Profit-Maximizing an Amusement Park – Gate Versus Food Price

A experience in a leisure park can be a thrilling way to spend a summer season day. With growing gasoline costs, an enjoyment park “day-cation” is now a greater popular choice than ever. That’s no longer to say a trip to the local park is cheap. Most parks fee an admission charge for the front, parking bypass price, deposit for rentable locker, and charge tokens to play games. The normal enjoyment park prohibits guests from bringing their own food into the park. Different human beings have distinct needs for meals. Some humans are inclined to pay extra for meals, even as others opt to eat before going and now not purchase food after they enter the gates. The park sells food at concession stands; however, the rate charges twice as many restaurants outside the park. How can the park charge outrageously high fees and now not lose business? Would the leisure park gain by using charging a higher or a lower fee for food? The key to earnings-maximizing an entertainment park is to find the right balance between the rate of food and admission.

Amusement parks can rate what they do for meals and admission for several motives. They need to pay for preserving the park and maintaining the rides, personnel, meals, water, power, new rides, and many others. If journeying visitors want a safe, smooth, open park that can add a few amusing rides and additions to the park every season or two, they’re the ones who are going to should pay for it. If an enjoyment park decreased the charge of food, then humans might have to wait longer between new rides, which commonly leads visitors to start to whinge approximately if it gets too long. If a park gets overcrowded, then new excessive capability rides need to be constructed to service all of these humans. Food pricing at amusement parks additionally needs to match inside the supply and demand realm. To a positive diploma, the pricing facilitates to hold the attendance on a managed growth path whilst financing enlargement. This will now not be identical for each park. Including one or perks like unfastened sunscreen or parking rolled into admission works for some parks. Others make guests sense that one goes to the park trying to squeeze each penny out of them. It’s not exact for commercial enterprise while traffic stroll out the door feeling like they have got been taken advantage of as they’ll be less in all likelihood to return. The most a success leisure parks are the ones that discover the equilibrium point between gate and meals pricing.

To recognize how an entertainment park can rate excessive fees and achieve success, another question wishes to be responded to: Why do many people visit entertainment parks every year? In 2006, over 335 million humans visited America’s theme parks. Generally, human beings visit parks for rides. The rides are what the parks are promoting to the consumer. The trip lineup might be the unmarried biggest aspect within the visitor revel in for the majority thru the gate. Most important cities commonly best have one big entertainment park inside a convenient range, the difficulty is largely certainly one of monopoly. Still, the rides are the product, and the whole thing else is simply info.

One of the biggest local entertainment-hotel operators globally, Cedar Fair, owns and operates 11 enjoyment parks in North America, including Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. Consistently voted “Best Amusement Park in the World” in Amusement Today polls, Cedar Point is referred to as the curler coaster capital of the world with a grand general of seventeen coasters, extra than some other park. A one-day price ticket for ages 3-sixty one, forty-eight” and taller at some point of the 2008 season is $forty-two.Ninety-five. Parking is $10, and admission to Soak City Water Park is NOT blanketed.

Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana, is a small circle of the relatives-owned and operated parks with just four curler coasters. The park has been voted the “World’s Friendliest Park” and the “World’s Cleanest Park” for five years in a row by way of the readers of Amusement Today mag. A fashionable admission in the future price ticket in 2008 costs $39—Ninety-five, almost as a good deal as Cedar Point. While Cedar Point has 13 extra roller coasters, Holiday World’s admission is only 3 bucks less. However, Holiday World’s admission includes several perks, including admission to Splashin’ Safari Water Park for no extra fee, free sunscreen, free parking, and the biggie: unfastened limitless tender drinks. Which park is the higher price for the guest, and how does the income-maximizing approach of each park fluctuate?

Known for some of the best leisure park rides globally, Cedar Point is likewise home to some of the highest food prices within the enterprise. The majority of the meal venues are very speedy-food oriented, with constrained menus and costs geared for a semi-captive market of traffic unwilling to endure the time-ingesting problem of using the causeway returned to the metropolis to get a cheaper meal. At Cedar Point, at some point of the 2008 season, it’s $3.29 for a 16oz, $three.Seventy-nine for a 22oz and $three.93 for a 32oz soda. A 20-ounce bottle of Coke at any Disney park is $2.00 even, a medium fountain drink is $2.19, and a large is $2.69 (allearsnet.Com). A six-inch Subway sub sandwich is $7 plus tax on the Point. Outside the park, a foot-long Subway sub is best $5. A bottle of soda or water that may be discovered for a dollar in most merchandising machines is $three.50 at Cedar Point. Two entrees at Panda Express are $eight.Ninety-nine compared to the nearby mall fee of $6.99. Refills at $8.Ninety-five memento Cup is $1.99, which means that maximum visitors may as properly purchase the $four drink due to the fact the ruin even factor is 4 liquids, now not to mention the trouble of wearing the large cup around all day with the opportunity of it being misplaced or stolen.

Not most effective is the value of food at Cedar Point excessive; however, the quality is just as terrible. Based on a current visit, the provider at numerous counter places can be defined as “glacial, now not friendly and pathetic.” Here’s the cope with the food: A precise $2 hamburger is a superb $2 hamburger. Part of the problem is that an amazing $2 hamburger is a LOUSY $eight hamburger. And when the park tries to promote that $2 hamburger for $10, it’s miles going to seem even worse. And but, if a consumer were to pay $2 for it, they could suppose it quite darned top. That’s what the fee is all about. The charges at Cedar Point are too excessive when judged in evaluation to the excellent of the food (with park-unique places) and whilst judged in opposition to the equal desire outdoor the park (Subway example).

The proper news is that even though visitors are stuck inside the park all day, most food gadgets are non-compulsory. However, comfort is a massive one. Most guests hate leaving a park and moving to get something to eat as it’s time misplaced that could be spent driving the rides, the cause they came to the park in the first place. The complete method is bothersome: locating the way out of the park, getting the hand stamp, taking walks to the automobile, riding out of the lot, finding a place to eat, ingesting, driving lower back to the park, finding a parking space again, and strolling again through the gate. Most park visitors are genuinely willing to accept a touch greater than an inexpensive markup to keep away from the entire time and trouble leaving the park for meals at the stop.