How to Improve Amusement Park Guest Satisfaction in 7 Smart Ways

With their thrilling rides and cutting-edge attractions, amusement parks are a paradise of fun and entertainment for all ages. Boasting a $23 billion valuation with significant growth predicted over the next several years, amusement park operators are hoping for their share of the pie. To do it, they’re investing in efforts to improve and refine the guest experience.

Today’s amusement park customers want a fun-filled experience with minimal friction, speedy lines, and flexible payment options. Long queues at a ride or a payment till only disrupt their visit, making it anything but enjoyable, much less a walk in the park. So, we’ve compiled seven strategies you can use to enhance the guest experience while also reducing operational friction.

What Today’s Guests Expect From a Day at the Park

Guests often spend an entire day or weekend at a theme park hoping for the best experience possible. While exciting rides and attractions are important, research shows that visitor satisfaction “is based on their happiness with all their experiences in the theme park.”

No matter how fun the rides are, long queues, lengthy waiting times, and limited payment options can negatively impact their visit. To give your park guests the best possible experience, here are seven effective strategies to reduce friction by making their visit more convenient and memorable.

7 Ways to Improve the Theme Park Guest Experience

1. Make Entry Fast and Friction-Free

Visiting an amusement park is like entering a new and exciting world. Energy is high as guests anticipate the fun they’re hoping to have. So, it’s vital that park entry is fast and hassle-free. Plus, kicking off their experience on a positive note significantly shapes their guest experience overall.

Get visitors through your gates quickly by offering mobile ticketing options. With a simple tap, they can head to their favorite rides. Digital check-ins and timed reservations are also an effective way to keep the queues short while expediting admission at the entry gates, popular rides, and other high-traffic areas.

Wearable digital wallets and self-service barcode or QR scanning capabilities at your points of sale (POS) will also keep your lines moving quickly. Because guests can easily navigate these technologies on their own, there is no need for additional staffing. Instead, staff members can focus on other ways to improve the guest experience.

2. Accept All Payment Types Without Slowing Guests Down

Guests often juggle many things during their park visit. From strollers and souvenirs to kids or food and drinks, the last thing they want to do is fumble for and then count out cash or change. Today’s amusement park visitors expect fast and secure payment method options, such as:

• Google Pay
• Apple Pay
• Tap-and-go debit card capabilities
• Wearable wallets

Digital payment methods allow guests to pay without delay, whereas an amusement park that operates as a cash-or-card-only facility can create unnecessary frustration and even limit guests’ purchasing power. The result? A less-than-ideal customer experience for them and less revenue for the park.

Of course, many customers either must use cash or simply prefer cash for every purchase. Amusement parks can accommodate them with inclusive digital payment solutions such as Cash-to-Card® Kiosks, allowing guests to convert their cash into a prepaid debit card easily. Where they can then shop, dine, and pay freely anywhere in the park.

3. Upgrade Food & Beverage Service

Amusement park guests spend several hours (or the whole day) burning off a lot of energy. When hunger or thirst strikes, the last thing they want to do is wait in a long line for food or beverages. Long concession queues with lengthy wait times are one of visitors’ most common complaints, preventing them from having the customer experience they deserve. 

Reduce congestion and frustrating wait times with innovative solutions that satisfy even the most hangry-prone guests. Start with digital menus so that visitors can decide what they want to order in advance. Mobile ordering options are also an effective way to encourage multitasking and independence. That way, customers can enjoy the park on their own terms, sorting out their food orders on the go. 

You could also offer money-saving incentives to encourage participation, leading to a better guest experience by:

• Including freebies or exclusive deals for guests who pre-purchase/schedule their food order
• Creating a loyalty program with in-demand rewards like free park tickets and access to VIP events
• Offering BOGO or family meal deals for those who participate during high-peak times

4. Use Technology to Reduce Queue Times Throughout the Park

Most amusement park guests want to fit in as many rides and attractions as possible during their visit. But long queues and waiting times chip away at their ability to do so. Giving your visitors access to queue-monitoring technology and line-busting solutions will keep waiting times to a minimum and empower guests to create the park experience they want.

Start by offering a secure and user-friendly mobile app that displays live queue times, allowing guests to reserve their spot in line and monitor for unexpected delays. Such insights give them the power to shuffle their park itinerary to fit in a different ride or visit the gift shop instead of waiting in line.

Equipping staff with line-busting solutions, such as portable or mobile point of sale (mPOS) devices, is another way to hand-deliver a more personalized guest experience, while keeping the lines moving quickly. With shorter waits, guests will be less frustrated and more likely to go where they want, leading to more spending opportunities.

5. Train Staff to Be Helpful, Visible, and Empowered

Human interaction remains essential to delivering a positive guest experience, despite how advanced automation becomes. Amusement park guests want and appreciate that personalized touch. 

Rather than wasting their talent on time-consuming manual cash-handling duties, staff can undergo ongoing training to:

• Understand and navigate tech tools that improve customer satisfaction.
• Effectively handle guest troubleshooting.
• Explore conflict resolution strategies.

Staff presence is also key to maintaining an efficient and guest-pleasing premises. Assign staff members to key friction points, such as areas of entry and egress, as well as concession spots and other high-traffic areas, to anticipate and troubleshoot customer issues. They’ll also play a vital role in keeping the lines moving.

6. Offer Prepaid Cards or Wristbands for Seamless Spending

The faster and easier guests can pay, the better their park experience. Visitors prefer simple payment options, like loadable wristbands and other wearables they can link to joint family accounts and create spending limits. Not only do they have better control of their spending, but payment is easy and secure, requiring nothing more than a quick scan.

Prepaid cards, wearable wallets, and other digital payment solutions provide park operators with accurate and comprehensive data. Clear insights into guest spending behavior, inventory demand, and other critical data points are essential for accurate analysis and forecasting.

7. Act on Guest Feedback to Stay Ahead

As the saying goes, “If you want to know what someone really thinks, just ask.” Guest feedback is an invaluable tool for any business. You will gain deeper insight into what your guests want, and implementing their suggestions will show them that their opinions matter.

You can gather customer feedback in several ways, including:

• Collecting real-time input via a designated mobile app, SMS, or QR signage
• Displaying digital guest surveys at each POS or exit point
• Incentivizing visitors to leave feedback with a discount on their next visit or free merch of their choice

Improve Theme Park Transactions With Fast, Flexible, and Inclusive Payments

Amusement park guests are seeking a fun and stress-free experience at every juncture in the park. How they pay is no exception. Your payment infrastructure plays a critical role in creating a positive customer experience. However, long queues at the gift shop, concession stands, or attractions do nothing more than cause frustration, paving the way for a negative park experience overall.

Similarly, maintaining a card-only or other limiting payment policy excludes cash-only and cash-preferred guests from easily making purchases throughout the park.

Giving your visitors inclusive digital payment solutions will create a more equitable, accessible, and seamless park experience for everyone. Strategically placing Cash-to-Card® Kiosks near your POSs, offering tap-to-pay options, mobile checkout capabilities via QR codes or digital wallets, and more, guests can pay how they want, when they want.

How Ready Credit Helps Amusement Parks Deliver a Better Guest Experience

Delivering a first-class customer experience to every amusement park guest is a non-negotiable. Ready Credit’s inclusive payment solutions for amusement parks empower guests to pay how they prefer, no matter their choice. Cash-to-Card® Kiosks allow cash-only customers to convert their cash into a prepaid debit card, affording them the same seamless guest experience throughout the park as everyone else.

And the convenience doesn’t stop at the gates. Guests can use their ReadyCARD® prepaid debit card not only throughout the park but also anywhere Debit Mastercard® is accepted. Likewise, ReadyCARD® Visa® prepaid cards can be used everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted — giving guests the flexibility to continue spending securely and easily even after their visit.

The benefits go both ways, too. While visitors reap significant benefits from faster and more flexible payment options, park operators experience superior operational efficiency, increased throughput, and stronger revenue gains.

As for the technical transition period? Parks can seamlessly integrate Ready Credit’s payment solutions with their preexisting payment infrastructure and guest management systems.