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CNN Live Today

Some Amusement Parks Struggling to Attract Customers, Others Doing OK

Aired August 09, 2002 - 12:27   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: We wondered how the true roller coaster business is doing these days. Turns out some amusement parks have been struggling to attract customers, while others are doing pretty good.
CNN's Ceci Rodgers is at Cedar Point on the shore of Lake Erie. Earlier this year, it was voted the "park of the year" in the Coasters' Choice Awards, an annual online poll. Perhaps that's the reason why you are still getting business out there?

CECI RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well that helps explain why the business has not fallen off very much here. In fact they are up, in terms of attendance, 3 percent on the year so far, and they just released the second quarter results, up 2 percent for Cedar Point, and it is the highlight of all of the parks, the company that owns the parks.

We are joined by Bruce Jackson. He is the chief financial officer for Cedar Fair, which owns Cedar Point, and five other amusement parks and five water parks, correct?

BRUCE JACKSON, CFO, CEDAR FAIR: That's correct.

RODGERS: This has been -- how challenging has this past year been?

JACKSON: There've been a lot of uncertainties since 9/11 and everybody has worked pretty hard to make the park just as friendly and exciting as it ever was, and thankfully, we have had a pretty good summer. The weather's been great, and people have having a good time with all of our rides and attractions.

RODGERS: Why do you think that things have held up here? Do you think it is the economy coming back some, or do you think it is you guys in particular?

JACKSON: It always helps to have a big new ride, and our Wicked Twister is a great new roller coaster. We have a new ice show with Snoopy characters, that people just love, and the weather has been pretty nice in the Midwest this summer, too. So everything has worked together to make it a pretty nice summer for us.

RODGERS: Now, overall, across all your parks, attendance is just up 1 percent, and the per person expenditures in the park is pretty much flat, is that right? JACKSON: Right, people are not spending as much money as they do in a great economy, but we understand that, and we have a lot of season pass holders that come frequently, and we have a lot of loyal guests that have been coming for years, we are reasonably happy with the circumstances of revenue being flat between years.

RODGERS: Are you thinking it could be the turnaround by the end of this summer?

JACKSON: Well, we have not seen any clear indication that things are all of a sudden -- the light switch is turning on, but certainly hotel bookings are very strong for the rest of the season, and the water park has been full on these hot days, and there is a lot of people having a great time. So I don't know if the economy has really turned around, but at least it's stabilized, and we're having a pretty decent year as a result.

RODGERS: Thank you so much, Bruce Jackson. He's the chief financial officer for Cedar Fair, which owns Cedar Point. They're having a pretty decent year, Fredricka, in spite of the recession and post-9-11, compared with some of the other parks, that are really seeing a down year.

Back to you.

JACKSON: All right Ceci, I guess folks want a little fun. Next time we have to rig that live shot so that we can have you on board one of the roller coasters out there, and we can all go for a ride.

All right, Ceci Rodgers, thank you very much, from Lake Eerie.

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