Volume 2, No. 14. July 26, 2002
Made
with the shade
No park operator today would believe 10 years ago that he or she would be able
to sell drinking water; nay that people would demand that parks sell bottled
water, even for $2.50 a swig when free water is readily available.
Given
that, Dave Simon may be something of a visionary. Until recently the director
of operations at Raging Waters in San Dimas, California, Simon began selling
shade at the park. And people are buying it.
Technically,
Raging Waters is renting cabanas, but the low-end version is an umbrella with
two beach chairs for $15. At the high end are 27 canvas awnings each covering
three lounges; these shade structures rent for $50. Most of the cabanas and
umbrellas populate the sandy beach around Raging Waters’ wave pool, and
on the deck at the back end of the wave pool are six palapa shade structures
with four loungers each. Those rent for $45. “They used to be the deluxe
cabanas, but they went down in stature because of the noise from the wave pool’s
operations,” Simon said. Several single-leg palapa structures also dot
the beach providing smatterings of shade for those who do not choose to pay.
Simon’s
background, including stints at Wild Rivers in Irvine, California, and with
the Walt Disney Company, is in revenue-generating operations. When he arrived
at the white sandy beach of Raging Waters in 1998, he saw an earnings opportunity
where others merely saw shade. “Casinos and resorts sell shade structures,
and it’s always so popular. It seemed like a natural fit here with the
sandy beach.”
He had to do some convincing of management, however. The question: would people pay for shade, especially those coming to a waterpark? Simon was allowed to make a trial run. “The only feedback we got was (the shade) selling out,” he said. “In peak season they sell out every day. People are paying for it, but the perception is that they are paying for quality.”
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