By Robert Strauss | The New York Times | Sept. 23, 2009

Wildwood, NJ
Given that consumers have been so reluctant to spend lately, the family-run amusement park would seem especially vulnerable.

But amusement park owners around the country say the weather, not the housing downturn or job losses, played a bigger role in their fortunes this past summer.

“We had a lousy, wet June and a couple of hurricane threats this summer, so that was bad,” said Jack Morey, who with his brother Will, owns and runs three amusement piers along the Wildwood boardwalk. “Then the weather got better in August, and suddenly everyone was there.”

If they have sunshine and moderate temperatures, Mr. Morey and his fellow owners around the country say, the slower economy seems to be favoring them.

Indeed, the fact that most of the independent parks are owned by families may insulate them a bit from the normal business cycles, said William Alexander, who teaches courses in family business at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. “In many cases, these are seasonal businesses,” Mr. Alexander said. “And in the summer, the whole family would participate. In difficult economic times, particularly, a family committed to a business will sacrifice in deferring compensation and bonuses.”

Mr. Alexander also noted that the family-run amusement parks were generally “not as involved as the large ones in the amusement arms race, where building the next big roller coaster is the goal.” As a result, he said, “Their capital cost structures are not as stretched.”

Read the rest of the story here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/business/smallbusiness/24sbiz.html?8dpc