Money makes the world go round and your theme park is no exception!
Make sure your profits stay in the green and you’ll be delighting guests for years, slip into the red for too long and you’ll struggle to keep the gates open.
Across your park you’ll have a variety of sources for income and costs.
- Income:
- Entrance fees
- Ride tickets
- Priority Pass tickets
- Shops
- Costs:
For example, building a new ride or shops will increase your income, but requires power and staff to run which will cost you money.
Price Points
Increasing your prices can improve your income, as long as you can keep your park and rides busy – and your guests happy!
Pricing everything perfectly is vital to the financial success of your park. There are a number of automatic Pricing Modes to help you get started:
- Bargain - The price that all of your guests will be willing to pay.
- Premium - A higher price that not all guests will tolerate.
- Dynamic - An advanced mode where you control the range of prices, depending on queues.
- Custom - Tweak the price however you'd like, even setting it to Free.
Pricing can be set across your park, at shops, rides and the entrance itself. Set the price too low and you’re essentially leaving money on the table, but set it too high and you might put your guests off!
Did You Know?
How-To Make More Money
There are a few different approaches you can take if you’re strapped for cash in Planet Coaster 2:
- Cut your costs – fire inactive staff members, close shops with low profit and remove excess utility buildings. Head to the Finances sub-menu of the Park Management menu to identify your biggest costs around your park.
- Increase ticket and shop prices – raising the price of a ticket on your rides or items form your shops can be the fastest way to increase income. Try using Dynamic pricing to make the most profit, without putting your guests off.
- Free park entry – it might seem counterintuitive when you’re trying to make more money, but making park entry free will increase the footfall in your park, meaning more guests with cash to spend on ride tickets or at shops.
- Invest in the future – rides will be less attractive to guests over time, so you need to keep investing in new rides and attractions for your park.
- Create a Priority Pass – make extra money from your best attractions with a Priority Pass. Learn more in our Priority Pass guide.
- Keep guests happy – the happier your guests are the more they will spend in your park. Learn more about Keeping Guests Happy in our guide.
- Improve your Park Rating – attract more guests to your park by increasing your overall Park Rating with new attractions, more scenery, prestigious rides and happy guests.
Loans
If you find yourself low on money, the Loans screen can help. Taking out a loan will give you an immediate cash injection, but you'll need to pay back more than you borrow. You’ll also have to contend with a Sales Cut that increases your costs until the loan is repaid.
The amount you can borrow is determined by your Park Value – the total value of everything in your park. The closer you are to the maximum you can borrow, the larger the Sales Cut will be. The Sales Cut is the percentage of your money from sales which will automatically be taken to pay off the loan.
It's possible to pay back some of your loan early to reduce the Sales Cut, so long as you can spare the money.
A loan can make the difference in a pinch but be careful not to borrow more than you can afford to pay back, or you might find yourself stuck in a financial hole!
Did You Know?
How-To Take Out a Loan
When cash is tight, a loan might make the difference in keeping your park open.
- Open the Finances sub-menu of the Park Management menu.
- Select the Loans tab.
- Select Add New Loan.
- Adjust the Loan Amount to the amount you need. Keep an eye on the Sales Cut and Debt Acquired values.
- Select Confirm Loan when you’re happy. You now have a loan! Your loan will be paid off automatically, but you can pay some, or all, off early by selecting Pay Off Loan and adjusting the amount you want to pay off.
Marketing/Advertising
Advertising your park is an excellent way to encourage more guests to visit!
Simply choose the demographic that your advertising will target, assign how much you want to spend over time, and wait for your advertising campaign to do its magic.
Some guests will have preferences, such as a preference for coasters, depending on their demographic. Appealing to guest preferences will encourage them to spend more money at your park.
Before starting a new advertisement, you’ll need to meet a baseline of these preferences in requirements. After all, you need something to market!
How-To Create an Advertisement
- Open the Guests sub-menu in the Park Management menu.
- Open the Advertising tab.
- Select the Advert you’re interest in running from the available option.
- Ensure you meet the requirements for the selected Advert by selecting View Requirements. If you don’t meet these, either fulfil the requirements and come back later, or select an alternative advert.
- Select Create Advertisement.
- Set the Cost Per Hour for the Advert. This will impact how quickly the target audience will be reached.
- Confirm your choice and the Advert will start running! All Ad campaigns will stop automatically when they reach 100% awareness, but they can also be stopped early be selecting the End Advertisement button.
Did You Know?
Some guests will only come to your park if certain requirements are met through advertising.