Since everyone always asks, I thought it would be a good idea to start a topic to report crowd levels after visits.
On the same subjects, how are the crowds this year? I've heard they're way up. It seems like every weekend people are reporting big crowds.
For the most part, weather has agreed with the park, this year. As I recall, last year, in addition to a major ice storm, torrents of rain fell on many weekends (Remember how long we waited as they postponed the parking project due to weather.). I think this may have contributed to smaller crowds for many weekends in '08. I also remember being there with the largest crowd in park history, last Christmas season.
I really believe the weather is probably the primary drive in crowd fluctuations and not the economy. Poverty studies consistently produce data that shows entertainment is more and more important to families who can't afford necessities. No need to get into details, but I wonder if HFE is aware of this fact or if they simply react to the economic situation. It's a tricky game to master.
While walking into the Peter Gossamer magic show, I saw an usher using a clicker counter thingey. Do they have to keep track of the crowds so he doesn't lose his big ego or something? Never saw that before... (BTW, the show was really bad. Sitting on stage right, you see how they do all their tricks.)
I bet Cedric Benoit doesn't do that!
I've seen the clicker used for many shows- what amount of people does it take to be near capacity?
The clickers are to make sure they don't get the max number of people into the theaters. They do it on the cave tour also. The park has been fairly busy each time I've been this year.
I wish that the large number of people in the park had something to do with how fast the hole in Tom Salyers landing was filled. It seems that the low number of people had something to do with that hole never being filled in the first place.
I still say that cost over runs and delays on the new parking lots is what caused the delay with the new ride (same song and dance over at Dollywood)
we use the clicker at the cave because we can only take 60 people on each tour and well.. have you ever tried counting to 60 when people want to say hello? lol clicker keeps us on track..
i imagine its the same type of thing at the theater buildings... fire code and all... only a certain number are allowed in.
Not to mention, in the cave it's important to take the same number out that you took in.
Quote from: KBCraig on July 16, 2009, 08:12:43 PM
Not to mention, in the cave it's important to take the same number out that you took in.
Actually not as important as you would think.
Sometimes you can make better tips if a different number comes out...
Pretty good crowds today. The park wasn't packed by any means, but during the middle of the day the lines for PK stretched down the hill, FITH filled it's switchbacks, and Wildfire actually filled a few switchbacks with two-train operations.
Has anyone heard any news regarding attendance figures at the park this year? Just curious to see if attendance is up, down or flat at this point in the season compared to the same time period last year.
Yeah, I'm curious, too, 'cause from all the trip reports I've read and the one day I was there, it LOOKS like the attendance is up from last year, but a hard number would be good to see.
Joy
Looks like the cheap ticker promotions will help in this reguard- just hope they had memories worth creating.
Well next time you are at the park and want to know what the attendance was for the day, go up to a register and ask, most of them can pull up the numbers for the day.
When I stayed the wilderness last christmas they called an extension that had the projection and actual number- which I knew that extension number ;D
I realize you can ask what the attendance was for a particular day at the park. I have done that several times myself. I am more curious about the cumulative attendance figure year to date as it compares to the previous few years. Is the total number up, down or flat? If the cumulative number is up, as many on this site have hinted at, what are the factors driving that? We know it's not the new ride SDC rolled out for 2009. What impact has the closing of Celebration City had on SDC's numbers? Is the economy keeping more people closer to home? Are lower gas prices (compared to last year) allowing season pass holders to make more trips to Branson? Just wondering out loud.
Last time I asked it was flat to just barely up. While the weekend crowds have been up, it has still be rather slow mid-week.
^That's too bad, I was hoping they were doing well, but as they haven't added anything in 2 years, I guess flat attendance is pretty good. I mean, their competitors have both added coasters recently, and they're both enjoying increased attendance from what I've heard.
WOF is way up. SFStL is up as well.
However both of those parks are enjoying the fact that the locals are "re-discovering" the parks after a long absence due to the fact they used to go on BIG trips away from the area, whereas now they just go to the local park instead because of the "economy" (GD that excuse is getting old)
It's UP!
^good. The last time I asked was late June, so I guess July was a good month for them.
I do not know about Worlds of Fun, Six Flags is giving huge discounts. Six Flags may be up in guest count but it is hard to believe they would be up in cash flow.
I will say this. We bring the kids and grandchildren to Branson to get away. The fact is it cost a great deal more to go to White Water and SDC. It may be something that they need to think about next summer. When we were in Branson three weeks ago it seemed to me like the town looked down. Grass not cut, building empty, not busy at all.
WOF has discounts, but does not give the gate away like Six Flags.
Quote from: Copper on August 07, 2009, 12:33:34 AM
It's UP!
According to the recent press release in Branson Daily it is down 3% from last year, so I guess it had not changed much from the last time I asked after all.
^That report was from some time ago though. Apparently MM gave them a good boost.
My question about that though, was how many of them were the "free tickets"
Did anyone make it to Summer Ride Days this week? Just curious about how the crowds were since they added these dates to the calendar somewhat late.
We're getting ready to make our first fall trip to SDC in a couple of weeks...can anybody tell me what we might expect as far as crowds in the park and in town? (We'll be in town the weekend after Labor Day...)
You should be fine the weekend after Labor Day. That's opening weekend for Mizzou football so most of the state will be in Columbia. I want to say OU, OState, kU and Arkansas all have home games that weekend too so it will probably be rather quiet.
With that being said you might have a few tour busses still show up, but they'll be there for the shows and not the rides.
In the fall we always try to avoid the weekends. Thursday seems to be one of the best days. Saturdays get to be a little crowded in the afternoon. Our kids like when we go in the fall. They get to get out of school for a coupon days. Spend the weekend on the lake sometimes still get in a little swimming.
What they really like is the crowd level is down for the the rides on Thursdays and Fridays.
Nothing like apple dumpling with cinn ice cream.
QuoteDid anyone make it to Summer Ride Days this week? Just curious about how the crowds were since they added these dates to the calendar somewhat late.
Monday and Tuesday were semi-busy. After that most of the area schools were back in session so Wednesday and Thursday were not busy at all!
Was there first thing Sunday morning 8/30. Crowd was okay but neither morning show we attended was full (Red Gold Heritage Hall and Riverfront Playhouse). Was easy to walk through the park on our way out in the early afternoon.
Crowds were not as large as I thought (feared) they would be this past Labor Day weekend. During the morning hours we pretty much walked on every ride. I think a lot of people maybe didn't realize the park opened early Saturday and Sunday. I saw the Barn Swing run once with one person on it. The folks who arrived early sunday went to the special church service as it had a nice crowd. Crowds did pick up in the afternoon. All the gospel shows were filled up. Everyone seemed to really enjoy them.
Saturday 9/12 saw a crowd of about 9,000
Great day to be in the city, not too hot and the rain stayed away all day.
Had a blast, today, the weather was perfect! The crowds seemed to flow pretty good (No waiting for Wild Fire & Thunderation), I think the restaurants had the longest lines. Met Stella Stevens, Buck Taylor, and visited with many of the craft people, including the Sanders (corn shuck), and many others. ;D
A newspaper article today has attendance details on several HFE properties. SDC has 1.4 million visitors so far this year, which is flat compared to last year. They see that as a "good thing". However, WW has had a tough year, with 1/3 of their operating days being affected by the weather. When it was sunny and hot, WW was very crowded. Overall, WW's attendance was down 17 percent! Showboat Branson Belle actually had increased attendance this year compared to last. Check out the full article here: http://www.bransondailynews.com/story.php?storyID=13418 (http://www.bransondailynews.com/story.php?storyID=13418)
Better than you'd expect considering there's nothing new to come back to at either. Shows how well-rounded the park is that it can simply lie back and pretty much rely on repeat visitors for a few years.
I guess that may be true - as long as profits are still flat too. If costs are up and profits are flat, that's not exactly success.
Only had 8000 people in the park today.
Earlier this week they had a 1200 day.