I was a late bloomer to the thrill ride genre. Kings Island, in northern Cincinnati, is my “home” park- as a matter of fact I can see their nightly fireworks from my driveway today. Their legendary roller coaster, “the Beast” has been thrilling guests nonstop since 1979. My first time riding it didn’t happen until 1996 when I was 23. As thrilling as the roller coaster is, to accentuate it: it was a cool October night… in the fog. That was as thrilling as it got. Stomach churning anticipation of the Beast in the absolute perfect setting.
I have the same feeling the first time riding a new roller coaster of any magnitude the first time. The problem with these multi-million $ monsters is that the thrill is temporary. Not every park has the funding of a Disney or Universal to spend millions to theme a story and immerse you to the thrill. I’m glad Disney and Universal do- because they are an incredible experience, which explains why a “Space Mountain”- technologically outdated by any theme park standard will have a 90–minute wait on any given day- you’re “in” that story.
A new “thrill” will bring seekers to come check it out- but a genuine experience that immerses will keep them coming back in time after time. You want to attract a crowd, just light your self on fire and people will come to watch you burn… if there isn’t something worthwhile for them to experience beyond that, they’ll leave.
Consider a small FEC wanting to improve the guest experience for younger families that came that has an indoor arcade/food component with an outdoor portion that had a mini golf area, some batting cages, and some small children’s rides- including a “kiddy coaster” operational but falling into disrepair to the point of considering removing it in favor of grass and picnic benches.
A kiddy coaster is a “thrill” to kids the first one or two times riding it but the extraordinary becomes ordinary over time and now only had a handful of riders per hour, usually on a half-empty train. What if they didn’t remove it and spent $30-35,000 to give it a story and an experience- how many riders additional riders per day would they need to cash flow that investment in the first year?
On average, the coaster had 200-215 potential operating days and cost $2 per ticket. They were open 10-10 most days but had a 3 hour morning window and 3 hour evening window when the most young families would come. So, if you can follow this rudimentary path…
- 200 operating days
- 6 optimal hours to market the ride
- $2 tickets
- Budget: $35,000
The goal was how many extra riders paying “full price” were needed per hour to cash flow investment in the first season?
- 17,500 new riders in 200 operating days.
- That is 88 new riders a day
- Or… 15 new riders per hour in the 6 hour “sweet spot”
- Or, really, 7-10 new riders per hour during operational hours.
Is that achievable?
Project Suggestion:
- First, fix EVERYTHING wrong with it… even the minor things. Ripped upholstery, cracks… ALL
- Repaint train and track
- Give it a “story” and theme after it.
- Add a little “pond” with a fountain in the middle.
- Add a small tunnel with a fog machine to add “thrill” component
- Add lighting to attract night ridership
- Change theme to match season…
Result:
Project came in under budget (I don’t remember exactly). They created a story and theme, trained employees to be “in character” for the ride, and changed it slightly for each season. Some of the thematic elements they added- fog and lighting, assured that no two rides had an identical experience. And for more “novice” riders, certain elements weren’t on (ie- fog machine).
Removal was considered, but they considered the question of “what it” and invested to create a “memorable” experience. Financially-speaking an ordinary, mundane ride that at one time was a thrill for some had been subsidized operationally by the FEC and was just part of the fabric. After the first season the new coaster had generated an average of 14 new riders per hour (using all 12 daily operational hours)- which doesn’t sound like much but consider the relative size of the organization and the <$35,000 investment/risk they made:
- Approx: $336 more each day
- Approx: $67,000+ over 200 operating days- almost double their investment
The coaster started out as a “thrill” but by asking a question and taking a risk- it became an “experience.”
There’s much more to this story but for the sake of keeping this to an blog entry as opposed to a full on book report- much was cut out.
