Connect&GO’s Megan Fulbright shares how waterpark operations are simplified and the guest experience enhanced with the Konnect platform
by Martin Palicki
As noted in the 2023 edition of the TEA/AECOM Theme Index global attractions attendance report, “Waterparks remain generally solid and reliable around the world.”[1] They were quick to recover from the pandemic and historically have reported stable and strong attendance figures. But as any seasoned operator will tell you, it isn’t just a case of “build it and they will come.” Waterparks have distinct challenges unique from other attractions – most tied to ensuring a smooth and friction-free guest experience.
Megan Fulbright, Sr. Business Development Director for Connect&GO, experienced some of those challenges firsthand while in operations leadership roles at Six Flags Hurricane Harbor (Arlington, Texas). One of the things that led her to Connect&GO was their Konnect platform and the ways it streamlined operations for everyone – guests, frontline employees, and management. InPark spoke to Fulbright for more information on how Konnect most impacts waterparks.
Tell us how Konnect is designed for waterparks.
Konnect is an attractions management platform that incorporates ticketing, access control, POS systems, guest management and more. For guests, it features a digital wallet where visitors can store their tickets and money, using it for concessions and retail within the park. For added security, a photo is linked to their wallet and shows up at the gate for operators, which helps speed up the entrance process. It can be tied to an RFID wristband or other media of the park’s choice. The system is built for high-volume, fast-paced environments, like waterparks, to provide smooth operations and a simple guest experience.
What are some unique requirements waterparks might have and how does Konnect address them?
One of the biggest challenges for waterparks is managing large crowds. Guests often arrive in a short, compact window of time. The operator wants to make the entry experience simple and quick in order to get people out of the heat and into the park where they can spend money. Konnect simplifies the entrance experience, allowing the park to process people through the turnstiles quickly and efficiently.
Additionally, waterparks aren’t conducive to carrying lots of things around during the day. People like to set up shop somewhere and move freely through the park. The digital wallet can be integrated with so many systems within the park, including lockers and concessions, that guests are really freed up to be mobile with only their RFID media, which often is a waterproof silicone or plastic wristband.
Finally, many waterparks have one or two upcharge attractions that might require a waiver, and Konnect integrates with Smartwaiver, allowing guests to fill one out in advance of arriving at the park, reducing human error and further streamlining the process.
Your list of integration partners is constantly growing. Do you have any new ones to mention?
In addition to our Smartwaiver, Intercard, Alvarado, Adyen, Payfacto and VLocker integrations we recently began working with Lightspeed, which optimizes guests’ food and beverage experience in a park. For example, parks may offer a package ticket that includes a meal voucher, which used to be handled with a physical ticket. Our integration with Lightspeed allows that voucher to live in the digital wallet and seamlessly integrates with the concession stand. The guest has no idea it’s two separate systems that are working together to make their experience smoother and easier. This also allows for more efficient F&B servicing for cabanas – including mobile ordering – which both operators and frontline employees appreciate.
How has the platform impacted operations at waterparks?
Our installation at Splashway (Texas) was one of the first to implement our new cabana mapping capabilities. This allows their guests to see a map of the various cabanas available in real time. Guests can see specifics about each cabana and then pick exactly which one they want to reserve. The park reported a notable shift in how people book as a result of the new system. Of the total amount of cabana bookings, online sales jumped from less than 80% to 93% almost immediately. This increase means fewer staff are needed at the park to manage sales, as well as shorter lines for in-park cabana reservations.
Most parks don’t release specific figures, but in general we’ve seen that parks who move to Konnect’s cashless system see an improved guest experience – and that is a direct result of the simple and intuitive system that guests interact with. We’ve also seen a lot of client growth this year – one of our clients achieved a 75% increase in cashless spending year-over-year and a per cap increase of 48%. It’s proof that simple, intuitive technology can accomplish powerful business results.
What do guests seem to appreciate most about Konnect?
The feedback we get is that people really appreciate the convenience of the digital wallet, and how the RFID media gives them access to everything they need to get in and move through the park. As a parent, I know that the ability to remotely control the digital wallet is really valuable. For example, if I send my kids to the waterpark for the afternoon and they run out of money, I can check from home, see where they are spending money, and decide whether or not to add more funds to their account.
What features do operators most appreciate?
One of our newer features, cabana mapping, has the dual benefit of making the guest experience great, and also eliminates a lot of the guesswork for the operator. And when technology helps reduce the friction of an experience – in this case reserving a cabana – it tends to result in more use of that tech by the guest.
As a former waterpark ops person, I know the near real-time reporting that Konnect provides is absolutely essential for management. Parks have to react to constantly changing conditions, such as weather, attendance, overcrowding, and where staff are allocated. Reports can also be automated to send out specific information to key people at certain times of the day. The information provided by the reports allows operators to respond quickly and make smart decisions.
I also know firsthand that Konnect makes daily tasks faster, in less steps. On the back end, it allows for easy changes to each park’s ticketing model and can quickly address errors. Every front gate operator has had a situation where marketing ran a promotional ticket price and forgot to load it into the system. It’s Saturday morning and guests start showing up at the gate but there’s no button on the screen for the discount. Konnect is cloud- based with real-time updates, so the operator can make that change on the spot and share it across the system, without having to restart every POS or wait until the system is offline overnight to make changes. That is so incredibly important for frontline employees and managers.
Speaking of frontline employees, the system is so easy and intuitive for them to learn. Waterparks typically have a 100-day season and new employees are starting all the time. Konnect really cuts down on that new employee learning curve because it is set up with simplicity in mind.
Connect&GO is exhibiting at WWA Las Vegas (Booth #838) and IAAPA Expo Orlando. To set up a meeting with Megan to talk more about waterparks and Konnect, click here. •
[1] Francisco Refuerzo, AECOM “2023 TEA/AECOM Theme Index and Museum Index”
