First off, please excuse my possible errors, I had too much fun at the Dentist today, and not 100%.
I was reading this, and it has some very good points about Annual/Season Pass and how it is an important factor in the Theme/Amusement Park business.
www.cleveland.com
>>More than half of all thrill-seekers who walked through the gates last year at Cedar Point, Kings Island and other Cedar Fair parks were admitted with a season pass, the highest percentage in company history.
And it’s not by accident. The company, based in Sandusky, has waged an aggressive campaign in recent years to boost its number of season passholders.
Among the reasons why: Season passholders commit early, they pay early and they’re savvy consumers.<<
In Disney's case, they get a day's admission up front, then regular monthly payments. (aka pay early)
>>“Those are important to us for the same reason that season tickets are important to folks like the Cleveland Indians,” said Brian Witherow, Cedar Fair’s executive vice president and chief financial officer.
He said the push for more season passes is part of a broader strategy to insulate the park against weather-related and what he called “time poverty” attendance slumps.
The strategy to boost season passholders is one that other amusement park companies have employed for years, including Disney, Universal and Six Flags. Increasing season pass sales is one of the best ways to boost attendance, said Dennis Speigel, an industry analyst.
“We’re a mature industry,” said Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services in Cincinnati. “When you look at the age of the Cedar Fair parks, they’ve been around for a long time and they’ve penetrated their existing markets basically as much as they can through general attendance. By accelerating and increasing the effort at their season-pass program, it’s absolutely an attempt to grow the attendance in those local markets.”<<
This ties into why the Disneyland Resort, more of a locals park compared to WDW, has a stronger AP base.
>>In an earnings call with industry analysts last week, Cedar Fair CEO Richard Zimmerman said season-pass sales for 2020 already were up more than 40%, with just one-third of the sales period complete.
In 2019, for the first time, more than half of Cedar Fair visitors, 53%, came from season passholders, up from 50% in 2018, according to the company.
In contrast, according to Speigel, 67% of Six Flags guests used a season pass in 2019.<<
Some pretty big percentages.
>>Cedar Fair is typically a late adopter of certain industry trends, including this one, said Speigel, although the company seems to be all-in now. “They’ve made a continuous attempt over the last several years to increase that segment of season passholders. Now I think it’s an all-out barrage,” he said.
Much of the growth came from park flagship Cedar Point, which last year started offering, for the first time, a version of the season pass called the Gold Pass, to celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2020.
The pass included unlimited visits to the park during the last two months of 2019 and all of 2020, admission to Cedar Point Shores waterpark, parking and other perks. At $99, it was an incredible deal, and park fans purchased them in droves.
While many fans loved the bargain, others complained about it — lamenting that the big crowds in September and October were due in large part to the popularity of the new Gold Pass. One Saturday afternoon in October, for the first time in its history, Cedar Point was forced to temporarily close access into the park because traffic in Sandusky was at a standstill.<<
Sounds familiar.
>>Despite several very crowded Saturdays in October, Cedar Point General Manager Jason McClure said the park didn’t set any attendance records last fall.
He also said that an increasing number of season passholders could actually alleviate overcrowding during the regular season. “What’s great about a season pass — you can come as often as you want, stay for a long time or a short visit,” he said.
Carsten Anderson, who runs the Cedar Point fan site CP Rundown, also said he wasn’t overly worried about overcrowding this year. “The reason is there will be a ton of days for people to pick instead of just going on the weekends like this past fall.”
According to Witherow, the season-pass push began about eight years ago, and included other advance-purchase products, including group sales and buy-ahead single tickets.<<
Carsten, ever get out of Ohio much?
>>For years, Cedar Point lagged in season passholders behind other large Cedar Fair parks, including Kings Island and Canada’s Wonderland, which are closer to big cities. Cedar Point’s pass base is now comparable, he said.
“Now we have to do things at the park to make sure those season passholders will have a good experience at the park,” he said.
Among upcoming improvements: a reconfigured entryway into the park, with additional lanes, toll booths and digital signage, which should make getting in and out easier.
In addition to a potential for overcrowding, Speigel said there is another possible risk with increasing the season passholder base, which is one of four admission segments in the industry (in addition to walk-up rates, promotional rates and group sales).<<
There is one more group, besides Passholders, Advance Purchase (Promo), Impulse (Walk-up) and group sales. And that is sign-ins and comps. Every time a CM uses the CM badge to enter through the turnstiles for the first time in a day, counts for attendance.
>>If there’s a problem of some sort — an economic downturn, say — the effect on the company might be exaggerated, with so many customers coming from the same admissions category. “It’s the old adage, that’s a lot of eggs in one basket,” he said.<<
Your thoughts?
I was reading this, and it has some very good points about Annual/Season Pass and how it is an important factor in the Theme/Amusement Park business.
Cedar Point, Cedar Fair aggressively working to boost season passholders, hoping to weatherproof attendance
For years, Cedar Point lagged in season passholders behind other large Cedar Fair parks, including Kings Island and Canada’s Wonderland, which are closer to big cities. Cedar Point’s pass base is now comparable.
www.cleveland.com
>>More than half of all thrill-seekers who walked through the gates last year at Cedar Point, Kings Island and other Cedar Fair parks were admitted with a season pass, the highest percentage in company history.
And it’s not by accident. The company, based in Sandusky, has waged an aggressive campaign in recent years to boost its number of season passholders.
Among the reasons why: Season passholders commit early, they pay early and they’re savvy consumers.<<
In Disney's case, they get a day's admission up front, then regular monthly payments. (aka pay early)
>>“Those are important to us for the same reason that season tickets are important to folks like the Cleveland Indians,” said Brian Witherow, Cedar Fair’s executive vice president and chief financial officer.
He said the push for more season passes is part of a broader strategy to insulate the park against weather-related and what he called “time poverty” attendance slumps.
The strategy to boost season passholders is one that other amusement park companies have employed for years, including Disney, Universal and Six Flags. Increasing season pass sales is one of the best ways to boost attendance, said Dennis Speigel, an industry analyst.
“We’re a mature industry,” said Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services in Cincinnati. “When you look at the age of the Cedar Fair parks, they’ve been around for a long time and they’ve penetrated their existing markets basically as much as they can through general attendance. By accelerating and increasing the effort at their season-pass program, it’s absolutely an attempt to grow the attendance in those local markets.”<<
This ties into why the Disneyland Resort, more of a locals park compared to WDW, has a stronger AP base.
>>In an earnings call with industry analysts last week, Cedar Fair CEO Richard Zimmerman said season-pass sales for 2020 already were up more than 40%, with just one-third of the sales period complete.
In 2019, for the first time, more than half of Cedar Fair visitors, 53%, came from season passholders, up from 50% in 2018, according to the company.
In contrast, according to Speigel, 67% of Six Flags guests used a season pass in 2019.<<
Some pretty big percentages.
>>Cedar Fair is typically a late adopter of certain industry trends, including this one, said Speigel, although the company seems to be all-in now. “They’ve made a continuous attempt over the last several years to increase that segment of season passholders. Now I think it’s an all-out barrage,” he said.
Much of the growth came from park flagship Cedar Point, which last year started offering, for the first time, a version of the season pass called the Gold Pass, to celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2020.
The pass included unlimited visits to the park during the last two months of 2019 and all of 2020, admission to Cedar Point Shores waterpark, parking and other perks. At $99, it was an incredible deal, and park fans purchased them in droves.
While many fans loved the bargain, others complained about it — lamenting that the big crowds in September and October were due in large part to the popularity of the new Gold Pass. One Saturday afternoon in October, for the first time in its history, Cedar Point was forced to temporarily close access into the park because traffic in Sandusky was at a standstill.<<
Sounds familiar.
>>Despite several very crowded Saturdays in October, Cedar Point General Manager Jason McClure said the park didn’t set any attendance records last fall.
He also said that an increasing number of season passholders could actually alleviate overcrowding during the regular season. “What’s great about a season pass — you can come as often as you want, stay for a long time or a short visit,” he said.
Carsten Anderson, who runs the Cedar Point fan site CP Rundown, also said he wasn’t overly worried about overcrowding this year. “The reason is there will be a ton of days for people to pick instead of just going on the weekends like this past fall.”
According to Witherow, the season-pass push began about eight years ago, and included other advance-purchase products, including group sales and buy-ahead single tickets.<<
Carsten, ever get out of Ohio much?
>>For years, Cedar Point lagged in season passholders behind other large Cedar Fair parks, including Kings Island and Canada’s Wonderland, which are closer to big cities. Cedar Point’s pass base is now comparable, he said.
“Now we have to do things at the park to make sure those season passholders will have a good experience at the park,” he said.
Among upcoming improvements: a reconfigured entryway into the park, with additional lanes, toll booths and digital signage, which should make getting in and out easier.
In addition to a potential for overcrowding, Speigel said there is another possible risk with increasing the season passholder base, which is one of four admission segments in the industry (in addition to walk-up rates, promotional rates and group sales).<<
There is one more group, besides Passholders, Advance Purchase (Promo), Impulse (Walk-up) and group sales. And that is sign-ins and comps. Every time a CM uses the CM badge to enter through the turnstiles for the first time in a day, counts for attendance.
>>If there’s a problem of some sort — an economic downturn, say — the effect on the company might be exaggerated, with so many customers coming from the same admissions category. “It’s the old adage, that’s a lot of eggs in one basket,” he said.<<
Your thoughts?
