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Industry News:
2010 Park Attendance Report - (6/17/11) The official TEA & AECOM report of the 2010 Global Theme Park Attendance Numbers has been released can be downloaded here.
Some quick facts… the Magic Kingdom at WDW was the top attended park in 2010, bringing in an estimated 16.97 million guests, followed by Disneyland (15.98m), Tokyo Disneyland (14.45m), Tokyo DisneySea (12.66m), Epcot (10.82m), Disneyland Paris (10.5m), Animal Kingdom (9.68m), Disney’s Hollywood Studios (9.6m), Universal Studios Japan (8.16m) and Everland (6.88m). For all the stats for 2010, download the read the official report.
You can also still download the attendance reports from several previous years too:
Download the 2009 Report
Download the 2008 Report
Download the 2007 Report
Download the 2006 Report
General News - (12/5/11) For all our readers who are still into playing with their RCT3 games, you may be interested in a little contest running at NeDesigns this month where the winners can get signed copies of select games from either Simon Foster or John Wardley.
(12/2/11) In an interesting press release from Dennis Speigel, President of ITPS, he coins a new phrase to describe what we’ve all been noticing happening at the big theme park chains. “AttractAreas” is the phase he’s used to describe what we’ve been referring to all the new themed land projects have been popping up ever since the launch of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The expansion of Disney’s Fantasyland in Florida, Cars Land in California, SeaWorld’s just announced Antartica: Empire of the Penguin and even the area rebuilt for Cheetah Hunt / Cheetah Run at Busch Gardens Tampa are all examples of this new trend… where building just one new ride or attraction isn’t enough. The parks are all hoping to get a taste of the Harry Potter effect where not only attendance goes up, but also merchandise and food sales when you package a few new attractions into a carefully new themed environment.
According to Speigel, “One of the reasons for this type of broad “AttractAreas” expansion is due to the evolving sophistication and appetite for “bigger” experiences by the guests. Today’s theme park guest is more sophisticated and worldlier because of the impact of the Internet. People from all over the world can now go online and see basically every theme park in the world and what they have to offer a visitor. This level of desire for experiencing the “best” creates opportunities for higher levels of entertainment. As the desire for bigger and better occurs, more sophisticated entertainment grows and so must the level of product offerings presented by the theme park; ergo, larger themed attractions into bigger areas, or “AttractAreas.””
(11/18/11) Theme Park Review has now released the new Roller Coasters in the RAW Volume 6 DVD as well as Roller Coasters in the RAW HD Volume 2 Blu-Ray. Follow the links to see which coasters are included on each title.
(11/2/11) The Coaster Zombies Club has released the details of a new 2012 international trip taking place July 25 – Aug. 1st, 2012: “Next year we will experience the Coasters and Ziplines of Guatemala. This trip is a visit to every park and coaster in Guatemala, an excursion into and above the jungle canopy for some awesome Zipline fun, A boat tour on one of the worlds most beautiful lakes, and a trek to one of Central Americas most active volcanoes, Pacaya. Our base hotel for much of the trip will be Antigua, Guatemala at the Posada don Rodrigo, a 270 year old landmark hotel. Founded in 1524 Antigua is famous for it's well preserved Baroque architecture as well as a number of spectacular ruins of colonial churches. It's designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.” Click here for all the details on how you can join them and the pricing.
(10/10/11) The crew over at GADV Online are planning their very own coaster tour group for 2012 called the CP Invasion Tour. It will be a round trip event starting off from the general area near Six Flags Great Adventure (New Jersey) and visit Dorney Park, Waldameer, Cedar Point, Kennywood, Hersheypark as well as SFGAdv. Click here for details.
(9/27/11) Sad news for the coaster enthusiast community on Monday as it has come to light that Ron Toomer, one of the primary coaster designer from Arrow Dynamics’ heyday passed away on Monday. Toomer worked on some of Arrow’s most infamous coasters: Magnum XL 200, Desperado, Big Bad Wolf, Ninja, Viper and countless others.
(9/26/11) While there are several different theme park award polls out there, some choose to stand apart and be different. Case in point this week… the 2011 Lead Ticket Awards. In the fallout of the Golden Ticket Awards, the new 2011 Lead Ticket Awards awards let you vote for the worst offenders out there in the amusement biz.
Categories this year include Worst Food Value, Most Unhelpful Staff, Worst Themeing, Worst Coaster Name, Roughest coasters and more. Check it out.
(9/20/11) While I do question the legitimacy of several of the Golden Ticket Awards, for those interesting in finding out who won what 2011 awards, you can find the list over at Amusement Today.
(9/19/11) Halloween and Haunted House fans will want to check out FrightTour.com, now up for the 2011 haunt season. Their unique angle is to try to feature some of the best coverage on haunted attractions in the NorthEast US. We’re talking true stand-alone haunted house attractions and not theme parks. New this year, to help you find the best haunts, is the Fright Database, featuring all the major haunts from Maine to Pennsylvania with official links and reviews with available. Select haunts also offer coupons here as well, so you can get the best Boo for your Buck. Check it out.
(9/8/11) The Park Impressions blog is currently looking to find a news writer to help out with the site. Check it out here if this is something your interested in.
(9/6/11) Anyone interested in attending the Euro Attractions Show 2011 in London this fall? NewsParcs is holding a contest to win tickets to the show floor for the Sept. 27-29th convention at the Olympia Exhibition Center in London.
(8/15/11) While the theme park formerly known as Americana (aka: LeSourdsville Lake) has been closed for years now, the site’s owner felt this past week it was finally time to demolish the standing structure of the Screechin’ Eagle wooden coaster. Too many people had broken into the site in the past, and rather than risk a lawsuit from someone getting hurt in the future the coaster was taken down. According to Jerry Couch, some pieces of the coaster and cars from the Screechin’ Eagle have been donated to the national roller coaster museum project for preservation.
(6/23/11) Ever since the demise of Bell’s Amusement Park, many have been holding out for Bell’s to eventually find a new home and rebuild. Unfortunately, IRM is shopping around the Zingo wooden coaster and its PTC trains this week on their Facebook page in the hopes of finding a new owner.
 Internet Fun - (2/2/12) Andy Shine’s Quiz has been added for February 2012, this one with a Japanese Amusement Park theme to it.
(1/30/12) Ever wondered what all the theme and amusement parks in South America look like? A Screamscape readr and a few friends just came back from a two-week tour all around South America with visits to: Complejo Pekos Parque Tematico (Argentina), Fantasilandia (Chile), Karting Cross (Colombia), Mampato Lo Barnechea (Chile), Mundo Aventura (Colombia), Parque de la Costa (Argentina), Parque Nacional del Café (Colombia), Parque Norte (Colombia), Parque Rodo (Uruguay), Salitre Magico (Colombia) and VulQano Park (Ecuador). Click here to check out their entire trip report.
(1/18/12) About.com is taking nominations for the 2012 Readers’ Choice Awards, and need your nominations for the Theme Parks & Waterparks awards. Click here to find out more.
(1/10/12) While I’ve become a big skeptical about the validity of the results in recent years, voting in the annual Mitch Hawker Wooden Roller Coaster Poll has become somewhat of a tradition. You can still vote for the 2011 poll now through Jan. 22. Click here for details.
(1/2/12) An interesting new website has launched for theme park ride fans called Ride Sims. The site’s goal is to put you in control of simulations of all your favorite theme park rides and attractions. So far I’ve noticed sims for X: No Way Out, Tower of Terror, Test Track, a Steeplechase coaster, Space Mountain Hong Kong, Saw: The Ride, Dinosaur, Revenge of the Mummy and now… JAWS: The Ride.
(12/27/11) The January 2012 edition of Andy Shine’s Quiz is now live. See how you score here. Meanwhile the last polls at Behind the Thrills are now live, vote for the Park of the Year Finalists and Friendliest Theme Park Crowds.
(12/19/11) Domain of Death has posted the results to their “2011 Lead Ticket Awards”, pointing out the dark spots in the amusement industry.
(12/16/11) Round 4 is now open for voting over at Behind the Thrill’s poll for Park of the Year. This time the West coast parks get to battle it out.
(12/12/11) Behind The Thrills has tabulated all the nominations for Attractions of the Year and has put the top attractions up for the big vote. Check it out.
(12/8/11) Voting for Region 3 (Mid-West) has begun at Behind the Thrills to determine the Park of the Year. Nominations for Attraction of the Year are also still ongoing where you can write in your selection.
(12/1/11) Voting for Region 2 of the Park of the Year is now open over at Behind the Thrills, which covers the North-East US.
(11/29/11) Andy Shine’s December Quiz has been posted, and this month is themed to ghost trains, dark rides, funhouses and other walk-through attractions. Check it out.
(11/28/11) Time to show your loyalty this week as Behind the Thrills weekly poll this week asks you to vote for the Theme Park News Site of the Year. It’s a huge list, as there are 25 contenders this year, and Screamscape is proud to be nominated once again. Show your support and please vote!
If that wasn’t enough, voting for Region 1 (South-East US) for the Park Of the Year has also begun.
(11/22/11) The latest weekly pool over at Behind the Thrills this week may be near and dear to many of you… name the park with the best food.
(11/15/11) ThrillNetwork is putting on a contest where the winners can win cash, a 2 night stay and VIP passes to the grand opening of Dollywood’s Wild Eagle coaster and more. Check out the details here.
(11/8/11) Behind the Thrills wants you to vote this week on which theme park has the Best Social Media Presence.
(11/7/11) The November edition of Andy Shine’s Quiz is now live.
(10/28/11) Behind the Thrills has launched the 2011 version of their Thrill Weekly Poll to name the best parks, attractions and websites in the biz, which will be decided in a series of polls now through to the end of the year. I’m proud to say that Screamscape won the award for Best Theme Park News Site last year… so I can only hope to do it again.
(10/27/11) An all new website all about the theme park biz has launched this week called Theme Park Geekly, and they actually interviewed me as their first article to launch the site. I’m honored… so go check it out.
(10/17/11) In light of the “Occupy Wall Street” protest going on, some people have taken to creating a spin-off entitled Occupy Disney World over on Facebook. Check it out.
(10/7/11) CoasterRadio is back and kicked off Season 6 with a bang by featuring a full episode length interview with none other than the self-confessed theme park loving celebrity Neil Patrick Harris. Give it a listen, and find out just how his own love for theme parks grew over the years.
(9/30/11) CoasterRadio has added a new bonus video podcast, featuring a DVD style commentary track while watching footage of the Hochschaubahn coaster at Wiener Prater, Austria and Hullamvasut at Vidampark in Budapest, Hungary. These are both Scenic Railway style coasters that feature a brakeman who rides each train around the track to control the speed of the ride, because the trains do not have up-stop wheels. As Mike points out, you kind of have to hope that the brakeman wasn’t out drinking during his lunch break, as your safety is in his hands.
(9/26/11) Andy Shine’s October Quiz is now live, this time asking you to identify various costumed amusement park characters from parks of the present and the past.
(9/19/11) GCI Fans may want to check out the Monday episode of In The Loop which will feature a number of current and previous GCI Interns on the show telling stories, and answering live questions from callers about how you can try to get an internship with GCI as well. The show starts at 8pm EST on CoasterCrew.net/live.
(9/9/11) A big treat is on the way if you own a Nintendo 3DS… a new 3D enabled version of RollerCoaster Tycoon is on the way in 2012. Click here to see the preview trailer.
(9/6/11) Want to see a very unusual roller coaster themed restaurant in Germany? Well it may not have posters of roller coasters on the walls, but roller coasters were on someone’s mind when they created Schwerelos & Zeitlos in Hamburg, as you order your food from a touch screen and then it rolls out to your table on a coaster style track. Check out the unique video below that explains it all.
Note… this is apparently a follow up to the FoodLoop restaurant in Europa Park, where some of the tracks actually have a loop for your food to travel through on the way to your table.
Also be sure to check out the September edition of Andy Shine’s Quiz has gone live, this one all about Thorpe Park.
(8/31/11) The latest episode of The Season Pass Podcast (#174) is perhaps one of their
most interesting to take… an epic interview session with Gary Goddard from The Goddard Group who talks about his amazing introduction into the biz through Disney, the creation of what may be Universal’s all time best show ever, Conan, and downfall of the Six Flags Power Plant concept and much much more.
(8/29/11) Haunts Fans across the nation will be interested in the HauntedHouseRatings.com website which has posted a list of the Top 31 haunted houses across America.
(8/23/11) The latest edition of Andy Shine’s Coaster Quiz has gone live. Check it out.
(8/12/11) Behind the Thrills is showing a little love to Android phone fans and has launched their own App now available from the Android Market.
(8/9/11) The latest episode of The Season Pass Podcast has gone live with features an informative interview with John Wood, the CEO of Sally. They talk about how the original intent of the company was not to build theme park animatronics, the key points of change within the animatronics and entertainment industry that have shaped Sally into the company it is today. Plus some details about the creation of what may possibly be the shortest lived Sally Dark Ride ever… Nights In White Satin.
(8/4/11) NewsParcs has posted a nice write up about a new creative studio in the industry called One World Studios, formed by a former group that previously worked with Heimo previously. One World Studios worked with AlterFace on the Vengeance 5D attraction project at the London Dungeons.
(7/12/11) CoasterRadio.com has informed us that they have had success with their Neil Patrick Harris project they’ve been working on for the past year and will now be able to use a great new introduction to the show as recorded by the Hollywood star, who also happens to be a huge theme park fan. Cool news for sure… and apparently he has promised to come on the show for a future episode later this year to talk about his involvement with various parks and projects like Knott’s Scary Farm, the voice-over on California Screamin’, Epcot’s Candlelight Processional and more.
(6/28/11) One of our readers who is involved with Funny Or Die decided to make a great tribute video to pre-ride safety videos, featuring Patrick Warburton, which is great because he actually does the pre-ride safety video for Disney’s Soarin’ and is the voice of one of the droids in the new Star Tours 2 queue. It’s good stuff... and probably the only time you’ll be warned that a coaster ride may cause anal leakage. Check it out here.
Adrenaline Family Entertainment - (8/15/11) Amusement Today reports that Adrenaline Family Entertainment is seeking to sell off the two parks (Clementon Park and Alabama Adventure) they oversee for PE Partner, a private equity funds manager.
Alterface - (10/31/11) NewsParcs has posted details of an interview they had with Alterface at the EAS 2011 show and talked a bit about some of their big projects to hit the European parks this past year: The Eight Continent at Futroscope (France), Maus au Chocolat at Phantasialand (GermanY) and the 3D dark ride Huntik at Rainbow Magicland (Italy).
They also hint about new projects on the way for parks in China, the Legoland parks, a haunted attraction in Pigeon Forge, TN and more. Check it out.
 B&M - (9/28/11) Screamscape sources tell us that in the next season or two we can expect to see B&M premier an all new launched coaster ride system, as their next new coaster concept. Beyond this, I’m told that B&M would like to launch a 4D coaster concept, likely based on the new Wing Coaster technology, but this ride system is still several years away from becoming a reality. For now B&M have their hands full developing the new Wing Coaster system and getting their Launched coaster line off the ground.
(9/27/11) I’m not sure exactly what the deal is, but a reader passing by Worlds of Fun spotted two trucks full of brought Red & Yellow B&M coaster track heading away from the park South towards I-70. No word on where it may have gone from there, East or West. So far there have been no sighting of red and yellow B&M track since Hair Raiser went up at Ocean Park in Hong Kong. Hair Raiser has yet to open, so I suppose these could be for it… or damaged pieces being returned to the factory. Has anyone swung by the planet to see what’s laying around the yard lately?
(6/15/11) A local area source snapped up a few pictures of blue track at the B&M fabrication plant in Ohio a couple of weeks ago. The color seems to match the track found on the back of a truck in Kentucky
last week, rumored to be on the way to Dollywood.
(5/13/11) All new grey B&M track has been produced and is sitting outside the Ohio fabrication facility according to the latest pictures sent in. Based on the production sticker and the new “WI” designation to the Part #, I’m going to hazard a guess that we may be looking at the track for Thorpe Park’s 2012 disaster themed LC12 Wing Coaster project.
Cedar Fair - (1/26/12) News Plus Notes has published a great review of the information released from the Cedar Fair presentation where they talked about their future growth plan, referred to as Fun Forward.
As the first major presentation to the investors from Matt Ouimet, it was nice to see a little more transparency coming from the head office and helps to catch an idea of where the company is heading. For those who think the company is going to focus only on family and kiddie rides from now on, this is false, as they were quick to point out up front that there is no such thing as a replacement (digital or otherwise) for the big roller coasters thrills that Cedar Fair is known for.
As I suspected last year, the company will continue to test new concepts out in one or two parks (like Fast Lane and Dinosaur’s Alive) before rolling them out to more parks down the line. As such, Fast Lane can be expected to be rolled out to all the Cedar Fair parks this year as the test runs proved to be very profitable.
They also released a couple of interesting pie charts showing off just how much all the different Cedar Fair parks contribute to the companies overall revenue. Unsurprisingly, Cedar Point and Knott’s pull in the most as the only parks with on-site resort hotels. It was also nice to see proven, once and for all, that Canada’s Wonderland is indeed the revenue-generating powerhouse it was always rumored to be under Paramount’s ownership. While they don’t break out the exact attendance figures for 2011, they do narrow things down to say which parks are over 3 million, 1.5 million and up, 1 million and Michigan’s Adventure which had fewer than 1 million.
They also show off some examples of the new style of marketing they will push this season, relating more towards family relationships. And not just pushing the Disney style concepts showing off little kids with parents, but addressing the family unit tweens and teens as well in great ways. Cedar Fair is also looking into way to use the extra land they hold at select properties, though this does not mean new resort hotels at first, but maybe as locations for unique special events as well.
(1/19/12) Cedar Fair is rolling out some new park websites and some new extended payment options for your season passes at select parks (ie: Kings Island, Cedar Point, Canada’s Wonderland & Knott’s) Some parks are now also offering online meal vouchers for purchase. Check out you local park site and poke around to see what’s new.
(1/16/12) According to this news report, Q Investments has now completed the sale of 3 million of their shares in Cedar Fair and is no longer the largest shareholder. That title is now put upon the Berman Group LLC, which owns 8 million shares (14.6%).
(1/9/12) Cedar Fair reports that the chain served a record setting 23.4 million guests during 2011, a 2.6% attendance increase over the previous record set in 2010. They will also host an investor meeting on Jan. 19th which you can listen in to here.
(1/2/12) According to a great interview with Cedar Fair’s new top dog, Matt Ouimet, he is aiming to bring more magical moments to their guest experiences. Sound familiar? It should as Matt is a 17 year Disney management veteran who wants to see more rides that entire families can enjoy together added to their parks, use new technology to connect with the guests and make the chain’s parks known as a place where families will come to visit together.
Very soon this month the company will launch a new online site to make it easier to buy tickets and parking passes for their four biggest parks, with the rest of the parks added soon afterwards this year as they each prepare to open.
“Ouimet wants to create some surprises in the parks, starting this summer. That might mean seeing more costumed characters or finding unexpected performers pop up in the parks. Some will be announced while others will be hidden finds.”
(12/27/11) Cedar Fair’s longtime CEO reflects back on his years with the company and how things have changed. It’s a good read for a man who affected so much change in the industry over the years and really turned Cedar Fair from a two-park operation into a continent-wide powerhouse park chain.
(12/15/11) The Q (aka: Q Investments) is back in the headlines this week as the group has announced their intention to sell up to 3 million of their 10 million shares in Cedar Fair in 2012… provided that the stock price stays at least above it’s current level of $22. If it happens, this huge sell off would drop the Q’s ownership level in Cedar Fair from 18.1% to just 12.7%, lowering their status from the top shareholder to second place behind Neuberger Berman Group, who currently owns 8 millions shares (14.6%).
Note that Q have states that the sell off would not happen overnight, as that would upset the stock value, instead they would slowly sell the shares off piece by piece. Given the amount of head-butting that took place between Cedar Fair and Q Investments over the past couple of years, I can only think that this is good news to Cedar Fair’s ears. After all, this could be a sign of getting this particular monkey off their back, allowing them to focus on running their company instead of battling the shareholders month after month.
(12/9/11) The local news has confirmed that Cedar Fair will also retain the management contract for Gilroy Gardens.
(11/7/11) Cedar Fair’s Q3 report breakdown can be found over at Bloomberg this week. The good news is that the company reported that Q3 net income nearly doubled from the previous year through a combination of increased attendance and higher guest spending.
(10/18/11) Cedar Fair has announced the promotion of a new Chief Operating Officer (COO), Richard A. Zimmerman. Zimmerman has had over 20 years of experience in the Amusement Park biz and previously served as the Exec VP of Cedar Fair, and several years before that came up the ranks as VP and GM of Kings Dominion.
(10/7/11) Cedar Fair has announced that they will hold their Q3 Conference call on Nov. 3rd at 10am EST which will feature both Matt Ouimet and Dick Kinzel in what is likely his last conference call. You can listen in here.
(10/5/11) Cedar Fair has just brought two new execs on board who likely have past experience with Matt Ouimet. Bob Wagner will serve as Corporate VP of Strategic Alliances and Scott Tanner as Corporate VP of Sales. Bob previously served as the Chief Marketing Officers for the Anaheim Ducks NHL team and Scott spent 27 years within the Walt Disney Company’s sales and marketing groups. Interesting choices… making me curious to see just where Cedar Fair is planning on growing as a company.
(9/9/11) Cedar Fair seems to have switched gears this week, as the company has officially changed their position on allowing shareholders to nominate candidates to it’s board of directors. And for once… Q Investments is finally happy.
(8/18/11) I’m not quite sure what this may be, but doing a quick search for any trademarks filed by Cedar Fair this summer has revealed one for something called “Stinger” filed for back in June.
(8/4/11) Cedar Fair reports strong earnings in their latest Q2 report, as well a 5% increase in attendance. You can find a good summary of the results posted here. Click here to read more about how you can listen in.
(6/22/11) In a surprising bit of news Cedar Fair announced Dick Kinzel’s replacement early on Monday is none other than Matt Ouimet, a former and very well liked Disneyland Resort President who has extensive previous experience with the Disney’s Vacation Club as well , was the President of the Disney Cruise Line as well as having served in various financial roles for Disney as well over his long history there. Effective immediately, Matt has been named as the President of Cedar Fair, and he will then succeed Dick Kinzel as CEO of the company upon his retirement on January 3rd, 2012. With Matt Ouimet’s previous work experience makes him certainly someone who can hit the ground running with Cedar Fair, having a good knowledge of what it takes to not only run a theme park, but a successful theme park resort concept, and hopefully will be able to take the Cedar Fair parks to the next level as well. While I never had the pleasure of meeting Matt myself, I did hear countless reports of praise for his work at the Disneyland Resort, where he was responsible for really turning that park around starting with the Disneyland 50th Anniversary in 2005, and undoing the damage done during the previous decade’s management. I’ve got to say that I’m looking forward to seeing where Matt Ouimet will take Cedar Fair in the years to come.
Disney - (1/16/12) According to the Orlando Sentinel, lobbyists for Walt Disney World and the International Speedway Corp have submitted a proposal to the state that could grant them a wide assortment of tax breaks in exchange for making huge new capital investments to create more “Sports Tourism” locations within the state. For example the incentive package would help Disney revive plans to build that 100-lane bowling stadium project that was announced just before the recession. Follow the link to read all the details.
(1/2/12) Disney’s New Year Eve announcement was very interesting… and fits with some rumors I had heard about how they would focus this event on the extra Leap Day to be added to the 2012 calendar. Disney is calling this “One More Disney Day”, and starting at 6am the morning of February 29th, both Disneyland Park and The Magic Kingdom will remain open for 24 straight hours, allowing guests to stay inside until 6am on March 1st.
I like to think of this as almost an extended Grad Night style experience for everyone, as guests will be asked to leave at 6am the following morning and can not stay in the park for the rest of March 1st without another ticket. You can also visit the official website of the event to enter into drawings to win a vacation package to attend one of the big events.
(12/12/11) InsideTheMagic reports that Disney is expected to make a surprise announcement on New Years Eve, that may have something to do with the addition of a Leap Day in 2012 on February 29th. The announcement will come sometime during the Dick Clark’s New Years Rockin’ Eve broadcast on ABC.
(11/28/11) I can’t say I’m surprised, as I really found it hard to believe Disney was going to go through with the project in the first place, but Disney has officially backed out of the National Harbor resort project.
(11/22/11) Disney fans may want to check out MouseVent 2011, a project created as a sort of audio advent calendar to count down the 24 days of Christmas. Check it out.
(10/10/11) A fairly lengthy and impressive interview with WDI Imagineer Pat Burke has been reposted over at Disney and More, new and improved with a ton of new pictures and even more stories where they talk about the creation of various Big Thunder rides, Indiana Jones, the Geyser Mountain proposal and much much more.
In other news Disney’s Bob Iger has announced that he will step down as Disney CEO in 2015, and then continue as Chairman of the board until June 2016, when he will retire at the age of 65. There has also been some speculation that Iger may be pondering a possible political career for his post-Disney era years.
(10/7/11) There’s a kind of funny online friendly feud between the Jungle Cruise Skippers of Disneyland and Walt Disney World… all over the issue of the treatment of the animatronic Hippos. The Disneyland Skippers have founded the AAHCS (Anaheim Animatronic Hippo Conservation Society) which can be found at SaveTheAnimatronicHippos.org. There you can find a few fun videos, such as their Save the Hippos PSA video.
Not to be outdone, the Jungle Cruise Skippers in Florida have gone the other way and founded HAHA (Homeland Anti Hippo Association) which can be found at HomelandAntiHippoAssociation.com. You can find their own PSA video here.
(9/27/11) Disney and More has reposted a great story from the past, showing off in great detail one of Disney’s biggest projects that never quite got off the ground. Read the story about the proposed S.S. Disney, a fully planned project that would have seen Disney retrofit a huge supertanker into a floating theme park that would have features upwards of 18 different Disney attractions. They’ve got some great pictures of the supertanker model created during the development of the project, where the layers can be pulled away section by section to reveal the attractions hidden within like an Indiana Jones themed mine coaster, Tea Cups, Small World, a Ferris Wheel, Casey Jr and many more. The overall idea was to have the ship sail the world, docking in major port cities for 2-3 months at a time and then setting sail for somewhere new. This is by far one of the most amazing things that I think I’ve ever seen pulled out of Disney’s vault of projects that never quite made it into the real world.
(9/14/11) Thanks to another Screamscape reader for sending in six new pictures of Disne
y’s fabulous looking Aluani Resort in Hawaii.
(9/8/11) A Screamscape reader was lucky enough to visit Disney’s Aulani resort and sent in two pictures taken at the resort at night as well as a brief report. “Its a beautiful resort which has a lot of detail you would expect. Its general layout reminded me a lot of the Wilderness Lodge at Walt Disney World. Overall I was very impressed with the level of detail and service. There is a very nice gift shop / store with unique Aulani merchandise including a special Vinylmation of Mickey at a wood tiki.”
(8/31/11) According to the Marvel presentation that took place during last week’s D23 convention, they mentioned that while there have been talks about adding some kind of Marvel themed attraction to the Disney parks, there is currently nothing in the works. Yet…
(8/17/11) According to this report at the Orlando Sentinel, a few people have lost their jobs as a result of a screw up over some financial snafu issues with Disney’s new Aulani Resort in Hawaii, where they have not been charging enough annual dues on new contracts to cover the planned maintenance needs of the resort down the line. As a result, all sales have stopped while Disney goes through the process to revamp their figures and address the issue. You can read the details here.
(8/11/11) You can read the transcript from a conference call about Disney’s Q3 results here which are overall very positive for the company. In other interesting Disney news, Disney said they were eyeballing other outside character franchise purchase deals, such as last year’s purchase of Marvel Comics. Disney was previously linked to a bit for Hit Entertainment (Thomas the Tank Engine, Bob the Builder, etc…) but states that they have no big hole in their lineup they are trying to fill, so they will only buy if the price is right.
(7/29/11) A fun new book retelling amusing stories from Walt Disney World Cast Members is now for sale from Theme Park Insider called “Stories from a Theme Park Insider.” Check out the details and find out where you can buy the book here.
(7/27/11) Take a look below the surface inside the Rainbow Reef at Disney’s Aulani Resort & Spa in Hawaii. Rainbow Reef is a 3,000 sqft lagoon available for guests to snorkel in.
(7/15/11) You can catch the new official Aulani Resort commerican emedded below.
(7/13/11) In a move that has disappointed more than a few people, WDW President Meg Crofton has been promoted to server as the new President of operations for the US and France based theme parks. Crofton has been run as overlord over WDW has so far not won her many supporters among the WDW fans, and now DL’s fans who have been enjoying their renaissance of growth and innovations are starting to have flashbacks of when Paul Pressler held the same overlord position over the theme park division.
While we can try to hope for the best right now, Crofton’s run at WDW has only seen attendance levels decline at the Florida, as well as a lack of any really noteworthy plan of expansion of the Florida parks and attractions, and an increase in complaints regarding some of the overall maintenance levels of many of the WDW attractions. In short.. many of the same complaints we saw at Disneyland during the Pressler era… later expanded to the rest of the world’s Disney parks when Pressler was promoted.
In fact, the company is still picking up the pieces of some of Pressler’s biggest mistakes… like Disneyland’s New Tomorrowland (‘98), Disney’s California Adventure and the Walt Disney Studios Paris theme parks. Still… it is a bit early to cry wolf just yet… but one must wonder if Meg Crofton couldn’t quite hack it at running the four Florida parks, then why dump four more parks in her lap?
(7/1/11) In a strange bit of news, Disney is planning yet another movie based on an attraction, this time seeking to have a story created about the iconic Matterhorn mountain that would also involve Yetis.
(6/13/11) Interested in finding out all the details about Disney’s new Aulani Resort & Spa in Hawaii? I’ve posted a nice long video showing off the presentation given to the media about the fantastic looking new resort late last week by Joe Rohde (Walt Disney Imagineering Senior VP of Creative). The new resort is set to open this August and he lays out all the details you’ve been wanting to know about the theme of the resort and how they are telling the true story of Hawaii and not their own story. We get a peek at the various lounges, interactive adventures, restaurants and more. Check it out below.
Euro Attractions Show - (10/14/11) Parksmania has posted a new 6 minute long video showing off their coverage of the EAS 2011 show from London. Check it out here.
(9/30/11) Some great photo coverage from the EAS (Euro Attractions Show) 2011 has been posted to NewsParcs this week. Check it out there and follow the link to the rest of the pictures. A few more pictures have also been posted to Airgates Online’s Facebook page.
Funtime - (6/28/11) Funtime, the company behind the popular Star Flyer rides are at it again with a new creation called Black Mamba, which seems to offer a Skyscraper style ride experience, but on a giant arm with two pivots to change up the movement dynamics a little bit. Check out the video below.
Garner Holt Productions - (9/23/11) Garner Holt Productions has launched a new product division called GHP Products, LLC., which will offer specialized products to both consumers and entertainment professionals.
“For over three decades we’ve created quality animatronics, special effects and show action systems for theme park giants like Disney and Universal Studios, and we’ve made tremendous technological advances through our own research and development efforts,” explained company founder, Garner Holt. “GHP Products was established to share the significant innovations that came out of our experience with other markets.”
The first animatronic to launch is Kali, the first of many to come from the TropiTronics line. Kali is a beautiful animated blue and gold Macaw which never misses a chance to show off his “broad” vocabulary to passersby. Kali is being targeted at restaurants and retail chains. Check Kali out along with other new products at the new GHP Products website.
Game Nation - (9/6/11) In the past we’ve heard of an odd possible theme park project going by the name Game Nation, a sort of hybrid of theme park and video game obsessions. In the latest news update it seems that the Game Nation concept took a vote from it’s fans to find what they felt was the best possible location and surprise, surprise, they voted for Florida. This doesn’t lock the concept down there however, it just means that they will be giving several locations in the state a good look over as they work on fleshing out the video game / theme park concept for the real world. You can read more at the official site as well as take a listen to a recient episode of the Behind the Thrills Podcast where they interviewed Daniel Ruke, one of the Game Nation founders.
The Gravity Group - (10/10/11) NewsParcs has posted an interview with Gravity Group’s Korey Kiepert done at the EAS 2011.
(9/19/11) Mike Graham from The Gravity Group had a brief interview with Thrill Network this past week. Learn more about Mike, what unique feature Timberliners can do, and what The Gravity Group is all about these.
Great Wolf Lodge - (1/31/12) Great Wolf Lodge will hold a Q4 Conference Call on February 22nd. You can listen in here.
(11/3/11) Great Wolf Lodge Resorts has posted their Q3 earnings report, which looks fairly positive. Check it out.
(10/11/11) Great Wolf Lodge in the Pocono’s has launched Great Wolf’s Story Explorers, a new interactive attraction for kids which is kind of like a cross-over between a Build-A-Bear and an interactive video storybook. Aimed at kids in the 3-10 age group, guests will carry a stuff animal that has a special chip embedded in a bracelet to interact with two dozen different stations spread out around the lodge. According to this article, the first Story Explorers attraction quietly opened here in September, but Great Wolf plans on adding it to all 11 Great Wolf Lodge resorts very soon.
Story Explorers is part of a $2.1 million expansion project for the Pocono’s Lodge which also included a six lane kid-sized bowling alley and an expanded Snoops Kid Spa location. The article also mentions a spin off of the MagiQuest attraction that I don’t think I’ve heard of before called Compass Quest as also being an active attraction at the Lodge, and apparently at many others as well. According to the website, instead of a wand, you get a compass this time to take on a series of new quests.
In a related bit of news, Great Wolf Lodge will hold their Q3 earnings call on November 2nd. To listen in click here and then look under the Investor Relations tab.
(8/3/11) Great Wolf Lodge has posted their Q2 results, which can be read over at Marketwatch. Overall the company has reported stronger results this quarter
(7/1/11) Great Wolf Lodge is adding an interesting new piece of technology… using the RFID bands they give guests, picture taken of you in the waterpark resorts are then automatically posted to your Facebook page throughout your visit. The new technology uses the same wristbands you are given to use as a roomkey as well as for cash-free purchses throughout the resorts. You have only to link your band to your Facebook account through a special kiosk. All you have to do then is go find one of five different “Paw Posts” located in the resort and the pictures are uploaded directly for you to your Facebook page. The article about the new technology was writen about the Grand Mound location, though I would assume it may be added to the rest shortly.
IAAPA 2011 News - (11/23/11) IAAPA reports that attendance at the 2011 show in Orlando was up 3% from 2010. The 2012 show will take place in Orlando once again from Nov. 12-16th.
(11/18/11) It’s IAAPA week, and we’ve got coverage coming in from all over the place. For starters, Theme Park Review has posted several video interview clips of interest.
Part 1 stops by the S&S booth to check out the new 4-across Green Lantern El Loco train, plus stops at Wave Loch, Gravity Group and then back to S&S to see the new MiniHU family ride in action, which is a strange looking one. Kind of a cross between a TeaCup that bounces about back and forth. Then it’s over to the Intamin booth.
Part 2 visits the Gerstlauer, GCI, Zierer and ProSlide booths. At the Zierer booth they show off test footage shot of the prototype vertical drop coaster hardware, which is interesting to watch.
Part 3 stops by the Rocky Mountain Coaster booth, Mack Rides, Sally, Martin & Vleminckx plus a ride on the Soarin Eagle Zipline ride.
Part 4 talks with B&M, checks out the FishPipe (stationary Zorb that looks hilarious), Mondial and Zamperla.
Part 5 features Premier Rides, Lo-Q and RGH Entertainment.
Part 6 comes to Maurer, Vekoma, WhiteWater West, Moser, ETF and more.
If that wasn’t enough, you can find even more videos from the IAAPA show floor shot by CoasterCrew, which includes an interview with Stan Checketts showing off the Soaring Eagle Zipline… his new creation and new company. Then you can head over to Theme Park Review to see over 200 photos.
IAAPA Conventions - (1/30/12) For anyone interested IAAPA’s Asian Attractions Expo 2012 will take place in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center on June 5-8th. Click here to get all the latest information on how to attend.
(11/23/11) The 2012 IAAPA show will take place in Orlando once again from Nov. 12-16th.
(7/12/11) For anyone wanting to attend, this year’s IAAPA trade show in Orlando will take place Nov. 14-18, 2011, though the trade floor itself will not open until Nov 15-18th.
(6/29/11) IAAPA reports that the IAAPA Asian Attractions Expo 2011 trade show in Singapore was a huge success featuring a sold-out trade floor and record level attendance at the four day event which took place at Resorts World Sentosa from June 21-24. The show will move to Hong Kong in 2012.
(4/23/11) Hong Kong has been selected as the host city for the IAAPA Asian Attractions Expo 2012 which will take place June 5-8th at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Center.
(10/12/10) IAAPA reports that the EAS 2010 show in Rome closed as a bit hit, with more than 9000 visitors coming to the show, up from 8,177 who went to the 2009 show in Amsterdam. EAS 2011 will take place in London from Sept. 27-29th at the Olympia Exhibition Center.
(8/4/10) Good news today for IAAPA. The industry’s premier trade show has decided to lock down it’s location to Orlando for the next decade, booking dates every November through to 2019. Previously they had already had dates booked there for every other year, as the rumored plan was to try out Las Vegas in 2009 and possibly bounce back and forth every year, but apparently the response to the Vegas as a show location must have been less than ideal. The show has always been a huge hit when it comes to Orlando… and it only makes sense as Orlando is the theme park capital of the world.
Intamin - (10/25/11) It’s been a few years since I think anyone has had Intamin build an Impulse coaster, but according to Coasters and More, a new sit-down version which looks more like a hybrid between an Impulse coaster and a Half-Pipe will open at Triumph Kingdom in China in 2012.
KMG - (11/7/11) NewsParcs has posted an article about a new ride to be introduced at IAAPA by KMG called Sicko. At first glance this may look like your standard Fireball / Afterburner ride, but when it starts to move, you’ll notice an extra twist… that the ride’s seats can now also rotate. They also mention that KMG is working on selling extra large versions of their Speed and Inversion rides.
(10/10/11) NewsParcs has posted an interview with KMG’s Peter Theunisz done at the EAS 2011.
(9/8/11) ParkWorld Magazine posted an article last year about KMG’s upcoming XLR8 ride, which has a good piece of concept art showing off just what it looks like. It features eight arms, each holding a 2 seat pod at the end, that will spin around up to 70kph, with the seats able to swing outward as the wheel spins up and slows down, with an intense bit of acceleration.
(9/7/11) I’m told that the ride company KMG has been teasing a new ride concept coming up by the name of XLR8. I can only assume they will either show it off as EAS 2011 or at IAAPA this November in Orlando. Anyone know more?
Kalahari Waterpark Resorts - (10/7/11) Screamscape sources tell me that while Kalahari has obviously abandoned their plans to build a third resort in Virginia, they are now preparing to build a new resort in Pennsylvania instead, up in the Poconos. Ground breaking is expected to take place sometime in the next 6 months, and the resort to open about a year or so later.
Lo-Q - (12/8/11) According to this article LO-Q will team with MasterCard to develop their newest concept, that will merge the concepts of a contactless payment device and LO-Q’s virtual queuing software. Not too many details are given about what form this new product will take, but I’ve got to wonder if they are dreaming up special micro-transaction style payment options to shorten your wait times.
Martin & Vleminckx - (11/18/11) A new M&V coaster (with Gravity Group) will be coming to China in 2013 at another OCT park.
Maurer Sohne - (10/25/11) NewsParcs has posted an interview they had with Maurer Sohne at EAS 2011, where they talk about five new coasters planned to open in China parks between 2012 and 2013. The list includes three new SkyLoops (one to Happy Valley Wuhan), an X-Car Launched coaster for Happy Valley Wuhan and a “FlyingLaunch Coaster” for Ningbo.
Merlin Entertainment - (1/6/12) According to BlooLoop, Merlin has announced that they will open a permanent Madame Tussauds attraction in Tokyo at the Decks Tokyo Beach Mall (Obaiba) in Spring 2013 along with the Legoland Discovery Center which will open in 2012.
(11/22/11) UK Park News reports that Merlin Entertainment has appointed a new creative director by the name of Paul Moreton.
(11/8/11) Merlin Entertainment has launched the Merlin Annual Pass for the USA… which will get you into their various attractions across the country. The list includes Legoland California, Legoland Florida, plus the SeaLife and Madame Tussauds attractions, with more to come. You can find out the details here.
(10/31/11) JapanTimes reports that Merlin Entertainment has chosen a 10 hectares (24 acre) site on the Kinjo Pier in Nagoya as the site for a Legoland theme park in Japan. This seems a bit small of a site for a full scale Legoland theme park however as even the new park in Malaysia that will open in 2012 will be 76-acres, and I believe the California park is 150 acres. At the same time, 24 acres is a bit too big for a Legoland Discovery Center...
(9/7/11) According to a press release from Merlin, they are looking to the Asian market as the next likely home for a Legoland theme park. With Legoland Florida ready to open in October, and Legoland Malaysia set to open in Fall 2012, they are now in talks for a site in Chencheon City in Korea (aprox 60km from Seoul) that would place the proposed Legoland theme park on its very own island in the middle of a lake.
(6/27/11) Merlin Entertainment is still growing it seems and ready to jump into even more new markets. According to BlooLoop, Merlin will open two new attractions in Japan starting later this year with a new Madame Tussauds that will open in Decks Tokyo Beach Mall in Odaiba, Tokyo Bay. In Spring 2012 Merlin will open Japan’s first Legoland Discovery Center also at the same mall.
(6/17/11) Legoland Germany’s parent company, Merlin Entertainment is planning on spending 80 million Euros in Germany by 2020 to expand their presence. This will not just be in Legoland alone, but also bring in other new attractions, such as new Dungeons attractions for Berlin and Munich. With Merlin on the move… how much longer until we hear about a Dungeons in Orlando or even Las Vegas?
(5/25/11) According to BlooLoop, Merlin has announced plans to open a new SEA LIFE aquarium attraction in Rome, which they hope to open in Spring 2012.
Premier Rides - (1/18/12) Premier Rides has announced that they have been selected to design and build “a signature high-thrill roller coaster” that will go inside the Great Mall of China. While the exact stats for the ride will not be released until later in 2012, they can say that it will feature Premier’s magnetic launch technology, feature unique elements and when it opens, it will be the tallest indoor roller coaster in the world.
The Great Mall of China will be located on a 76 acre site about 25km from Beijing International Airport and feature both retail and entertainment venues, an indoor theme park and waterpark when it opens in 2013.
(12/7/11) Premier Rides has announced that they have joined forces with Adlabs Entertainment Ltd. to be part of a team creating “the most advanced theme park in India.” The park has not been given a name yet, and the location is being kept a secret for now, but it will provide guests with unique thrilling experiences and incorporate the latest technologies. The press release goes on to talk a bit about Premier’s signature magnetic drive systems, but never goes into specifics about what kind of ride / coaster they may be working on for the project.
(11/22/11) Premier Rides has hired Jeff Glinter to serve as their new Director of Engineering. According to the press release, Jeff previously worked for Walt Disney World as the Senior Project Engineer for the Test Track attraction at Epcot, as well as serving in construction and engineering roles for Six Flags as well as PARC Management.
Ride Entertainment Group - (1/11/12) Ride Entertainment’s Facebook page update for Today mentions an interesting factoid… that there will be five new Star Flyers opening in the world in 2012. Six Flags will be opening three of them it seems (SF Fiesta Texas, Great Adventure and La Ronde) so does anyone have a clue where in the world the other two will go?
(11/18/11) A new partnership between Ride Entertainment Group and Mattel will see Hot Wheels branded attractions coming to an amusement park near you soon. “Park guests will be put directly into the driver’s seat as they experience Hot Wheels® branded amusement park attractions. From family-friendly experiences to extreme racing coasters that simulate the feeling of racing through an actual Hot Wheels® track complete with high-speed banks, loops and other exciting elements.” While no details were given about the exact nature of the attractions to be offered, Ride Entertainment is known for their relationships working with Gerstlauer, FunTime and the the Top Eliminator attractions companies.
Ripley’s - (1/17/12) InPark Magazine has posted a nice article covering the proposal by Ripley’s to open a new Ripley’s Believe It of Not! Attraction in Baltimore’s Harborside shopping center on the Inner Harbor. So far the project is being held up it seems by conservative objections to two different proposed version of the attraction’s outside themeing and signage. Check out the artwork and full story here.
Rocky Mountain Coasters - (1/23/12) One of our readers who resides in the Spokane, WA area pointed out an interesting article in the local paper about the Rocky Mountain Construction Group. The article talked about how the group is building a new $1 million shop building in Hayden, Idaho where they will move their track manufacturing operations. This will also free up room for the group to begin building their very own roller coaster cars.
Why? Much like why GCI created the Millennium Flyers that could maneuver through their extremely twisted layouts, Rocky Mountain’s track system is simply capable of doing things other trains wouldn’t be able to do. According to Rocky Mountain, “We will be building cars we think will be revolutionary for the industry.” They go on to state that the combination of their new track and cars will be able to allow a wooden coasters to perform inversions, a feat no one has tried since Son of Beast at Kings Island.
Best of all the article also mentioned that the group has roller coaster projects planned for Silver Dollar City and Six Flags Fiesta Texas, both to open in Spring 2013.
(11/18/11) The latest word coming from IAAPA this week is that Rocky Mountain Coasters will have new coaster projects in 2013, though nothing has been mentioned for 2012. One project is said to be another Texas Giant style Iron Horse track replacement project, while their second project will actually be to build a completely new coaster from scratch, using the Topper Track system, which should be really interesting to see as well, especially since it will use a new official Rocky Mountain wooden coaster train too.
S&S WorldWide - (12/9/11) A Screamscape reader forwarded us an interesting message from S&S Worldwide, where they mention that their development team will be working on a “launched El Loco” concept next. Sounds interesting… can’t wait to see who gets this first.
(11/11/11) S&S Power reports that the name for their new ride being introduced at IAAPA will be Mini Hu, which apparently is the first ride in the upcoming “Huli Hu” collection of rides. According to the description, the ride has two arms, each swinging out 180 degrees from the central hub. Riders sit in 4 passenger tea-cup style spinning gondolas while the arms spin, rise and fall.
(10/28/11) In an interesting twist, it looks like a video animation was posted to YouTube showing off a new coaster system that looks virtually identical to the one discovered the other day by AmusementAuthority. So the question remains… is this the system S&S is now involved with or something else entirely unrelated?
(10/27/11) S&S Power mentioned to BlooLoop that they have a new kiddie ride to be shown at this year’s IAAPA show as well as a new “thrill coaster” they will only be showing off to select clients and interested buyer. They describe it only as a ‘thrill version’ of their Free Fly family coaster concept. Meanwhile AmusementAuthority has done a little digging and come up with some patents that could give us a glimpse as what S&S may have coming down the pipe.
Sally Corp - (11/11/11) Sally Corp has sent Screamscape some pictures of a new project that just opened as part of the Ripley’s entertainment area at Royal Garden Plaza in Pattaya, Thailand. It’s called Ripley’s Scream
in the Dark, and has been described as Sally’s “latest, craziest (and loudest!) dark ride installation.”
(10/19/11) Sally Corporation has announced that their longtime VP of Technical Services, Ray Dominey, has retired and will be replaced by David Ciciora as their new Director of Ride Systems. “We'll miss Ray, who played a major role in the development and success of our dark rides for more than 15 years. But feel confident that David is the right person to take the helm as we continue to explore new technologies and systems for our rides.”
Prior to joining Sally, David served as a ride supervisor at Legoland California, Manager of Ride Maintenane at Morey’s Piers in New Jersey and Director of Maintenance at Hard Rock Park briefly before ending up at Universal Studios Hollywood. Sounds pretty well rounded and I can’t wait to see what new ideas he helps Sally come up with.
(10/5/11) NewsParcs has posted an interview with John Wood, Chairman of Sally Corp, where they chat about Sally’s current projects in the works (including a video of a Teddy Bear Elvis attraction for Hawaii, as well as hint about an unknown major blockbuster attraction on the way for Christmas 2012 said to be opening at a “major park”. (I’m guessing this is the dark ride for Legoland Malaysia)
Schlitterbahn Waterparks - (1/11/12) According to the local news Schlitterbahn would like to locate their proposed new waterpark for the Corpus Christi area on what is now the Padre Isles Country Club golf course. Click here for details.
(9/29/11) According to this article, the plans for a new Schlitterbahn waterpark on Padre Island are ready to go… with everything pending on approval for a new bridge that needs to be built to improve access to the site.
SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment - (12/19/11) Starting January 1st, your beverage options at the 10 SeaWorld Entertainment parks across the country will take a sudden shift, as a new 10-year sponsor deal with Coca-Cola Co. will kick into effect, removing Pepsi products from the park. Coke and SeaWorld do have a long history together, as Coke was the official drink sponsor for the SeaWorld parks (or Sea World parks as they were spelled back then, long before they were purchased and merged with the Busch parks).
Coke was dropped in favor of Pepsi back on Jan. 1st, 1988 by SeaWorld’s then owners, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich and the partnership was continued under the ownership of Anheuser-Busch. Pepsi was long rumored to have an edge over Coke under the Busch era because Pepsi was a major client of the Busch owned Metal Container Corporation who supplier Pepsi with a large percentage of their aluminum cans. So after a 24 year run… Coke will return at last.
(12/15/11) SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment is currently running a special Holiday Giveaway contest where you can enter daily to win a number of different prizes, including a Grand Prize of $25,000. Click here to find out how to play.
(10/27/11) PETA is out of their mind it seems, as they’ve filed federal lawsuit paperwork now accusing SeaWorld of violating the 13th Amendment by keeping the killer whales as “slaves”. They are seeking “constitutional rights” for the animals, which is kind of a scary thought as this would open the door wide to all sorts of craziness.
(9/26/11) Reuters has a quick update about what’s been taking place so far last week in the court hearings between SeaWorld and OSHA to determine if the park was willingly putting the trainers at risk by interacting with Tilikum, the killer whale responsible for the death of trainer Dawn Brancheau in 2010.
(9/20/11) SeaWorld is going to court next week to challenge the results of the federal investigation over the death of a killer whale trainer in early 2010. The fallout from this court-room battle could dictate not only if SeaWorld trainers will ever be allowed in the water with the whale again, but may also spill out into other areas where people interact with large animals of all breeds.
(8/5/11) Busch Gardens Tampa and Williamsburg have launched a new official park app for the iPhone and promise to soon launch the Android version. The apps are free and will help guests navigate their way through the park using GPS as well as give information on menu items in restaurants and most importantly, wait times for rides.
(7/15/11) The SeaWorld parks have found themselves in a custody dispute with Marineland (Canada) over the ownership of Ikaika the Killer Whale. Ikaika was born at SeaWorld Orlando and then sent to Marineland on a “loan” as a compansion for the Canada’s parks lone whale back in 2006. SeaWorld isn’t comfortable with Ikaika’s new living conditions in Canada however and have demanded that Marineland return the whale, but Marineland is resisting the legal orders to return Ikaika.
Six Flags - (1/27/12) Six Flags will hold a Q4 Confernce Call on Feb. 15th at 8am. Visit here to listen in.
(1/9/12) I’ve heard back from a couple of other readers who also took the Six Flags All-Season Dining Pass surveys, but their versions also had different prices for the plan, listing it for $39.99 on one and $49.00 on the other, both cheaper than the original number we had heard. While the number could be in flux, depending on which park location you may be taking the survey for, the survey could also be changing things up just to get different opinions on different price levels.
(1/6/12) A reader sent Screamscape some details about a new Six Flags guest survey they took, which asked even more questions about the proposed All-Season Dining Pass we heard about in a previous survey. In this version they price it at $69.99 and say it would include both a lunch and dinner meal in the park during every visit in the season, as well as one free Sports Bottle that will allow you to get refills for just 99 cents all season long.
So could we see this new meal plan launched at one or two parks as a test in 2012?
(1/4/12) Six Flags has announced a stock repurchase plan that will see the company buy back $250 million of it’s own stock between now and 2015.
(11/22/11) According to this news report, Lo-Q has just renewed their deal with Six Flags, extending the service contract for the Q-Bot devices in the theme parks (aka: Flash Pass) through to the end of 2017. They will also expand the use of the waterpark wristband version of the system that was tested at White Water Atlanta, which “will be rolled out to seven other water parks as quickly as possible”.
(10/31/11) You can read a transcript of the Six Flags Q3 Conference Call over at Seeking Alpha. The basic gist however is that the companies cost cutting seemed to make up for a 4% drop in park attendance, and resulted in a 44% increase in net income that quarter. Guest spending per-caps were up 5% as well.
(10/28/11) Surveys about possible pre-paid dining plan options for both single day and season passholders have apparently been sent out to various passholders at Six Flags parks all across the country. Could this be a new option for 2012? Screen captures from one of the surveys can be found at SFNEOnlineNews.
(10/21/11) I’m not sure what the purpose of this expense is, but apparently Six Flags is planning on adding finger scanners to their entrance areas by next season.
(10/7/11) Six Flags will hold their Q3 conference call on Oct. 27th. You can listen in here. In other Six Flags news, there is some management shifting taking place this month as well as several park Presidents are being moved. I’m told that John Winkler is being moved from Six Flags America to SF New England. Rick Howarth is being promoted from Finance Director at SFA to take over as the new President there. Meanwhile Jason Freeman is leaving his President job at SFNE to head back to the corporate office handling the safety issues for the company chain wide.
(9/13/11) While Six Flags has launched a new Fright Fest website to help promote their new and improved Halloween events, one sad truth will remain. The parks in the chain that charged extra admission to enter each haunted house will continue to do so, even though there is no mention of this on the new website. So while I applaud the push to try and improve the industry’s most lack-luster Halloween event by a major park chain, the continued nickel-and-diming of guests at Fright Fest is just distasteful in my opinion.
Follow the example of the other park chains and either make the event all inclusive, or make it an upcharge event… but only if you seriously think it can stand toe-to-toe with the other upcharge events in the industry (Halloween Horror Nights, Knott’s Scary Farm, Busch Gardens Tampa’s Howl-o-Scream, etc…)
(9/12/11) Six Flags Fright Fest Fans… take a peek at the new official Fright Fest website to see just what kind of improvements are in store for your local park’s Halloween event. Not all the details are live yet, but they have dates posted as to when they should be updated.
(8/25/11) Six Flags has apparently been sending out an interesting guest survey lately asking for feedback on what they are calling the ‘All-You-Can-East All Summer Long Dining Pass”. The basic gist… pay an unknown sum to get a pass that will allow you to eat as much as you want, every time you visit the park over the source of the season. The pass would be limited to either select park restaurants however, so it’s not good everywhere for everything. Six Flags is trying to test the market here to see not only what you would be willing to pay for such a pass but what kind of expectation you have about how much Six Flags will likely charge for the pass. Could be very interesting… now if only they can promise a special line for passholders to avoid the long regular lines as an added benefit.
(8/12/11) Six Flags has filed for interesting trademarks over the past few weeks. First they applied for “Apocalypse” and “Bonzai Pipeline” back in late June. Both were a little suspect, as they already starting using Apocalypse earlier in the year at Magic Mountain as the new name for the former Terminator wooden coaster. When Iron Wolf moved into Six Flags America, it is also rumored to possibly use the same Apocalypse name. Meanwhile “Bonzai Pipeline” sounds like a waterslide for sure, so I’d expect this to be something for Six Flags St. Louis.
The new filing on Aug. 4th was for “X-Flight”, a revival of an old Six Flags trademark that was let go when they sold off Six Flags Worlds of Adventure, where they previously used it on the Vekoma Flying coaster at the time. If I had to guess, X-Flight is a perfect name for Six Flags to use on the rumored B&M Wing Coaster going to SF Great America.
(7/26/11) Six Flags has settled the arbitration case with former CFO Jeffrey Speed for about $30 million as part of his wrongful dismissal case. Meanwhile you can read a summary of the Q2 report here. In brief, revenue was up 5% over the prior year, and was up 6% for the first six months.
(7/18/11) Six Flags will hold their Q2 earnings conference call on July 25th at 8am. You can listen in here.
(6/24/11) Apparently several Six Flags parks have been conducting some new online surveys this week, with a rather surprising subject. It seems they are quizzing guests to get feedback about various “personal storage programs” Translations… more damn lockers.
We had hopes the manditory locker policy was going extint under the new management as select parks has seemed to toss out the policy entirely at the start of their seasons. Now it seems Six Flags wants guest feedback on ideas like force-feeding you an “All-Park Daily Locker Pass at a possible cost between $16 to 18 for the day. They were also sizing up the concept of a season long locker pass as well.
So they want to jack up parking to $20 where they can get away with it, and pick your pocket for up to $18 more dollars to make you use a locker every time you want to ride. I’ve said it all along, but they are only hurting themselves with this kind of policy… because people will wise up quickly. Guests come to the parks to RIDE… so they wont be so willing to buy those upsell big sports bottles anymore, or try to win those big stuffed animals, or even do any kind of merchandise shopping at all until just before they are ready to leave, just to avoid paying for lockers.
Honestly, Universal Orlando got the policy right the first time when they opened Islands of Adventure back in 1999. They wanted to speed things up and have manditory lockers on select attractions… and they made them FREE to use, as long as you only used them for as long as you had to wait in line for the ride.
Super 78 Studios - (1/10/12) Good news for our friends at Super 78 Studios, as the group has had their Typhoon 360 attraction film nominated for a VES (Visual Effects Society) Award. Typhoon 360 is up against two other mega attractions, Disney’s revamped Star Tours and Universal Studio’s Transformers ride. This is Super 78’s second consecutive year for a VES Award nomination, which follows last year’s nod for Flight of the Dragon.
US Thrill Rides - (10/28/11) Bill Kitchen and his US Thrill Rides company has come up with another innovative attraction concept… this one dubbed the SkySpire, a new take on the observation tower attraction type. Guests climb aboard a gondola that slowly rise to the top of the tower on a spiral track, much like the stripes on a candy cane. Guests can then disembark at the top to enjoy the view and board another gondola later for the ride back down to earth. Through the use of a double helix track system, gondolas will simultaneously move up and down the tower, with the ability to fit anywhere from 20 to 200 gondolas, depending on the need of the client and size of the tower.
Universal Studios - (11/18/11) While it’s too early to speculate too much at this point, Universal Studios and Illumination Entertainment have announced that a Woody Woodpecker feature film is in the works. Illumination were the force behind the popular Despicable Me animated film as well as Hop and the upcoming Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax. No word on if it will be fully animated like Lorax and Despicable Me, or a Live / Animated mixture like Hop, but I think it would be a sure bet that some kind of cross promotion will be made to incorporate this new version of Woody into the theme parks. After all, he’s already got a coaster themed after him in Orlando.
Speaking of The Lorax… the film comes out in March 2012, but no word yet on if Islands of Adventure will attempt to cash in on this film release as well.
(11/7/11) While the answer was very short, Ron Meyer, the head of Universal Studios, did answer an interesting question during a very candid Q&A session late last week. When asked if there were plans to build “additional Harry Potter amusement parks outside of Orlando” he simply said “Yes” but wouldn’t elaborate any further.
(9/21/11) Universal’s been busy coming up with a new ride concept… mixing a motion base with a roller coaster. It’s simply too much weight to build a motion base into the actual coaster car, but Universal has applied for a patent for a section of detachable track that would have a motion base under it. In other words… just imagine the turntable section of track on Revenge of the Mummy… if it detached and went off for it’s own Spiderman style wild ride segment through a dark ride environment, then reattached to another section of track to let you continue your high speed coaster journey. Check out the patent over at Coaster101.com.
Zamperla - (12/8/11) NewsParcs has posted a report about their interview with the Marketing Director of Zamperla back at the EAS 2011 show.
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