by John C Smith

Created on: April 07, 2009   Last Updated: April 08, 2009

It is hard for us here in the North East to see the real impact of the recession on amusement parks yet. The season for such things has not arrived yet, at least not in the North East . However the theme parks near our home town like Six Flags and The Great Escape have already started their advertising blitz, and based on the early advertisements they are showing deep discounts on ticket prices and parking. I do not remember the last time they started to advertise this early, just today we had another winter storm warning and woke up to snow showers.

As a Family that goes to these amusement parks at least twice a year we are watching very closely to see what types of discounts they offer. We have three children and no matter how much we pre-game it, bringing our own lunches and drinks to eat in the parking lot both before entering and for lunch. The costs of such things like games and snacks are very high. It could cost a family of five like mine an average of $250.00 above the price of entrance into the park to spend an entire day there. In all for us to go to The Great Escape we could spend close to $500.00. That is just not an amount that we can afford this year. In order for theme parks to attract customers in these hard economical times they are going to have to give deep discounts, so this might be a good year for a family to go to the amusement parks. It may benefit the families that live closer to the parks then those who do not.

Amusement parks around the country will suffer the same way most every other industry is and will in the coming months, but in the end they will be just as they have always been a better and cheaper alternative to the cross country trips and the cruise line vacations. The bigger the discount the more customers they will attract and if the seasons do not go as planned they will give bigger discounts and look to make a smaller profit this year in hopes the economy bounces back next year. The affect of the recession on amusement parks in my opinion will be two fold, for one they will hire less and ask more of those people, they are already offering less in wages then in years past. There will be less live entertainment, big name entertainment any way, there will be more of a local flavor in that area.

I decided to call The Great Escape which is the closest the closest amusement park to me, and spoke to a very nice man who told me "We are ready to have a very good year" They feel that more local families will visit their park this year then in years past due to the economy. He also hinted that the park may be forced to close earlier this year and that on most days the park will not be running at 100% due to lack of money to hire the adequate number of people needed to run each ride and/or section of the park everyday. In the North East amusement parks rely on Late spring and summer to generate as much money as they can, most if not all are forced to close their doors right around October due to the changes in the seasons, they however must still pay the up keep and any other bills for the park throughout the year.

We will not see the effects this summer but look for many to shutter their doors or merge with others before the start of the next season. In the future theme parks will become scarce and go by way of the Bowling Ally. There used to be a bowling ally every three miles, today there is not even one in my town. The real impact of the recession on amusement parks will be felt in more ways then one, but the biggest impact might not be the worst. The recession just might bring more families closer and show them that there are plenty of places and things to do and see right in their own back yards.

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