Smaller amusement parks hope for a strong summer under the shadow of
tariffs
[June 17, 2025] By
MAE ANDERSON
NEW YORK (AP) — The trade disputes involving global economic powerhouses
such as the U.S. and China are being felt even in such distinctly local
places as your regional amusement park.
Families who balk at the cost of a summer vacation at big amusement
parks like Disney World favor trips to regional parks, which typically
are within driving distance, so expensive flights aren’t necessary. But
if tariffs lead to economic uncertainty, they may just stay home.
For park owners, tariffs could subject them to extra costs that their
customers might not think about. Parts of the rides are made of imported
steel that’s currently subject to tariffs. Those prizes and toys people
win after they shoot basketballs into a hoop? They usually come from
China, which has been subject to varying tariffs.
So far this year, however, there’s been no letdown.
“We’ve had good crowds, and everyone seems excited to be here,” said
Brian Hartley, vice president of Playland’s Castaway Cove, in Ocean
City, New Jersey, which boasts 30 rides, miniature golf, go-karts, and
other beachfront attractions. “As long as the weather is good, they’re
ready to come down.”
That’s true for park-goer Chris Del Borrello, who visited Castaway Cove
on a bustling Friday evening with a group of 10 family members,
including his four children.
“We come here every year because it’s so fun, and we build memories
every single summer,” he said.
Tariffs loom over the summer tourism industry just as leisure travel is
expected to get back to pre-pandemic levels. The U.S. Travel Association
expects Americans to take 1.96 billion trips this year, up 2% from 1.92
billion last year. Travel spending is also expected to increase 2% year
over year.
Tariff Pressures
As park operators prepared for the summer travel season, President
Donald Trump unrolled on-again, off-again tariffs against U.S. trade
partners that made planning difficult. For example, additional tariffs
on goods made in China started at 10% in February, rose to 20% in March,
ballooned to 145% in April, and were reduced to 30% in May. On
Wednesday, the Trump administration put the number at 55%.
Hartley said he ordered items like stuffed animals for games from China
early to beat the tariffs – and benefited from the reduction announced
in May.
“We loaded up. We’re tripping over stuff at this point,” he said. “We
tried to purchase as much stuff as we could to be ready for the season,
because that little bit makes a big difference in the bottom line at the
end of the day,” he said.
In particular, the park added two new rides this year, but parts were
delivered back in the fall.
Not all parks were as fortunate. At Adventureland, in Farmingdale, N.Y.,
the steel structure for a new ride, Wave Twister, and some China-made
game prizes like plush toys and basketballs were affected by tariff
costs, said manager Jeanine Gentile.
“We ordered them months ago before the tariffs were in place, but they
typically arrive for delivery at this time of the year, and so obviously
the tariffs were in before we received the product,” she said. “We did
have to pay additional for those tariffs in order to get the product.”
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Playland's Castaway Cove vice president Brian Hartley browses the
storage facility at Playland's Castaway Cove amusement park, in
Ocean City, N.J, on Friday, June 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Mingson Lau)
 So far, the park is absorbing the
cost. Its operators made the decision not to raise ticket prices
this year. But that could change next year.
“We’ve just sort of felt that if we can do this
(not raise prices) for Long Island and for our guests, let’s do it
where we can afford it, at least for this season,” Gentile said.
Economic Uncertainty
Aside from tariffs, economic uncertainty is the biggest challenge
for amusement parks this season.
Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, which is co-owned by country
legend Dolly Parton and Herschend Family Entertainment, opened a
week later in March due to concerns about the economy, Director of
Communications Pete Owens said. But attendance at the park, nestled
in the Great Smoky Mountains, so far is up 4% from last year.
Attendees are spending but looking for deals.
A promotion giving discount tickets to public employees has proved
popular. Owens said he is seeing customers buy tickets for their
families closer to their actual visits instead of several days or
weeks in advance. Some are even waiting until they’re in the Great
Smoky Mountains to make a purchase.
“I think they’re all still looking very closely to see what value
pricing there is or what opportunities there are,” he said.
The same holds true at Silver Dollar City near Branson, Missouri, an
1880s Western-themed park, which draws its visitors from what
president Brad Thomas calls “America’s heartland,” an “oval” in the
middle of the country, including Minneapolis, Denver and Memphis and
Houston, Texas.
“What those families tend to say as they visit us is that they want
their families just to escape, even though there’s a lot of concerns
in every family’s life, they’re all dealing with time pressure and
money pressure and inflation pressure and all kinds of other
things,” said Thomas.
He said this year families coming to the park are sticking to a
plan, moneywise.
“They have carved the money that they’ll spend in their day with us
or their days with us,” he said. “They’ve planned that into their
budget.”
Back at Castaway Cove, Hartley said that while the season is going
well, he worries about the mood of consumers as economic uncertainty
persists. That could affect trip planning later in the summer.
“People that really haven’t already booked a vacation … it may
affect, do they come down here for a weekend? Do they not? Do they
come for two days instead of four or five days?” he said. “I think
people don’t know what the future is going to hold.”
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