Pretty simple
Improve the capacity and park infrastructure to accommodate more people
More rides, better food, better transport, better events.
More eating options, more indoor and filler rides, better transport options, better resort options, lighting/paths/monorail improvements etc
This is a financial decision, and mimicking one which is used across the industry (and others) to maximise revenue, not to help operations.
You incentivise people to book on quieter days, with cheaper prices. The more people who book the day, the more expensive it gets. People who are looking for a cheap day out, and book early enough are rewarded. People who aren't price sensitive are happy when there's availability at short notice, and will pay whatever the price is.
Dynamic pricing already exists in transport, think "surge" and Uber. It exists in leisure at concerts. It exists in supermarkets, and is only going to get more noticeable with digital shelf e-tickets. It exists in online retail.
The more popular something gets, the more expensive it becomes. This will put off price sensitive people from booking on expensive days, who will then book on cheaper days, which will dynamically get more expensive the more people who book until that too becomes an expensive day.
You'll find that for Merlin this will average out to a higher revenue ticket across the season than the current system. People are, in effect, paying what they think the visit is worth in advance. When you give people a choice like this, you'll find that their average spend increases. You will always have some customers who will refuse to go on anything but the cheaper days, the same as Uber has customers who will walk rather than surge. After the introduction of surge pricing, the average spend for a journey increased for Uber, without customers really noticing.
This isn't about capacity, it isn't about infrastructure, it isn't about rides. It's about increasing the maximum potential for revenue growth across the season, and not just on holidays.
