United Parks & Resorts: US Theme Parks Industry
Theme Parks Industry Consultant
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Theme Parks Industry Consultant
The executive has advised theme park companies for over 40 years and was involved in theme parks operations before that. The executive has consulted on multiple acquisitions, park openings and strategic plans globally.
Interview Transcript
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Yes, that sounds good.
The 80s was the gelling period. We were on the launching pad and took off. By the 90s, the industry had been around for over 20 years and was starting to mature. This was when we started seeing consolidation, particularly in the mid-90s. That's when Cedar Fair and Six Flags began buying up the small family parks that were operated by second or third generations.
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Yes, that sounds good.
From the 20s onwards, we've seen significant technological advancements. The US has been the window for Europe and other markets, but particularly Europe. Right now, in America, we're a mature industry. We're over 67 years old. The top five operators are Disney, Universal, SeaWorld, Six Flags, Cedar Fair, Merlin, Parques Reunidos from Spain, Hershey, and a few others.
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Yes, I would like to revisit the evolution of the industry over the past 67 years. Specifically, I'm interested in the trends in attendance, penetration, and pricing. In the 1980s, the Bass family of Texas made a significant investment in Disney, based on the belief that Disney had untapped pricing power. This strategy proved successful. However, there is limited data available on the pricing and attendance trends for the other top four parks. Dollywood and the Hershey family have been around for a long time, but there's very little information about them. I'm curious about how attendance and pricing have evolved for the industry as a whole over the past 67 years.
Over the years, pricing has continued to rise due to a variety of factors, demonstrating a lot of elasticity. One of the key events was the investment by the Bass brothers in Disney. They were also shareholders in our company, Taft. Pricing has typically gone through cycles of about nine to ten years. We would increase prices until we hit a resistance point, where we would have to hold back for a couple of years due to customer pushback on the high costs.
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