"What is the average admission's price for a surface water playground
(splashground-not pool)for a child under 14 years of age in the United
States?"
ANSWER:
The secretary at the World Waterpark Association (
http://waterparks.com/contact.cfm ) believes the group has average
pricing information. The entire staff was in a meeting today until 5
p.m. Central Time today, but you can call tomorrow to ask, if you’re
interested. (913-599-0300).
Because I couldn’t reach them (and because as an industry group their
data may not be objective), I did an impromptu survey, checking the
first 20 parks in the WWA’s membership list
(http://waterparks.com/parks/parklist.cfm ) that have pricing
information available online in a useful format. When different prices
were offered, I selected all-day passes and weekend prices. It’s not
an exhaustive list, but it runs the gamut as far as locations go, and
it’s been my experience that when you have this many data points (20)
in a universe of probably less than 1,000 parks, with a fairly small
standard deviation, even a small sample can give you a rough
approximation of the mean value.
Here is the data:
Park Name Child’s Price
Phone Number
Antioch Water Park $8 (Same as adult price)
925-776-3070
Aquaboggan $14 (Based on height, not age)
(207) 282-3112 $19 (If over four feet)
Big Kahuna’s $27.95 (If under 48”)
(850) 837-8319. $29.95 (Taller than 48”)
Big Sky Water Park $12.50 (Ages 3-10)
406-892-5025 $16.50 (Ages 11 and over)
Big Surf Waterpark $16.95 (Ages 4-8)
573-346-6111 $21.95 (Ages 9-59)
Terry Hill $10.00 (Under 48 inches)
$16.00 (Over 48 inches)
Breezy Picnic Grounds Waterslides $14
508-476-2664
Camel Beach $20.95 (3-11)
570-629-1661 $24.95 (12-64)
Soak City at Cedar Point $23 (Over 48”)
419-627-2350 $10 (Under 48”)
Chandler Park Family Aquatic Center $10 (Nonresident child)
313-822-7665
Clarksville Family Aquatic Center $5 (Nonresidents)
812-280-2095
Splash World $19.95 (Children under 36” are free)
609-783-0263
Cool Waters $8.50 (Nonresident 12 or over)
414-257-8098 $4 (Ages 3-11)
Cultus Lake $15.89 (54” and over)
604-858-7241 $12.15 (Under 54”)
Deep River Waterpark $14 (General Admission)
219-947-7850 $7 (Under 46”)
Dover Lake Waterpark $15.95
330-467-7946
Edina Aquatic Center $7
952-928-4582
Evans Plunge $8 (Ages 13 and up)
605-745-5165 $6 (Ages 3-12)
Family Aquatic Center $6 (Nonresidents)
847-991-1700 $5 (Residents)
Firewater $16.95 (Over 54”)
806-342-FIRE $14.95 (54” and below)
Average for older children: $14.73
Average for younger children: $12.07
Caveats about the average:
As with all averages, this one has little predictive power when it
comes to figuring what a certain park will charge, or assessing
whether or not a park is overpriced. With some exceptions, the parks I
reviewed above were priced proportionally to what they offered. Some
had a bunch of slides and other amenities, some were much smaller. In
general, municipal water parks were cheaper in relation to their
amenities, even if they charged nonresident rates. |
Clarification of Answer by
vercingatorix-ga
on
05 Nov 2002 16:25 PST
I checked out the waterodyssey site and realized what you are looking
for. Some of the parks I cited in my first answer contain
splashgrounds. Some of the municipal water parks sound like they are
pretty much just splashgrounds, with perhaps a couple of
moderate-sized waterslides. I reviewed the material I posted earlier
and did a Google search for "water playground."
After revisiting some of the sites I used before and a few new ones
I'll post below, I've distilled the following information:
* Many of the water playgrounds in operation today are part of a large
park or resort and as such have no separate admission information.
(Reference http://www.whitehutchinson.com/leisure/waterparks.shtml and
http://www.kingstonplantation.com/activities/kids/default.htm ). Many
of the rest are part of a municipal parks system or YMCA (Reference
http://www.sarasota-ymca.org/cjlofino/selby/waterplayground/waterplayground.htm?SubType=403
and http://www.leeparks.org/lakesparkwaterplayground.htm ).
* The target audience for a splashground probably tops out around age
14, with the sweet spot in the 3-10 range. Based on the demographic
breakdowns at sites for larger water parks, their bread-and-butter age
range is 11 to 14. Based on pricing data from various waterparks that
break out prices by age, few parks without large waterslides expect
parents to pay more than $8 for children under 10.
* Referencing new prices as well as prices posted earlier, I can
calculate that the average price for a free-standing water playground
is about $6 to $8, on a par with the price of most municipal water
parks.
* A number of municipalities are using water playgrounds as part of
existing recreational programs for local children, and as such don't
really have a measurable admittance price. Some municipalities do not
charge at all for the use of their water playgrounds. The average
price range calculated above does not take into account free parks, or
parks that are included in the price of admission to a larger park.
Applicable Web sites:
http://www.urban-concepts.com/hollywd/pirates_cove.htm\
www.jellystonenh.com/watrplay.htm
http://www.casitaswater.org/lake%20casitas/waterplayground.htm
http://www.plantation.org/parks_aquatics.html
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