SFGAM had a drop in attendance?????

[Bob O]

Top 25 North American parks.... (LA Times)

http://www.latimes.com

>>1. The Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Fla., 14 million, flat

2. Disneyland, Anaheim, Calif., 12.7 million, flat

3. Epcot at Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Fla., 8.6 million, up 4 percent

4. Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Fla., 7.8 million, down 2 percent

5. Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Fla., 7.3 million, flat

6. Universal Studios at Universal Orlando, 6.8 million, flat
7. Islands of Adventure at Universal Orlando, 6 million, flat

8. Disney's California Adventures, Anaheim, Calif., 5.3 million, up 13 percent

9. SeaWorld Florida, Orlando, Fla., 5.2 million, up 4 percent

10. Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal City, Calif., 4.5 million, down 12 percent

11. Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, 4.3 million, down 4 percent

11. Adventuredome at Circus Circus, Las Vegas, 4.3 million, down 4 percent

13. SeaWorld California, San Diego, 4 million, flat

14. Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park, Calif., 3.4 million, down 4 percent

15. Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio, 3.3 million, up 3 percent
16. Paramount's Kings Island, Kings Island, Ohio, 3.2 million, up 3 percent

17. Morey's Piers, Wildwood, N.J., 3.2 million, down 5 percent

18. Six Flags Great Adventure, Jackson, N.J., 3.1 million, down 3 percent

19. Six Flags Magic Mountain, Valencia, Calif., 3 million, down 2 percent

20. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in California, 3 million, flat

21. Paramount Canada's Wonderland, Maple, Ont., 2.62 million, down 7 percent

22. Six Flags Over Texas, Arlington, Texas, 2.6 million, down 3 percent

23. Six Flags Great America, Gurnee, Ill., 2.57 million, down 5 percent

24. Hersheypark, Hershey, Pa., 2.55 million, down 3 percent

25. Busch Gardens, Williamsburg, Va., 2.5 million, down 4 percent <<

SFGAM was Number 23 for attendance which isnt surprising, but seeing that their attendance was down sure was!!!!!!!
With a new coaster addition to the park im sure they felt attendance would be up. And from my visits this year the park seemed alot busier tha n past years.
So do you believe SFGAM did have a drop in attendance??
Most parks it seemed from the list also had a down year.[/url]

[CoasterDave316]

Here's another link to the list so you don't have to sign in.
http://amusementbusiness.com

"Drop totally due to weather, officials say."
Is the reason for why it was down 5%

[SFGA 11]

Thats not suprising to me. Sure, in August- October they had alot of busy days becuase of the Jewel coupons, but in June and July there were alot of days that were very empty.

[Aero737]

As the official forum meteorologist , we had more days in July with thunderstorms than ever before. July was a pretty big wash out as was part of may and June. I recall Dave standing in line while Lake County was under a tornado warning. Crazy Stuff!

It didn't seem like there were too many upward movers on that list. Seems like most things stayed flat or fell.

Maybe you can bold out SFGAm on that list, it took me a few scans to find it.

[CoasterDave316]

I wasn't waiting in line, I was waiting outside of a line . That was a crazy day, and almost everyday I went it was either really cloudy or rainy so I believe the weather excuse.

But for other parks they claim the cold weather, rainy weather and hot weather is all a reason for the decline, isn't hot weather the weather they want?!?

[Chitown]

2.57 mil. in attendance?

I thought for sure SFGAm hit the 3 mil mark.

I don't think SFGAm includes the private outings in their attendance figures. If they do, that is even more of a shock.

On the other hand, this figure is pretty impressive considering they don't have a waterpark and they aren't all year round.

[joker]

Most people might of thought that the park was going to be super busy because of Superman. They might get more people to come next year, so those people that didnt go last year can come and wait a "longer" wait for Superman. ...If you know what I mean...

[coasterswimgurl12]

I know they had a few tornado watch days. me and my dad came driving up to the park the one day and as we approached the ticket booth no one was in there so we just went right in, and when we got to Raging Bull we walked right on and the ride op told us we just missed an evac. of every ride and all the employees were in there little safezone. Pretty funny though, but I also believe the weather thing, because a lot of the days I went it was raining or lightning and most of the rides were closed...ex. Mothers' Day.

[da rcman2001]

I'm surprised by that list. I thought we at least beat sfgadv in attendence, and I thought the park was WAY more crouded this year than last. I remember being able to get back in line on rides over and over again 2 and 3 years ago. The only attendence drop I noticed was rb's line being quite empty.

[SFGA 11]

Yeah, at the begining of the season Raging Bulls queue was quite empty. But, in July it started to get longer. In Fright Fest it was using both queue houses, and it went all the way back to The Lucky Shot Shoting Gallery. It was crazy!

[da rcman2001]

Yea fright frest was EXTREMELY crounded.

[SfGaMownz]

Fright Fest is always extremely crowded.

[coasterswimgurl12]

Fright Fest wasn't that crowded last year! this year it was impossible to walk through Necropolis on some days! I seemed like it was overcrowded on some days too.

[zjohn1988]

[da rcman2001]

What is full capacity anyways? Isn't it well over 10,000? Don't descriminate if I'm wring lol I've never known the limit.

[Bob O]

Every year you get good and bad weather and the past year was no different then any other.
I think before SFGAM can expect attendance increases they have to make the park much more family/kid friendly which they have been unwilling to do.

[holydumb26]

I have heard that compacity was 40,000 by fire code I think. Correct me if Iam wrong. Saturday October 18th I know the attendance was 38000 which is alot of people

http://groups.msn.com/kylecoasterworld/ ... otoID=3173

Thats just a taste of what that day was like.There were alot of other days like that during the season but that was the worst day out of my 48 visits all season. We still had fun but it was busy. Yeah also there were lots and lots of days that it rained/t-stormed/tornado watch/warning. This season was awesome but werid.

[da rcman2001]

i cant believe there can an estimated average of 30000 people in the park every day of operation, and still only have a 2.57 million attendence figure.

[Carlo]

Remember 2.57 Million is not a figure from SFGAM. This is an educated guess from Amusement Business. Six Flags does not release attendance figures.

[da rcman2001]

If those are estimates, I think they are wrong. There is no way we had a drop this year, and I think we get a higher attendence rate tan gadv. they probibly get more because of the water park, but every time I have been there, it was empty. I went the day before the 4th of july, and it wasn't crowded at all on good wheather.

[greatamerica2003]

The park rarely fills to capacity. It never happened this year. Capacity is 40,000. Back in the 80's the park used to fill up almost every day, and that was before Southwest Territory.

Were lucky if we see a 20,000 day twice in a season. It just isn't busy anymore. Several times this year the park was way over budget because the projections for the day were too high.

[da rcman2001]

I cant believe it used to be that crouded. I can picture that in the mid 1990s, but not 80s. How did anyone get on any rides?

[greatamerica2003]

Well it was that crowded on a regular basis. When talking with my maintenance guys they used to tell me stories on how they had to push through crowds in the midways when going to fix a broken ride.

[usdjock01]

I'd say that the attendance dropping due to the weather is perfectly accurate. I went a couple times when there were shower warnings and there was no one there, also a lot of times it started raining (not pouring or anything just a light rain) and almost 75% of the people in the park left.