Southland Theme Parks Betting on Big Holiday Crowds

This could be a jolly holiday for Southern California theme parks.

Already, Walt Disney Co. is betting on strong attendance over the holidays and has begun pushing the price of some tickets higher, a sign that the days of unprecedented discounting to get people into its parks since Sept. 11 may finally be over.

The company last week raised the prices of its annual passes by $6, and many are wondering if further hikes in admission are in the offing.

Many industry observers predict theme parks in general will enjoy at least a 5% increase in business over the holidays this year, and that the trend will continue in 2003 as families prefer to keep taking trips within driving distance of their homes.

“Like everyone else we’ve experienced off attendance since Sept. 11,” Disney spokesman Tom Brocato said. “But the bottom line is, we’re expecting a strong holiday season. Disneyland is a great place to be for the holidays no matter what.”

He noted that the higher prices for annual passes are still far less than those offered 18 months ago, when a premium pass sold for nearly $300. The new price is $225.

“They are obviously feeling better about things this year, and it’s probably time that they do,” said Tim O’Brien, senior editor of Amusement Business, which tracks the industry.

Advance bookings at Anaheim hotels are supporting the projection of a strong holiday, and a spokeswoman at nearby Knott’s Berry Farm said they are expecting strong crowds to move between the Buena Park theme park and the Disneyland Resort.

At the Anaheim Hilton, bookings for Christmas and New Year’s have already outpaced last year’s levels, said Edd Karlan, director of sales and marketing. A year ago, the 1,600-room hotel had 900 reservations for the two-week Christmas holiday period; this year that number has soared to 2,500. Room rates too have increased about 3% since 2001, he said.

“We are way ahead this year,” Karlan said, noting that the majority of the reservations are coming from Arizona, Nevada and Northern California. “Our drive-in market continues to help us out.”

Amusement parks usually benefit from such a travel trend because attendance figures are boosted by local visitors. Six Flags Inc., for example, estimates that 90% of its visitors drive from within a 150-mile radius of its 32 parks nationwide, which includes Magic Mountain in Valencia. Disneyland puts that number at about 70%, and Disney World in Florida gets half its patrons from nearby areas, officials said.

A year ago, smarting from the drop-off in attendance after the Sept. 11 attacks, Disney did the unusual and rolled out a holiday offer to get more Southern Californians into its parks by drastically cutting the price of a two-day ticket. The discount came at a time when a flurry of holiday shows, parades and seasonal displays typically draw huge crowds to its Disneyland and California Adventure parks.

Last year’s holiday season turned out better than expected for theme parks, with many having to close the gates early because of crowds and some, such as Legoland in Carlsbad, reporting record numbers of visitors from Christmas to New Year’s. Yet Disney proceeded to slash the prices of its annual passes and make them valid at both its parks.

Disney then offered an unprecedented discount during the peak summer season -- free admission to California Adventure for local children accompanied by an adult, whose ticket also was significantly reduced.

Brocato wouldn’t say whether the latest price hike is a precursor to higher admission prices altogether. The company, however, reported last week that revenue in its theme parks division declined 8% in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30.