Volume 3, No. 13. July 11, 2003
New Arrivals
It’s
a themed area!
Story Land in
Glen, New Hampshire, announces the arrival of the “barnyard area,”
July 8, 2003. Measurements: 1 acre (1/2 hectare), one food stand, one real garden,
36-foot-high (11-meter) 34-passenger Crazy Barn and a 623-foot-long (190-meter)
Tractor Ride (eight, four-passenger tractors). Delivered by Preston Barbieri
and SBF.
Stoney
Morrell, owner of Story Land, is a farmer at heart. “That’s always
been something near and dear to him,” said the park’s Marketing Coordinator
Jim Miller. “He recalls reading farm stories in his childhood, and there
are still several farm stories for children.” Being somehow related to
children’s storybooks is a key criteria for a new themed area at Story
Land, and taken together with the region’s farming heritage and the park’s
management coming across two new appealing rides, the park introduced a newly
themed addition for this year.
“The
idea files are very full here, but the farming idea won out over many others,”
Miller said. The new area is yet to be officially dedicated, so staff refer
to it as the barnyard area, which, in addition to having fabricated plants contains
real crops of corn, peas, beans, cabbage, squash, chard and other vegetables.
The Sunny Day Farm Stand sells fresh fruit snacks like apple crisp, blueberry
crisp, strawberry shortcake, cider donuts, juices, milk and, what’s emerging
as the favorite, caramel apples.
The
area’s most appealing feature is the Crazy Barn a Preston Barbieri
Crazy House that Story Land asked to be themed as a barn. Preston Barbieri’s
first installation of this ride in the United States, the Crazy Barn
rises, spins and wobbles as if in “a friendly tornado,” as Miller
called it. “For our crowd, it’s more extreme looking than anything
we have, extreme being a relative term. It’s such a great visual. People
see that from different parts of the park and are drawn to it.”
Yet, the Henrietta’s Eggs-traordinary Tractor Ride, an SBF jeep ride customized as tractors featuring real tractor tires, is a natural draw in and of itself. The park’s antique cars have been one of Story Land’s most popular rides since it was first installed in 1961. “It’s an experience we know our market really loves, and to have it in a tractor is something they find very appealing,” Miller said. “We’ve been getting e-mails all winter asking when the tractor ride is going to be open, so that one has been busy since it opened.”
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.
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