Knoebels Amusement Resort, America's largest free-admission amusement park, is proud to announce the successful expansion of its mobile app, powered by Attractions.io. The app now features native purchasing, marking a significant milestone in the park's three-year collaboration with the leading mobile app platform for theme park operators.
The family-owned and operated theme park has been working with Attractions.io since 2022 to create a mobile experience that helps guests make the most of their visit. The app has become an integral part of the park experience, providing guests with real-time updates, navigation, and exclusive promotions. The recent addition of native purchasing further enhances the app's functionality, allowing guests to pre-purchase tickets and speed up transaction times.
Guests can now pre-purchase tickets, passes and premium experiences, allowing the park to better forecast attendance and streamline entry processes.
"We've seen an uptake in pre-purchases for tickets via the app. It not only helps us forecast how many people are coming to the park, but when our guests get here, they can just scan their ticket, grab a band, and head in. The app has sped up their transaction times, given us a better idea of how many people are coming, and boosted our sales," explains Tiff Kalejta.
Jacob Thompson, Head of Customer Success at Attractions.io, added, "Integrating native purchasing into the Knoebels app offers guests a super slick check out experience, making it easier for guests to buy tickets, passes and premium experiences ahead of time so that they can spend more time enjoying the park.”
The app's push notification feature has complimented native purchasing, by helping the marketing team promote special events, BOGO days, and food items,
"Having the ability to send push notifications to our guests is amazing. We promote our dining experiences and are already seeing an uptake in revenue. We're seeing up to 20% of users engage with our promotional messages" – Tiff Kalejta, Digital Marketing Manager at Knoebels.
Retail aside, the app also plays a crucial role in Knoebel's communication strategy and helps the team provide guests with accurate updates on wait times and ride statuses. Whether rides are delayed, closing early, or opening for the first time, the team can share real-time updates so guests know on a minute-to-minute basis what wait times are and can plan their day effectively.
"Our supervisory team now has a much better pulse on what's going on at our rides and our wait times. We're more efficient in what we do and are able to make informed choices in terms of staffing" – Jon, Head of Ride Operations, noted.
The app also features offline navigation, allowing guests to find the quickest and most efficient route to their desired attractions. "They can look right at the app, put in the ride they want to go to, and it takes them there and gives them the best directions and the quickest way there," says Tiff.
The success of the Knoebels mobile app is evident in the overwhelmingly positive feedback from users. An impressive 99% of app users report a positive experience, demonstrating the app's value and effectiveness in enhancing the overall park experience.
"To me, that's a huge success story alone. It shows that our audience wanted the app, that they're using it, and that the content we're providing is valuable information for them," said Mary Helwig, Head of Marketing at Knoebels.
To learn more about how the marketing team at Knoebels uses their mobile app to enhance guests' experience and encourage additional spending, read the full case study.
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