by Allen Teal

Created on: April 09, 2009   Last Updated: April 20, 2009

It is really too soon to measure the impact of the current recession on amusement parks. Although, it will be another few months before the real effects of the recession ripple into the theme parks, the management should already have the marketing and financial plans in place to combat them. In the same way that a rising tide raises all ships, a receding tide is surely going to take them lower. Theme parks are somewhat unique in their business cycles because of seasonal impacts.

Many people buy season passes to local theme parks.

Season passes are purchased before or near the beginning of the theme park season in many areas of the nation. These tickets were already bought before the recession started to become obvious. People were not anticipating having to tighten their economic belts at the time.

With season passes already in their hands, trips to the theme parks suddenly became bargain entertainment for the family. Since many people are able to buy parking passes along with the season passes, even families with tight budgets could continue to patronize theme parks with minimal cost. The reduced season pass sales from late winter and early spring will begin to pinch the parks by late May.

Vacation packages are rarely purchased at the last minute.

Many theme parks are in desirable destinations. Families intending to go these places will buy up a vacation package that includes tickets to Disney World or other parks. Although these packages are not cheap, many of these were purchased before the economy fell of the cliff.

Because these types of packages are frequently non-refundable, families used the packages rather than lose them. In a lot of cases, a great family vacation needed only a few hundred dollars added to what was already spent. These families got to have a wonderful vacation, and the theme parks stayed filled with tourists. As the recession deepens, new vacation purchases will begin to lag previous years. If parks do not become more aggressive with package and ticket discounts, the recession will be long and painful for them.

The high cost of going to a theme park already had kept lower income families from coming.

With a daily cost of several hundred dollars for a family of 4 to attend a theme park, people at the low end of the income scale had eliminated theme park visits long ago. Their personal recession or depression removed them from the customer lists of most amusement parks. Many of the families that could afford these excursions are still employed and able to support the outings. Those who have lost their jobs will begin to drop off of the theme park rosters this year.

Final numbers on vacation package and season ticket sales will tell the story before summer arrives.

If the number of season passes and vacation packages fall below expectations by late spring, the theme parks may find themselves in some financial hardship. Most of the companies that own these parks are stable enough to weather all but a total and prolonged economic collapse.

This means some parks will be hard pressed to make a profit, but they should not have a big problem staying in business. Like sports franchises, they may find it necessary to roll back ticket prices and offer tremendous incentives to lure wary customers through their gates. They will survive and eventually thrive.

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