parkworld-online.com @ParkWorldMag
ParkWord July 2013
As recently as August 2010, Dennis Speigel wrote in these pages: “In the not too distant future we will see a
$100 front gate admission at a theme park.” His comments came following the latest increase at Walt Disney World (WDW) in Florida, which had just raised daily ticket prices to $82 per park and, as has become the norm in Orlando, Universal and SeaWorld followed soon after.
If you include tax – and, let’s face it, you have no choice but to – the $100 park ticket has now arrived. A day in the Magic Kingdom will in fact now cost you $101.18 ($95 before tax). Interestingly, the Disneyland-style park now commands a slight premium over its WDW neighbours EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and the Animal Kingdom, now $95.85 each ($90 before tax). No longer are all Disney parks equal. SeaWorld and both the Universal Orlando parks have raised their prices to $100.14 ($92) each. Of course, many visitors to these venues arrive on multi-day, multi-park passes
or park-and-accommodation deals that bring prices down significantly pro rata (“pro parker” anyone, no?) and in some cases there are also savings available online. I was interested to read the recent comments of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment CFO Jim Heaney suggesting his group, and others, may be considering an airline-style dynamic pricing model, allowing it to vary admission prices according to demand. This would shake things up, allowing SeaWorld to maximise revenue during peak periods, but offer discounts during quieter times. Yet the reason the Orlando operators can command such high prices (way above many other parks even in the US), is because they are world-class products with the rides, attractions and guest experience that often set the standard for other theme parks across the globe. It’s this power, influence and its brand reputation that means Disney – the world’s number one operator in terms of attendance (126.5 million guests in 2012 ) – is still head and big black ears above the world’s number two, Merlin Entertainments (54 million). And Disney does this with just 11 parks, versus Merlin’s almost 100 global attractions (many of which, granted, are smaller operations). For attendance figures from all the world’s leading parks for last season, see the latest edition of the Theme Index on pages 26/27. One new property that hopes to get itself into the European top five within the next few years is Vialand in Istanbul. It’s a bold claim, but the park’s location in one of the world’s most populous cities can’t do it any harm. Read our exclusive profile starting on page 28.
Editor Owen Ralph (+44 161 438 2934)
parkworld@btopenworld.com
North American Editor Contributors this issue
Paul Ruben (+1 585 381 1012)
parkw@rochester.rr.com
Heather Eichenbaum, Stephen Candy, Justin Garvanovic
Sales Manager Mark Burgess (+44 1622 699124)
parkworld@datateam.co.uk
Publishing Director Paul Ryder
pryder@datateam.co.uk Data Development Manager Alex Wetton
awetton@datateam.co.uk Managing Director Parvez Kayani
p.kayani@datateam.co.uk Publication Secretary JULY 2013
Jennifer York (+44 1622 699109)
parkworld@datateam.co.uk
ISSN 1462-4796
© Copyright 2013. All materials in this publication remain the copyright of Datateam Business Media and no part of it may be reproduced without the written permission of the proprietors. A request to insert an advertisement is deemed to be an acceptance of Datateam Business Media Ltd’s conditions of trading, copies of which are available on request.
Head Office Datateam Business Media Ltd London Road, Maidstone, Kent ME16 8LY, UK Tel: +44 1622 687031
datateam.co.uk
Member of:
Owen Ralph – Editor
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52