Volume 3, No. 16. August 22,2003
Cold
shower
The shocking news emerging from Cincinnati last week that Paramount’s Kings
Island was closing Waterworks, its waterpark, at the end of this season was
quickly trumped by another piece of news: the waterpark is not necessarily closing.
According
to the park’s press release, “Waterworks, the largest water park in
the area with more than 20 rides and slides will open for its last day of operation
on Labor Day, September 1, 2003. The 15 acres of land currently occupied by
Waterworks water park will be utilized for future park expansion in 2004.”
The release then quoted Craig M. Ross, Paramount’s Kings Island’s
executive vice president and general manager, saying, “Our guests are in
for a real surprise next season. It is going to be amazing.”
Upon
the news breaking, local media descended on the park across the interstate highway
from Kings Island, The Beach waterpark, where Vice President and General Manager
Pamela Strickfaden at first thought reporters were repeating a wild rumor. “I
was very surprised, yes,” she said. After all, she had heard that Kings
Island would be targeting Waterworks for capital improvement after the 2003
season; she thought that meant upgrading, not removing.
Naturally,
the news was good news for her and the 18-year-old Beach, but only partly because
Waterworks, which opened in 1989, has been a “competitive issue for us.”
She looked forward to the potentials of furthering a marketing partnership that
had been growing the past couple years between the two entities sharing the
same Interstate 71 interchange. While The Beach loses some day customers from
outlying visitors to Kings Island, the two parks share the majority of their
local season pass holders, and The Beach’s attendance has been steadily
growing the past few years.
Running
a business that benefits from having a neighbor with strong regional draw, Strickfaden
also thought that removing Waterworks could only strengthen Kings Island. After
all, it has been five years since Waterworks was upgraded. “I can see the
benefit and merit of having a waterpark in a theme park, the ability to market
‘Stay cool, get wet,’” she said. But, “The waterpark business
is an animal of its own. I’ve been in both environments (Strickfaden formerly
worked in Kings Island’s management). It’s the same as far as the
concept of entertaining people, but it’s a completely different animal.
Our primary business is water; that’s what we focus on. Kings Island, their
prime business is themed entertainment. To me, it makes sense for them to focus
on rides and themed entertainment.”
Which,
it seems, they likely will do—it just may include water, all the same.
Jeffrey Siebert, manager of marketing communications at Paramount’s Kings
Island, said after publishing the release “The key message we’re saying
is the folks that loved Waterworks are going to be blown away by what we do
in 2004. We’re just saying Waterworks as we know it is going away.”
In
fact, clues indicate the waterpark will likely stay pretty much intact, hints
starting with the word Strickfaden herself had heard from highly placed officials
that Waterworks was getting an upgrade for 2004. Thursday Paramount's Great
America unveiled plans for a new Australian-themed waterpark (see Extra!
Extra!), meaning the theme park chain has no intention of leaving the waterpark
industry. The always-coy Siebert, fielding an onslaught of rumors from enthusiasts
and local media alike, will say that anything “is a possibility,”
including a revised waterpark. “But also a possibility is we’ll mow
it all down and put in a big statue of Eric Minton,” he said.
That
won’t happen, even though Siebert did say “What we are creating is
unlike anything this region has seen before.” But a statue of a journalist
doesn’t require “full-blown computer generated animations” to
explain it, as Kings Island’s publicity and marketing team will be using
to introduce next year’s expansion, a campaign Siebert said will begin
shortly after Labor Day. “We’re trying to explain the magnitude of
what we’re building,” he said.
We can only take so much shock.
THE LOOP is written and produced by Eric Minton, Minton Enterprises, LLC. To see more examples of Eric Minton's work and Minton Enterprises services, visit www.ericminton.com.
©2003, Minton Enterprises
LLC
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