Lack of New Blockbuster Hurts Knott’s Attendance

Knott’s Berry Farm attendance fell 2% to 3.7 million last year, the Buena Park amusement park’s parent company, Cedar Fair LP, reported Wednesday.

Cedar Fair said the decrease was expected because Knott’s had no new blockbuster attraction like GhostRider, a wooden roller coaster that opened a year earlier.

Knott’s also had hoped to open a new water thrill ride, Perilous Plunge, by midsummer but couldn’t get the attraction functioning properly until late September.

“That hurt things a bit, but even so, Knott’s came in solidly in line with expectations,” Cedar Fair spokesman Brian Witherow said.

Other Southern California amusement parks fared better last year. Attendance rose at Disneyland, Universal Studios Hollywood and Six Flags Magic Mountain, and was flat at SeaWorld San Diego, according to Amusement Business, a trade publication.

Cedar Fair, a Sandusky, Ohio, partnership, owns five amusement parks, including Knott’s. It also owns four water parks that charge separate admissions, including two in California it began operating last year.

The company said the California water parks, one in Buena Park next to Knott’s and the other near San Diego, accounted for nearly half of its total water-park attendance of 1.2 million.

It didn’t provide precise attendance figures, but the company said the numbers are in line with earlier predictions by Cedar Fair Chief Executive Richard L. Kinzel that each water park would attract about 300,000 visitors.

The company’s units gained 22 cents Wednesday to close at $18.25 each on the New York Stock Exchange.