Cedar Fair touts increase in attendance at parks

1/15/2009

SANDUSKY Cedar Fair LP said its amusement parks and water parks had a good year in 2008.

Attendance at its eighteen parks in North America was up 3 percent over 2007, the firm said. A total of 22.7 million people passed through the gates last year.

Chief executive Richard Kinzel of the Sandusky firm said high gas prices and a troubled economy kept people closer to home, boosting attendance at the regional parks.

Two of Cedar Fair s biggest amusement parks brought in more than half of its overall guests. Officials say Cedar Point in Sandusky and Canada s Wonderland near Toronto combined drew in 12.8 million people last year, up 3 percent from the year before.

Other Cedar Fair properties include Kings Island outside Cincinnati and Knott s Berry Farm near Los Angeles.

The company said that preliminary numbers indicate that its customers on average spent less per person last year than the year before. But no figures were provided.