Theme park admission prices fall in real terms

Wipeout, Pleasurewood Hills

UK theme park admission prices are now rising below the rate of inflation, figures for April show.

RideRater has analysed ‘on-the-day’ entry prices at 12 major themed parks compared to April last year.

A mean price rise of 8.3% was indicated by the research, compared with the official 10.4% rate Consumer Price Index.

In December last year, we reported how prices at some parks were rising at a rate faster than inflation.

This remains the case at Adventure Island, with a 15.6% rise in wristband prices and also with Paultons Park’s 14.4% year-on-year rise on walk-up entry.

Adventure Island owner Philip Miller said that this year’s price rises were the first in three years after previous reductions on reopening after COVID-19 lockdowns.

“We took a chance when VAT was reduced. So far it’s working,” he told RideRater.

The latest figures show that Pleasurewood Hills (4.3%) and Alton Towers (4.6%) currently have the lowest year-on-year price rises.