With amusement park set to rebound, take a trip consultants share journey ideas

The Covid pandemic made the past 14 months an actual roller rollercoaster of a flight for both amusement park and their fans.

Parks closed down or didn’t open at all last spring, and although some did resume by summer season, it was with rigorous capability limitations and strict health and wellness steps that delayed some consumers and certainly dented the enjoyable aspect for others.

Here’s a take a look at how things are forming up in 2021 for this part of the travel and tourist sector, and how potential visitors can make the most out an amusement park getaway as the pandemic unwind.

Pre-pandemic, things had actually been working out for the sector. The top 20 North American amusement park drew 159,108,000 visitors in 2019, 1% more than the year prior to, according to the 2019 TEA/AECOM Theme Index and Museum Index.

To draw a lot more visitors, park operators were rolling revenues back into much-hyped, big-budget brand-new destinations like the Jurassic World Velocicoaster at Universal Orlando Resort’s Islands of Adventure in Florida and the Marvel-themed Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim.

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People have not forgotten those launchings remained in the pipeline.

“A lot of families are opting into going to theme parks this year,” stated Trish Smith, a Kansas City, Missouri-based travel consultant connected with the InteleTravel network of home-based representatives. “I’ve really had more reservations at this moment this year than I carried out in 2019.

“There are many brand-new destinations coming that a great deal of individuals resemble, ‘Yeah, I do not wish to lose out on that, and I wish to be the very first,'” she included.

Demand is specifically bottled-up in California, where parks didn’t resume till this April.

In truth, Michael Erstad, senior expert, customer for research study company M Science, stated amusement park might see a go back to previous participation levels as quickly as next year. “I definitely believe it’s a possibility,” he said. “It will all depend how things choose the infection for the remainder of the year.

“I would not count [a rebound] out.”

Consumer information insights company Cardify has actually discovered, unsurprisingly, that amusement park saw a huge drop in customer costs in 2015 however “were able to recover a bit” by last summer season by resuming with capability limitations. Now that cities and states are unwinding pandemic limitations, parks are seeing what Cardify terms the “silver lining” for park operators — a brand-new “sharp increase” in costs.

Cardify likewise discovered in a study of 1,044 customers that 72% are thrilled to go back to theme park after the pandemic, more so than theater (68%) or bars and clubs (67%). Only in-person shows (79%) and sporting occasions (74%) are more excitedly waited for.

Theme parks “are in a much better spot” relative to movie theaters, cruises, flight, hotels and other home entertainment alternatives, stated Erstad at M Science.

As at ski resorts, at amusement park “a lot of the experience is outdoors,” he stated, and for that reason less dangerous in regards to direct exposure. “You do queue up for rides, but over the last year they’ve made enhancements to improve the purchasing decisions for food and beverage so you do a lot of things electronically.”

So, where are thrill-seekers headed?

There are basically 2 amusement park markets in the U.S., although there is some crossover in between them. Large location parks — such as Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando Resort and SeaWorld Orlando, clustered together in main Florida — draw both domestic and global visitors for longer holidays, while local parks, in some cases smaller sized and less greatly themed, bring in more of a drive-in, day tripper market from close-by locations.

Examples of the latter kind of park would consist of the 27 style and water park residential or commercial properties run in North America by Grand Prairie, Texas-based Six Flags Entertainment Corp. Some smaller sized yet extremely amusement park, such as Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, straddle the line in between the 2 classifications.

(Interestingly, Disneyland boasts a worldwide location park profile however efficiently runs as a local park, drawing most visitors from its regional southern California market. That stated, the park — presently limited to Californians — resumes to all visitors completely on June 15.)

Consumer costs at Orlando parks has actually been recuperating from in 2015’s crash for months, with out-of-state visitors opening their wallets more than Florida citizens, Erstad described.

“I believe it is a healthy indication for Disney and the destination-focused operators, in addition to general customer appeal for amusement park in basic this summer season, [and] a sign of customers looking for this kind of [mostly outdoor] home entertainment,” he stated.

Florida’s been amongst the least limiting states when it concerns pandemic-related policy, and Orlando location Disney, Universal and SeaWorld parks have actually all been open because last July. Temporary interstate travel limitations and quarantine requirements tamped down on long-distance need for a couple of months however were ultimately reduced by year-end.

While interest in Disney’s Orlando parks is strong, “journey near to house will be incredibly popular this summer season for local amusement park like [Cedar Fair’s] Kings Dominion [and] Cedar Point, Six Flags, Sesame Place, Busch Gardens and Dollywood,” stated Carolyn Moody, an InteleTravel consultant in Durham, North Carolina.

The jury’s really still out on how local parks will fare, with an absence of genuine information for climate-related and business factors at some locations, Erstad stated.

Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., for instance, took 4 of its 11 amusement park in the U.S. and Canada entirely offline for the majority of 2020, even in jurisdictions that permitted minimal opening with limited capability, and cut the operating season brief in the rest. It had simply 487 overall operating days in 2020, compared to 2,224 in 2019.

“Cedar Fair has taken more of a conservative approach to things; they were the first to announce they’d honor 2020 pass holders into 20201 and took a cognizant decision to take a more cautious approach,” Erstad stated. “It’s a little too early to look at some of your colder weather parks, although we’ve been seeing pretty healthy demand at the parks that are open.”

This year, Sandusky, Ohio-based Cedar Fair intends on opening all its U.S. parks — such as Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Point, California, and Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina — by Memorial Day, although Canada’s Wonderland, outside Toronto, Ontario, will stay closed. The business prepares to debut destinations initially prepared for 2020 and to invest an extra $100 million on brand-new upgrades this year, stated president and CEO Richard A. Zimmerman, in a May 5 declaration, in anticipation of “strong pent-up consumer demand for closer-to-home, outdoor entertainment, particularly in the year’s second half.”

“We are pleased with the early leading indicators we have seen thus far, and our 2021 operating strategy is focused on maximizing performance during our seasonally weighted second half of the year,” he included. “With our park openings right around the corner, we are once again seeing a lift in season pass sales.”

Erstad, on the other hand, indicated Six Flags Great Adventure & Safari in Jackson, New Jersey, as a local park that opened early in the pandemic and did “extremely well last summer.”

“That was just attributable to the fact they have the safari attraction, where you can be in your car with your family and socially distant from others,” he kept in mind.

The park, near New York City and Philadelphia, resumed its safari last May 30 to motorists with bookings, and after that resumed its amusement park part at 25% capability on July 3. The great reaction indicate a great deal of “pent-up demand,” Erstad stated.

Parks like those of Cedar Fair’s that weren’t open at all in 2015 might see a preliminary spurt of check outs however “I don’t know that they’re going to see a surge in demand the way Disney and some of the other larger parks have experienced,” stated Summer Hull, director of travel material at site The Points Guy.

“But I think that for some of the people who typically enjoy going to those spots, this may be the summer they do get back to them,” she included.

So, if you’ve chosen to check out an amusement park, what ideas do take a trip consultants have?

Moody, a Disney expert, stated households thinking about amusement park this year need to speak with a travel consultant, “who can update clients on the latest CDC regulations, answer any questions, find the best deals, book everything from start to finish. and be a single point of contact throughout your trip.”

She likewise suggests scheduling travel as early as possible, going to parks early or late in the day to prevent crowds, purchasing tickets and keeping in mind to make any needed entry bookings, too.

Smith likewise worried that last point. While Universal Orlando never ever needed bookings and Six Flags ditched them at its parks nationwide this month, visitors to Walt Disney World parks still require them — as does anybody going to any of the recently resumed amusement park in California.

“Even if you buy the ticket, you’re not guaranteed to get into the park that you want to go to, because that park may be booked up with reservations,” she stated.

Once in the park, follow any guidelines on masking and social distancing still in location — the circumstance is fluid and can alter quickly — however do not fret excessive. There have actually not been any reports of Orlando-location parks ending up being Covid hotspots because resuming.

“The theme parks have done a great job of keeping people safe,” stated Smith. “Even with more people being vaccinated, they’re still taking safety into account …so I don’t think there’s going to be a big uptick in cases or anything.”

The Points Guy’s Hull has actually been to Walt Disney World 3 times because it resumed and stated “it’s been a blast.”

“It’s largely outdoors and they’ve done a great job of making it feel fun and at the same time safe in your own little ‘Disney bubble,'” she stated.

Also be open to alter. “That’s the biggest thing,” Smith stated. “Don’t have any plans set in concrete; you’ve got to be a little flexible right now.”

Hull concurred and stated amusement park visitors who do their research will have a good time this summer season. “But those who assume it’s just business as usual are going to have a few surprises awaiting them,” she stated, keeping in mind that numerous parts of bigger location parks — from hotels to dining establishments to flights — are still not online or operating at typical capabilities.

“You’ve got to line some stuff up in a way you might not have before and still go in with tempered expectations for things around dining, housekeeping and other elements that are still sort of pandemic-era and haven’t gotten back to normal yet.”

 (Disclosure: CNBC and Universal Parks & Resorts are both subsidiaries of NBCUniversal, owned by moms and dad Comcast.)