Actually an economic downturn is the perfect time to reinvest in the park. You make improvements to your infrastructure and when the economy turns around you have all these improvements when the park needs it.
This idea is also called "build it and they will come." History has shown that for theme parks, it doesn't work.
Exhibit 1: Six Flags in the Kieran Burke era---they ran several parks into the ground (they were the beginning of the end of Worlds of Adventure, and almost killed Magic Mountain) by overbuilding attractions in the hope it would drive attendance. Now that Shapiro is CEO, Six Flags has grown much more carefully and prudently, focusing instead on improving service and the in-park experience, and it is working. Attendance is up, and this is expected to be their first cash-flow-positive year. Ever. In the entire history of the company.
Exhibit 2: Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach. This is a park much closer to IOA or a Disney park than is your typical Six Flags. In other words, they did it right. A very immersive experience, not just a collection of rides. But, they built a big-a**'d park out of nothing, and their business plan expected 3M guests in the first year. I think they might have gotten half that. They just filed Chapter 11. They still hope to operate in 2009.
Exhibits 3a and 3b: Cedar Fair and Universal. Both of these companies build slowly. They do not install a new attraction unless they have evidence that attendance is growing to support it. Cedar Fair acquired all the Paramount parks two years ago. Universal is growing internationally. Slow and steady wins the race.
Exhibit 4: DCA. Another big park out of nothing. Arguably, another failure. It certainly never measured up to attendance expectations.
Exhibits 5a and 5b: AK and DS. Both were opened "small", with a handful of attractions each. As attendance grew in each park, additional attractions were added to keep the momentum going, but only as growth warranted. DS is a legitimate three-meal park. AK is very close.
This is a business. As RSox points out "resting on their laurels" only resulted in the Resort capturing a
larger share of Orlando tourism, without a major new capital investment in MK. And, for the resort as a whole, that makes sense. MK doesn't need the investment in the same way that the other parks do.
That's not to say that there will never be a new, big addition to MK. There almost certainly will be. But, it seems clear that there are other places to spend the money that will bring more overall $$ into the Rat's coffers.
In the grand scheme of things, 6+ months isnt that much time for this type of rehab that would last multiple years.
