Volume 2, No. 23. December 13, 2002
New Arrivals
It’s
a mini-golf course!
Give Kids The World in Kissimmee, Florida, announces the arrival of Marc’s
Dino-Putt Miniature Golf Course, December 3, 2002. Measurements: 3/4 acres,
seven holes, 11 dinosaurs (four animatronic), three fog effects, three water
effects, 250 palms, flowering trees and bamboo and 4,000 shrubs. Delivered by
Universal Orlando designers and employees and by Hensel Phelps Construction,
ITEC Productions, Johnson Brothers, Kern Studios, Oceaneering International,
PBS&J Landscape Architects and Planners, Safari Thatch, Valley Crest and
Wittek Golf Supply.
The cartoonish gallery of chattering compys dinosaurs around the first hole
gets play off to a whimsical start, but you know you are playing a truly special
golf course on the second hole. En route to making par, an ultrasaur helps you
by lifting your ball with his nose and punching it onto the green toward the
hole.
Universal Studios had long wanted to do something of its own at the Give Kids
The World Village, and when the charity suggested a miniature golf course Universal’s
creative team went to work. They didn’t hold back, either. The course cost
$2.2 million, and that was cheap. “If they ever created that kind of attraction
for an outside facility, it would be closer to $11 million,” said Kristin
Weissman, Give Kids The World’s manager of communications.
Each hole has a special effects trick in addition to the sound of roaring or
yapping dinosaurs whenever the ball makes it in the cup. Parasaurolophi blow
steam at golfers on Hole Three (and making the final putt will get you a squirt
of water from a member of the gallery). The fourth hole is in a cave, a winding
putting green through the sounds of roaring dinosaurs concluding with a putt
that triggers a volcanic eruption. On the fifth hole you aim for the stegosaur’s
mouth, and the ball passes through its spine to the tune of a marimba. The seventh
and final hole offers a “surprise:” make the putt, and a roaring Tyrannosaurus
rex rears up.
When the Universal designers came up with the idea of a dinosaur-themed course,
the GKTW staff were apprehensive. “We shocked a few people, especially
after they went through Jurassic Park” at Universal Orlando’s Islands
of Adventure, Universal Creative Project Manager Brad Goeb said. “The main
concern was to have the friendliest dinosaurs to interact with the kids.”
The designers achieved that by building realistic looking dinosaurs anatomically,
but using friendlier colors and smoothing out the skin and features. Oceaneering,
which built the dinosaurs at Jurassic Park also built Marc’s critters.
Another important design parameter was the length of individual holes, which
was more important than the total number of holes, Goeb said. “The holes
are longer than typical miniature golf courses so the whole family can really
get out there and be in one area and have more interaction, and it allows plenty
of room for wheelchairs.”
The course is named for the late Marc McConnell, whose visit to GKTW Village
in 1999 inspired him to battle back against his cancer and become a three-year
campaigner for organ donations (he died three days short of his 14th birthday).
His parents and five siblings were on hand the sunny morning of December 3 along
with pro golfers Scott Hoch and Mark McCumber to officially open the course
with a mini-golf challenge involving local television news personalities. The
event drew all the major television stations and print media outlets in sOrlando,
Weissman said, “which was pretty big for us.”
Sportscaster Gary Cohl won the challenge in what turned out to be a one-hole
shoot-out. “Because so many children were on the course, we just did one
hole,” Weissman said. That hole, Number 6, culminates with a nest of baby
pterodactyls chirping at the putters’ success. Everybody really wanted
to use that second hole for the competition, but the ultrasaur was too busy
helping other children win.
©2002, Minton Enterprises
LLC
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