Memorial Day Business Is Up at Theme Parks

Memorial Day weekend business improved at Orange County theme parks, officials said Tuesday, with mild weather and the strong economy augmenting the allure of a revamped Tomorrowland.

Disneyland attendance for the Friday-Monday period was 8% higher than for the same Memorial Day period in 1997, and spending per visitor rose as well, park spokesman Tom Brocato said.

The increase at the Anaheim park came despite a $2 hike in ticket prices, bringing a regular one-day admission to $38 for an adult and $28 for a child.

The new Tomorrowland proved far more attractive a draw than last year’s top new attraction, Light Magic, a parade that flopped.

And the weather helped, Brocato said. “People are really sick of El Nino,” he said.

At Knott’s Berry Farm, attendance rose 8.5% over the Memorial Day weekend last year, beating the park’s projections, said Jack Falfas, the park’s general manager. The strong turnout raised hopes that attendance this summer will offset the effects of a rainy February, which held attendance down.

“This weekend was a very pleasant surprise,” Falfas said.

Knott’s spokesman Bob Ochsner said per-capita spending rose at Knott’s as well, making the holiday the best summer season opener for Knott’s since 1995, when it was heavily promoting its 75th anniversary.

Joining a national trend toward higher theme park ticket prices, Knott’s has raised the cost of admission for non-Southern Californians by $1 this year to $36 for an adult and $26 for a child.

But it left unchanged the $25 ticket price for adults from San Diego to Ventura counties. And it cut the price of admission for 3- to 11-year-old Southern Californians from $25 to $12.50 to stimulate business.

Beginning around Christmas, Knott’s began seeing increased numbers of visitors from out of the area, a trend that has intensified of late, Ochsner said.

Experts were mildly surprised by that increase, since Knott’s new owner, Cedar Fair LLP, has yet to open this summer’s new thrill attraction, the Supreme Scream, which drops riders from a 30-story tower.

But they said Knott’s clearly should benefit from a strong economy nationally that has stirred up the appeal of travel and tourism, particularly the “total immersion” entertainment that theme parks offer.

“The park operators have studies that show interest in themed entertainment is way up,” said Thor Degelmann, a principal in Leisure Entertainment Development & Operations International, a Newport Beach-based consultant to the industry.