Family-owned amusement venues have been somewhat insulated from the economic downturn. Two brothers, Jack and Will Morey, own three piers in Wildwood, N.J.Posted on 09/23/2009 1:41:15 PM PDT by BGHater
Given that consumers have been so reluctant to spend lately, the family-run amusement park would seem especially vulnerable.
But amusement park owners around the country say the weather, not the housing downturn or job losses, played a bigger role in their fortunes this past summer.
“We had a lousy, wet June and a couple of hurricane threats this summer, so that was bad,” said Jack Morey, who with his brother Will, owns and runs three amusement piers along the Wildwood boardwalk. “Then the weather got better in August, and suddenly everyone was there.”
If they have sunshine and moderate temperatures,Mr. Morey and his fellow owners around the country say,the slower economy seems to be favoring them.
Indeed, the fact that most of the independent parks are owned by families may insulate them a bit from the normal business cycles, said William Alexander,who teaches courses in family business at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. “In many cases, these are seasonal businesses,”Mr. Alexander said. “And in the summer, the whole family would participate. In difficult economic times, particularly, a family committed to a business will sacrifice in deferring compensation and bonuses.”
Mr. Alexander also noted that the family-run amusement parks were generally “not as involved as the large ones in the amusement arms race,where building the next big roller coaster is the goal.” As a result,he said, “Their capital cost structures are not as stretched.”
Six Flags, which runs the Great Adventure Parks, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June. New owners took over in 2005 after the company had increased its debt through expansion and spending on gigantic roller coasters.
Family-owned amusement venues have been somewhat insulated from the economic downturn. Two brothers, Jack and Will Morey, own three piers in Wildwood, N.J.
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We did a bunch of “Staycations” this year...long weekends close to home. We loved it. Last week we took the kids to Kings Island (courtesy of a former employer). We had a blast.
Two days at the Holiday World parks in southern Indiana.
1. Free hotel stays with my Hilton Honors points (I stayed free in NYC last year).
2. Military discounts on two-day passes for four people.
3. Two tanks of gas.
Around $300 total for two days at the parks (swimming, rides, etc.).
Not bad. We’ll definitely do it again next year.
Sunscreen and THREE DAYS.
We bought 2010 season passes for the family for Lake Compounce in Bristol, CT
Clean park, mostly families. The wild teens go to Six Flags, so the people at Lake Compounce are pretty civil, in general.
Nice park for pre-teens and under. Some good thrill rides too.
Has the best wooden roller coaster in the world (Boulderdash)...runs along the side of a mountain.
You can’t go wrong w/ any of these too: http://www.cedarfair.com/ I believe that they are Christian Owned.
Disneyland, Great Adventure and their clones you can keep. Paying a huge entrance fee for the pleasure of waiting in two hour lines isn’t my idea of a good time- Wildwood is. Just want to ride the roller coaster or the Ferris wheel one time, by the tickets and do it. If you don’t want to ride anything but your kids or companions do, you can watch them on the rides for free; no admission just to go on the piers and watch. Oh, and there is Wildwood’s huge, beautiful and free beach (watch out for Canadians in Speedos, though). And the food on the boardwalk is far cheaper than in the captive customer theme parks (and deliciously just as bad for you - mmmmmmmmmmm porkroll, fried onions, mushrooms and cheese on a burger).
Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio is a Cedar Fair park. I went there about 23 years ago. I’d like to go back sometime as they are the place with the best and the most coasters. Now that I’m an adult I think I would be much less chicken about riding those rides and they have a lot more than they did then.
Yeah, but you can’t beat a full water park for that price.
Local stuff is nice, provided you can keep your kids away from the amped-up carnies. Creepy.
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