The Signal Podcast by RocketRez

Why are so many waterparks still missing out on revenue they could easily capture? Kari Manev started as a lifeguard, became a waterpark director of operations, and has since worked in revenue management and founded Attraxion.ai. She joins John and Tim to explain:

• Why open-date tickets should cost more
• How one park moved from variable to dynamic pricing and is already beating its best year by 11%
• Why cart abandonment might be the fastest revenue win on your list
• What advance purchase does behind the scenes: better forecasts, smarter staffing, and no more running out of chicken tenders at 2 p.m.

What's the difference between rules-based pricing and true dynamic pricing—and why does it matter for your bottom line? Harry Tomasides and Tom Chiarella from Digonex join John and Tim to break down what pricing science actually looks like in practice, why walk-up pricing is leaving money on the table, and how attractions can stop underselling themselves while still creating value for guests.

How do you turn a mountain of guest data into insights you can actually act on? TJ Christensen—CEO of BlueGator and veteran of Disney, Wyndham, and Accesso—joins John and Tim to break down RFM (recency, frequency, monetary) scoring, why your ticketing system isn't a CRM, and how to turn data chaos into actionable guest segments that actually drive behavior.

What does it take to launch a loyalty program in four months with a team of three—without discounting? Tyler Jacobs, Director of Guest Engagement and Analytics at Morey's Piers, joins John and Tim to reveal how Morey's FAM Club delivers real-time offers the moment guests step off a ride, why "making it dumb" unlocked years of stalled innovation, and how small teams can build enterprise-level systems by optimizing the resources they already have.