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hey lori, the answer is it was a bust for us when we tried it at The Science
Place.  It was a 10 seater, from doran, a nice unit, but there were all
sorts of permutations to its presence:  like we did it during the state fair
of texas, but it was located opposite from the main fair pathways.

it certainly didn't make money and it was a money loser for the guy who
funded it (an entepreneur if i remember).

our loss was in staffing - required one staff person full time while in
operation.  believe the ride was one of about 6 minute duration.....we
charged either 3 or 5 dollars

having said that, i think there is an easy way for you to determine what the
likely outcome might be.....just look at the variables and apply some good
old algebra..

1.  what is your hightest possible throughput?
2.  what is your attendance pattern during the day? summer vs school year?
weekend?
3.  what's the cost to operate? staff? lease?purchase?
4.  the variable you want to solve for is what percentage of our visitors
have to ride this thing in order to break even? once you know that, you can
use experience to weight the answer for school groups vs. weekends/summer.
I would graph some ranges to find out, for instance, if 10% less people than
you expected ride it, how much money are we going to lose?
5.  finally?  poll your audience to test if they will indeed match your fill
rate.

i'm not trying to be a "grumpy gill" (from saving nemo), just urging you and
staff to take a hard look at the propsition.

jeff courtman
mind-works

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