track. It still takes the employees 4-8 minutes to load/dispatch each train. There seems to be a lot of waiting between people getting on and dispatch. That kind of thing made me mad at Magic Mountain as I watch employees more interested in talking to each other than dispatching trains.

Disneyland's coasters are designed for a large number of trains at the same time. You never see this at other parks. They dispatch trains ever thirty seconds or so. It's pretty amazing. That is the kind of thing I wish I could see more of at other parks. Why can't coasters be designed for 3-4 trains at the same time? Even Chase the Baby can do four trains at once.
 

RobWDW1971

Well-Known Member
I don't really see that practice at Knotts however Magic Mountain does it all the time even when the place is packed. Knott's coasters such as Hang Time has three cars on the track. Silver Bullet, Ghost Rider, Excellerator and Jaguar have two. Obviously Montezuma only has one. I can't see them operating more than that. The rides aren't designed for it.

However over at Magic Mountain, you always see things like Goliath, Riddler's Revenge and Batman have one train on the track. It still takes the employees 4-8 minutes to load/dispatch each train. There seems to be a lot of waiting between people getting on and dispatch. That kind of thing made me mad at Magic Mountain as I watch employees more interested in talking to each other than dispatching trains.

Disneyland's coasters are designed for a large number of trains at the same time. You never see this at other parks. They dispatch trains ever thirty seconds or so. It's pretty amazing. That is the kind of thing I wish I could see more of at other parks. Why can't coasters be designed for 3-4 trains at the same time? Even Chase the Baby can do four trains at once.
The only time I see this at Knott's is on the mine train - I have been there a couple of times where it goes several minutes with no train in the station for no apparent reason.
 

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