Have IT initiatives helped produce revenue?

Yes. We have two inventory systems we've rolled out over the past month: one for retail and one for food and beverage. Those allow us to increase our revenue potential. If a food stand is running low, we know at midday instead of at the end of the day.

How many employees do you have to support?

We go from 3,000 employees in January to 33,000 by the end of May, and [seasonal positions] turn over at least two times during the season. We have high school [students], college kids, foreign nationals and senior citizens that we bring in to work. There's a tremendous amount of training that we have to continuously work on.

How do you deal with that?

[In March] we rolled out our first computer-based training system, which is hosted externally. It's a modularized system with different modules for basic point-of-sale operation, food operation, front gate and retail, and it takes them through the basic operations for each of those scenarios. We also keep a database of who has passed what training, so if this person is trained on food and retail, we can use them in both locations.

You're considering biometric technology for your season pass. How will that work?

We're looking at a new ticketing system which, instead of taking a picture to identify the season-pass holder, will do a biometric scan. It doesn't take your fingerprint, but creates a numeric [value] out of certain spots on your finger.

What are the benefits? It eliminates the need to have your picture taken at the season-pass office, saving time. It allows access to the park a lot quicker. It also reduces fraud, [where] people give their passes to someone else to use. Even though passes have pictures on them, on a busy day, are our gate attendants checking every single picture? They tell us they are, but this would eliminate a potential oversight.

What are the privacy implications? Will the public accept that?

Out in the park, I've talked to folks in our season-pass lines waiting for two hours to get their pass processed. I asked people myself: If we did this instead, would you have an issue with it? So far, I haven't run into anyone -- when I explain it correctly -- who has had an issue.

What's a little-known fact about running an amusement park business?

The electricity cost for a large roller coaster can come to US$600,000 per year, [and] overhauls each season can run into the millions.