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Jan 15, 2015
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The worldwide attendance figures for 2014 have been released. Here's the Report. Let's start with the good news for SEAS: the bleeding has stopped in some parks, chiefly the ones associated with the Busch Gardens brand. The results include:

Busch Gardens Tampa: +1.0%
Aquatica Orlando: +1.0%
Adventure Island: +0.9%
Water Country USA: Even
Busch Gardens Williamsburg: -1.0%

Okay, so things could be better, especially with that last line item, but this is still an improvement compared to last year. Plus, BGW did at least retain its spot in the North American top 20. You can see light at the end of the tunnel for these parks, and things can always be worse. How much worse, you ask?

SeaWorld Florida: -8.0% 5,090,000 --> 4,683,000
SeaWorld California: -12.0% 4,311,000 --> 3,794,000


That bad! I don't know what to say. I was skeptical of the Blackfish effect myself, but if SeaWorld attendance plummets when other similarly mismanaged parks are unaffected (including the waterpark next door), that seems to say something about how the public perceives that brand. Let's hope the new CEO can turn this around, because the challenge appears pretty huge.
 
I never know what attendance numbers really mean. How does an increase or decrease actually affect revenues and their bottom line? (That was a rhetorical question.)

My impression is that in a vacuum this statistic does nothing but obfuscate the actual health of the parks.
 
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Time to update my yearly attendance charts for BGW.

First off, total estimated attendance per year alongside that year's prevalent additions:

  • 2014: 2,699,000 [-1%] (London Rocks, Star Spangled Nights)
  • 2013: 2,726,000 [-4.5%] (Food & Wine Festival)
  • 2012: 2,854,000 [+4%] (Verbolten, Entwined)
  • 2011: 2,744,000 [-2%] (Mach Tower, Mix it Up)
  • 2010: 2,800,000 [-3.4%] (Europe in the Air, IllumiNights, Celtic Fyre)
  • 2009: 2,900,000 [-6.2%] (Sesame Street Forest of Fun, Christmas Town)
  • 2008:3,094,000 [-2%]
  • 2007: 3,157,000 [+12.5%] (Griffon, Jamestown's 400th Anniversary)
  • 2006: 2,762,000

Secondly, estimated average attendance per day:

  • 2014: 14,205 [-1.5%] (190 Operating Days)
  • 2013: 14,423 [-7%] (189 Operating Days)
  • 2012: 15,511 [+2.9%] (184 Operating Days)
  • 2011: 15,077 [-2%] (182 Operating Days)
  • 2010: 15,385 [-3.4%] (182 Operating Days)
  • 2009: 15,934 [-17.1%] (182 Operating Days)
  • 2008: 19,217 [-0.2%] (161 Operating Days)
  • 2007: 19,250 [+15%] (164 Operating Days)
  • 2006: 16,739 (165 Operating Days)
 
Thanks for your attendance summary, Zachary! When I first looked at the chart, I saw that the years in the green were associated with major coasters, and that the years without were in the red -- it's really easy to jump to conclusions regarding what the park should do in the future! But it's worth noting that both CT AND F&WF were introduced in REALLY low attendance years, despite the fact that those are considered huge successes by the park!

Really interesting stuff to consider...
 
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Pucky said:
The worldwide attendance figures for 2014 have been released. Here's the Report. Let's start with the good news for SEAS: the bleeding has stopped in some parks, chiefly the ones associated with the Busch Gardens brand. The results include:

Busch Gardens Tampa: +1.0%
Aquatica Orlando: +1.0%
Adventure Island: +0.9%
Water Country USA: Even
Busch Gardens Williamsburg: -1.0%

Okay, so things could be better, especially with that last line item, but this is still an improvement compared to last year. Plus, BGW did at least retain its spot in the North American top 20. You can see light at the end of the tunnel for these parks, and things can always be worse. How much worse, you ask?

SeaWorld Florida: -8.0% 5,090,000 --> 4,683,000
SeaWorld California: -12.0% 4,311,000 --> 3,794,000


That bad! I don't know what to say. I was skeptical of the Blackfish effect myself, but if SeaWorld attendance plummets when other similarly mismanaged parks are unaffected (including the waterpark next door), that seems to say something about how the public perceives that brand. Let's hope the new CEO can turn this around, because the challenge appears pretty huge.

What about SeaWorld San Antonio, the other two Aquaticas, Discovery Cove, and Sesame Place?
 
JBusch16 said:
What about SeaWorld San Antonio, the other two Aquaticas, Discovery Cove, and Sesame Place?

TEA/AECOM releases estimates for the top twenty most visited Amusement and Water Parks in America. The parks Pucky Mentioned are the only ones from SEASon that list, with BGW just barely making the Amusement park estimates at 20th place. Therefore, estimates for the parks you just mentioned are/were not released publicly.
 
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