The North American top 20 is largely unchanged except for Canada's Wonderland, which experienced a big upswing due to the addition of their new coaster. However, a new coaster did not help Hersheypark as it experienced a 4% decrease despite the addition of Fahrenheit in 2008.
Busch parks experienced drops across the board, probably related in no small part to the InBev takeover and some animosity to what some folks view as Busch selling out. (Just my opinion).
Cedar Fair and Six Flags experienced some moderate upswings due to additional attractions (Dark Knight coaster at Six Flags) and lowered admission prices (at Cedar Fair).
Disney ruled the roost once again, dominating all markets and bringing in more visitors than virtually all other theme park chains combined. However, their dismal showing at Hong Kong DL should be cause for concern.
Universal experienced attendance downturns largely due to construction at their Orlando destinations and people holding off on vacations until the new rides/lands are complete.
One interesting note: most of the attendance declines occurred after the regional parks had closed for the 2008 season, leaving the destination parks to deal with the faltering economy and therefore taking the brunt of the hit. One member of the reviewing board seems to think that the declines will continue across the board in 2009, with a potential for increases again in 2010.
Thoughts?
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So again, while attendance was up in HKDL, the outlook is not good.
Orlando Business Journal - march 2009 - A dispute between The Walt Disney Co. and the Hong Kong government has put any talk of expanding Hong Kong Disneyland on hold, and about 30 Walt Disney Imagineers that have been working on the design of the expansion have been laid off, according to media reports.
According to the reports, Hong Kong officials were "puzzled" by the decision to lay off Imagineers, according to an e-mailed statement.
Disney and Hong Kong are apparently at an impasse in regards to financing any expansion, the report said. Hong Kong owns a 57 percent stake in the park, with Disney (NYSE: DIS) owning the other 43 percent.
Expanding the park is seen as crucial to the park's future, as it is the smallest of any Disney park worldwide. Talk of expansion first surfaced in December 2008.
I am actually surprised that DHS only improved by 1%, with the debuts of Toy Story Mania, Block Party Bash, HSM 3, and others (the report mentioned American Idol, but that didnt open til 2009)
Im also happy for my former hometown park, Canada's Wonderland! nice to see that it had the biggest attendance rise in NA!
I also wonder if the relatively poor performance of HK Disneyland will affect Disney's plans for a new park in Shanghai....
I expect Kings Island to do very well this year. They have a strong customer/passholder base, an excellent kids area, and a brand new B&M coaster that park fans have been wanting for a long time. Despite the crappy economic conditions in Ohio, I also expect Cedar Point will hold strong. The Busch parks are in danger of the bottom-line minded InBev, who have already begun removing some favorite Busch/Seaworld offerings. A new coaster at SeaWorld Orlando will help. Six Flags has the most potential, as their immediate markets are the largest. With aggressive pricing and marketing along with improved guest experience, attendance could explode.
If tourism in Orlando holds up, I expect to see Universal get some of that market share back. The new attractions will help in that area. Disney will hold flat because of their heavy discounting...as long as people feel like ponying up.
I don't forsee doom and gloom for the industry this year, but this year won't be without it's problems. Some parks will lose some revenue, even if attendance is ok.
When I lived in California, back in the 70's, we used to go to Magic Mountain all the time. I mean we loved Disney and all, but MM was closer and cheaper and we went about twice as much as we went to Disney.
What's the problem?
Robert, you frequent MM - any ideas?
Feeling like we were entitled to another pass to compensate for their being closed, we contacted the park after we got back home to ask for a rain check. That began a ridiculous runaround with BGE management that culminated months later with them saying we could come down and contact them when we got to the park entrance for a replacement pass. However, suffice it to say (to keep the story short) that we didn't have much confidence in their intentions or ability to do that, so rather than drive down and take our chances, we "passed" on the pass. We haven't been back since.
My point here is that if this incident is any indication of how BGE is run now, it's no wonder that at least this park's attendance is down, and it has nothing to do with beer.
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