P6
Park Word
MARCH 2016
4 Park Hoppin’ Paul Ruben on metamorphosis
5 Front Gate Big Questions/Figures of Fun
6-15 Park News Your monthly round-up
18 DEAL 2016 Show preview
20 Thea Awards/TEA Summit Event preview
23-24 Polin Waterparks Company profile
26-27 Flying Aces Ride profile
28-29 Via Sea Park profile
30-31 Park Retail Secondary spend
33 IAAPI Expo Show review
33 Kernels Bite-sized news
34 Ride Guide Park products
36-39 Ventura Park Park profile
P28
45 Show Guide Calendar
46 Web Guide Online resources
P26 P10
Several parks having started experimenting with variable pricing, otherwise known as dynamic pricing or yield management, in recent years. The principal is simple: visit on a busy day and pay more, visit on quiet day you may just grab a bargain. Although such practices are de rigeur in the airline
industry, those parks that have implemented such systems are generally closer in their approach to the hotel model, offering just a handful of different prices rather than a matrix influenced by complex algorithms. Accordingly, park guests, like hotel guests, are rarely afforded the bargain basement prices budget airlines use to generate headlines and fill up empty seats. But savings can be made. Guests at Universal Studios Hollywood’s can, if they visit on the right day, save up to $20 with the new “EZ Rez” system, introduced in anticipation of the official opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. And now the world's biggest theme park operator has
joined the party, introducing a new three-tier model at Walt Disney World (WDW) in Orlando. Yet while those (admittedly few) parks that have so far implemented a variable pricing model have done so by offering a discount on quiet days, Disney has simply whacked up the price on busier days. A “value” day at the Magic Kingdom will now cost what it used to on any other day, $113.83 ($105 +tax). Peak days, starting March 11, will set guests back $132.06 ($124 +tax), while “regular” days will be $117.15 ($110 +tax). This demand-based pricing policy in now in effect at
all WDW parks, although Animal Kingdom, EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios are all a little cheaper, ranging from $103.31 to $121.41 ($97-114 +tax) each on value/peak days. It will be interesting to see if the increased prices will lessen demand at peak periods, and so create a more comfortable experience for those guests paying the premium. Any discussion about Orlando ticket prices is incomplete without recognising that a large percentage of guests actually arrive with pre-booked multi-day tickets or those bundled in with hotel accommodation, and so pay a significantly cheaper pro rata rate for each park. Nevertheless, Disney’s refusal to offer any discount over the old headline price as it introduces the new pricing structure demonstrates real confidence in its product. With almost 20 million visits recorded each year at the Magic Kingdom alone, that confidence is well placed.
Owen Ralph – editor
Editor: Owen Ralph (+44 161 438 2934)
parkworld@btopenworld.com
North American Editor: Paul Ruben (+1 585 381 1012)
parkw@rochester.rr.com
Contributors this issue:
Phil Hettema, John Davies, Astrid Gonzalez
Sales Manager: Mark Burgess (+44 1622 699124)
mburgess@datateam.co.uk
Publication Manager: Jacqui Hunter (+44 1622 699106)
jhunter@datateam.co.uk
Publishing Director: Paul Ryder
pryder@datateam.co.uk
THIS MONTH’S COVER SHOT: Founded in 1976, Polin Waterparks has completed more than 2,500 projects in 97 countries around the world. To celebrate the Turkish manufacturer’s 40th anniversary, company founder and president Baris Pakis reflects on its guiding motto – experience – and gives us his outlook for the future. See page 23.
www.polin.com.tr
Managing Director: Parvez Kayani
p.kayani@datateam.co.uk
Publication Secretary: MARCH 2016 • ISSN 1462-4796
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