Motley Fool Article
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Bob M.
First, as a larger fraction of your income goes to commuting costs, heating oil, etc., you'll have less discretionary income. As things get tight, that might mean a family takes only one trip to the point rather than two, or two trips rather than buying season passes. Maybe a family that used to stay on-point cuts back by staying off-point, or converting an overnight trip to a day trip. Cedar Point is pure recreation; it's more expensive than fishing, the movies, or playing hoops in the backyard. It might be one of the first things on the chopping block for families with tighter budgets.
Second, people seem to react non-linearly to gas prices. While it may be rational to say that you're only spending an extra few dollars on gas on a trip to the amusement park, people seem to react irrationally. Remember the spate of articles about driving habits the last time gas prices crept to this level...
I predict a strong showing this year. Growth won't be huge in the parks not getting new attractions, but I bet we'll see good numbers from Valleyfair, Cedar Point and Michigan's Adventure.
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Jeff
Webmaster/GTTP - Sillynonsense.com
"The world rotates to The Ultra-Heavy Beat!" - KMFDM
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AKA...Somewhatchewy, Joseph the White.
> Am I pretty? Tell me I'm pretty.
if (female) printf("You are pretty");
else printf("You are lonely");
I won't argue that driving vacations, and vacations in general, will suffer from higher gas prices. But on the other hand, people who are local to amusement parks are more likely to stick closer to home and visit their parks more often.
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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead
http://www.webtechnik.com/ebony/CPLady.htm
The allusion to PKS and FUN was perhaps less literal than some here may be taking it. I think the point of the article was closer to "higher fuel prices will affect a broad swath of the economic landscape" than "here are the stocks to sell right this second."
Lumping FUN's performance with PKS' also shows a pretty serious lack of due dilligence. Yes, they have comparable markets, but they have not had comparable performance over the last fiscal year.
As many others do, I suspect CP will do a banner year due to Dragster. Would it be better without high gas prices? Probably--low fuel prices lead to more discretionary income, and some of that would probably go to the park.
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CP4ME
MrScott
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"If we go any faster, she'll blow apart for sure!"
Sign me up for a hybrid.
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Jeff
Webmaster/GTTP - Sillynonsense.com
"The world rotates to The Ultra-Heavy Beat!" - KMFDM
I hated paying $2 for a gallon of gas in the summer of 2000, and this summer, it looks like it will definitely be more (I'm from Michigan). My dad was telling me it would probably be up to $3/gallon this summer. Luckily, I'm working at the Point so I can take the bus to and from my job. However, this will still take a bite out of my wallet when I'm driving in my own car around town. Any changes that can be made, I am all for!!
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~Lee~
Group Sales ATL '01
Group Sales TL '02
Park Admissions Supervisor '03
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"The greatest leaders don't take credit for their actions; they don't have to."
*** This post was edited by Lee 3/14/2003 8:50:38 PM ***
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The InCrowd™
http://www.theincrowd.tk
Anyway, Me and some friends are making a 500 mile road trip this summer even with these high gas prices and the way insurance prices are(Atleast here anyway). The high gas prices will have minimal to almost no affect on CP. Plus the addition of TTD will definatly increase attendence at the Point this summer.
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- Dennis
WTC plan Approved. A structure that will stand 1,776 feet in the NYC skyline. It will be the tallest tower in the WORLD!!!
Both of my brothers with kids own SUVs that get about 10 mpg less than our "ugly" honda minivan. The minivan has more cargo and passenger capacity. Oh, the minivan was cheaper, too.
Even crazier: I dated a woman in Pittsburgh once whose family all worked in the city, but they lived just north of the county border because "property taxes are lower" there. They were unable to be convinced of the fact that in less than two months, they spent more on additional commuting costs than they saved in an entire year on lower property taxes. The property up there was more expensive too, since "everyone" wanted to live just outside of Allegheney county. In other words, the base for those taxes was also higher than it would have been for an equivalent house in a good neighborhood in Pittsburgh.
Jeff said:
Look around the United States. Look at the traffic congestion, the SUV's and urban sprawl. Americans pay whatever they have to drive their cars. They don't care what it costs. Our oil consumption goes up and up, and instead of looking at the issue of why it goes up, our government is more interested in finding more oil to consume.Sign me up for a hybrid.
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Jeff
Webmaster/GTTP - Sillynonsense.com
"The world rotates to The Ultra-Heavy Beat!" - KMFDM
I agree, Jeff. Besides, wasn't gas around $2.00 or more a gallon back a few years ago? If people want to go somewhere, thery're not going to let gas prices stop them. Sure, if it were a long trip/vacation, they might cut back on how much they do, but, they'd still take the trip/vacation. I'm sure, if people are traveling an avaerage of 150 miles, Cedar Point won't suffer any decline in guests. With TTD new this year, I bet, the number of guest will increase a lot. Actually, if a war breaks out with Iraq, even more people might go to Cedar Point. Cedar Point is a great way to get away from the problems of this world, if even for1 day.
*** This post was edited by JBSquared 3/15/2003 11:30:55 AM ***
Jeff said:
Our oil consumption goes up and up, and instead of looking at the issue of why it goes up, our government is more interested in finding more oil to consume.
Agreed. I highly recommend Bill Maher's controversial, but well written book, "When you ride alone, you ride with Bin Laden." Maher addresses this issue, stating that America is an oil junkie, desperate for its fix. I don't see why it is so hard for people to start giving up their gas guzzlers in exchange for cheaper prices, a better environment, and to a certain extent better security. It won't be easy to change the whole country, but we better start now, or else its gonna bite us in the butt in the future. With all of the crazy stuff happening in the world today, I would hope that people would stop worrying too much about their money and go have a good time at an amusement park.....our society needs a good break from it all.
Also, I am looking to research alternative fuel sources and work on more environmentally friendly cars when I go to college and "grow up", so I will be contributing to the country!
What's more of an outrage: $2 a gallon for gas or $3-2.50 for 20 ounces of pop or water within the park?
The way I see it, is if people are willing (well, not necessarily willing) to drop 3 bucks at the vending machines for a bottle of water, I think that it proves that the gas prices don't matter. When people go to an amusement park or baseball game they are assuming the responsibility of paying amounts of money they wouldn't otherwise spend. Gas money as well as money for expensive food are inclusive. If people want to go to an amusement park for a day or two then they will find a way to pay for it.
I think that the resort locations like Disney World will suffer again this year, and not regional parks like CP or say Holiday World who had a record year last year.
With this said, I would hope that Cedar Point learned its lesson about raising pop prices. Between a riot in the Mantis queue to overall angered guests they really can't keep the prices at 3 dollars a pop (pun intended). It's been established that CP gets the Pepsi products for free, so why not actually drop the price to maximize sales? When the vending machines start to run out at a faster rate than they can be restocked, then maybe it would be time to raise the prices.
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What is most anticipated event of 2003? the debut of Dragster, the release of Metallica's new album, the release of Terminator 3, or the release of Matrix:Reloaded...tough call.
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