To be surprised that family attractions are so busy?

[cattyfranny]

I see and hear a lot about families cutting back due to the current economic situation and yet attractions (theme parks, zoos etc) and holiday parks (Centre Parcs etc) seem to be packed. I thought Christmas businesses might suffer but those that have started taking bookings are already selling out. Are people going into debt for this kind of thing? Or are there more people with high disposable income than I realise?

It will also depend on how harsh the winter is. People might find they have less disposable income than they thought they would, if energy continues to rise at this rate. Maybe the people already cutting back and making changes are doing it now, so it’s less of a shock in a couple of months.

We won’t be eating out, but might have the very occasional coffee. We have NT membership, so days out are to NT properties so no further cost. We won’t be buying clothes, unless it’s second hand, or sale. We have warm coats and boots and can turn off heating in several rooms. We live at the coast, so can walk by the sea or the countryside and that’ll have to do.

I remember back in 2008, queuing for an hour in the car to check in at Centreparcs, and thinking 'recession, what recession??'. (At that time. we were being 'treatedt' by PILs.)

The stark fact is, that for a lot of people, the CoL crisis will mean fairly minor changes, and not the drastic issues that you hear about on the news, or read about online. Everyone will feel it at some point, but not necessarily suffer with it.

That is no comfort at all to the people who are already teetering on the edge, or being dragged under. And it's certainly no excuse at all for this shit show of a government's total impotency when it comes to action.

We paid off our mortgage during Covid thanks to wfh savings so now instead of saving up, some of our money will go on increased energy bills.

We've done lots of exciting things this summer as DD will only be young once and missed so much during Covid.

2008 was a good year for us financially. I wish we still had as much money. 2008 largely seemed to affect people in financial and IT services and those selling luxury items to the big earners in these sectors. 2008 really had little impact in the City I was living in at the time.

You can't see all the cut backs - some people for example will go to the attraction but take a packed lunch instead of going to the cafe. Or maybe just go to three things this week instead of four last year. Or not invite a friend to join them this year to save one ticket price.

Recession will not mean no one going out. It is definitely going to mean fewer people going out overall and a lower average spend. The spread of where the impact is will be unequal too - poorer areas will be harder hit as a higher percentage of their residents have bigger impacts.

My parents had a business - when bad times came their customers traded down a notch, it wasn't like they had no customers at all.

Not everyone is struggling or these were booked months ago

The evidence does not back up this feeling you have - lots of businesses selling ordinary things were affected and many people's wages have stagnated ever since, whilst those at the top have increased their wealth.

There is still a lot of families that have good incomes and spare cash

We’ve done many things in central London over summer, shows, restaurants etc. All packed, and so busy: quite something. So much better than the emptiness during Covid.

This. We went away to a theme park for a few days stay recently, it was absolutely packed. Every restaurant on site had massive queues, the picnic areas were just empty. Come Over to London central and you won't see any hint of people struggling.

yes I agree with @mountainsunsets I live in a so called deprived area where many families are unemployed or on low incomes. I have lived here a long time so personally know many many families all have no shortage of days out, holidays, take aways. people genuinely seem better off than they've ever been in my area. my nd neighbours have just spent over £600 on kitting the family out in this seasons latest football kit and are off on holiday this week only one parent works. seem to be doing really well to me. but like you say people don't like to talk about how they are not struggling.

You won't see me at any of those places, but that's more to do with my agoraphobia. I can't cope with crowds at all.

This.

We're not going abroad on holiday. A few well selected family activities is much cheaper than two weeks in the sun in the summer holidays.

There was also the poster on here the other day who was considering not turning the heating on so she could carry on with holidays and #making memories.

A friend who is really anxious about rising prices is still taking her kids out as she thinks the government will have to do something.

Those with troubles always shout the loudest

The truth is for many families this isn't causing a big issue and can spend the same as before

A lot of people will also be making the most of it now and preparing for a rough winter.

Even these things don’t affect everyone though. I don’t have DC and I have private healthcare paid for by my employer which is quite common for professional jobs, so while I obviously lament the impact on them it doesn’t affect me directly. And I don’t expect my annual energy bill to top £2000, it’ll more likely be in the £1500 ballpark.

We’d already booked and paid for the holiday we’ve just had. It’s next year it’ll hit us and holidays will stop. The rise in energy prices is yet to come.

Exactly.
For many it's just a blip, nothing to get excited about.

I know this is MN, where posters would have you believe they are down to eating beans on their top 10% salary, but there are still plenty of people with money and the inclination to spend it.

Depends where the season tickets are for. I agree with things like Merlin passes etc, but our local birs park is £8.99 per month, the zoo £100 per family and arboretum £80 for 2 adults and up to 4 children.

For us, we ask for season tickets/money towards season tickets from Grandparents/aunts and uncles for the dc Christmas presents rather than toys as we have too much stuff. This makes the school holidays much cheaper, especially as we do picnics etc.

How? Just looked at that place and it’s not £7 for 4 people? Even national trust members have to pay £5.50 each?

Thank goodness people are out and about and supporting local businesses, the more small businesses can make in the last few weeks of summer the better for them, holiday places find winter months hard enough at the best of times.

There will be a massive spectrum of incomes but also variation in terms of fixed rate deals. Eg our energy is fixed for another 18 months and we secured a new fixed mortgage deal before rates started to rise so we are cushioned from the rises for a fair amount of time.

clearly for those on a low income, high energy bills will bite hard as they will form an increasingly high proportion of the budget. For those who need to cut back a bit, there will be different priorities. Some will spend a bit less on food to retain days out, some would ditch the days out and have different treats.

everyone is talking about energy but no-one seems to be talking about rising energy alongside rising mortgage rates. It is that combo that I think could sting even households who are comparatively well-off. Either way, like covid the impact will not be felt equally across households.

Not everything costs money.

We where at the park yesterday (big victorian park with play areas, forrest walk, 'zoo' type animal area with birds and small mammals like rabbits, pedelo lake, manicured gardens etc...) and it was packed but cost nothing.

Week before we where at another park with free splash pad, once again most with picnics, there was a fair on but honestly virtually no one was paying for rides.

Week before we where at the beach and it was chocker, it was the beach that was packed not the resteraunts and amusements though.

Also some attractions we bought earlier in the year are free season tickets after your first visit (like Jorvic for example) so cost us nothing to return to again and again.

People maybe poor but we still need to entertain children and go out.

We have our first proper holiday since covid coming up (just a seaside caravan) but it was paid for before all the prices went up. Apart from food (have to buy anyway) and petrol to get there its not costing anything (entertainment included, tropical style water park include, kids club included and soft play, parks on ground, crazy golf, beaches, historic landmarks in walking distance etc...).

To cancel we would lose the money and frankly a much needed get away being holiday season a lot of people likely booked things in advance before the money issues.