Funworld November/December 2010

Picture Perfect

Ride photo systems bring a great ROI when done right
by Keith Miller

Most people go to amusement parks for the joy of experiencing thrills, excitement, and fun with family and friends. They often bring cameras with them, but some of the most exhilarating and comical moments occur when they are on rides and can’t take a photo of themselves. But capturing hilarious faces as a log flume is about to splash down, or squeamish looks as a coaster enters a daredevil element, can be priceless for guests. This has led to one of the most popular and profitable merchandising opportunities for parks: ride photos.

Determining the best rides for photo systems, where to place the cameras, how to position the photo preview station, and whether parks should own and operate the systems or hire a contractor are just a few of the important decisions parks must make.

Laura Albert, vice president of sales and marketing for Jackson Digital Imaging in Kingman, Arizona (www.jacksondigital.com), says the first step in the process—the choice of rides on which to place photo systems—is an important one, but the best candidates aren’t always the roller coasters. “The rides from which I often see the most spectacular photos are the log flume rides,” she says. “I frequently see where the log flume ride outsells the high-speed roller coasters, even though [the coasters] process a much higher volume of people.”

Buddy Knoebel, co-manager of Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg, Pennsylvania (www.knoebels.com), explains, “We have photo [systems] on two rides, our log flume and a coaster. The log flume is by far more successful because on coasters, you often get strangers mixed in together, but a flume boat often has only a family unit so it’s a family portrait. Rides with families sitting together do much better.” Knoebel points out the family demographic is also the best for photo purchases because they come back to the park year after year and have a ride photo taken. “It’s a tradition, almost like a mark on a wall,” he says.

Some rides are not a good choice for photo systems; they might not have a “good face moment,” says Albert, adding that haunted houses often aren’t good choices. “Auto photo systems in haunted houses are something we get asked about every year at IAAPA [Attractions Expo],” she says. “We did one 10 years ago and we thought the photos were just fabulous because people were so scared and made great faces. But people didn’t want to buy the photos, and after we discussed it with the owners, we [determined] it was because they didn’t want photos of themselves being scared, but photos of themselves at their best, having fun.”

Location, Location
After choosing the right ride, the next decision is a crucial one. “I’ve seen ride photos at parks with great camera locations and with really bad locations, and the moment of capture is critical,” says Derek Dupuis, merchandise area manager for Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia (www.kingsdominion.com), which has ride photos set up on five of the park’s top roller coasters, three kids’ rides, and its flume ride.

“A lot of factors go into choosing the best location,” says Albert. “The best option is to run the ride with people on it and have a professional photographer take photos from all angles and see what looks best. There are logistical issues, like whether we can run conduit and bring power to a location. If it’s placed where you can’t run conduit to the photo booth for the fiber optics, you’ll have to go with wireless, and the distance affects the speed of the image transfer.”

Chris Perry, general manager of Wild Wadi Waterpark in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (www.wildwadi.com), says there’s another important consideration. “‘Jebel Look Out’ (a Master Blaster) has an entrance section that guarantees all riders are facing forward, which is perfect for on-ride photography. This was the biggest determinant of camera location.”

At Rainbow’s End Theme Park in Manukau, New Zealand (www.rainbowsend.co.nz), officials always have a specific moment in mind when they place a camera. “We take the picture when an emotional state very clearly changes,” explains Katharine Hosick, the park’s marketing manager. “For example, the photo on our log flume ride is taken just as they start the descent down the water chute— the anticipation is at its highest at this point.”

A ride’s photos may be great, but it doesn’t do much good if guests aren’t going to see them. “If you place your photo booth where people don’t have to walk by, then you’ll lose a lot of sales,” Dupuis stresses. “It needs to be at a place they must walk by when exiting the ride, not 20 feet off to the side.”

Partnerships
Most parks say they have few reliability issues with ride photo equipment. When they do, whether they fix the problem themselves usually depends upon whether they own and operate their photo systems or use a contractor.

“They have three options,” says Albert. “They can purchase a system outright and run and maintain it themselves; they can partner with a vendor, who supplies maintenance and support and gets a percentage of the sales; or they can contract a service provider, who does everything.”

Michigan’s Adventure in Muskegon, Michigan (www.miadventure.com), took the unusual approach of going with a mixture of both park-owned and contracted systems. “We do our ‘Ripcord’ skycoaster and our newest coaster, ‘Thunderhawk,’ ourselves, and the rest of our rides are done by Kaman’s Art Shoppes. They do our front entrance photos and do caricatures and portraits in our park, and we wanted them to have enough work here that they’d assign a full-time manager to the park and give the best service, so we let them do the other rides.”

Though prices vary greatly, Albert says a park can sometimes set up a ride photo system for less than $100,000, including the camera system, conduit, fiber optics, and photo booth. As for profit potential, she remarks, “I’ve seen ROIs that are fantastic. We often see it being less than a year and as fast as three months. The cost of goods is 10 percent or less, so it’s probably among the best in the amusement park industry.”

Perry agrees, saying ride photos are one of Wild Wadi’s most profitable services, accounting for 17.7 percent of retail revenue in 2009.

Knoebel stresses the secret to high ride-photo profitability is actually keeping the price low because it creates volume sales. “We’re priced at only $6.95 for a photo, and therefore it creates a lot of excitement and brings a lot of people into the photo booths, which then [attracts others],” he says.

As for difficult issues with ride photos, parks report few. The most prevalent seems to be guests making obscene gestures or even exposing themselves to the camera. “We don’t put up with that,” says Knoebel. “We immediately dump the photo, and we’ll call security if need be.”

It would seem that with virtually all guests armed with digital cameras on their cell phones, snapping a shot of the preview photos in the photo booth instead of buying them would be a temptation. But few parks report problems with this. They say they train their employees to dump the photos and warn guests if they see them raising a camera. But it probably wouldn’t turn out well for the offender, anyway. “The TV screen just doesn’t reproduce very well,” observes Hosick.

As for what’s coming in ride still photography, parks say they’re looking at offering images on flash drives, or even allowing guests to access the photos online, because it prevents visitors from having to carry a photo around the park— especially helpful in waterparks—and gives them the option of storing the photos electronically if they wish.

Contact News Editor Keith Miller at kmiller@IAAPA.org.