...But we did a lot of big events at the park and we had about 7-8,000 when the big games were on. So that was fine, but August, which has been growing stronger and stronger as a month, was not good because we had the world championships for athletics in the city and for about two weeks the whole city was a giant party but they never made it as far as us.We also had about 23 days of rain in August. Luckily winter is the silver lining on the cloud for us.

Charles Canfield, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, USA:

After coming off a very wet spring, we were more than 10 per cent behind. We had a very strong summer though and finished up about even with last year, which was the best year we have ever had.

Eddie Mason, Barry’s Amusements, Northern Ireland:

We did reasonably well in 2006.We introduced mini packs of discount tokens for the first time this season, and they proved popular. Despite having to “give away” the “free” tokens, turnover was up.We’ll know about profit tomorrow when the accountant has been! It’s true that you have to work harder to get the same returns these days.

John Holer, Marineland of Canada:

We had a good season. We had good weather that helped. Our three new rides have helped by shortening lines. We’re finding that people stay longer in the park when they feel more comfortable because of the weather and the newest attractions. Our August, especially, was one of the best in recent memory.

Henk Groenen, Efteling, Holland:

I think we will probably be a few per cent less than last year. We had to delay the opening of the Flying Dutchman, our new €20 million walk-through/dark ride/water coaster, and of course this affected attendance. We also had a very wet summer, it rained a lot here! But throughout September and October people are starting to come back, and we also have the winter opening and music in theatre to look forward to, as well as a lot of business meetings.

Larry Baker, Clementon Amusement Park/Splash World, USA:

We were down about five per cent. June was miserable, cold and rainy, and that really affected us. Then it got really hot for about five weeks, which was fabulous, and that enabled us to recover from June. The end of August and September turned poor again, and that’s why we’re down overall, which wasn’t bad. All the parks in the Northeast had this weather.

Deng Zhi-Yi, Guangzhou Children’s Park, China:

Our third quarter this year was our worst due to the hot summer. In July, August and September we welcomed over 140,000 guests and made a turnover of nearly RMB 2 million [€200,000].This compares to RMB 16 million [€1,6 million Euro] for the whole of last year. But it’s still not bad for a former state-owned “small fry” amusement park!

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