Opinion Question about theme parks...

[raptorrvnge4928]

Was at the ole' park this weekend, and I was considering this question, where do theme parks make the majority of their money?

1) Park admissions and season pass sales?

2) Food and soda pop sales?

3) Souveniers and game stall sales

4) Parking (It doesnt seem like much, but consider how many cars are there everyday, multiplied by $8 (i.e.)).

[kbendiksen]

I would have to say they make the most from a combination of Food, Souveniers and game stall sales. They still make a killing from admission tickets from non season pass holders. I uselly buy season passes and a season parking pass from SFNE which cost me close to $300. I find the food, souveniers and games way over priced.

[Xzentrificenceo]

Parking is the biggest profit margin of any thing in the park.

[Harpo]

Depends on the amount of parking staff.

At Cedar Point, the largest profit margin is on the cotton candy.

I'm working completely off of memory, but I recall that in-park per-capita at Cedar Point is generally in the $32 range. So, it is likely that most of the revenue comes from the gate receipts (where one day tickets are a bit over $40, but many people will have season passes or discount coupons).

Of the in-park departments, foods does the biggest business. Merchandise and games are very close to each other -- combined, they are pretty close to foods, but foods is still the #1 moneymaker in the park.

[raptorrvnge4928]

Now just out of curiousity, I wonder what the cost of running certain rides are? Specifically most of the rollercoasters, more specifically TTD, MF and WT. Any information on this?

[Harpo]

I don't know that information, but I can give you some idea of some costs. To repaint Raptor cost a little over $1 million. Repainting Mantis cost about $1.5 million. Magnum is expected to cost over $2 million to paint, with the current plan being to paint it over the course of two years.

If the paint is that expensive, you can bet that the mechanical isn't cheap!

[raptorrvnge4928]

But the paint is probably so expensive due to the surface area of the rides, the type of paint needed, etc.... I dont think you can go to Home Depot, pick up a gallon there and just paint Millenium Force you know... LOL :D

Besides though, if they can afford to do that, as painting a rollercoaster is a top priority, then imagine the amount of money they can invest, versus the amount of money they must intake...

[Squid2]

Wait a minute.... painting a coaster is One Million Dollars?!?!?!?! Good grief! No wonder most of the coasters I've seen only get painted every 5 years or so...

Just out of curiousity, why is it so expensive? Is it the paint, the labor, or what?

Squid2

[Vapournetmike]

Hey

Labour comes into costs the most for the paint job due to heights and types of structures involved with the painting. Not an easy task I can tell you! Blackpool Pleasure Beach's biggest income is from the sale of food and souveniers closely followed by ride tickets/wristbands


Regards
Mike

[Harpo]

I'm pretty sure labor is the biggest part of the cost for painting the rides. Part of the reason that Mantis was so expensive to paint was because of the complications caused by the lagoon, making it more difficult to get the appropriate lifts in place for doing the painting.

I don't know the exact cost, but I do know that, 20 years ago, the typical roller coaster wheel cost around $100. I would suspect they are quite a bit more expensive now for the faster coasters. It's not uncommon to have more than 60 wheels on a train, and, on a well-maintained ride, they are replaced rather frequently. (That cost doesn't include labor, which would be done by in-house maintenance staff, whereas the painting at Cedar Point is done by outside contractors.)

One thing's for certain: these rides aren't cheap to maintain!

[Squid2]

Kinda makes you wonder whether we'll be charged to paint our rides in RCT3. I realized that painting the rides was rather expensive, but I never thought it was that much.

Squid2

[kingy]

ok so does the food profit still count if they have outside people catering ie burger king kfc etc as in alton towers?

[Harpo]

In those cases, it would depend on the contract. The outside food companies may be paying a flat rate for their location, or they might pay a percentage of revenues to the park. It could also be a combination of the two.

Or, the park could be a franchise operator, in which case they pay the franchise fees and keep the rest as their revenue.