July 20, 2025

Hotter Parks, Cooler Guests: How Asia’s Attractions Are Responding to Weather

Show Notes
Transcript

As record heat continues to disrupt attendance, attractions in Asia are innovating to keep guests cool. Tokyo Disneyland is extending evening hours and spraying down guests in its summer parade, while Universal Studios Japan is giving out salt candy and shifting its operating schedule later. Water parks in Korea are going further—launching crossovers with popular brands like One Piece, Air Conditioned Ferris Wheels, K-pop concerts, bubble zones, and discounted villas to become full-blown vacation destinations. This week, we discuss what makes these weather-ready strategies work—and why U.S. parks still struggle to shift hours, provide basic guest comfort, or invest in low-cost cooling measures. Plus: is the traditional queue-and-ride theme park model becoming obsolete as water parks pivot toward shaded, all-day “paradise” environments? And will Six Flags’ likely Q2 miss—already blamed on heat—finally force a mindset change? Listen to weekly BONUS episodes on our Patreon.

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From our studios in Los Angeles in Tampa. This is

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Green Tag Theme Park and thirty. I'm Philip and I'm

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joined as always by my co host Scott Swinson of

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Scott Swinson Crew Development. On Green Tag, we break down

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the week's top news and explain why it matters to professionals.

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And this week we're talking about whether and how theme

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parks globally are responding to it.

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That's right, and whether or not you think this is

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an important topic.

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We sure do.

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We don't want to rain on your parade.

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Oh my god, that wasn't even in the script.

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No, it's just and there's a good reason for it.

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There's a good reason it wasn't in the script. But anyway, yeah,

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this is I mean, obviously, this is a topic that

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Philip and I have talked about sort of on many

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occasions in regards to, you know, creature comfort and making

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certain that parks are prepared for weather because you know,

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whether is going to happen, and it's you know, ehether

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you like it or not, whether you like it or not,

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and you know this is going to be an entire

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show of weather puns, and we have to make sure

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that we don't duplicate them, because lightning never strikes twice

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in the same place, So we it's gonna be that

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kind of show.

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Huh.

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But we've talked a lot about creature comfort, We've talked

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a lot about why companies should not just hide behind weather.

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You know, there was a time where that was always

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an excuse the quot quote unquote act of God. And

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you know what weather is going to be, what weather

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is going to be, and it's going to continue to

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get more unpredictable, so we might as well predict it.

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We might as well recognize the fact that there are

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going to be weather issues. There is going to be

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extreme heat, there are going to be extreme storms, and

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we just as an industry have to plan for it.

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And here are some examples.

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Yes, we're going to start in Japan, where we have

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a nice little round up that I'm going to link

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to in the show notes from reviewing all what the

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Japanese thene parks are doing. And first off, Tokyo to

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Ze Land is increasing the water flow on Space Mountain

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or talking not Space on Splash Mountain.

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That would be really crazy.

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And I'm going to increase the water flow in Space Mountain,

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which currently has none, so that's kidding really simple.

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They're increasing the waterflow on Splash Mountain and they're hosting

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a summer parade with Misspray, so that's happening in Toko Disneyland.

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Universal is giving away salt candy, which that part I'm

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confused about, but they are. The part that makes more

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sense is they're extending their evening hours because we talked

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about this a lot also before, but especially Universal there

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in Japan is sensitive to time changes because of the

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metro line and needing to get make sure that the

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trains are running, so it's not like as easy of

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a thing, so this is actually a pretty big deal

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if they can get the hours later. But again they're

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moving their hours later, open later and to be able

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to give guess more time when it's cooler to be

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in the park.

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And then at.

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Yomi U yomi Uri Land, which I always mispronounced the

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they uh so.

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Than I would have come, So that's that's a good thing.

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So they have a gondolas in their sky go land

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wheel like an observation wheel, and those gondolas are equipped

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with air conditioning, and they open in twenty twenty four,

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and they equipped them last year with air conditioning, and

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so they're kind of just making a campaign reminding people

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about that that you could go on the rides there.

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They even have air conditioning in them, which is great.

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And what wraps all this up is some numbers here

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that the article is talking about, where essentially, in summer

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last year, the theme parks saw three hundred thousand fewer

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guests than they expected according to their the trend lines.

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And they all the parks believe that that's because of

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the heat wave that happened, and this summer is going

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to be even hotter by a few degrees, and so

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it's kind of like everybody's preemptively thinking about what we

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can do for this heat stuff. And actually I like

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all of these ideas because something's better than nothing. We'll

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always say that something's better than nothing, and I think

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actively making plans for them, especially the time. I love

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the idea of like just let's just open later. I mean,

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it's okay.

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Well, and you know to two points here. Number one,

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are these the total solution to everything? No, they're not. However,

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nothing is more motivational than minor success. So if you

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can have these little steps forward and you can see

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that this changes the guest perception of your park, or

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your guest surveys, or your attendance numbers, or your length

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of stay in the park, any of those things. Then

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it will encourage further development. It will encourage these things

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to keep the boulder rolling forward. Secondly, and this surprised me.

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When I was in Juhai, I was I was warned,

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let's put it that way, because my room overlooked the

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pool complex, and I was warned that in China, they

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don't do their big pool splash bashes in the daytime.

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They don't do them in the afternoon. They do them

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at night because again it's cooler, it's more comfortable, and

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it it's really funny to walk through, you know, at

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at walk through the lobby at at at ten thirty

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at night and you see all these families with young

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children wearing their their bathing suits covered with the hotel

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bathrobes because it's it becomes a big sort of night

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splash party. So yeah, this is and we talked about

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this too with the six Flags a Kadia City. They're

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they're going to open They're not going to open until

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four pm during the summer, you know, unlike other Unlike

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other parks, in the area which just simply close during

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the summer. They're the what I'll call a reverse seasonal

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park from what we're used to here in the US.

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So yeah, and none of these are I agree with you, Philip.

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I think they're all great ideas, but none of them

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are revolutionary. I mean, they're really simplistic, they're easily implementable. Yes,

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I realized that the train situation and the mass transit

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situation is a little bit different, a little bit more challenging,

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but still adjusting your park hours. There's very little capital

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investment there.

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You know.

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Yes it takes time, and yes it takes coordination, but

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it's something that can be done almost immediately, and you

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just have to retrain your audiences and quite honestly, once

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they discover oh you mean, I don't have to be

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outdoors at one o'clock in the afternoon or three o'clock

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in the afternoon when you can actually fry eggs on

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the concrete, you know. So yeah, these are I think

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these are all excellent ideas. I think there are things

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that I'm hoping that, you know, more and more American

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companies will start to look at as options and possibilities.

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Even the salt candy, which is a little a little strange,

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I will admit, but but you know, and it's something

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they probably wouldn't do in the US for fear of

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litigation because you know, somebody's allergic to it, or it

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raises someone's blood pressure or whatever. But again, if they're

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trying to keep their guests hydrated or keep their electrolytes balanced,

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which is really what salt candy does, then great. You know,

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it's salt candy, I'm assuming is sort of like a

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solid form of gatorade. So you know, if they're doing

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that to show the customers, we want you here, we

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recognize that there are challenges in being here, and we

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want you to stay here long enough to buy a

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second meal. They probably aren't saying that, but they're thinking it.

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I think all of these, all of these answers. I

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love the idea of taking like a the gondolas and

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air conditioning them. You know, why that wasn't done in

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the first place is a little unusual because I would

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imagine it costs more to retrofit than it would have

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to build it that way. But I think if they

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see the success of this, then the next time there's

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an opportunity to air condition some cabin or some ride

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that wouldn't traditionally have any sort of climate control. They'll go,

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let's just do this up front, and let's you know,

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let's pony up the extra dollars because we'll spend twice

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as much to retrofit it later.

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Yeah. I even like the.

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Sprain in during the parade type of the thing. I mean,

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that is something that we we've seen it. I've seen

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other parks in Asia especially it, and it's a great

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concept where it's just like a splash and play type

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of thing.

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You know, you just well bring it up water. It's

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going around. Queeta Food did it.

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You know, quet A Food did it years and years ago.

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We did it bush Gardens at least to twelve thirteen

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years ago, where we would have what we call the

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Spritzer Squad, which you know, again not a huge investment

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potable water in a Hudson sprayer, and then some clever

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characters who will integra, integrate and and you know, engage

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with the guests who have been trained properly not to

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spray the water and inappropriate places and not to spray

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it on cameras or phones.

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Yep, exactly yeah, I mean that was always my you

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know thing with it. I guess you mentioned and that.

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Goes back to that fear of litigation. That goes back

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to that terror of oh, something's going to happen and

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you know, screw guests comfort. We just don't want to

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get sued.

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Well, so I was going to ask you.

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You did mentioned the American Parks briefly, but like, why

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are things like this so difficult for the American Parks

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to implement?

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Is it the fear?

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I mean you're saying this, and I'm remembering even when

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I was at animex Bo, which was just recently, and

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even at my hotel, which was a nice hotel, I

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was like, do you have a like just an aspirin

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or a tilen all or whatever, because I got it

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was kind of hot. I mean it was even inside

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they conventioned center, even with all the ac when there's

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there's I think this year they saw almost four hundred

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thousand people, which is too much. That's too many, and

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it's just really hot from all the body heat. But

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they and they were like, no, it's a health issue.

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We can't hand it out. And I'm like what I mean,

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Like I remember even back in the day, even like

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when I was younger, even in America, they could hand

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out those like travel packs that were like a single

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dose that was sealed, right, and now they can't.

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And like you said, the candy. I mean it's like

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it's like, is.

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It the litigation or what about the water spray or

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what about the the I mean, would it could any.

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Of these solutions work in the US? I mean, moving.

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Work, They'd all work in the US. But with.

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The fact of moving the park hours, I mean I

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assume that would be the easiest thing.

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Absolutely, absolutely, you know. I mean, let's face it, I

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think back to when when I was a kid, when

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Walt Disney, when well Disney World first opened. You know,

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they were open till midnight every night. Yep, they were

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open till midnight every single night.

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So we still are here in California where and this

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is the irony of the situation, right, is that like

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we're still open to like ten on DCA and then

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midnight on on the other side. But it's actually much

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cooler here, I mean than it is in some of

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these other areas well.

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And these places close so early.

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Right, And the idea was, you know, we'd even it

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was it was just common practice. We'd get up because

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you know, at the time I was I was a child,

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I was a young child, and at the time, you know,

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I probably couldn't do a fourteen hour day in a park.

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So we'd get up, we'd go to the park, relative

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we'd have breakfast and go to the park, and then

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sometime after lunchtime we'd come back to the hotel, we'd

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swim in the pool, we'd cool off, and then we

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go back at night for the night parade and what

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we believed to be shorter lines. I don't know whether

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it really was or not, but so you know the

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fact that those things have been done, and there are

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I'm sure a million and one reasons, staffing probably being

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one of them, as to why they they were they

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were discontinued. Or it may also be the strong desire

237
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to have that second second gate, which is, you know,

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a reality and something that would certainly have to be

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00:11:50.519 --> 00:11:53.240
factored into it if you were gonna if you're gonna

240
00:11:53.320 --> 00:11:56.240
change your park hours. I think that, you know, I

241
00:11:56.279 --> 00:12:00.120
think that the risk, whether it's risk of litigation, a

242
00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:04.240
risk of bad press, or whatever that risk is, we're

243
00:12:04.279 --> 00:12:08.440
so risk averse in the United States. And I'm not

244
00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:11.080
saying that safety should be tossed out the window at all.

245
00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:14.720
What I am saying, however, is we are making decisions,

246
00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:19.519
or at least from my perspective, again, I'm not inside

247
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any parks anymore, but decisions. It appears as though decisions

248
00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:26.559
are being made that are based on here's a way

249
00:12:26.600 --> 00:12:28.919
we don't get into trouble, as opposed to here's what's

250
00:12:28.960 --> 00:12:32.840
best for the guest experience. And guest experience is the

251
00:12:32.879 --> 00:12:36.240
product of a theme park, so you have to you

252
00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:39.679
have to recognize that, you have to embrace that. And

253
00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:43.159
you know, one of my favorite safety guys that I

254
00:12:43.159 --> 00:12:46.159
worked with years and years ago at Bush, used to say, well,

255
00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:47.919
the safest way to run a theme park is not

256
00:12:47.919 --> 00:12:51.600
to open it. You will have absolutely zero you know,

257
00:12:51.799 --> 00:12:54.519
you'll have no heat exhaustion, you'll have no trip and falls,

258
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you'll have no injuries because the park simply isn't open.

259
00:12:58.360 --> 00:13:00.000
So you have to find that balance. And I think

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that I think that from my perspective, and again maybe

261
00:13:03.879 --> 00:13:06.360
I'm wrong, but from my perspective, I feel as though

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American parks are a little bit out of balance in

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between between what is risky and what is in the

264
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best interest of the guest experience, So I think I

265
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think that's part of it, and I also think I

266
00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:33.080
also think that it's really hard to because because not

267
00:13:33.080 --> 00:13:38.240
only are we risk averse, we're also marketing marketing centric.

268
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So it's really hard to come back and say, you know,

269
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come back and ride our new ride now with air conditioning.

270
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It's not sexy. You can't you can't make a marketing

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campaign out of it. And the vast majority of parks

272
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that I have worked with or worked for, I want

273
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to make certain that if they spend money, they need

274
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to be able to advertise that this is difference, or

275
00:14:00.600 --> 00:14:02.360
the guests need to be able to see that there

276
00:14:02.440 --> 00:14:04.120
is a difference. There needs to be some sort of

277
00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:09.080
immediate gratification from a guest standpoint, saying, oh, I see

278
00:14:09.080 --> 00:14:11.159
that you've added a new roller coaster. I mean this

279
00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:14.519
is this is why. This is why parks will continue

280
00:14:14.679 --> 00:14:18.799
to put in new roller coasters and spend very large

281
00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:23.120
amounts of money, but are hesitant to invest that same

282
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kind of money into into new shows because the shows

283
00:14:28.840 --> 00:14:30.279
are going to take place in the same theater if

284
00:14:30.279 --> 00:14:32.840
you're using the same assets, and from a guest standpoint,

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00:14:32.840 --> 00:14:37.039
they're just afraid that that means, oh, this show will

286
00:14:38.440 --> 00:14:40.759
it just will be another show. It will be the show,

287
00:14:41.559 --> 00:14:43.679
it'll have different content, it'll be completely different, but it's

288
00:14:43.720 --> 00:14:46.240
not sexy enough to grab people in. However, if you say,

289
00:14:46.600 --> 00:14:49.720
you know, now we have the tallest inverted back launch,

290
00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:55.960
double helix coaster, whatever, whatever, whatever, which only really draws

291
00:14:56.759 --> 00:15:00.720
additional attendance for one, maybe two years, and the show

292
00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:05.519
would be a third to a tenth of what they'd

293
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spend on a coaster. So it's I think it's risk aversion,

294
00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:11.960
and I think it's you can't you can't go out

295
00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:15.039
and create an ad campaign saying you know, now you

296
00:15:15.080 --> 00:15:16.559
won't pass out because of the heat.

297
00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:21.159
Yeah, yeah, it is interesting that that's that's kind of

298
00:15:22.039 --> 00:15:25.200
more what they're leading with in other countries. But to

299
00:15:25.240 --> 00:15:27.639
your point, maybe it wouldn't work as much in America,

300
00:15:27.720 --> 00:15:31.360
although you know, recently there was a whole campaign in

301
00:15:31.480 --> 00:15:35.399
Orlando about how about what activities families could do that

302
00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:37.559
were indoors. I mean, it was a whole campaign series

303
00:15:37.559 --> 00:15:42.159
that they were doing about indoor FECs and other indoor opportunities,

304
00:15:42.600 --> 00:15:45.159
So it holps it might be a bigger concern than

305
00:15:45.279 --> 00:15:46.879
people think for families.

306
00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:48.960
I think it's definitely a bigger concern. But I don't

307
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think I don't think American attractions, at least certainly not

308
00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:54.080
here in Florida. I don't think American attractions.

309
00:15:53.639 --> 00:15:54.159
Have caught up.

310
00:15:55.039 --> 00:15:58.000
I don't you know. I think, as you say, in

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00:15:58.399 --> 00:16:05.039
Japan and I saw it in China, the guest comfort

312
00:16:05.960 --> 00:16:09.600
is a big deal, and families will families will come

313
00:16:09.639 --> 00:16:11.919
back and say, uh, you know, I don't care what

314
00:16:12.039 --> 00:16:15.200
roller coaster you have. If if my babies are passing

315
00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:17.159
out because it's too hot, we're not coming.

316
00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:18.759
Yeah.

317
00:16:18.840 --> 00:16:25.600
So yeah, I wonder too, it's yeah, I wonder if

318
00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:27.960
they if it's if they haven't caught up or what

319
00:16:28.039 --> 00:16:31.600
the I wonder also if it could be part of

320
00:16:31.639 --> 00:16:34.919
the culture in a way, because you know, when when

321
00:16:34.919 --> 00:16:37.399
we were there touring in the Middle East, it's like

322
00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:40.600
we were told again again that the entire culture is

323
00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:44.600
around evening, and you're just like, it's almost like when

324
00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:47.200
you all do it together, then you can shift the

325
00:16:47.399 --> 00:16:49.919
entire thing to be later, because then you know, you're

326
00:16:49.960 --> 00:16:52.519
looking at sleep schedules and work schedules, and I mean

327
00:16:52.519 --> 00:16:55.679
it has a trickle effect, right, So that that could

328
00:16:55.720 --> 00:16:56.799
be also maybe part of it.

329
00:16:56.799 --> 00:16:58.919
It's like there's noted agreed.

330
00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:02.480
I mean, you know, going to when I first when

331
00:17:02.519 --> 00:17:04.839
I first went to Saudi Arabia, they all said, yes,

332
00:17:05.079 --> 00:17:08.200
we are a country of owls are only we are

333
00:17:08.200 --> 00:17:11.599
only completely active at night, which makes total sense, I

334
00:17:11.640 --> 00:17:14.119
mean based on the climate, So it is it is

335
00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:17.759
a much easier sell there. But at the same time,

336
00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:21.839
you know, Vegas is twenty four hours.

337
00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:22.319
That's true.

338
00:17:22.440 --> 00:17:24.799
Well, and I was just about while I was even

339
00:17:24.920 --> 00:17:26.799
making that point, I was like, but then when you

340
00:17:26.880 --> 00:17:29.359
think about, you know, Mickey's not the scary Halloween party

341
00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:32.960
or any of these events, right Halloween, whr nights. I

342
00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:34.680
mean they're opening at six pm and they're going till

343
00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:37.880
two pm, right, and they're I mean, it's a whole thing.

344
00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:41.519
So maybe it's all these things. More like maybe the

345
00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:45.799
incentive structure like isn't really set up yet because there's

346
00:17:45.799 --> 00:17:49.240
not enough pain maybe for it to happen, or like

347
00:17:49.279 --> 00:17:52.400
you're saying the parks aren't there.

348
00:17:52.839 --> 00:17:54.839
I think the parks recognize there's a problem.

349
00:17:55.240 --> 00:17:57.440
I think, but until there's enough pain, they're not going

350
00:17:57.480 --> 00:17:58.039
to change anything.

351
00:17:58.039 --> 00:18:01.519
They're gonna because then it's almost the opposite incentivized because

352
00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:03.440
if it's too hot, then they can say, we'll just

353
00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:05.880
buy a ticket to our event in the at night.

354
00:18:06.119 --> 00:18:09.920
Correct correct Or there are some people who still believe

355
00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:12.079
when it's hot, we sell more ice cream.

356
00:18:12.200 --> 00:18:16.599
So yeah, because just to I was looking this up

357
00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:19.920
also while we were talking. But you know, most of

358
00:18:19.960 --> 00:18:24.240
the most of the parks in the area. So you've

359
00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:28.200
got Universal Studios Florida and Epic Universe close at nine,

360
00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:31.799
Islands close ten at ten pm. Volcano Bay closes at seven,

361
00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:34.680
which is funny because it's like the opposite of the

362
00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:37.720
other what we were saying, where you do water stuff

363
00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:40.599
at night, but here they're like closing early. And then

364
00:18:40.640 --> 00:18:43.519
the Disney World Side and One Kingdom close at six thirty,

365
00:18:43.839 --> 00:18:47.079
Blizzard Beach closed at eight, Hollywood Studios at nine, Typhoon

366
00:18:47.119 --> 00:18:49.680
Lagoon at eight, Epcot at nine, and only it's only

367
00:18:49.720 --> 00:18:53.559
Magic Kingdom that's open till eleven. And right now sunset

368
00:18:53.599 --> 00:18:55.839
is eight thirty, which means most of these places are

369
00:18:55.839 --> 00:18:59.759
only getting thirty minutes of not direct sun. And even

370
00:18:59.799 --> 00:19:04.400
in even in usj they're open later and they have

371
00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:06.440
to deal with the metro thing and they're open later

372
00:19:06.880 --> 00:19:09.039
until nine thirty or ten on some nights.

373
00:19:10.640 --> 00:19:14.599
Yeah, it's I think it's I think we've I think

374
00:19:14.640 --> 00:19:17.200
we've touched on a bunch of different reasons. And my

375
00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:20.400
guess is from if you were to go from park

376
00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:22.119
to park and and we're able to be a fly

377
00:19:22.200 --> 00:19:25.119
on the wall in their planning processes, you would hear

378
00:19:25.559 --> 00:19:27.960
all of these discussed and they'd be weighed differently depending

379
00:19:27.960 --> 00:19:32.400
on what park it is. You know that it's all

380
00:19:32.440 --> 00:19:35.519
eventually going to come down to money. So if it

381
00:19:35.559 --> 00:19:38.799
does eat into their their second gate, that's going to

382
00:19:38.839 --> 00:19:41.279
be a huge reason not to do it, if it

383
00:19:41.400 --> 00:19:44.720
means that they're going to have to, you know, retrain

384
00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:48.480
their audiences or find staff that's willing to work later,

385
00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:52.240
because that's another issue. You know, there are there's a

386
00:19:52.279 --> 00:19:54.319
lot of staff out there that want to work in

387
00:19:54.359 --> 00:19:56.400
the attractions industry but want to work Monday through Friday

388
00:19:56.480 --> 00:19:57.000
nine to five.

389
00:19:59.559 --> 00:20:06.440
I agree. Well, let's shift a little bit. There's still

390
00:20:06.440 --> 00:20:07.920
some noise news to cover.

391
00:20:08.119 --> 00:20:08.559
This time.

392
00:20:08.799 --> 00:20:11.680
We'll talk about some water parks in Korea. And what

393
00:20:11.799 --> 00:20:13.720
I really like about this is I like about how,

394
00:20:13.799 --> 00:20:16.240
at the same time we're talking about how some of

395
00:20:16.279 --> 00:20:18.920
the ways of operating are kind of set in stone

396
00:20:18.920 --> 00:20:22.319

Hotter Parks, Cooler Guests: How Asia’s Attractions Are Responding to Weather

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