Will Koch: In Memory Of

A little more than twelve hours after returning from another amazing trip to Holiday World, I read the stunning news that the president and owner, Will Koch, had passed away. The news was completely shocking and surreal to me. I just saw him in the park on Saturday, checking out the operations on his newest creation, Wildebeest, and making sure all the guests in line were staying hydrated and cool. Now he is gone.

Saying hi to Will in the park was like an attraction all on its own. He was the Walt Disney of our time. Holiday World has the best public relations and customer service of any park I've ever been to, and that comes straight from the top.

I saw Will's mom, Pat, outside the front entrance on Saturday and Sunday morning and to hear that she was in the exact same place on Monday morning after all this, wow, just wow.

I will greatly miss his passionate video explanations of how his rides worked. A fellow coaster enthusiast and engineer, he touched many lives. Today, I find myself asking, how can I be more like Will? How can I help as many people as he has? How can I make as many people smile as he did?

"If you hear thunder today don't worry, it's just heaven's new wooden roller coaster."

Pilgrims Plunge CAD Model

Here are a few pictures of my CAD recreation of Pilgrims Plunge, the worlds tallest water ride, at Holiday World. I am using CATIA V5 along with 3D Via. Most of the concrete work on the layout is complete and steel is starting to rise! The layout looks pretty accurate considering I have no blueprints or real dimensional values from Intamin to work from.

+1 for Holiday World, Again

A few days after posting this awesome video, Holiday World gets another +1 from me for outstanding customer service. I won a pair of tickets to the park through a radio station in Illinois (after entering a thousand contests). The tickets arrived in my mail box on Thursday and to my extreme disappointment I find out they are only good through the month of May! Well, it's already too late to plan a trip to Santa Claus for that weekend, I already have plans for Memorial weekend. Well, I decided to try and do something about it as the worst they could say is no.

First, I emailed the radio station which I won the tickets through. Sorry, can't do anything about it. Alright. Next, I emailed the park directly. I got this reply:

Congratulations on winning your tickets! Please send me your two tickets along with a copy of this email to the address listed below and I will send you a pair of tickets good through June 30^th.

Thank you! That is awesome. All I had to do was ask nicely. Holiday World has the best customer service of any amusement park that I've ever dealt with. I emailed another, much larger and well known parka question on the same day (Friday) and I STILL haven't gotten a reply from them. Another +1 for Holiday World!

Holiday World 2010

After I read the latest e-newletter from Holiday World I posted the following on several websites including Coasterbuzz, Thrillnetwork, and Coaster101. The new thread on CB is already about to 4 pages and over 500 views! The park should pay me for the advertising and buzz I am giving them. Then again, it's the least I can do after a nearly free visit back in May. Can't wait to hear what the new ride is!

I was skeptical of large new ride until I saw this in the newsletter emailed today:

"Yes, we will have a new...thing...for next year...
Our big announcement will be Thursday, August 13, at 11 am CDT...
Park president Will Koch will proudly unveil his latest plan formaking everyone smile. He's been working on this for several years and has been talking about it even longer. In fact...it's the second largest ride project in the park's history"

Second largest behind the Voyage? Now I'm thinking steel coaster. Thoughts?

New Holiday World Video Uploaded

The Season Pass

This podcast pretty much sums up everything I love about Holiday World and why I prefer it over closer, bigger parks. Take a listen.

Holiday World Trip Report

Sarah and I used the two free tickets I won to Holiday World. We ran into Will and Pat Koch (the owners) outside the entrance into the park. I think it's so cool that they take time out of their busy day (weekend no less) to talk to park guests like myself. What kind people they are indeed. Before we entered the park we dropped off our canned goods at the Feeding Families Food Drive station and we each received our five dollars in Holibucks, for a grand total of ten dollars to use in the park. This was all that we would need for food for the day. Within the first hour and a half I think we rode every major ride at least twice (which speaks both for short lines and small quantity of rides). Holiday World is one of the only parks I feel safe carrying a backpack into. Each ride has a designed area inside the station for bags and some rides, like the coasters, an employee will take your belongings and safely stow them away while you enjoy the ride worry-free. This park really does a great job of helping other people. Voyage is still my top coaster. Nothing matches its intensity for the same duration. I had to take a break after riding it just twice in a row. I did notice a spot going up the third hill where there was always a noticeable but not bad bump in the track that will hopefully be reworked. At the far end of the ride deep in the woods I couldn't help wondering every time we rode what if a deer jumped onto the tracks? Pilgrims Plunge was up and down all day and I'm not sure if that was a result of the cooler/windy/rainy weather, low crowds, or mechanical reasons (the lift was squeaking pretty badly at some points during the day). Luckily, we were able to take a ride on it. The wait was the longest for any ride that day, about twenty-five minutes (the next longest wait was for the bumper cars). The queue and loading procedure is done very smart and efficiently. Some of the railings and such still haven't been painted. The ride itself is all about the anticipation leading up to the tower and drop. Sitting in the back seat of the boat is pretty scary as you can turn your head around and there is nothing there. You can look over the side and see straight down 130 feet. The first lean towards the tower going up was not very noticeable. The second lean away from the tower was but didn't play a large a part in the ride as I thought it would. The thrill is definitely in the height and the fragile looking tower. The drop is fun and fast and before you know it the ride is over and you are soaking wet. The dive show is incredible. I couldn't even climb that eighty foot tower let alone jump off of it into a tiny puddle of water. From what I remember from a visit three years ago, the show is largely unchanged but is still great fun to watch. Where do they find those performers at? So how did we spend only thirteen cents? Free tickets, free parking, free soft drinks, water park included with admission, and $10 for food. Now the strange thing about the Holibucks was that we bought a soft pretzel for $2.50. I figured we would get Holibucks back but instead we were given real change back. We could've walked out with five dollars more than when we entered. For a total of $10.13 we bought a soft pretzel with cheese, two slices of pizza, fries, and a cookie (soft drinks are free). It would've been less than ten bucks if it weren't for taxes. We went to a much larger park by a lake last year and spent ten dollars on a drink and fries. I felt bad about not spending any money in the park as it is one of the few that I feel is worth the money. I might just have to mail them money for the tickets. At the very least they will get plenty of free, positive advertising out of me as well as a trusting, lifelong customer who is planning on visiting again for years to come. Another thing we noticed is how every guest seemed to be happy. I heard more screaming kids in the first twenty minutes at the Louisville Zoo than I did all day at HW. In fact I don't think I heard any complaining kids (although I suppose this could be a result of younger age children at the zoo). One kid did flip off the camera twice on the Voyage and was promptly banned from the ride the rest of the day. The photo booth employee gave his picture to all of the ride ops. One last thing I would like to mention. We stayed at Santa's Lodge two nights. After a long day at the park we went to relax in the hot tub. There were about five teenage girls in there with us and every single one of them was texting on their cell phones. While in the hot tub. Seriously? You can't take five minutes to relax while you are on vacation and put the phone down? I was hoping every single one of them dropped their phones and ruined them. Maybe its just me but I enjoyed not getting on the internet or worrying about checking my email all weekend. Photos and video coming soon!

Nearly free day at Holiday World

Sarah and I used the free tickets I won to Holiday World. Total amount of money spent at the park: $0.13. That's right. Thirteen cents! Full trip report as well as photos and video coming within the next week or so.

Not Anti-Cedar Point, Pro-Amusement Park

If you've read some of my blogs and comments on YouTube videos you may think that I am anti-Cedar Point. That is not the case. Far from it. I feel very fortunate to live so close to such an amazing amusement park with an outstanding collection of rides. The reason I appear biased against it is because I like to get the word out about other parks. What annoys me is when people (especially those in Ohio) say "Cedar Point is the best park in the world!" and the only reason they say that is because they've only been to two parks to begin with, Cedar Point and the Magic Kingdom. I tend to paint Cedar Point as a lesser park just to try and promote other smaller, less-known parks that are unique and offer great value. (My apologizes to Cedar Point in the meantime, if your attendance drops it's all my fault). I just want people to keep an open mind and know that there are other theme parks out there. Though they may not offer the quantity or size of rides as Cedar Point, they can be just as much fun.

Which leads me to ask this question: what makes one amusement park "better" than another? What it comes down to is how an individual defines "better." Most people would say more rides equals better (based on a large number of comments on my YouTube videos this is true) or bigger rides equals better. There is nothing wrong with that. To each his own. My definition of "better" focuses on the overall EXPERIENCE. Visiting a park where I feel like they actually care about me, my experience that day, and the value for my hard earned money are more important to me the older I get. I just want to relax and have a good time (and enjoy some fun rides too!)

In the end, an amusement park is an amusement park, a roller coaster is a roller coaster. If you ask me to go to a park or go on a ride I am not going to say no, and it doesn't even matter which one it is. My favorite ride is the last one I have been on. I am pro-amusement park.

Two Tickets to Paradise

Well, I'll be! I won two tickets to Holiday World! Entering all of those contests finally paid off. Only draw back is they can only be used in May. I desperately need a vacation.

A Class Act

Holiday World is hosting a huge food drive during the months of May and June. Called "Feeding Families Food Drive," this program will benefit families in four states. Visitors to the park who donate two or more canned food items will be given $5 in "Holibucks" to spend in the park that day. Holibucks may be used to purchase meals, snacks, games and souvenirs at Holiday World theme park and Splashin' Safari water park. The food items collected those months will be donated to food banks in Evansville, Indianapolis, Louisville and Nashville, Tennessee. "The food banks are asking primarily for shelf-stable meals and high-protein canned goods such as chicken and tuna," says Will Koch, park president. "With strong participation, we think up to 200,000 meals could be provided to families in need." The folks at Holiday World never cease to amaze me. This is astounding endeavor and great idea. I think it is a wonderful cause during these hard times and will be very helpful to many Americans. What makes it even better is that besides helping people you get rewarded for your contributions. Every ticket-holder who donates will receive $5 in Holibucks. This means if my girlfriend and I visit the park and donate four cans, we would each get five dollars to spend. At some parks (Cedar Point) that would barely buy you a soda. At Holiday that might buy us all our meals for the day as soft drinks are free and I think the last time we were there we bought one meal and split it. That is unheard of at any other park. Free drinks, free food for the day, helping other Americans in the process, and The Voyage? Just another reason why Holiday World is one of my favorite vacation destinations: they are truely a class act!

Profit-maximizing Revisited

This is a followup to one of my earlier posts, profit-maximizing an amusement park. I have recently read that at Kings Island this fall, while soft drinks are still $4 for a large and the souvenir cups are $6.99 with $1.99 refills, the park is advertising a passholder drink wristband that gives unlimited drinks for $8.99. I find this to be pretty interesting. I should also note that this past summer at SFGAdv we saw a deal where a $12.99 souvenir cup came with free refills all day. So it appears that the "big parks" are at least toying with different ways to do the "unlimited drinks for one fee" thing.

Why are the price of drinks of important? The bottom line is that soft drink sales are the backbone of many amusement park's bottom lines. Soft drink sales are almost pure profit. The soda itself comes down to mere pennies per cup, the cups are usually a few cents above that unless you get a plastic mug, and the amount of labor to pour a soda is still pretty cheap. I've heard it said one time that soft drinks are usually the profit margin for all of Disney. They pay all their expenses out of everything else and soft drinks are the extra. Expenses go up? Raise soft drink prices.

With the current economy, will we see one of the big park chains go for it and incorporate this fee into the gate and offer guests unlimited drinks à la Holiday World and others? Or at the very least will we see more parks try this unlimited drinks for a fee approach? Or maybe as an included perk of passholders rather than a passholders-only upcharge opportunity? Lots of ways to use it.


I like the wrist band idea, incorporating it into the price of a season pass and just swiping it at the concession stands instead. So what would the right price would be for bumping up the pass price? One thing to be afraid of is the sticker shock would set in pretty quickly doing this to a season pass. Most park's season passes are the price of three or four regular admissions. If a park like KI is doing unlimited drinks for $9, then the cost would probably be $30 to $40. I don't think $130 would be too much to ask for a season pass that offers unlimited drinks. Look at HW pricing and their season passes are exactly in the range. The beauty for a chain like CF is that they could still offer a platinum pass with chain-wide admission and parking, add drinks to that list and still offer it for under $200. The big chains have already started including parking with season passes and now they're offering drink deals - it can't be much longer before someone makes unlimited drinks an included perk. Again, thinking of the economic fears in general, I'd say this offseason is the time to impliment any sweeping pricing change that may become permanent. The timing for a big park to try it just seems right.

You can speculate all you'd like about how many drinks people buy, but KI is telling us - it takes $9 to make unlimited drinks work for us. The park has the numbers- they know what the drink per cap is: take drink revenue and divide it by the number of visitors and get a number that represents the average amount spent by a guest on drinks. All you have to do is round up a buck and everybody wins. The park increases revenue and the guest feels like they're getting a deal. It offers incentives to buy passes for people who otherwise might not (increased revenue) and gets a certain amount of money for drinks up front (guaranteed revenue) and very little in the park has to change (just the system for verifying passholders - if even).

It's as simple as multiplying that by the average number of visits a season pass makes - and if we assume the price of a pass compared to the gate tells us that number then we're at about 4 visits on average. Voila! $36 on a season pass and you get free unlimited drinks.

Parks are doing it. Holiday World, Lake Compunce, Magic Springs - please tell me you're not naive enough to think they aren't getting their drink money upfront. Change is scary to people. The flipside is that people adapt and forget very easily. But people seem to go happy-stupid when you say unlimited or free and, as I've mentioned, I think the timing is right with the economic fear and all for someone to take a stab at it on a bigger scale.

Here is an example: If Joe Sixpack pays 5 dollars per visit on drinks and visits six times a year, that is about $30. Sue Lugnuts pays $5 per visit on drinks and visits three times a year, which brings her amount to $15. total profit for the park at the end of the season from Joe and Sue is $45. Joe and Sue both buy season passes with an extra $25 tacked on. The total profit is $50. Voila! The park made $5 more. You may argue that Joe and Sue will drink more because it is free, but the cost of making drinks is peanuts, therefore that is a moot point. Also, by the third or fourth visit Joe and Sue have forgotten that they paid $25 extra dollars and see the park as that much more of a value. In turn they may spend more money on food, souvenirs and games.

I really like the idea of bumping up season passes even more and then including drinks as a perk. (thus pushing more passes and getting a pre-guaranteed amount of drink revenue in the process at a time when people are supposed to be afraid to spend)

Profit-maximizing an Amusement Park: Gate versus Food Price

A trip to an amusement park can be an exciting way to spend a summer day. With rising gas prices an amusement park “day-cation” is now a more popular option than ever. That’s not to say a trip to the local park is cheap. Most parks charge an admission fee for entrance, parking pass fee, deposit for rentable locker, and charge tokens to play games. The typical amusement park prohibits guests from bringing their own food into the park. Different people have different demands for food. Some people are willing to pay more for food, while others prefer to eat before going and not buy food after they enter the gates. The park sells food at concession stands, but usually charge prices twice as much as restaurants outside the park. How can the park charge outrageously high prices and not lose business? Would the amusement park gain by charging a higher or a lower price for food? The key to profit-maximizing an amusement park is to find the right balance between the price of food and admission.

Amusement parks can charge what they do for food and admission for a number of reasons. They have to pay for maintenance of the park and upkeep of the rides, employees, food, water, electricity, new rides, etc. If visiting guests want a safe, clean, open park that can add some fun rides and additions to the park every season or two, they’re the ones who are going to have to pay for it. If an amusement park lowered the price of food then people would have to wait longer between new rides which usually lead guests to start to complain about if it gets too long. Food pricing at amusement parks also need to fit in the supply and demand realm. If a park gets overcrowded then new high capacity rides need to be built in order to service all of those people. To a certain degree, the pricing helps keep the attendance on a controlled growth path while financing expansion. This will not be the same for every park. Including one or two perks like free sunscreen or parking rolled into admission works for some parks. Others make guests feel in that one visit the park is trying to squeeze every penny out of them. It’s not good for business when visitors walk out the door feeling like they've been taken advantage of as they will be less likely to return. The most successful amusement parks are the ones that find the equilibrium point between gate and food pricing.

In order to understand how an amusement park can charge high prices and still be successful another question needs to be answered: Why do so many people visit amusement parks every year? In 2006, over 335 million people visited America’s theme parks (saferparks.org). Generally, people visit parks for the rides. The rides are what the parks are selling to the customer. The ride lineup is probably the single biggest factor in the guest experience for most people through the gate. Most major cities usually only has one large amusement park within a convenient range, the issue is basically one of monopoly too. Still, the rides are the product and everything else is just details.

One of the largest regional amusement-resort operators in the world, Cedar Fair, owns and operates eleven amusement parks in North America including Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. Consistently voted “Best Amusement Park in the World” in Amusement Today polls, Cedar Point is known as the roller coaster capital of the world with a grand total of seventeen coasters, more than any other park. A one day ticket for ages 3-61, 48" and taller during the 2008 season is $42.95 (cedarpoint.com). Parking is $10 and admission to Soak City Water Park is NOT included.

Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana, is a small family-owned and operated park with just four roller coasters. The park has been voted the “World's Friendliest Park” and the “World's Cleanest Park” for five years in a row by the readers of Amusement Today magazine. A general admission one day ticket in 2008 costs $39.95, almost as much as Cedar Point (holidayworld.com). While Cedar Point has thirteen more roller coasters, Holiday World’s admission is only three dollars less. However, Holiday World’s admission includes several perks including admission to Splashin’ Safari Water Park for no additional charge, free sunscreen, free parking, and the biggie: free unlimited soft drinks. Which park is the better value for the guest and how does the profit-maximizing strategy of each park differ?

Known for some of the best amusement park rides in the world, Cedar Point is also home to some of the highest food prices in the industry. The majority of the food venues are very fast-food oriented, with limited menus, and prices geared for a semi-captive market of visitors unwilling to endure the time-consuming hassle of driving the causeway back to the city just to get a cheaper meal. At Cedar Point during the 2008 season it's $3.29 for a 16oz, $3.79 for a 22oz and $3.93 for a 32oz soda. A 20 oz bottle of coke at any Disney park is $2.00 even, a medium fountain drink is $2.19 and a large is $2.69 (allearsnet.com). A six inch Subway sub sandwich is $7 plus tax at the Point. Outside the park a foot-long Subway sub is only $5. A bottle of soda or water that can be found for a dollar in most vending machines is $3.50 at Cedar Point. Two entrees at Panda Express are $8.99 compared to the local mall price of $6.99. Refills on the $8.95 souvenir cup are $1.99 which means most guests might as well just buy the $4 drink because the break even point is four drinks, not to mention the hassle of carrying the huge cup around all day with the possibility of it being lost or stolen.

Not only is the cost of food at Cedar Point high, but the quality is just as poor. Based on a recent visit, the service at various counter locations can be described as “glacial, not friendly and pathetic.” Here’s the deal with the food: A good $2 hamburger is a good $2 hamburger. Part of the problem is that a good $2 hamburger is a LOUSY $8 hamburger. And when the park tries to sell that $2 hamburger for $10, it is going to seem even worse. And yet, if a consumer were to pay $2 for it, they would probably think it pretty darned good. That's what value is all about. The prices at Cedar Point are too high when judged in comparison to the quality of the food (with park-specific locations) and when judged against the equivalent choice outside the park (Subway example).

The good news is that even if guests are stuck in the park all day, most of the food items are optional. However, convenience is a big one. The majority of guests hate leaving a park and to go get something to eat as its time lost that could be spent riding the rides, the reason they came to the park in the first place. The whole process is bothersome: finding the way out of the park, getting the hand stamp, walking to the car, driving out of the lot, finding a place to eat, eating, driving back to the park, finding a parking space again, and walking back through the gate. In the end the majority of park guests are actually willing to accept a little more than a reasonable markup to just avoid the whole time and hassle of leaving the park for food.

How high can the prices of food go? Until the per-caps (spending per person in the park) actually drops or attendance significantly drops, there's not going to be a change. Would it be better to see the revenue made at the gate? If the park made the $43 admission ticket $50 then they could lower the price of food items inside the park by a dollar or two. The only catch is that people might just complain about the price to get in and not come in the first place.

According to the article “Cheaper to eat at the Point, too” Cedar Point actually lowered prices for the 2006 season. “The price of regular one-day admission (in 2006) is $39.95, down $5 from last year's (2005) $44.95” and a “20-ounce Pepsi soft drink was $2.75, now $2.39.” Why did the park lower prices? “Guest comments may have played some role in the decision, but so did the park's lagging attendance the past few years.” Run the math: The gate admission dropped 11%. That means an almost 13% increase in attendance is needed to make the same revenue. On top of that they dropped food prices in the park an average of 20%. Even if they make up the 11% price drop at the gate, if in-park food buying remains constant (in terms of volume, not dollars), they're down between 11% and 12% on food revenue. Still assuming the lower gate will drive attendance and knowing food dropped an average of 20% then the guest has to buy 12.5% more food (based on an average) to make up the difference. So with the price drops, just to keep the numbers the same, they need a 13% increase in attendance and on top of that need their guest to buy 12% more food. And that doesn't take into effect the increased costs of putting more people through the gate and selling more volume.

What was the result of lowering prices? Cedar Fair doesn’t release per park attendance figures but since the 2006 season the food and ticket prices have gone back up (though the admission ticket price remains below the 2005 level.) The lowered prices did not pull in enough customers to make up the difference. The park is operating on fewer visitors at a higher margin. Cedar Point would’ve been better off lowering the price of food or gate but not both. Cedar Point might as well charge high prices for food because lower food prices didn’t increase attendance to make up the difference. In Cedar Point’s case the high food prices are not hurting their business because of the demand for their rides.

Holiday World has an interesting point of view on the food pricing issue. The park made a bold and risky move when president Will Koch decided to give away “free” unlimited soft drinks, included with the price of admission. Holiday World began their free unlimited soft drinks program in 2000, the same year they opened The Legend, a new three million dollar wooden rollercoaster. That year, they raised the ticket prices by $4.00 from the previous year’s prices: $1.00 for the new ride, and $3.00 for the new unlimited soft drinks. The park built several “Pepsi Oasis” buildings with self-serve soft drink fountains. Were there guest complaints about the increase in the gate price? No. Were guests thankful for the free soft drinks? Yes.

The article “Liquid Assets for Holiday World & Splashin' Safari” contains some interesting inside information. In 1999, the year before they changed to free soft drinks, Holiday World’s annual attendance was 564,373. In 2006 the park surpassed the one million mark for the first time in their history when 1,004,788 guests passed through the turnstiles, a 78% increase in attendance in just seven years. During that period, each year set a new attendance record (with the exception of 2005). But attendance isn’t everything, attendance can’t be spent, it doesn’t exactly translate to more revenue.

The most amazing fact is on average guests have been spending more money inside the park as total per-capita spending has risen over the seven year period by 41%. Guests are spending more money on food. Total per-capita food spending has risen by 20% (according to the park “it took only until 2003 to recover the loss in food per-caps within the food service department not allocating any gate per-cap to foods”). Guests don’t feel “cheated” by the food pricing like they would at a park that charges an arm-and-a-leg for it. Also, the self-serve drink locations speed up service at food venues leading to greater capacity and more profits. The park makes money by serving more guests and by not needing the additional employees to serve beverages. The park has also found guests stay longer, as they feel more comfortable, hydrated, and less tired. When visitors stay longer in the park they spend more money and when they leave happy they are much more likely to return.

From the same article, “We intentionally keep our prices lower than most of our competitors. We believe that the irritation we cause guests does not make up for the added revenue we might receive if we charged higher prices for our food. In fact, we try to stay within 20% of the pricing at fast food chains. Thinking about the cost of a meal at Holiday World in comparison with a meal at a fast food location, our total cost may well be lower than it would be outside the park because the food prices are reasonable, and the drinks are free.”

The most important impact that the free soft drinks scheme has had on the park is in the free advertising that it generates for them. What’s the most powerful word in advertising? FREE. President Will Koch had this to say about the unlimited drinks program: “I regard it as one of the best business decisions that our company ever made. It symbolizes a number of other value messages about our park, and gives our target market something extra to talk about after their visit. This word-of-mouth advertising is more effective than TV, radio and outdoor combined. It has been a big contributor to our attendance growth. Implemented well, it could work in other parks as well as it has in ours.”

Is Holiday World’s approach better than Cedar Point’s pricing strategy? According to “Summer Fun!” the park served 380,000 gallons of free soft drinks last year (2007). Holiday World recently broke the 1,000,000 mark in attendance so for the sake of simplicity just round that down to an even one million and run the math. The result is surprising: 380,000 gallons = 48,640,000 ounces. 48,640,000 ounces divided by 1,000,000 guests = between 48 to 49 ounces per guest. That is just one and a half large drinks at a park like Cedar Point that charges almost $4.00 a cup for that large drink (32 oz). Is the average guest really drinking less than two large cups worth of soft drinks? It’s no wonder Holiday World has seen revenue grow since adding free drinks - they're only giving away an average of $6 of soft drink (at the “highway robbery” Cedar Point pricing) to each guest on average. Holiday World has found the perfect niche in terms of how to price their park as can be seen in their attendance growth and guest satisfaction (www.holidayworld.com/feedback/feedback.html).

Another small park recently converted to Holiday World’s pricing formula. Magic Springs, in Arkansas, went to free drinks and sunscreen last year. They increased the gate by $7 (now $45.99 + tax in 2008) and parking by $2 (now $9). The park is home to six roller coasters. The free drinks and sunscreen costs a family of four $30 extra (four tickets plus one parking pass). Even if drinks were $3 each - that's ten drinks. How many families of four were buying ten drinks before the change? It doesn't matter because now they're being forced to have ten drinks in order to break even.

Who does this “free” soft drink strategy benefit and who does it hurt? First off, this strategy really benefits the park. The real value that you can’t put a cost on is being able to tell people they get free drinks. This translates to free advertising because it generates a lot of interest by word-of-mouth. In terms of the guests, those who drink a lot of beverages at the parks really benefit from this type of pricing but it also really hurts the guests that don’t stay in the park very long. If an amusement park includes parking in the ticket price what happens to the people that get dropped off or take public transportation to the park? They're paying for an option they won't even use. For some guests this pricing scheme ends up costing them more, but for the park it is the best option.

Here’s an interesting experiment: Gate price of $129 - everything included (parking, drinks, three meals, free lockers, even a game or two on the house). Rolling the entire visit into admission would probably make people balk at the ticket price. To guests who stay an entire day, park their own vehicle, and make use of the lockers, this would be a great option, to others it would end up costing them much more.

There is a sweet spot between the price of food and admission that every amusement park must find in order to maximize profits. The best option for most parks in America to end up with greater profit would be to raise each admission ticket $5-7 and include drinks and sunscreen. Looking at the revenue generated by those items, parks might make a little bit less than selling those individually, but the increased customer happiness would result in more than enough additional profit spread throughout the park to make it worthwhile. Even if parks ended up making a little less per guest per visit, happy customers are much more likely to return, causing profits and attendance to grow. Rather than super sizing the drink and charging an arm and a leg for it, add a few dollars to the entry ticket and include unlimited soft drinks with nice small twelve or sixteen ounce cups. Someone who gets four free drinks in a day still has only taken forty-eight ounces of soda. If the gate price were right, the park could actually end up ahead thanks to the psychology of the cup size. Even though the opposite may be true, this type of pricing strategy makes guests feel they are getting a great value for their money. Happy guests are much more likely to spend money and make frequent return visits in which they will spend more money thus maximizing the park’s profit.

Articles Cited:

“Cheaper to eat at the Point, too.” Pointbuzz.com. April 27, 2006.


“Liquid Assets for Holiday World & Splashin' Safari.”
Park World Online. 06 February, 2007


“Summer Fun!” Boomtown Institue.10 June 2008.


Additional Sites Used:

Amusement Today Golden Ticket Awards

Cedar Point Official Website

Cedar point Food Pricing http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/kicker15L7/cedar%20point%20food/DSC03505.jgp>

Disney Food Pricing

Holiday World Official Website

International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions


Magic Springs Official Website

Roller Coaster Data Base

Safer Parks – Park Attendance