Carnival & Fair News

Magic Money has now expanded its use to over 30 carnivals from California to Florida and Ohio and Wisconsin in between.

That is huge news for the company, but President Brian Meade is looking to the future. He says the company has been focused on developing a system that works for many aspects of carnival operations, including, most recently, ride inspection and that requires constant change and improvement.

“This industry and technology are alike in one way—they're always moving,” Meade notes. “At Magic Money, we don't view that as a challenge; we see it as an opportunity. Every event, every update, and every client interaction gives us the chance to learn and improve. It's not about reaching an endpoint but about constantly creating tools that meet the needs of our clients.”

Meade says data is the key to making good decisions and the Magic Money system aggregates that data, whether it is ticketing, ride usage, game play, food sales or ride inspections.

“Data allows carnivals to make better decisions”, said Meade. Questions like, what hours the carnival should be open, when guests are playing games, seeing how many guests are using wristbands as opposed to credits and if the hours differ, this is all data that can be collected using the Magic Money system. Armed with this data, a carnival and fair together can adjust opening and closing times, cut off unlimited ride passes at a certain hour to help combat the rising youth violence problems on midways, or even make decisions on which rides to retire — all based upon data collected.

Even for ride inspections, the data can be aggregated into reports so the user can help see trends and look for anomalies to be studied — why do maintenance costs run higher on one Giant Wheel than the other the company owns — and help the show analyze the data and use it to cut costs and expenses.

“We have had such success with carnivals and ticketing that we have expanded now into many fairs and events”, enthused Meade. The North Texas State Fair has brought in Magic Money to run admission and vendors. The transition reaped benefits right away as the fair and carnival saw, from the Magic Money system, that the popular Rodeo events did not translate into carnival sales during the day when the weather was hot, so the fair and carnival elected to adjust carnival hours to reduce exposure to the heat for both fair guests and employees.


The Napa Valley Expo and San Bernardino County Fair are other examples of events now using Magic Money at the gate and beyond.

Meade says the data is driving better decisions at a time when carnivals and fairs alike are facing rising costs due to inflation. Instead of having to raise prices and possibly thereby suppress demand, Magic Money offers data-driven answers where the user can cut costs such as hours, saving on overtime, implement pricing specials, such as time-restricted wristbands at a lower price during slower hours — the possibilities are endless.

“Implementing Magic Money has been transformative for our operations and the guest experience on our midway. By streamlining transactions across games and ride passes, we've significantly reduced wait times, allowing fairgoers to enjoy more of their visit. The real-time data provided by the Magic Money software has been incredibly valuable, enabling us to monitor each attraction closely and make adjustments to enhance efficiency. The Magic Money team truly understands our business, delivering a great product with outstanding support. We'd never consider going back to traditional ticket sales—Magic Money is essential to the way we operate today.” Said Tarah Hauser of West Coast Amusements.




Magic Money will be making its first international foray into Canadian admission tickets this year with kiosks at the front gate offering admission and ride tickets — all in one place. They also picked up 11 pumpkin patches that are now using the system and are hoping to expand that business, and other seasonal businesses as well.

One of the aspects of the system Meade is very enthusiastic about is the efficient service of guests through the company's kiosks. “Our point of sale is so cost effective that our clients are able to put plenty of them on the midway for the event's guests”, he said. “We like to say the line to purchase tickets for the rides is the shortest line customers will wait in all day. That is what we saw at the Ohio State Fair and many of our other events”.



Best of all says Meade, is that companies don't need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to go digital. “The majority of our clients equipment and startup costs are in the low to mid-five figure range”, said Meade.

Magic Money, with their expansion into ride inspections and fair admissions and concessions, are moving beyond the basics of just carnival tickets. In 2024, they serviced over 2,000 events and are hoping to expand upon that in 2025.



In an industry defined by rapid change, staying ahead of the curve is critical. “We invest heavily in development, not just to keep up but to lead,” Meade says. “Whether it's implementing connectivity solutions to operate in any environment or adapting to emerging regulations, we're constantly looking forward.”

“We want to bring efficiency and data-driven information to more and more areas of the business”, said Meade. “We hope we can become the major tool for companies to reduce expenses by instituting informed decisions using our system”.