XML 36 R10.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT  v2.3.0.11
Interim Reporting
6 Months Ended
Jun. 26, 2011
Quarterly Financial Information Disclosure [Abstract]  
Interim Reporting
Interim Reporting:
The Partnership owns and operates eleven amusement parks, six separately gated outdoor water parks, one indoor water park and five hotels. In order to better facilitate discussion of trends in attendance and guest per capita spending than would be possible on a consolidated basis, the Partnership's eleven amusement parks and six separately gated water parks have been grouped into regional designations. Parks in the Partnership’s northern region include Cedar Point and the adjacent Soak City water park in Sandusky, Ohio; Kings Island near Cincinnati, Ohio; Canada’s Wonderland in Toronto, Canada; Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom near Allentown, Pennsylvania; Valleyfair, near Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota; Geauga Lake’s Wildwater Kingdom near Cleveland, Ohio; and Michigan’s Adventure near Muskegon, Michigan. In the southern region are Kings Dominion near Richmond, Virginia; Carowinds near Charlotte, North Carolina; and Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun in Kansas City, Missouri. The western region parks include Knott’s Berry Farm, near Los Angeles in Buena Park, California; California’s Great America located in Santa Clara, California; and three Knott’s Soak City water parks located in California. The Partnership also owns and operates the Castaway Bay Indoor Waterpark Resort in Sandusky, Ohio, and operates Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park in Gilroy, California under a management contract. Virtually all of the Partnership’s revenues from its seasonal amusement parks, as well as its outdoor water parks and other seasonal resort facilities, are realized during a 130- to 140-day operating period beginning in early May, with the major portion concentrated in the third quarter during the peak vacation months of July and August.
To assure that these highly seasonal operations will not result in misleading comparisons of current and subsequent interim periods, the Partnership has adopted the following accounting and reporting procedures for its seasonal parks: (a) revenues on multi-day admission tickets are recognized over the estimated number of visits expected for each type of ticket and are adjusted periodically during the season, (b) depreciation, advertising and certain seasonal operating costs are expensed during each park’s operating season, including certain costs incurred prior to the season which are amortized over the season, and (c) all other costs are expensed as incurred or ratably over the entire year.