Family Focused Touch
Just returned from a 4-day trip to Tennessee, and we managed a visit to Dollywood the day before Thanksgiving. I'll avoid making this a trip report, as that is not the intention, but I must say upfront that after riding Wild Eagle for the first time I am extremely excited to ride Gatekeeper sometime next year.
We are two adults (my wife and I) and two children, aged 1 and 5, so needless to say we utilize Parent Swap, etc., and always appreciate little touches that parks add for parents with kids of all ages. One small, inexpensive thing that Dollywood has incorporated, though, stuck out.
Near two of their rides, Thunderhead (for those of you who do not know, an incredible woodie) and Barnstormer (think SkyHawk with theming), they strategically placed small playgrounds that provided a wonderful respite from mommy/daddy-duty while one of us rode and the other waited. No lines, no measuring...just simple little playgrounds where they could run around like monkeys and have a ball.
Simple, cheap, and from a parent's perspective, genius. This is only our second visit in 4 years there, so I have no idea how new these are, although Barnstormer's was added when that was built (last year) according to the the worker there.
Promoter of fog.
I visited Dollywood the day after thanksgiving :) 11 of us went and the ages ranged from our 3 year old daughter to my 63 year old in-laws. I agree with you! The park needs to start taking hints from parks like Dollywood. Food, Atmosphere, etc. the park also needs to make their next big coaster something like Mystery Mine--- which all of us agreed was our favorite (with Wild Eagle a close 2nd)
Dollywood is a great park. I can tell their management is truly passionate about making their guests happy. They simply provide guests with what they want. That makes for a great park and a great business strategy.
-Kevin
They also did certain things that added value--- or "hidden value" like Holiday World. When you visit Dollywood after 3:00 you can go the next day for free. I think this should be implemented over the starlight ticket as it would get more people to possibly stay the night.
Hershey Park does a similar thing (I think they call theirs the preview ticket). If a guest stays at the resorts, he/she gets an evening ticket for free.
Hershey Calls it a preview night. they let you in 2 hours befor park closing. When you show them a full day park ticket. you do not ahve to stay at the resorts.
If only every park used Dollywood's strategy...
Obviously it's working far-better the the current CF strategy. Why hasn't anyone else caught on to this yet? I can almost guarantee the attendance and profits would boom.
Cedar Fair just announced record financial results. They are on pace for a third year of record results. Increased their distributions to unitholders for 2013 to $2.50/unit. Cashflow is up. Leverage/debt is down.
GoBucks89 said:
Cedar Fair just announced record financial results. They are on pace for a third year of record results. Increased their distributions to unitholders for 2013 to $2.50/unit. Cashflow is up. Leverage/debt is down.
A bit late there...
http://pointbuzz.com/Forums/Thread/28520.aspx
I wasn't posting the third quarter results press release as a matter of news. Just a response to your post that attendance and profits would boom if CF followed the Dollywood approach which you say is far better than the CF approach. Profits and attendance are already up.
^ Oh....*facepalm*. Yes profits and attendance are up, following Mr.O's leadership(Disney-Inspired). Dollywood has a Dinsey-like-ish strategy also. Seems I was already right. :)
Based on results to date, CF expects this to be their third consecutive year of record performance. That means 2010 and 2011 were record years as well. Ouimet wasn't hired until June 2011 (a year and a half into the three year run) and he didn't take over as CEO until January 2012 (after the first two record years were already in the books). I do not see how you can give Ouimet credit for the past 3 years. Or the trends that began before he was even employed by CF much less took control.
coolkid said:
Hershey Park does a similar thing (I think they call theirs the preview ticket). If a guest stays at the resorts, he/she gets an evening ticket for free.
Six of one, half-dozen of the other. Resort guests at CP are provided discount tickets on both regular and Starlight tickets, for a total savings of $28. Hersheypark's free Sunset ticket saves you only $23.50.
Brandon
I guess my main point was that it doesn't always take much to make a big impact on families and how they perceive the park in terms of "family friendliness". It doesn't always mean an elaborate dark ride.
Promoter of fog.
Cedar King said:
If only every park used Dollywood's strategy...Obviously it's working far-better the the current CF strategy. Why hasn't anyone else caught on to this yet? I can almost guarantee the attendance and profits would boom.
How could you possibly know that? You would have to have visibility to metrics that I don't think either Dollywood or Cedar Point make public.
I'd rather be in my boat with a drink on the rocks,
than in the drink with a boat on the rocks.
Another perk Dollywood offers is the "Length of Stay Pass" for cabin renters. For the same price as a one day admission, guests staying in a Dollywood cabin get unlimited visits to the park for the duration of their cabin booking. That would be great for CP guests, but I don't think we will ever see that.
Nick
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