SANDUSKY, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cedar Fair Entertainment Company (NYSE: FUN), a leader in regional amusement parks, water parks and immersive entertainment, is adding new technology and leveraging its existing mobile app capabilities to enable a safe and efficient park reopening experience for its guests and associates.
Cedar Fair CEO Richard Zimmerman said, “The safety of our guests and associates has always been, and will always be, our highest priority. I’m pleased that our internal health and safety experts, as well as state and local government officials, have informed the development and implementation of these technology enhancements which, when combined with our other in-park safety procedures being implemented, should help renew the public’s confidence when visiting our parks. Our more robust suite of mobile technologies not only strengthens the safety measures recommended by health officials, but also offers exciting, guest-friendly alternatives that could very well enhance the overall guest experience for the long term,” said Zimmerman.
The company will implement several technology enhancements focused on key aspects throughout the guest visit, from planning and preparing for an outing at the park, to leaving for the day. Changes will allow the parks to open with capacity limitations and processes in compliance with state and local health guidelines, while enhancing the guest experience overall. Key aspects include:
Planning and preparation –
- Guests can make their required reservations online or through the mobile app, reserving a specific day and time to visit the park based upon capacity availability. The guest will receive a time-bound entry voucher, which will automatically appear in the guest’s mobile app when they are logged in.
- Guests who have purchased a season pass will be able to process their passes through the website or mobile app, rather than visiting the pass processing center within the park.
- Park mobile apps and websites will be enhanced with thorough information to prepare guests for changes they will see at the parks.
Arrival and entry –
- Upon arrival, the guest’s reservation will be confirmed and their ticket / season pass scanned.
- All guests entering the parks will be required to complete an initial health check; guests with the park’s mobile app can complete most aspects of the health questionnaire online prior to visiting.
- Targeted messages delivered through the mobile app will remind guests of new processes and procedures; in addition, the app will provide real time alerts regarding any capacity constraints that may affect their visit.
Enjoying the park –
- Enhanced cashless payment methods are being introduced to reduce touchpoints and expenses, as well as improve efficiency and throughput.
- Mobile food ordering is being expanded to at least four parks in 2020 to improve guest service and eliminate long lines at selected food locations.
- The mobile app’s mapping and wayfinding modules, which already allow guests to easily find things like restrooms and phone charging stations, are being leveraged to monitor potential overcrowding in various areas of the park throughout the day; this will help determine where to deploy crowd control measures and enable appropriate social distancing. These modules will also direct guests to the closest hand sanitizing stations.
Exiting the park –
- Enhanced guest surveys will provide the park with firsthand feedback about their visit and the updated protocols and processes for continuous improvement.
- Location services on the mobile app will be able to help manage guest flow and maximize park capacity without sacrificing safety.
Cedar Fair continues its work with state and local authorities and will advise the public on definitive park opening dates as they become known.
About Cedar Fair
Cedar Fair Entertainment Company (NYSE: FUN), one of the largest regional amusement-resort operators in the world, is a publicly traded partnership headquartered in Sandusky, Ohio. Focused on its mission to make people happy by providing fun, immersive and memorable experiences, the Company owns and operates 13 properties, consisting of 11 amusement parks, four separately gated outdoor water parks, and resort accommodations totaling more than 2,300 rooms and more than 600 luxury RV sites. Cedar Fair’s parks are located in Ohio, California, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Missouri, Michigan, Texas and Toronto, Ontario. The Company also operates an additional theme park in California under a management contract.
Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements contained in this news release that are not historical in nature constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements as to the Company's expectations, beliefs and strategies regarding the future. These forward-looking statements may involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict, may be beyond our control and could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in such statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Important factors, including the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, general economic conditions, adverse weather conditions, competition for consumer leisure time and spending, unanticipated construction delays, changes in the Company’s capital investment plans and projects and other factors discussed from time to time by the Company in its reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) could affect attendance at the Company’s parks and cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations or otherwise to fluctuate or decrease. Additional information on risk factors that may affect the business and financial results of the Company can be found in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and in the filings of the Company made from time to time with the SEC. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, information, circumstances or otherwise that arise after the publication of this document.
