{"id":970,"date":"2020-10-01T15:25:27","date_gmt":"2020-10-01T15:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/?p=970"},"modified":"2024-05-04T02:22:19","modified_gmt":"2024-05-04T02:22:19","slug":"how-to-size-an-attraction-of-any-kind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/how-to-size-an-attraction-of-any-kind\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Size an Attraction (of Any Kind)"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_63 ez-toc-wrap-left counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/how-to-size-an-attraction-of-any-kind\/#Hourly_Peak_Visitation\" title=\"Hourly Peak Visitation\">Hourly Peak Visitation<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/how-to-size-an-attraction-of-any-kind\/#Sizing_Ratio\" title=\"Sizing Ratio\">Sizing Ratio<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/how-to-size-an-attraction-of-any-kind\/#Design_Day\" title=\"Design Day\">Design Day<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/how-to-size-an-attraction-of-any-kind\/#Monthly_Peaking_Ratio\" title=\"Monthly Peaking Ratio\">Monthly Peaking Ratio<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/how-to-size-an-attraction-of-any-kind\/#Weekly_Peaking\" title=\"Weekly Peaking\">Weekly Peaking<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/how-to-size-an-attraction-of-any-kind\/#Daily_Peaking\" title=\"Daily Peaking\">Daily Peaking<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/how-to-size-an-attraction-of-any-kind\/#In_Conclusion\" title=\"In Conclusion\">In Conclusion<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/how-to-size-an-attraction-of-any-kind\/#PS_Capacity\" title=\"P.S., Capacity\">P.S., Capacity<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\r\n<p><span >Sizing an attraction correctly is one of the primary issues in the planning phases of development.\u00a0 <\/span><span >Size too small, and operations will suffer during peak days, leaving money on the table.\u00a0 <\/span><span >Size too large, and you&#8217;re simply overbuilt &#8211; and wasted money.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span >\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span >\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span >\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span >So how do we build an attraction to the right size? As with most issues in attraction development, the principles are simple, the actual analysis a little more complicated.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Hourly_Peak_Visitation\"><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 56px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\"><strong>Hourly Peak Visitation<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Typically, we size an attraction against a measure known variously throughout the industry as the Onsite Design Day, Intraday Peak, Peak Onsite, Peak In Park, Onsite Peak, or Hourly Peak.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Of these, we&#8217;ll use the terms <strong>Hourly Peak or Peak Onsite<\/strong> here.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Despite all the confusing names, this measure is simply the number of visitors <strong>in-grounds in the theme park or FEC during the peak hour<\/strong>. During a typical operating day, there will be ebbs and flows in visitation as crowds enter and exit the park. <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">In almost no cases are visitors perfectly evenly distributed throughout the day<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-985\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Chart4.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Well, this Hourly Peak measure represents that reality: during what hourly timeframe are visitors most concentrated?<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Sizing_Ratio\"><\/span><strong><span style=\"font-size: 56px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Sizing Ratio<\/span><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\"><em><strong style=\"font-family: 'EB Garamond'; font-size: 20px;\">In order to arrive at sizing, we use the Hourly Peak visitation figure and apply a sizing ratio.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Sizing ratios differ by type of attraction, and are expressed as units of density: i.e., how much space do we afford guests during the most crowded time?<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Selecting the <em>right ratio is the province of experiential designers, and is more art than science<\/em>. While standard industry ratios for the optimum amount of &#8216;space&#8217; among crowds have been as low as 3-4 sqm\/guest for indoor parks, and at least 10 sqm for outdoor parks, these guidelines are almost guaranteed to change in the post-COVID era.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Masks or no masks, social distancing or not, the core question remains the same: for the nature of the attraction being planned, what is the optimal amount of space required to give visitors the sense that they&#8217;re engaged in a social experience, while avoiding overcrowding?<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-988\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Chart1.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">As seen in the illustration above, a smaller ratio (more dense) results in smaller grounds for the park. Conversely, a larger ratio (less dense) results in larger grounds.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">But now you might be saying, how do we derive the Hourly Peak in the first place?<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Design_Day\"><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 56px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\"><strong>Design Day<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Just as attendance is rarely distributed evenly throughout the day, neither will theme park visitation be evenly distributed throughout the year.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Any given day&#8217;s visitation will be subject to patterns of seasonality based on the day of week (notice the spikes correspond to the weekends), month of year, holiday seasons, school schedules, etc.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\"><strong>In order to account for this pattern of seasonality and peaking, the attraction industry uses a measure known as the design day. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-987\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Chart2.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Notice in the chart above that the highest spikes in attendance seem to occur around the September\/October timeframe.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">If, for instance, we were to design a park that ignored this reality and was designed for an average May\/June level of attendance, we&#8217;d be leaving a lot of money on the table. Nearly 20-30% of potential September\/October visitors would be turned away at the turnstile.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Conversely, it likewise wouldn&#8217;t seem prudent to take the highest spike on the chart and design a park around the absolute peak day. A park designed to this standard would feel empty on just about every day aside from that peak day.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Instead, we might take an average of the highest attended days and design to that standard.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-994\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Chart6.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<blockquote class=\"is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">This is what we are referring to as <strong>the design day. It&#8217;s the theoretical average of the highest attended days of the year. Not the single absolute highest peak day. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">So how do we arrive at a design day?<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">The general methodology is to identify the various seasonal, temporal peaks in attendance, and filter down by granularity. That is, identify and isolate:<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Monthly_Peaking_Ratio\"><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\"><strong>Monthly Peaking<\/strong> <strong>Ratio<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Identify the monthly peak in visitation throughout the year, expressed as a % of annual attendance. For both patterns of tourism and theme park visitation, there are identifiable peaks by month. In Europe and the United States, these peaks correspond to July\/August periods. In China, two peaks around the Golden Week holidays (~January\/February, October) are common. In Saudi Arabia, this would be the Hajj month. In the example below, DisneySea appears to peak in October (with 14% of the year&#8217;s attendance).<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/peaking-theme-park\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/TDSMonth.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Weekly_Peaking\"><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\"><strong>Weekly Peaking<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Estimate the peaking associated with the highest attended week of that month, based on patterns of seasonality and visitation. This would be expressed as a % of Monthly Peak Attendance.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">In the example below, this Weekly Peaking Ratio is approximately 24-25%.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/peaking-theme-park\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-575\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/TDRWeek.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Daily_Peaking\"><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\"><strong>Daily Peaking<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Calculate the likely highest attended day of the highest attended week, based on patterns of seasonality. This would usually fall on a Saturday or Sunday, and can be quite pronounced, with up to twice the visitation of a typical weekday.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">In the example below, this ratio is 20-21% for October 8th &#8211; and exactly double that of October 11th.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/peaking-theme-park\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-574\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/TDRDay.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Combine all the previous measures together, and we arrive at the Design Day. <strong>Essentially, a Design Day is an &#8220;average peak day&#8221;<\/strong>. Deriving it is using progressively more granular measures of seasonality, as in the below example.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Note that in this example, prepared for an engagement in Saudi Arabia, does not use a Weekly Peaking estimate, and jumps directly from Monthly to Daily Peaking. The last row in the example is Hourly Peak Visitation.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-986\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Chart3.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Design day ratios for existing parks usually range from 0.3% to above 1%, which is quite a large range. Major outdoor parks see design day ratios around 0.6-0.8%, as is the case in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/peaking-theme-park\/\">Japan<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/the-mega-chinese-theme-parks\/\">China<\/a>. Waterparks, with seasons that can be as short as 3 months, may see design day ratios of over 2%.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Finally, it&#8217;s important to note that this concept is an evolving one, and in recent years has struggled to deal with phenomena such as the Golden Week periods in China, where some parks can derive a significant, if not majority portion of their visitation. Namely, the question being, should a park in fact just size to the peak day of Golden Week, if Golden Week accounts for 30-50%+ of attendance?<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"In_Conclusion\"><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 56px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\"><strong>In Conclusion<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Once we&#8217;ve arrived at the Design Day, we return to the concept we began with: Hourly Peak Attendance.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">As in the previous example and the one below, attendance throughout the operating day is usually not evenly distributed. We see in the below example that intraday peaking is most pronounced during the evening hours.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-582\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/TDSHour.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">The Hourly Peaking\/Peak Onsite visitor ratio is expressed as a % of the Design Day attendance, and usually ranges from 40-65%.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">The chart below is what it looks like when we take all the seasonality and peaking ratios derived previously, and combine them. For a real-life example, be sure to check out our post on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/peaking-theme-park\/\">the seasonality of the Tokyo Disney Resort<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-991\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Chart5-1.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\"><em>Note, however, that the sizing exercise is not quite complete yet! <\/em><\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">After all, what is the size that we&#8217;ve just derived? If we&#8217;ve taken a Sizing Ratio and applied it to an Onsite Peak Attendance, <strong>what we&#8217;ve calculated is the size appropriate for guests at the park&#8217;s most crowded time<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">But a park is comprised of more than just the areas where guests engage in an attraction&#8217;s experiences. There&#8217;s back-of-house and potential expansion areas to account for. Not to mention food and beverage, merchandising areas, restrooms, and perhaps most importantly &#8211; parking.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">These are all subjects for a future post, so stay tuned.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"PS_Capacity\"><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 56px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\"><strong>P.S., Capacity<\/strong><\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">With that, we&#8217;re done with sizing.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">However, sizing is only one issue out of the two major planning metrics.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">The other is capacity.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">After all, it&#8217;s one thing to design a large space to accommodate all your guests, but what are they going to do there?<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\"><\/span>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\"><strong>Capacity, also referred to as Throughput, Throughput Capacity, Theoretical Hourly Capacity, etc., is the measurement of the number of experiences that a standalone attraction or entire theme park can deliver per hour.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\r\n<span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\"><\/span><\/blockquote>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">For example, a roller coaster operating a single train at intervals of 4 minutes (including loading\/unloading) might accommodate between <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">120 to 240 people per hour. That&#8217;s 240 units of capacity being delivered by this attraction.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Sum up the individual capacity figures for every ride, experience, show, and exhibit in the park, and you have the theme park&#8217;s capacity. Note that capacity is measured <strong>in units per hour<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-995\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Chart7.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">So how does this relate to the number of guests inside the park at any one time? Industry guidelines on the number of experiences that any one guest should, ahem, <em>experience<\/em> per hour range from 1 to 2. If you&#8217;re Disney or Universal you can get away with numbers closer to 1 (or less), but waterparks and other attractions with lower lengths of stay and higher engagement, need at least 2.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">This figure is known as the Capacity Ratio, Capacity Target, or Throughput Target, and is multiplied by the Peak Hourly Visitation in order to arrive at the total hourly capacity of the park. This is the average number of experiences that can be delivered per hour to guests at the park.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">This is a simple calculation and is illustrated in the bottom rows of the chart above.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Capacity is more flexible than size. Parks can choose to run more cars per track, roll in\/out more food kiosks, to run shows with greater or lesser frequency, etc. in order to match the crowd level.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">And as with many other issues here, the concept of capacity is fuzzy. After all, what exactly constitutes an experience? There are concrete experiences, like a ride or show, but does an interaction with a food vendor, walking through a themed environment, constitute one?<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">These are questions better left to the experiential designers, but this analysis at least provides a planning benchmark for the park.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\" \/>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Planning a park? Design day and capacity worksheets and more are available in <a href=\"https:\/\/store.theparkdb.com\/collections\/frontpage\/products\/development-model-suite\">our model<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Want a quicker, free tool? Check out our free <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/pages\/feasibility\">feasibility calculator here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Alternatively, see the design day concepts in action in our post on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/peaking-theme-park\/\">Tokyo Disney Resort<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px; font-family: 'EB Garamond';\">Or read about the design day and attendance characteristics for a few <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/the-mega-chinese-theme-parks\/\">mega Chinese parks here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sizing an attraction correctly is one of the primary issues in the planning phases of development.\u00a0 Size too small, and operations will suffer during peak days, leaving money on the table.\u00a0 Size too large, and you&#8217;re simply overbuilt &#8211; and wasted money. So how do we build an attraction to the right size? As with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,73,9,44],"tags":[105,68,106],"class_list":["post-970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guides-and-references","category-other-attractions","category-theme-parks","category-waterparks","tag-capacity","tag-design-day","tag-sizing"],"acf":{"":"","bfi_title":"","bfi_title_2":"","bfi_description":"","chart_image":"","chart_title":"","chart_description":"","bc_title":"","bc_sub_title":"","bc_content":"","bc_right_side_content":"","highlighted_image":"","highlighted_sub_title":"","highlighted_title":"","highlighted_bottom_text":"","highlighted_button_text":"","highlighted_button_link":"","below_highlighted_title":"","below_highlighted_sub_title":"","below_highlighted_content":"","below_highlighted_right_side_title":"","below_highlighted_list":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theparkdb.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}