A thought leader I follow named Gavin Adams recently wrote about what he calls “The Law of Diminishing Astonishment” which is a derivative of the “Law of Diminishing Returns”. The first line below, basically encapsulates the theory and, although Gavin’s target audience wasn’t theme parks (although he’d probably be a great speaker for them), he used one as an example:
No matter how great something is, over time, we stop seeing it as excellent.
I’ve taken our family to Universal Studios in Orlando nearly every fall for a decade. I don’t know that our first trip was our best trip, but it was undoubtedly the most exhilarating. We just got back a few weeks ago from our annual trek, and we all felt the same way. It was fun, but I’m not sure we should return next year.
Unless they have a new ride!
Why did we feel that?
Gavin Adams
I’d never thought of new theme park additions with regard to Diminishing Astonishment, but it’s very true. It’s astounding how quickly we can become bored with excellence and take it for granted. What I also found interesting is what Gavin had to say about overcoming the law of Diminishing Astonishment later in the article. After all, sure, a park can try to build a “new” something every year, but sometimes budgets or other constraints just don’t allow for that. One of the things he mentioned to overcome Diminishing Astonishment was connection/relationship. If you think of Diminishing Astonishment with regard to people, relationship and connection is what keeps us married and monogamous when the newness wears off! Maybe there are exceptions though? If you follow @ProfittKalin on Twitter you’ll see the excellence of Iron Gwazi hasn’t seen to have diminished for him over literally thousands of rides. However, I’m sure there are probably some relational aspects with friends, operators or even the ride itself that keep him coming back.
Many parks excel at creating a connection/relationship with visitors and annual passes are a great place where this can be demonstrated. I’ve been a platinum at SeaWorld, Diamond at Six Flags, Gold at Dollywood, Platinum at Fun Stop and now Gold at Wild Adventures. All the various programs have gotten me into the parks, but they do feel different and perhaps a “pass” even is perceived differently than a “membership” with a membership offering more of a feeling of belonging to something. Some have been very bare bones with just a couple bring a friend tickets. Dollywood offers a great benefit in “golden hour” where gold pass members can use the TimeSaver lines for an hour each day. The SeaWorld Parks have different monthly perks for pass members, Six Flags is good at throwing you extra bring-a friend tickets while Wild Adventures gives you free soda and has one of the friendliest staffs. Perks like these along with free parking special entrances, events, newsletters, promotions, etc. can make the customer feel valued and connected, almost like family. It changes your perspective when you walk through the gates too in that rather than looking to be wowed, you’re at a place where you feel comfortable, valued, wanted and treated like and insider. You might actually get to know some of the staff too and build real relationships. I couldn’t help but think of the Busch Garden Junkies in this regard. They do a weekly YouTube video from the park and what is always obvious in these videos is the connection they have with the staff, knowing each other by name. Their most recent video at the 12:48 mark is just one example of the weekly interactions in their videos and Paul has told me personally that it’s one of the things that keeps them going.
Of course a park is never going to completely get away from the Law of Diminishing Astonishment, especially with regard to guests who might only visit once a year or every few years. Park marketing departments are smart and well aware of this principle though, even if those aren’t the exact words they’d use to describe it. In fact most parks will still add something new annually, even if it’s an event, small flat ride or a renovation. On a year where new astonishment at a park might be limited, focusing on overall quality and connection is probably even more important for the season pass team. I also suppose you can also only chase more, higher, longer and faster so much, well unless you’re Six Flags Qiddiya and build the monster below. However, the next time you get an email from your favorite park and see their latest announcement try to look at it through the lens of Diminishing Astonishment and how they’re either trying to astonish you again or connect and create a long term bond and relationship with you.
BGT Safari 