Most of these closures are 100% attendance related. They have done it so much that they have now chased away their customers on these less than ideal days.
They should just not open at all if there is rain forecast at this point. Their reputation is destroyed already. KD is a low attendance park. They don’t get major attractions anymore. They have dug this ditch themselves.
I have been burnt by this park multiple times after traveling. I won’t be going back much. Especially with their short hours.
What a shame a park with so much potential in prime location is run like this. Pinching pennies ends up costing dollars at the gate.
Do you have any data to back any of these claims?
How do you know what percentage of early closures are a result of attendance versus weather? I think there is a fair likelihood that low attendance is very often the result of current or forecasted weather. So, the two issues are probably inextricably linked. If people don’t visit the park, because of temperatures or rain, or if people leave
en masse because of storms or tornadoes, is the park closing for weather or attendance?
I certainly hope the park values the safety of its guests and staff above remaining open in dangerous weather conditions, regardless.
Additionally, as a business I’m not sure they should stay open, when the number of people in the park becomes too low to justify the expense of paying staff and running rides/stores/restaurants/etc. Does it suck? Sure. But irresponsible business decisions are a direct path to a degraded park experience in the long run. I’m not saying that they should close when there aren’t huge crowds. I’m defending the logic of shutting down, when weather (or whatever) has driven most guests away.
I‘m sorry you have had some bad experiences, but I’m not sure how they lead you to believe: “Their reputation is destroyed already. KD is a low attendance park. They don’t get major attractions anymore. They have dug this ditch themselves.”
They are literally in the process of a major area retheme, and my understanding is that there will be a replacement for Volcano relatively soon. Do you have some evidence that they reputation is getting worse? Do you have statistics on their daily attendance levels? On what are you basing any of these accusations?
As has already been suggested, if you are traveling from a long distance, maybe you shouldn’t pick days when there is a predictable threat of weather closures.