Obviously, the Disney and Universal theme parks can sustain being open everyday, with the number of fans that they attract. But is being open year round a good thing for parks where management might be tempted to schedule that?
Think about the time needed for maintenance and construction. Or the ability to staff a park to provide excellence service. Might some parks be better off limiting their days of operation to create a better experience for all?
And then there's also the weather, and how a park's ride line-up works in varying conditions.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the ideal operating calendar.
Closing is a good thing.
Taking away something we Love makes us want it more.
Example - Fortnite was down for a few days during a new chapter\season - Folks went Nuts and when it returned.... We celebrated..
Chick-Fil-A closed on Sundays...
Plus knowing you have a day off no matter what -is great for the Workers..
The biggest problem with being open every day is the parks lose money operating days when they're dead. We saw a short-lived trend where Six Flags execs thought they could add more value to monthly "membership" plans by keeping the parks open in December/January, but ultimately realized the amount of money they were losing by operating the park when it was freezing cold out and no one was there was so great that it wasn't worth it. Of course Holiday in the Park is a big hit at many parks like Atlanta, San Antonio, etc. But at the parks in the north the weather proved to be too much of a detriment in regards to attendance (with the one exception of SFGADV which still closes after the first week in January, but that is an exception because its the biggest market in the country, and NYC doesn't get that cold in December compared to much of the rest of the country). SFGAm (huge Chicago/Milwaukee area market) did a full on Holiday in the Park one year, then did an abridged version, then the last year they did it it was a complete a joke (like a parking lot attraction and literally only Carousel Plaza open...so the Carousel was the only ride open), then the year after that went back to closing after Fright Fest.
Now in regards to year-round parks being open every day, again it comes down to the fact that the attendance doesn't justify the operation. SFMM tried being open every day, its so-cal so its not a weather issue, but ultimately they just lost gobs of money on traditional school days when the vast majority of people are not able to go.
In regards to Disney they have such a massive business going on that its not really feasible for them to close. They have been operating Disneyland Paris every day all winter for over 30 years even though they basically lose money all winter every year.
Also to answer your original question, "is being open every day a good thing?" My answer is no for most parks. I've seen it happen many times where a park has bad attendance, and then as the year goes on, they decide to make major budget cuts to their maintenance and operations so then on days where they actually are very busy they can't run full capacity.
The only parks that really should be open 365 days a year (or close to it) are those in year-round tourist destinations. Only the select few parks that make a decent percentage of their revenue from out of town visitors, and thus would lose out on that revenue without being open daily, really benefit from never shutting the gates.
For parks in areas with more temperate weather, I do think they should be open year round, but probably should only operate on weekends outside of school vacations and holiday periods. This allows for closed days when park maintenance staff can focus on upkeep projects without having guests present, and it also allows the park to bring in money year round instead of having periods of the year where it's solely a loss. Plus, with the increasingly popular membership programs rather than standard season passes, it feels a bit scammy to keep collecting payments during periods the park is completely unavailable.
Which parks should close for a proper off-season? Those in locations that experience genuine winter weather (aka snowfall), or those where temperatures aren't attractive for outdoor activities for extended periods of time (aka mean highs of mid 40s or below). When the climate would either limit attendance or limit operation, it simply makes more sense to just shut down the park for a few months. Additionally, hybrid parks that attract a significant majority of their audience for waterpark activities make sense to run on a reduced season built around periods when that will be attractive, as the ride park might not draw enough to cover its own costs otherwise.
I don't have an issue with parks being open 365 (or even a year-round schedule with weekend only operations in the "low" season). From a staffing perspective, it's probably easier to hire full time employees who have guaranteed work year round instead of the season employment many regional parks offer. However, those parks have to be able to provide enough experiences for guests if the weather is not ideal. That's where so many of these regional parks run into problems, because they probably have enough interest and decent enough weather to operate year-round, but they just don't have enough interior spaces and indoor attractions to give guests a break if the weather isn't 70 degrees and sunny.
The problem is that if a park commits to year-round, they have to fully commit, and be willing to weather the ups and downs of the winter months. I felt that the Cedar Fair parks that tried to do it a few years ago were onto something, but they just didn't have enough to do when rides had to shut down due to the cold or were just not pleasant to ride in cooler weather.
Parks certainly need some days earmarked for preventative maintenance but only being open at weekends does raise one concern.
All of the big Parks like Disney and Universal that are based in holiday destinations depend upon the revenue generated from overseas tourism.
Obviously school times vary and customers are also very aware of cheaper rates for flights an hotel accommodation. The tourists are unlikely to make that trip, and spend those dollars , if the Parks are closed on weekdays.
It's going to take some careful planning to ensure that the Parks don't lose that revenue stream even if the downtime is much needed.
Reminder that Disneyland was closed every Monday and Tuesday from 1955 through 1983. Eisner changed that by opening the park 7 days a week.