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Park News - (4/8/13) BuisnessWeek reports that Sustainable Playland has a tentative deal in place to run Rye’s Playland Park for the next decade. Final approvals must still come in from various government groups, but the group could take control of Playland as early as October 1st.
    (3/8/13) More great media coverage about the efforts to “Save Playland”... keep up the good work!
    (3/4/13) Good news, the show of support for the petition against Sustainable Playland has caught the eye of the media. Keep it up! Interesting to note that while Sustainable Playland say they think those against their plan are misinformed, they admit that their plan to remove 30% of the rides from the park will be “mostly thrill rides” which seems like a sure-fire way to kill off a small park like Playland in my book.
    (2/22/13) For anyone interested, an online petition has been started to save Rye Playland from any plans that would involve the removal of large sections of the park. Click here to show your support.
    (2/18/13) A report about a public turnout to talk about the various Playland proposals unfortunately seemed to have many supporters of the Sustainable Playland plan, which would see the historic amusement park cut down to half-size. Thankfully people from Standard Amusements and Central Amusements, who each have their own plan to invest in the amusement park were on hand to try and educate the masses. Central Amusments says their plan motto is “keeping it Playland,” and would involve no bulldozers. Instead they want to add 22 new rides to Playland in the first five years and more after that to restore Playland back to what it once was. Click here to read more.
    (2/14/13) A disturbing article about the possible future of Rye’s Playand has come to light regarding the proposal from the Sustainable Playland group that would see the amusement park remove 30% of the rides. The article say that this is a very misleading comment, as when you take into account the size of the rides they plan to remove, the Playland amusement park would be cut down to 50% of it’s current size.
   The plans are supposed to try and revitalize Playland, but cutting the park down to half of it’s current size certainly is going to lure in more guests (or income) to the area. Not to mention the fact that the park hasn’t added any substantial new attractions in years does little to help the situation. Based on the author’s take on the business model presented by Sustainable Playland at a presentation, they are looking to essentially remove half of the park up front, and the rest of the amusement rides will eventually “face elimination” as times goes on. Meanwhile proposals to run the park, and make improvements, by experienced amusement operators are on the table, but not getting the proper attention, which is just sad.
    (1/25/13) The county has narrowed the choices down to just four it seems, as they prepare to compare all their options and choose the best plan to revitalize Playland Park. Follow the link to see what options may be in store.
    (1/4/13) According to an interesting article (click here) representatives from “Legoland Development” have met with the county regarding a plan to invest up to $200 million to transform Rye Playland into a Legoland park while keeping mucg of Rye’s charm intact, much how Cypress Gardens was transformed into Legoland Florida last year.
    I found it a bit odd that the article mentioned “Legoland Development” instead of Merlin Entertainment, which is the true owner of the Legoland theme parks. Makes me wonder if they are talking to some group hoping to lure in Merlin to make a Legoland in the area, or if this Legoland Development group has any official ties to Merlin at all. Still… the idea does have merit, and selling or leasing the park to a private group may actually be the best solution for the troubled public property that has become a burden to the local government budgets.
    (10/15/12) The county signed a deal with Sustainable Playland, a not-for-profit group who will take their vision to reinvent Playland for the next generation. The new plan was described as a “civic-commercial partnership” which hopes to not only save Playland, but make it profitable once again as well.
    The group will invest $34 million into the park and broaden its appeal with new features and attractions, while keeping the parks historic rides like the Dragon Coaster, Derby Racer and Kiddyland in place. A new waterpark area overlooking the boardwalk will be added as well as outdoor ballfields, an indoor field house, more restaurants, renovated Ice Casino and a new outdoor skating rink. A Great Lawn will also be set up for concerts and special events.
    The plan will return the park to have free admission and allow riders to pay per attraction, but the biggest change will be a new operating calendar that will see Playland open year round. While most of the actual rides will be closed in the winter, the opportunity to lure in people for other activities year-round hopes to be the plan needed to turn Playland around.

2013 - Nothing new is expected this season.

???? - Reinvent Playland Park - Proposals - (7/27/11) Zamperla, after reviving Coney Island, is now one of 12 bidders seeking to revitialize Rye Playland. The Zamperla bid includes adding $30 million in new rides and park upgrades, and will keep Playland as a unique historic amusement park for years to come. Part of the plan is a proposal to add up to 20 new attractions, some of which have already proven to be popular at Luna Park in Coney Island.
    (3/25/11) While tons of groups have come out to pitch their own ideas to reinvent Rye Playland, the people behind one bid should be familiar. CAI (Central Amusements International) is the Park Operations group of Zamperla, who revived Coney Island with their new Luna Park last year.  If they’ve got the ride idea at Luna Park, they could be the right group to come in and save Rye Playland as well as well as the background to make the right investments in the park’s list of attractions.
    (10/20/10) Locals have been in a tizzy because execs from Donald Trump’s company were at Rye Playland, along with many others, to get briefed on what the county is looking to do with the property. Could Trump buy in? Certainly… but so could anyone else at this point, and it’s probably for the best if The Donald stays away, I don’t believe he has any interest in amusement parks as a profitable business.
    (9/1/10) The local government in control of Playland is now seeking proposals from experienced parties looking to reinvent Playland for the 21st Century. Something needs to be done to stop the year-after-year cost of the park losing millions of dollars. It should be a no brainier to make it profitable. From what I’ve been told about the place (having never had been myself) it sounds like they need to alter the pay structure to become more like a standard amusement park with a pay-one-price plan that gets you admission and unlimited rides, ending the tide of people coming in to use it as a babysitting service or as a place for troubled youths coming in to just hang out. Clean up the park… clean up the clientele, and make it a clean safe place for families to visit once again, plus invest in some new modern attractions to mix in with the classics. They just need someone with experience to take it over.