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Cedar Fair attendance down; economy blamed

By BRANDI BARHITE
brandibarhite@sanduskyregister.com

SANDUSKY - A poor economy is attributing to attendance dips at Cedar Point and Geauga Lake.

Combined attendance at Cedar Fair's 12 properties through July was down 2 percent, about 110,000 visits, from last year.

Cedar Fair doesn't break out or specify results for individual properties until the end of the year, but Sandusky's Cedar Point attendance is down 4 percent through the end of July compared to last year, said Vice President and Corporate Controller Brian Witherow. Cedar Point had 3.2 million guests in 2004, down 4 percent from 2003.

"It is a mixed result, not all of the parks are down," Witherow said Tuesday. "We definitely have some parks performing well. The five waterparks that have separate gated admission are doing well and up 8 percent because of the weather."

Witherow said the weaknesses at Cedar Point and Geauga Lake can be linked to the soft economy in a couple of Cedar Fair's core markets, Detroit and Cleveland, as well as the high unemployment rate in Ohio.

Although the weather has been dry and hot, which benefits the waterpark at Cedar Point, if families can't afford to do both, they would probably just go to Soak City when it's this hot, he said.

In July, Cedar Point had six days with 30-minute showers and two days of full rain. Last July, the park had 10 days of showers and two days of rain.

For July, combined attendance at Cedar Fair properties was up 2 percent between years, average in-park guest per capita spending was up 2 percent and out-of-park revenues were up 8 percent.

At Geauga Lake in Aurora, Ohio, attendance in July remained below expectations, however, it was up 7 percent from last year.

Witherow said it will take time to restore the image and appeal of Geauga Lake, which Cedar Fair acquired in 2004.

Because of the poor performance of Geauga Lake, Cedar Fair believes its revenue will be up 5-7 percent from last year's $542 million, instead of 6-8 percent as originally forecast.

FunCoast.com is your online guide to summer fun for Cedar Point, the LakeErie Islands and Sandusky area. Our site offers up-to-date information on area attractions, restaurants, hotels, gasoline prices, ferry schedules, swimming, birding and fishing, along with a complete listing of events happening in the Sandusky/Cedar Point area. To use our Webcam and zoom in on Cedar Point's rollercoasters, go to http://funcam.funcoast.com