Amusement Park Rides – Over the last few years, amusement parks around the country have suffered quite a bit – just as other themed entertainment venues have suffered. People just haven’t been in a place where they can afford to go to these places or even feel like going, what with all the bad economic news that the country has been living through. With the way things have been looking up recently though, people have begun showing an interest in the thrilling amusement park rides that they’ve grown up with all over again. Many amusement parks, in 2010, happily reported better attendance; the weather was better and people felt better about outdoor activities; and families with marginally improved financial circumstances began to venture out to places close to home where they might have a good time. This year, with record gas prices, amusement parks are again optimistic; they feel that people are not going to be willing to drive far for some family activity this year; they feel that rather than go all the way to Disney, they’ll venture to entertaining regional amusement parks.
Parks operating amusement park rides were always thought to be the kind of attraction that was recession-proof.
People thought that with daily tickets being as cheapest $35 in these places, the full day of fun that they offered would never go out of style. But they were wrong. Starting 2008, most of the large amusement parks around the country reported plummeting revenues. Some of the newer parks were so caught by surprise by the lack of business that they had to declare bankruptcy – being unable to pay off the loans that they had taken to fund the building of their parks. Over the last holiday season though, the major amusement park companies have reported increased attendance. People are even spending more money on souvenirs and food – and that’s a good sign. It shows people are really loosening up. The largest business house to run amusement park rides in the country is Disney. And they’ve had some pretty good figures to show for their California Park; they lost out in Florida though; the Harry Potter attraction at Universal Orlando got all the new visitors.
The amusement park rides that attract the most people today are the family oriented ones today.
Parks are adding things like water rides for families of four. Roller coasters and other thrill rides that usually attract teens are taking a backseat. That’s not where the money is today. And anyway, the thrill rides are usually cheaper to install. Amusement parks still haven’t forgotten how difficult things have been; they’re being careful about how they spend their cash.
One man’s meat is … you know. High gasoline prices may be killing the tourism industry around the country; for amusement parks though, they’ve been the biggest shot in the arm they could have asked for.