Local theme park operators set sights closer to home.

Theme park operators looking to rebound from the flattest year in a decade are devising various discounts and bonuses to nudge more Southern Californians through their turnstiles.

From Universal Studios Hollywood to Disneyland, California Adventure and Magic Mountain, regional business will be especially important this year as national travel slowly picks up.

"The post-9-11 downturn in travel and tourism gave us the opportunity to reintroduce ourselves to local residents," said Eliot Sekuler, a spokesman for Universal Studios Hollywood.

Base admission prices are going up, while at the same time several local parks are slashing the cost of annual passes--a feature that appeals almost exclusively to area residents.

"You look at Disney, and they've cut the price of their two-park annual pass from $299 to $199. That was the same price as the Disneyland annual pass, so they're essentially offering the second park for free," said Robert Niles, editor of Pasadena-based ThemeParkInsider.com. "You're certainly seeing more aggressive discounting than you've seen in the past."

Brave faces

Officials at these parks are counting on a strong summer season in 2002, though given the economy and ongoing concerns about security, the bets are being hedged.

"It's a little early to say what kind of a year it's going to be, but we're having a nice spring break and we're confident that everything is getting back to normal," said Disneyland spokesman John McClintock. He acknowledged that attendance at California Adventure last year failed to live up to expectations.

David Miller, an analyst for Sanders, Morris, Harris (formerly Sutro & Co.), said theme park attendance, like national travel, is closely tied to the consumer confidence index.

"I would describe consumer confidence as rising, but not dramatically," Miller said. "Barring further terrorist attacks, I think you will see attendance build at theme parks. But it really depends if consumers are feeling good enough to go out and spend a few hundred bucks."

While the nation's theme parks set a record with 319 million visitors in 2001, according to International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions data, it was only 2 million more than the year earlier and the second lowest increase in a decade.

What's more, the estimated $9.6 billion in theme park revenues in 2001 was flat for the first time in a decade.

None of the local parks would release attendance or revenue figures, but the park expected to be least impacted by the slowdown in travel is Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, which has always been more of a regional draw than a national destination.

"Our business has been good. We haven't changed our strategy too much," said Magic Mountain spokesman Andy Gallardo. "Like most major entertainment ventures, business was light after 9-11 but we're having a great spring and looking toward a great summer."

Through a promotion with Rite Aid Corp., Magic Mountain is offering a special season pass for $54.99, or just $12 more than the regular adult single-day admission of $42.99.

Setting the pace

Walt Disney Co. laid the groundwork for the latest round of discounting when it began offering free admission to children up to 9 years old last summer at California Adventure, just months after it opened.

Universal Studios Hollywood, another park that has relied heavily on out-of-towners, upped the ante in November when it began offering a full-year pass for the price of regular one-day admission. Meanwhile, the price of regular adult admission went up to $45 at the end of February, a bump of $2.

But attendance isn't the only factor in a park's success. Theme parks rely on visitors opening their wallets once they arrive, especially if they are getting in with a discount pass. "At Disney it's a vacation destination, you have the hotels and restaurants," Miller said. "At the day-oriented destination parks it's not just attendance that matters. It's per capita spending."

No local operator will have more on the line this summer than Disney. Poor weather, bad reviews, a slow economy and the terrorist attacks combined to put a damper on the opening of the $1.4 billion California Adventure last year.

Last week, Merrill Lynch analyst Jessica Reif Cohen projected that operating income from Disney's theme parks worldwide would be $1.4 billion for the second quarter, down from $1.7 billion in the year-earlier period. Cohen projected that at Disneyland, attendance would be down 25 percent and hotel occupancy down 15 percent.

Still, Miller pointed out that almost half of Disneyland's customers are local, compared with just 15 percent at Disney World. "Disneyland will continue to do well because it's maintained its popularity as a local destination," he said.

The key for California Adventure, Niles said, is for it to be packaged with Disneyland. "They've finally gotten smart and encouraged park hopping, which if nothing else, will help manage the overflow from Disneyland, which can get very crowded," he said.