by Doug Trimper
I have read in recent weeks of the common threat to coastal amusement parks by rising land costs and taxes due to development, and the near mandatory practice of putting up condominiums. That issue is especially sensitive to our park in Ocean City, Maryland. We are pleading with the various levels of government to find a way for us to co-exist in this real estate boom/fiasco. Even if we can survive [ the park has just got another year’s reprieve], it means higher taxes, and that translates to higher ticket prices.
Our industry is already plagued with exorbitant insurance premiums. We have to have insurance, who can self-insure when any accident can produce millions in settlements? We at Trimper’s Rides are blessed with a safety record beyond compare. This doesn’t just happen, though. It takes training, inspections, preventative equipment repairs, even making sure the patrons are behaving themselves. Still, we have huge premiums. After all, the poor insurance industry has to make a dollar somehow, doesn’t it?
Put insurance premiums in the same accounts payable column with rising labour costs, manufacturer’s “I’ve-got-you-by-the-balls“ parts prices, advertising and facility maintenance costs, and couple that with the rising costs of new amusement equipment. You would think we were in a Rolls Royce car dealership business. It’s getting really hard to turn a profit. Where does this leave us? We have to boost the ticket or admission price. It is starting to get embarrassing when rides are costing $3 or $4 per person.
Granted, society is getting sophisticated, but so is the amusement pleasure for children. It takes thrill rides, or theme parks to interest the older kids, and even the circle rides that have been entertaining the kiddies for centuries are getting hard for mom and pop to pay for. In the old days, the carnival would come through town, and folks would scrape together their pocket change to put little Billy on the Ferris wheel, or let Susie ride the merry-go-round. Those days evolved into the parents planning on spending $20 per kid when they took them to the park. $20.00 makes for a short evening these days. When rides run for three minutes in a circle for $3, those kids just aren’t getting to do much “riding” anymore. It is just like the rest of life with the cost of living on the rise.
We have to do what we can to prioritise, plan, and produce efficiently, or soon our business will be only for the well off, and it seems those people are getting harder to find. I recently opened – and closed – a small amusement park with the “rides of yesteryear,” going back to basics, cutting back on the thrills. That didn’t work either. People asked why we didn’t have a Zipper or a coaster. They don’t understand how hard it is to make a buck. They see all the crowds, so there must be big profits.
I don’t have the solution. Especially in a seasonal park, we’re soon going to be in trouble. If you have the answer, I’d certainly buy a ticket to hear it!
Doug Trimper is vice-president of Trimper’s Rides, a 117-year old amusement park operated by the fifth generation of the Trimper family on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland
Doug Trimper is vice-president of Trimper’s Rides, a 117-year old amusement park operated by the fifth generation of the Trimper family on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland
