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Volume 1, No. 23. December 14, 2001
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Relief fun
Humans
have two basic needs: food and shelter. The species had advanced enough
by the 20th century that sociologists added a third: love.
Alain Baldacci contends 21st century humans have another basic need: fun.
"Most of the visitors to our parks are children," said the president of
Interplay Parks in Sao Paulo, Brazil. "We make them happier and make families
happier, and we profit from them. But poor children cannot access our
parks."
In an interview for Amusement Today, Baldacci, IAAPA's new Chairman of
the Board of Directors, laid out his goals for his coming one-year term,
which began when he took the gavel from Billy Sims at November's IAAPA
Convention and Trade Show. The overall tenor of these goals is to increase
IAAPA's influence on legislation and in the tourism industry, plus better
utilizing the members' general expertise. His most ambitious goal, and
most profound, is to spread fun to the world's poor and displaced.
"I come from a country where, unfortunately, we have a large portion of
our children that can't come to our parks, and we don't do anything for
them," Baldacci said. "We should be able to raise this as a social responsibility."
In other words, while other organizations raise funds to send food and
shelter to impoverished populations, IAAPA could lead the effort to somehow
send those populations fun.
Baldacci is still grappling with how, except to say that IAAPA should
link up with a worldwide organization that already has a distribution
network in place. But he plans to unabashedly champion the notion that
laughter is as great a comforter to children as food, clothing and housing.
"This will be one thing I will fight for," he said. Even if IAAPA can't
send rides and games to impoverished nations, the association could at
least support existing life-saving efforts.
Furthermore, the association already has a model of providing fun to children
in need through its support of Give Kids The World. "We can reach out
to not only terminally ill children but others who will die if they don't
get help," he said. "They say that 25 cents of a (U.S.) dollar can save
a child in Brazil and India. Can you imagine how many lives IAAPA can
try to save that hopefully one day can cross our gates as guests? We are
an association in 102 countries with 5,700 members. We have enormous potential."
To achieve this goal Baldacci said IAAPA will have to become more socially
conscious. "The association has never spoken to our social responsibility.
We help our members to perform their business, financially and operationally,
but the social responsibility aspect has never been inserted in the program."
This is a change necessitated not by the moral conscience of a new chairman
but by the nature of consumer businesses in this new century.
"IBM,
Volvo, all of the big corporations have implemented social programs on
the idea that where you get your money from, you give a little back, not
only in taxes but social involvement," Baldacci said. IAAPA members get
their money from people, namely families and kids, having fun. "If we
were able to bring attention to our members that we should be socially
responsible, that would be a great thing for our industry. IAAPA would
gain a human dimension. That's the way businesses will be run in the 21st
century."
Baldacci
and his fellow countryman, football great Pele, who attended the gavel-passing
ceremony, share a mission of aiding children. Photo
courtesy of Alain Baldacci
For the complete profile of Alain Baldacci and his goals for IAAPA in
2002, see the January issue of Amusement Today. To subscribe to Amusement
Today, click
here.
This mug of Marjan boosted the fortunes of the Kabul Zoo. Photo by the Associated Press
Afghan's Aslan
The lion proved a compelling
poster child. The 45-year-old Marjan's face and eyesight had been maimed
by a grenade that an Afghan soldier launched at him in retaliation for
the lion killing a fellow soldier (who, the day before, had tried to pose
for a photograph in the lion's pen). The photograph of Marjan ran on the
internet and in newspapers around the world, accompanying stories about
the sorry state of the Kabul Zoo.
The images and reports coming out of the zoo in Afghanistan's capital
city struck a chord in Europe and the United States. British tabloid newspapers
battled for the title of animal rights champions, and a fund in America
raised $100,000 in less than a week. Meanwhile, zoo associations around
the world—namely the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA),
the World Association of Zoos and Aquaria (WAZA) and the American Zoo
and Aquarium Association (AZA)—were also stirred to action for the
sake of their colleagues, Kabul Zoo director Sheragha Omar and his dedicated
staff, who withstood an uncaring government, abusive visitors, persecution,
and no pay for months to look after the ever-diminishing number of animals
in their care.
"These people amazingly, through thick and thin, stuck to the job," said
David Jones, director of the North Carolina Zoological Park in Asheboro,
who headed the AZA's fund-raising campaign. "We've got to make sure that
if the animals are comfortable, the keepers are comfortable, too."
He's got the money to do that. When the AZA started fielding calls from
member zoos and the public about helping the Kabul institution, Jones
volunteered to lead the effort. The former director of the London Zoo
is the longtime chairman for the Brooke Hospital, whose animal welfare
work in Pakistan has allowed him to build an extensive network of contacts
in the region. By his estimates and reports coming out of Kabul, he set
a goal of $30,000, which would get the zoo through the next six months,
a workable timeframe for the unstable country.
The fund was established using eight North Carolina Zoo staff on November
27. By the end of the week it had already raised $46,000 and last Tuesday
reached the cut-off level of $100,000, which officials say is much more
than the zoo needs. The money still trickling in (now up to $130,000 today)
will be used for other welfare animal issues in the war-ravished country,
where it is believed thousands of horses, donkeys and other domestic animals
are in distress. "What you are seeing at the zoo epitomized by this poor
old lion is really the tip of the iceberg of problems," Jones said.
Outside the animal-loving community runs criticism that the money being
raised to stabilize the Kabul Zoo would be more appropriately spent on
the war's refugees. To that, and to those who argue that Kabul's animals
should be evacuated instead of salvaging the zoo, Jones pointed to the
zoo's role in Afghan society. Built in 1967 as an extension of Kabul University
with German aid and expertise, Kabul Zoo under the helm of Gunther Nogge,
now director of Cologne Zoo and former president of the World Zoo Organization,
was, by 1972, one of the world's most modern zoos and a Middle East showpiece,
with 417 animals representing 121 mostly native species. Because of a
theological interpretation of the role of animals in Islam, the Taliban
did not shutter the zoo, and during that strict ruling regime the Kabul
Zoo was the one public facility women and children could visit for entertainment
outside the home.
"(Zoos) are very, very popular over there," Jones said. "What I keep saying
to the World Zoo Association, 'The one thing you can do is improve the
standards in many of these third world zoos, because they are very important
family destination sites.' Apart from that, they could be important science
and education centers for the rest of us."
To contribute to the Afghan animal relief fund, send a check or U.S. money
order made out to the North Carolina Zoological Society, 4403 Zoo Parkway,
Asheboro, NC 27203-9416. In the United States you can also make contributions
by a toll-free number, 1-888-244-3736. Updates on the fund and the Kabul
Zoo will be posted at the AZA web site, www.AZA.org.
Things were looking up for Arrow's Vegas plans until a fear of enthusiasts derailed the project. Art courtesy of the Stratosphere Casino Hotel & Tower
Broken Arrow
Arrow Dynamics, Inc., the venerable
thrill ride manufacturer in Clearfield, Utah, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
on December 3, seeking protection from creditors as it reorganizes. Details
on the cause of the action and the efforts to reorganize were sketchy
as we posted, and Arrow would not return repeated phone calls.
However, the demise of the 55-year-old compan—responsible for many
of the innovations that spawned the roller coaster explosion of the past
30 years—is not unexpected as it had struggled to market new products
in recent years. This year proved particularly frustrating for the company.
Its highly anticipated X coaster, with passengers riding parallel
to the track and flipping 360 degrees on separate axis during the ride,
still sits unopened at Six Flags Magic Mountain, who had hoped to debut
it last spring. And, such was Arrow's luck that it couldn't even get a
project off the ground in Las Vegas, stymied by political infighting and
a fear of "undesirables."
The "undesirables" in question are coaster enthusiasts, just one aspect
of a weird battle over expansion at the Stratosphere Casino Hotel and
Tower, a controversy that makes the capital of glitz look downright sheltered.
The victim of all the bickering was the world's tallest and fastest thrill
ride by Arrow, a project worth between $15 million and $20 million. Twelve-seat
cars would be lifted in an elevator to a height of 740 feet (225 meters)
and drop down at 122 mph (195 km/h) across The Strip, rising up another
416-foot tower (126 meters).
"We want to build an attraction that would draw people downtown, utilize
the tower and take advantage of what we have here," said Stratosphere's
public relations manager, Michael Gilmartin, who described the ride as
"a giant fish hook." "The city of Las Vegas is in desperate need of attractions
to compete with the south end of The Strip and to bring people back downtown
again." The 1,149-foot Stratosphere tower (350 meters) already has the
High Roller coaster and S&S Big Shot on its roof.
So, Stratosphere officials were taken back when city officials nixed the
plan (the south end of The Strip, where most of the recent expansion has
occurred, lies outside the city limits and is governed by the county).
"The Planning Department gave us a couple dozen stipulations; we met all
those and they recommended the Planning Commission approve it," Gilmartin
said of Stratosphere's thrill ride. The Planning Commission, citing everything
from potential noise levels to aesthetic damage of the Las Vegas skyline,
turned the project down twice, and the City Council refused to overturn
the commission decision. "It's become a political issue," Gilmartin said.
"It has nothing to do with logic." Those arguing the ride would be too
loud, for example, didn't account for the fact that the ride would be
built next to a hotel. "We would not build a thrill ride that's going
to drive people out of here saying 'Give me my money back, that damn ride
kept me up all night.' We're not stupid," Gilmartin said
.
Using economic and scientific studies, the Stratosphere staff adequately
answered the concerns, Gilmartin said, but the most confounding argument
was the one put forward by a planning commissioner who said, "If you guys
build this, it's going to bring tattooed, pierced teen-agers and undesirables
to the area." "I enjoy thrill rides," said Gilmartin, who sky dives and
bunjee jumps and also has a resume that prominently features his role
as a political lobbyist. "I laughed because I thought, 'Wait a minute,
does that make me an undesirable?' I've been dealing with this thing for
the last three months, and this whole thing is all about misconceptions
of amusement ride crowds." Members of coaster enthusiast organizations
also took exception to being labeled an unsavory lot and mounted an e-mail
and letter-writing campaign supporting the project.
All to no avail. The hotel has currently shelved the giant fish hook pending
a redesign of the ride or a shift in political alignments.
Return
visits
Because of the anthrax
scare in the U.S. mail, the U.S. military had put a halt to programs
that would send mail to overseas troops, including a postcard-writing
campaign mounted by Michael Fleming, managing general partner of Mountasia
Fun Center in Santa Clarita, California, and the Northridge, California,
Skateland (THE LOOP,
November 2, 2001).
The U.S. Department of the Navy has since established a Web site that allows the general public to send greetings to sea, ground and air service members in the Middle East and Balkans. The site, www.LIFELines2000.org takes users through steps to deliver messages to "any servicemember." On the other end, service members will log onto the site and choose messages for their branch and from their home states. Those sending a message who wish to receive a response may include a return e-mail address. Because the messages are viewed on the web, the program will not bog down the military e-mail system.
In
this issue
(To
go directly to a story, click on a blue keyword or phrase below):
IAAPA's new chairman wants to share some fun with the world's impoverished children.
The world's zoos come to the aid of their colleagues in Kabul.
Bankrupt Arrow Dynamics sees its Stratosphere project stalled for fear of "undesirables."
The U.S. military allows notes to flow to overseas service members.
And, in our special holiday section, The Bronx Zoo strings a soothing set of holiday lights, Europa-Park caps a record year with a first-time Christmas festival, The Beach Waterpark plunges into a winter wonderland, and we seek to spread good cheer as we close THE LOOP for the year.
by Eric Minton
New Yorkers lightened their emotional load at the Bronx Zoo. Photo courtesy of the Wildlife Conservation Society
Light
hearted
Their Holiday Lights festival had been a tradition going back five years,
yet officials at the Bronx Zoo in New York City engaged in heart-wrenching
debate about the appropriateness of staging it this year. Would it be
too festive, given the community's tragic autumn?
Linda Corcoran, assistant director of communications for the Wildlife
Conservation Society, headquartered at the Bronx Zoo, was in those discussions.
Though she understood the trepidation, she sided with the prevailing proponents
of stringing the lights. "Many of us who have children felt this is a
venue we would want to take our children to and not have them glued to
the TV, newspapers and magazines. Children shouldn't lose this tradition."
Much of New York apparently is like-minded. On Holiday Lights' opening
night November 23, which the zoo offered for free in honor of the World
Trade Center victims, 13,043 people showed up. Then, at a ticket price
of $9 for adults and $5 for seniors and children (free for WCS members),
the numbers for the Thursday-through-Sunday evening festival grew, topping
16,000 the following Saturday. Through this weekend attendance totalled
almost 54,000.
Corcoran credits the summer-like weather as a primary contributor, but
she also sees New York families doing their utmost to grasp hold of the
holiday spirit. The city decorated as usual, and other annual Yuletide
season events went forward as scheduled. "There are a lot of major campaigns
to encourage people to get out," Corcoran said. "It's like we've lost
a loved one, and certainly we have, lost over 3,000 people. I don't think
there is a person in this area who didn't know some people killed in World
Trade (including family of Bronx Zoo staff), and there will always be
that feeling of sorrow. New Yorkers want desperately to get through this."
Proving valuable salves for the New Yorkers' souls are hoops of lights
arching over the walkway to the zoo's new Dancing Crane Cafe, an enlarged
Holiday Express train ride for children, 10 miles of tree lighting, Alice
Farley Dance Theater stilt walkers, Paul Magnaldi ice carving, nightly
sea lion feedings, the camels and reindeer on special exhibit and many
of the indoor animal exhibits remaining open for the evening.
This weekend Holiday Lights goes to a nightly schedule through Janauary
1, except December 24 when the reindeer must be pulled off exhibit for
another job, Corcoran said.
Up
after the fall
When it decided to stay open past Halloween and on through the New Year,
Europa-Park was risking more than contrary weather and tiring staff. The
Rust, Germany, theme park was taking on a continental mind-set that summer
is summer, and winter is winter.
"Europeans have
different leisuretime attitudes in winter and in summer," said Martina
Evers, public relations representative for Europa-Park. "In winter you
go skiing and have a hot drink in a bar, or you stay home and do Christmas.
Leisureparks are a summer activity."
However, Efteling in The Netherlands has operated a successful winter
season for two years, prompting Europa-Park to give the idea more study.
Of guests surveyed during the summer, more than half said they could imagine
coming to the park during the winter. Figuring that if just 5 percent
of summer season traffic showed up in December—and the park topped
3 million visitors this year—the 150,000 guests would merit keeping
part of the park open through the New Year.
Becoming the first amusement park in Germany to mount a winter season,
Europa-Park may have started a trend for the country while continuing
the successful European precedent set by Efteling. Weekend visitation
for "Christmas at Europa-Park" already is surpassing 20,000,
making staff optimistic that the whole winter season (running daily through
January 6, except December 24 and 25) will far surpass projections. By
most measures the venture is paying off. Though the park is getting many
guests from a two-hour-drive radius, many also are coming from further
distances, Evers said. The park's hotels are sold out for the weekends
and reaching 70 percent occupancy on weekdays. Area hotels also are enjoying
boosted numbers for this time of year.
Europa-Park hedged its risks in many ways. Only half of the park—which
has 14 sections themed on different countries and cultures in Europe—is
open, and building on its existing theme Europa-Park is showcasing Christmas
celebrations of the various nations. The park also incorporated a popular
seasonal tradition of Germany, the Christmas Fair, into the program, with
more than 30 vendor stalls selling local crafts, food and decorations.
Then there is the fresh snow blanketing the Russian section courtesy of
snow-making machines. "People are going, 'Wow! I've been in the snow this
winter!'" Evers said. "It heightens the atmosphere. Even in the (nearby)
Black Forest we don't get much snow."
Other seasonal touches include turning the lake in France into a natural
ice skating venue, a daily Christmas parade with reindeer pulling Santa
in a sleigh and a dogsled that children can ride, and a shop in Chocoland
that lets children bake their own cookies. "Parents are quite enthusiastic
because they can go do something else and come back to fresh cookies,"
Evers said. This weekend the park will host a teen dance party—sold
out more than a week in advance—thrown by the popular magazine BRAVO.
In addition to generating income during what has always been a negative
cash-flow month, park officials saw the lengthened run as a retention
tool for employees. Leading seasonal staff can now work longer at the
park, and now with only a couple months downtime they are less likely
to skip to other jobs. For the full-time staff, on the other hand, who
are looking at a March grand re-opening with the introduction of a new
giga-coaster, traditional slow period has become as hectic as any time
of the year. "We get no free time this winter," Evers said. "But when
you see all the marketing work we did pay off with lots of visitors, and
they like it when they get here, we are quite happy."
Nahrup helped Hank settle into his waterpark surroundings. Photo by Eric Minton
One
hot waterpark
Hank the camel whiled away his time in a manger, twinkle-size Christmas
lights criss-crossed the landscape, people skated under the winter sky
while others rollicked on a horse-drawn wagon through woods full of animated,
light silhouettes, and almost everybody imbibed in the hot chocolate or
specialty coffees. It's like many holiday-themed venues you've seen.
But it's not like any waterpark you've seen in December. The Beach in
Mason, Ohio, however, is now in its third year operating "Holiday
Fest at The Beach." This year The Beach's winter transformation not
only has matured as an annual event, it's accomplishing the park's intent
of extending its profitable calendar.
"Our goal is to create a fourth month out of the year," said Pamela Strickfaden,
The Beach's vice president and general manager. Added Todd Nahrup, assistant
general manager of operations, "If we want to have the kind of rides I
want to have in the summer, we need more than three months of operating."
With Paramount's Kings Island across the highway mounting a successful
Halloween festival, The Beach looked beyond the shoulder season all the
way to the heart of winter, an incongruous time frame for a waterpark,
to be sure.
Yet, one that makes perfect sense when you consider that most people do
not have waterparks on their mind during the winter, but that is the time
The Beach is pushing its season tickets. "We never had any interest in
season passes this time of year," said Nahrup, despite concerted season-passes-as-gifts
campaigns and partnerships with area malls. "Now we do. People are talking
about The Beach, coming out to The Beach, and once they're here, we can
sell them a season pass for next summer." To further the connection, The
Beach sells its season passes half-price during the Holiday Fest.
The December operation is no mere marketing stunt. What started as a Christmas
scene in the parking lot in 1998 is now a wholesale makeover of a portion
of the park, using a staff of about 30 seasonal workers plus the dozen
full-time staff. The slides and their towers are outlined in lights; a
sequence of lights on The Cliff represent two elves riding a toboggan
down the speed slide. A 5,000-square-foot (1,515-square-meter) ice rink
sits atop the wave pool deck, and a portion of the wave pool itself holds
the Festhaus Pavilion, a tent with food service, karaoke and face painting.
The sand volleyball court has a toy-train display, the tube rental maze
has been transformed into the Candy Cane Maze for kids and the carriage
rides, with wagons pulled by Percheron horses, rambles through the woods
on the park's perimeter, passing under slides and over tube runs. The
gift shops sell Beach-brand sweaters and Christmas decorations, the fishnets
strung along the walls holding snowmen and holly instead of swimsuits
and shells.
For a park known in the region for its thrill slides, the only ride-related
thrill at Holiday Fest is when the big horses break into a trot on stretches
of the carriage rides. Nahrup said he plans to design this upcoming summer's
new ride so that it could double as a faux toboggan run next winter; he
would not reveal the ride, however.
Holiday Fest at The Beach has captured the community's fancy to the point
that two sponsors, Bunnell Hill and Henkle Schueler and Associates, are
covering the cost of the gate, allowing free admission to the grounds
(The Beach earns per caps on parking, food, retail and activities). The
Beach extensively broadened the event's scope last year, but extreme cold
temperatures depressed attendance. Undaunted, the park went full-bore
again this year, and aided by typical waterpark-like weather, attendance
was up 300 percent over the first two weekends, and 200 percent ahead
of projections, Strickfaden said.
"The way we're feeling right now in our fourth year, it's given us the
enthusiasm to push this thing further," she said.
Eric’s Turn
All
we are saying
is give fun a chance
Most of you skim through each issue of THE LOOP, looking for stories pertinent
to your field, operation or interest. THE LOOP is set up to accommodate
such quick access and reading to fit in your too-busy schedules.
But I urge you to give a full read of this week's column. You'll see a
prevailing theme in many of the individual stories not only suitable for
the holiday spirit of this time of year but for the future path of your
industry, whether you help run a big theme park, a little family entertainment
center, a zoo or a waterpark.
At the top of this week's column is new IAAPA Chairman Alain Baldacci's
campaign to use the association as a vehicle for bringing fun to the impoverished
children of the world. His words, comparing IAAPA's potential with the
campaigns that provide food and shelter to populations displaced by natural
or manmade catastrophes, conjure what, at first, seem absurdist images:
putting up carnival rides at refugee camps. But, truly, how absurd would
that be, once you worked out the logistical challenges? Imagine how children
and their parents, barely nourished, suffering medical maladies, working
through the shock of physical upheaval, would at least have something
that makes them smile, a little enjoyment to spark interest in surviving
another day.
Proverbs abound about the role of education, economic parity and skills
in the creation of stable societies. I firmly believe fun is a vital part
of those equations, too, going so far as to claim that to improve the
prospects of world peace, we should build amusement parks in troubled
nations. That, actually, is the foundation of the zoo industry's efforts
to shore up the Kabul Zoo, our second story in this LOOP. A revitalized
zoo would give the Afghan capital city an entertainment outlet and help
its population return to a sense of normalcy. That phrase, "return to
a sense of normalcy," gets a poignant echo in our article about the Bronx
Zoo's decision to go ahead with its Holiday Lights festival for New Yorkers.
Retiring IAAPA CEO John Graff expanded on the industry's role in universal
understanding in his brilliant speech at the General Managers Luncheon
during the IAAPA Convention and Trade Show in Orlando last month. He took
a news account of two young boys, one in New York, one in Cairo, Egypt,
communicating by e-mail, trying to understand each other's cultures, thinking
and goals. Wrote one to the other, "I don't want to be your enemy." Graff
challenged his audience to regard those two boys as the industry's great
motivator, pointing out that because the bulk of our parks' and zoos'
visitors are children, we have a huge influence in shaping the belief
systems of the coming generation of leaders. The quality of our product,
the customer service we provide and the ambiance we achieve—safe,
friendly fun—which we often purposely promote as "escapes from reality"
could go a long way toward someday creating a like reality, Graff said.
Baldacci picks up from there: "Our industry shows the world how to get
together, how to enjoy, how to have fun. By spreading our industry we
are spreading harmony."
Correction
Reporting the New Arrival of Stone Mountain's Great Barn in Atlanta, Georgia,
in the previous issue of THE LOOP (November
30, 2001), we failed to list Creative Kingdoms as one of the companies
responsible for a successful delivery. It has been changed in the story.
Setpoint also participated in the Barn's development.
See you
next year
This is the last publication of THE LOOP for 2001. Volume 2, our second
year, will launch on January 11, 2002, and we will continue with twice-monthly
postings of the newsletter the second and fourth Friday of every month.
Minton Enterprises offices will be closed until January 8, but feel free
to send e-mails to eric@gettheloop.com
or call us at 888-902-LOOP with your news and opinions.
Sarah and I would like to take this moment to thank some special people
for making THE LOOP such a success in its first year of publication: our
current staff, Lynne Mosman and Stacey Johnson; Allen F. Weitzel for his
Reading Room contributions
and encouragement; my first operations manager Nathan Arndts; Deano Minton
for the logos (including the drawing above); my summertime assistants
and full-time sons Jon and Ian; Jennifer Collins for her legal advice;
Frank Hinrichs for our initial design; Gary Slade at Amusement
Today for his support, marketing assistance and understanding;
Marilyn Turner at Splash
Magazine for her support; Tiffany Ayers for her editorial
guidance; Michael Moran for his wisdom; our advertising sponsors, who
are featured on our Connections
page; and all of you readers whose enthusiastic response to THE LOOP has
made the travels and travails of the first year all worthwhile. May all
of you all around the world have safe and happy times, until we meet again
and beyond.