Seeing Disney's (DIS -0.04%) Magic Kingdom decked out with autumn decor since last week seems bizarre in light of record heat levels and the fact that we're still in early August. Now come the trick-or-treaters. The world's most visited theme park kicks off its Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party on Friday night.
Guests will pay between $109 and $199 on select nights through Nov. 1 to enjoy exclusive Halloween activities at night after day guests have left. It may seem like a lot of money for a few hours of costumed revelry, themed attractions, candy stations, and unique meet-and-greet opportunities, but consumers aren't flinching. All six party nights in August have sold out.
Opportunity knocks
Theme-park operators have experienced sluggish attendance trends in recent months. SeaWorld Entertainment (SEAS -0.67%) posted an overall decline in guest counts when it reported fresh quarterly results earlier this week. Disney followed by revealing that its Florida resort's performance came in softer than it did during the same fiscal third quarter a year earlier.
Seeing the premium-priced Halloween parties sell out is encouraging. Things are going even better for the House of Mouse on the other coast. Disneyland's Oogie Boogie Bash event won't start until next month, but all nights of those hard-ticket parties sold out quickly. If there were signs that theme-park fatigue was weighing on travelers this summer, the prognosis is good as we head into the holidays. It's probably too late to breathe new life into the financially disappointing theatrical release of Haunted Mansion, but if the seasonal soirees encourage more people to visit the local multiplex, it can provide a long tail for the film and less of a charge by the time the box office receipts are tallied.
Halloween wasn't always a hotbed of seasonal activity at Central Florida's theme parks. September and October were typically sleepy months, with families returning to school. The market relied largely on conventions tied to the kind weather and on year-round attractions in the area. But it's now becoming more common for theme parks to sell two different admissions for the same day. The parks may not be as busy during the day as they are during months with sizable school breaks, but the ability to carve out two large audiences from a single day makes it a lucrative opportunity for the leading players.
Image source: Disney.
Disney offers a family-friendly experience. Comcast (CMCSA 1.85%) counters with the scarier Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Florida, and it's become a monster event for Disney World's biggest rival. Comcast's event doesn't start until next month, but it began selling tickets in March. The tickets are also cheaper than Disney's event, setting visitors back between $80 and $120. However, the real moneymaker here is the ability sell richly priced tickets that provide expedited access to the scare-house zones. It also offers even higher-priced escorted tours through the mayhem. SeaWorld Orlando finally got into this game two years ago, taking the Comcast route with scare mazes and scare zones on a much smaller scale.
Disney, SeaWorld, and to a lesser extent Comcast rely heavily on their gated attractions for a substantial part of their livelihood. It's just Halloween, and an early start to the season nearly three months before the actual event date. However, after a challenging start to the summer, this is the way the industry tries to heal.
In a week that began with SeaWorld and Disney offering a sobering perspective on the state of travel and tourism stocks in the Central Florida theme-park hotbed, Halloween is here to save the day. A week that began with tricks ends with treats. Given the recent lows, the industry can use the sugar highs.
