Volume 1, No. 10.   June 15, 2001

 

Global wetting

It's a universal bane of amusement parks, water parks and zoos, and this past week it seemed to be everywhere. Rain caused business havoc for parks in North America, Asia and Europe, while the wet season settled in for South American facilities.

No park was hit harder than Six Flags Astroworld in Houston, Texas, which, like the rest of the metropolitan area, suffered flooding from a tropical storm that swept through town twice in one week. The theme park closed early last Friday when the second deluge began and didn't reopen until yesterday. Its Showcase Theatre, season pass processing center and a couple of gift shops took water damage, and the warehouse "was hit pretty hard," said the park's public relations manager Darryl Freeman. Several offices in the warehouse as well as food, merchandise and "a lot of paper goods" were lost, though the park has not put a price tag on the damage yet, she said.

As much as cleaning up, the park's staff has had to deal with property losses among their fellows. "Some individuals have lost some things," Freeman said. "A couple of people had flooding in their homes. Many people had damage to their vehicles." Workers were gathering donations to help those affected by the floods.

While the park has always put up with almost daily squalls during typical seasons, and flash flood warnings are almost nightly occurrances, this storm overwhelmed the whole population. "None of us had any idea what was coming," Freeman said. "We've seen bad floods in Houston, but we've never seen them so widespread in several parts of the town." The freak flooding came about when Tropical Storm Allison eased ashore early last week, swept back out to the Gulf of Mexico, then returned with even more.

When the extent of the flood became obvious on Saturday—whole sections of Interstate 10 resembled the Mississippi River—the park didn't even attempt to open for the weekend, heeding the city's need to focus on rescue and recovery and keeping those people who could stay home off the roads. "We didn't want to risk people driving around Saturday and Sunday," Freeman said. Astroworld staff realized Monday that its own cleanup needed time, too, and decided to hold off re-opening until late in the week.

While the park's flood waters receded Saturday, other neighborhoods remained under water into this week, with total damage estimates reaching $1 billion for the city. Downtown Houston, just blocks north of the park, was among the worst hit areas. Lily Tsang lives in that area and in a phone call described the devestation to her sister, Lisa Tsang, entertainment manager at Ocean Park in Hong Kong. Lily's own home suffered no damage, much to Lisa's relief.

But, then, Lisa was dealing with her own city's deluges, which caused landslides throughout the province, including a "minor mudslide" in the backstage area of the park. While the public area has been spared, "attendance is bad," she said, and the rains have forced the park's new outdoor show indoors more often than not (see New Arrival).

Her plight is one shared by parks across the United States, especially in the Midwest and Northeast. Coming off one of the wettest, coldest summers in memory, the parks had "nowhere but-up" hopes for 2001, and the spring held much promise with record crowds. The three-day Memorial Day weekend, however, saw cold, wet weather at almost every park in the country, and the rains stuck around until the middle of this week in the Ohio Valley, keeping temperatures and attendance down throughout the region. When that cold front moved out it was replaced by a daily dose of violent thunderstorms.

European parks and zoos are also reporting weather-hampered attendance this month, even though the season has been no wetter than past years. The problem, said Jeff Bertus, secretary of Europark, is the weather forecasters. "The last couple of weeks we saw the weather forecasting guys being too pessimistic," he said. "They miss quite often. But if you tell people, 'This weekend the weather will be raining or too cold or whatever,' they don't plan to go to the zoo or amusement park."

A little swap of horrors

Parks and zoos do it with rides and animals; now haunted attractions are exploring a way to trade props among themselves.

The International Association of Haunted Attractions has formed a committee to look into setting up a prop swap program among its members. The initiative of Ross Karpelman, president of the House of Shock in New Orleans, the committee not only is exploring a way to set up an on-line trading post through IAHA's web site, but also a mechanism to rope in those haunters who do not yet have Internet access.

"I put a thing in the (IAHA) newsletter that if anyone has anything they want to get rid of, e-mail a description and at least we'll have a database when we get the site going," Karpelman said. He feels attractions too often waste money and prop-building efforts because they have no way to recycle some of their scenery and scare elements. "We have these props we spent a lot of money on that everybody has seen here, and it would be cool to circulate them to other sites where nobody has seen them," he said.

He doesn't believe such a program would undercut manufacturers, especially as the haunt industry in general is still growing. "It's like the record companies coming down on used CD stores; I don't see where they would have a problem with it. They'll have their business anyway from people who have the budget. And they are always coming up with new and different stuff." Some attractions also would want to keep purchasing new material to secure a warranty.

The key to such a swap program succeeding would be its nationwide reach. Karpelman's renowned Halloween operation, with a total attendance of 30,000 guests over 15 three-hour nights, is one of several seasonal haunted attractions in New Orleans, but with different themes and shared audiences, trading props with the rival houses wouldn't be viable, he said. Keeping props longer than four years would be even less viable, he said. "You want to keep people coming back, so you want to keep refreshing your scenery. I'd rather die than have a haunted house that's boring, that people have seen every year."

For more information, call the IAHA toll-free hotline, 866-462-4242, or check in at the association's web site by clicking here.

 

Icing on the season

Ice hockey and swimming have one key common factor. "They're both kind of water related," Kenny Handle said just barely convincingly. No matter. The manager of Wave Waterpark in Vista, California, has married the ultimate winter sport with his summer-focused business in a now-annual promotion featuring the local minor league hockey team, the San Diego Gulls.

On the Memorial Day holiday—the Monday of the park's season opening weekend—members of the Gulls, their mascot, and the Gulls Girls cheerleaders visit Wave, signing autographs and posing for pictures with fans. As part of the promotion, the park offers half-price admission to any youths wearing their ice or roller hockey league jerseys. In return for the Gulls' participation in opening weekend, the waterpark sponsors a number of promotions for the Gulls during their season, including ticket giveaways.

Handler first hooked up with the Gulls last year, and despite their respective summer-versus-winter focus—the hockey season even ends a couple weeks before the waterpark season begins—the two proved a perfect fit. "The Gulls are looking to promote themselves just as much as we are," Handler said. "I'm trying every angle I can to get everyone here."

Last year was the first in the partnership, and, Handler said, "It went surprisingly smooth, and we had a decent showing. It was something we took a chance on and it worked out pretty good." With its "very, very small marketing budget," Wave, owned and operated by the City of Vista, can not afford billboards and other traditional media outlets, so the mention on the electronic scoreboard during Gulls games, which average 6,000 fans, is an effective substitute. Furthermore, the West Coast Hockey League champion Gulls come much cheaper than the area's major league sports teams, the football Chargers and, representing that other popular summer pasttime, the baseball Padres.

"With the Padres you have to deal with agents and fine-print contracts," Handler said. With the Gulls, "You ask if they can be there and throw them some tickets for their families and they usually show. And they are very nice. Not that the Padres aren't nice, but you have more hoops to jump through with them."

 

Call to arms

Another incongruous pairing over the U.S. Memorial Day holiday weekend mixed scenes of war with one of the country's most tranquil amusement parks. However, at Idlewild and Soak Zone in Ligonier, Pennsylvania, the annual tradition of honoring the nation's servicemen and women has become a viable attendance driver, and with Civil War re-enacters on hand, the park takes on an almost fantasyland feel.

For the past half dozen years the Civil War Society of Western Pennsylvania has set up an encampment at Idlewild, a small family trolley park about 50 miles east of Pittsburgh, for the three-day weekend. The 20 members dressed in authentic period battle uniforms pitch their tents under the trees by the park's Jumpin' Jungle section. Guests are allowed to roam into the camp to see demonstrations and exhibits of Civil War weaponry and supplies. The battalion also drills and, by its presence, brings a greater sense of authenticity to the frontier town-themed Hoot and Holler. "They look like they're part of the act," said Jerome Gibas, vice president and general manager of the park.

The Civil War buffs' primary act, though—shooting off their cannon—is done at a ball field in a far corner of the park. "We have to keep that cannon away from everybody," Gibas said. "It's pretty loud."

Usually the park also has a large modern contingent of the National Guard on hand, with local units bringing their tanks and jeeps, and any Guard member wearing his or her uniform to the park earning admission discounts for the whole family. This year, however, local units had been deployed for military exercises. Idlewild recognizes yet a third army for the weekend: anybody who brings a can of food to donate to the Salvation Army gets discounted admission.

Despite the holiday weekend, Idlewild needs these promotions to push attendance in what is still a pre-season for the park whose primary business is group and family picnics, Gibas said. Opening May 12 for weekends, Idlewild uses the May weekends to do several special events, including a YMCA 5K race inside the park and an American Heart Association 3K walk. Both races pull in up to 400 participants, Gibas said, and the park gets a bonus as many attendees stay with their families for an afternoon picnic.

Survivor III: The midway

When the folks at Paramount Parks' Design and Entertainment Group were cooking up a traveling show for their chain of theme parks, they picked the hottest phenomenon in America that would require the least amount of talent to stage: Survivor II: The Australian Outback, the hit reality TV game show by CBS, a brother company to Paramount Parks in the Viacom family.

The stage game show, "Survivor Reward Challenge," debuted last Saturday at Paramount's Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina, the park closest to Paramount Parks' corporate headquarters and a park which had successfully pulled off a week-long, full-fledged Survivor contest with a radio station last year. This season's version lasts less than an hour and uses members of the audience who volunteer to compete in one of two daily shows.

The eight contestants are divided into the two named tribes of the Outback Survivor series, the Kucha and Ogakor. They endure a series of challenges reminiscent of those in the show, with a few changes befitting the venue. Instead of slingshotting stones at china plates, for instance, they shoot rubber balls at plastic plates. Other contests include balancing an egg or coconut on a spoon while walking a balance beam (a few inches above the stage) and unscrambling puzzles as a team. At the end of each challenge the winning team votes a member off each tribe, a process repeated after the second round. After the third round, the losing pair is kicked off the stage and the two winning teammates then face off for the final challenge. Winners receive a Survivor bag, shirt and keychain.

And, yes, there is a food challenge. Contestants spin a wheel bearing the choices: sardines, pig's feet, limburger cheese, onion, larvettes and a candy bar. "It's probably everybody's favorite part," said Scott Anderson, public relations assistant manager at the park. The food challenge was the final competition in a show Wednesday when the big wheel seemed fixed against one player, who started the final round by spinning for his food: the limburger. He barely got that down. Meanwhile his rival landed on an onion, which he gobbled up. Then the cheese eater's second spin landed on larvette which, in the wake of the cheese still churning in his stomach, he refused to eat. The onion eater's second spin got him sardines, which he swallowed. Final spin landed on pigs feet, which the cheese-belly refused. His rival ate and emerged the victor.

With two real Survivor competitors, personal trainer Alicia Calaway and internet project manager Jeff Varner, on hand for the show's premiere, huge crowds spilled out from the park's Marketplace theater. Even without the stars, and on rainy days that depressed the front gate, the small theater overflowed with about 100 spectators per show, Anderson said. After a two-week run "Survivor Reward Challenge" will move on to another Paramount park.

Whaling on teens

At a time when many parks are shifting their demographic focus away from teen-agers, SeaWorld Adventure Park in Orlando, Florida, long known for its family emphasis, is targeting teens who, the park points out, are often voting members of their families.

This summer the park is supplementing its Rockin' Summer Nights program—a series of nightly retro dances featuring 1960s and '70s music—with Club SeaWorld, a series of Friday night concerts featuring teen-fave groups. Teens under 16 can join Club SeaWorld for $57.95, which includes unlimited admission to the park. That's more than $20 less than the regular season pass. Florida and Georgia teens who bring a Pepsi 2-liter bottle label will get a further $10 off the club membership.

"We're targeting the families through the teens," said Greg Smith, SeaWorld publicist. "The idea behind it is you've got this area where adults want to go for '60s and '70s music. Will teens and pre-teens want to do that? No, so there's something for them to do as well."

Club SeaWorld continues a teen-shifting trend at the park that began with the installation of the Journey to Atlantis water coaster in 1998 and continued with the opening of the floorless coaster Kraken last year. Notably, the marketing campaign for Club SeaWorld has depended heavily on radio stations around Orlando and mall promotions in South Florida. "We're going after the local teens with this," Smith said. "There's a good amount of teens in central Florida. For SeaWorld, it's been an untapped demographic for us." He also said the park would like to see parents send their teens to the park as a "safe place to hang out during the summer."

That notion would send shivers up the spines of many park operators who have tired of running a veritble teen daycare during the summer, with all the security risks and depressed per caps that entails. Smith, though, points to the park's Shamu ambiance, not to mention the heavily staffed nature of the park, as a thwart against hooliganism. Besides, he says, it is still families SeaWorld is going after, and the park needs to overcome the veto power many teens wield.

"We definitely want the whole family to come out and enjoy the day," Smith said. "We now have something to entice the teen to want to come."

 

Eric’s Turn

 

The boys of summer

My summer help arrived last week in the persons of Jon, 14, and Ian, 12, my sons. They have formally joined THE LOOP team as "apprentices." They will be accompanying me on my tours of parks for the next two months and helping out in our offices. Ian is a member of the American Coaster Enthusiasts, and Jon is such go-kart fiend, woe to anyone who tries to pass him. So, if you call me on my mobile phone (937-321-8290) and I'm driving, it will be Jon's voice you hear answering. And you can also catch them at our toll-free number, 888-902-LOOP (for those of you outside North America, the office phone number is 937-296-9796).

 

Getting the promotion

Lynton Harris' promotion, giving away copies of his Halloween film "FREAKSHOW" by waiving the license fee, continues in this issue, and the promotion's introduction in the June 1 LOOP raised a lot of interest. It also raised a single, prevalent question: "what's the catch?"

The catch is Lynton, president of Sudden Impact! Entertainment Company, has produced a hugely successful Halloween show in New York, Madison SCARE Gardens. He has since taken parts of that show on the road, including Paramount's Kings Island near Cincinnati last Halloween. He has the license for the Mummy by Universal Studios and is about to open a scare maze based on the popular character at Dreamworld Theme Park in Queensland, Australia, for a two-month run. By catch I mean that if you take advantage of his give-away, you will be introduced to a talent with a track record.

Simply put, Lynton sees THE LOOP as a good way to get connected with other players in the industry and wants to see it succeed.To that we say amen and click here for details on the FREAKSHOW promotion.

Correction

The June 1 issue of THE LOOP listed incorrect measurements for the "New Arrival" of Indiana Beach's Cornball Express roller coaster. The figures have since been fixed on that page, but for those of you who read the original version we wanted to alert you to the correction.

 

Thank you!

THE LOOP thanks D'Ann Dagen, president of La-De-Da Productions in Fort Worth, Texas, and president of the International Association of Haunted Attractions for her help in the production of this issue. She let me camp out in her offices and use her phone lines to finish writing and uploading this edition of the newsletter after I wrapped up my coverage of the Texas Wild! opening at the Fort Worth Zoo. Thank you, D'Ann.

 

New Arrivals

It's a Texas exhibit!

Fort Worth Zoo in Texas announces the arrival of Texas Wild!, June 14, 2001. Measurements: Eight acres, 300 animals, two rides, two theaters, two eateries (one a food court with three outlets), one gift shop, one retail cart, and various street entertainers. Delivered by Komatsu/Rangel, Jack Rouse Associates, Scenery West, Fowlkes, Norman & Associates, Technifex, CLR Design, Linbeck Construction, Bouyea & Associates and Edwards Technology.

The logo for the Fort Worth Zoo's industry-shaking new $40 million exhibit features an animal paw in a human hand. How apt: in this exhibit, man is one of the featured attractions. Starting with the entrance through a full-scale, turn-of-the century frontier town street called Texas Town, the six exhibits illustrate man's imprint on the state. The viewing shelter for the High Plains and Prairies is themed to resemble a farmhouse long-ago damaged by a tornado. In the Texas Gulf Coast exhibit, interactive displays abound in a replica bait shop, while the adjoining aviary has roseate spoonbills perched atop a partially sunken shrimp boat.

"This is a combination of a themed attraction, animal exhibit and museum," said the zoo's new executive director and CEO Michael Fouraker, who had been director of animal programs here since 1993. "I don't think you will find that kind of combination in any zoo. We like to push the envelope."

They push many envelopes. A 4D theater show combines cartoons with animatronics and weather effects. In the Farm Play Barn, children try out a cow-milking simulator and shovel cow dung (actually plastic balls) into a garden bed to make vegetables grow, which the cow eats and repeats the cycle. In the river otter exhibit's underwater viewing area, children can climb into a glass bubble and interact with the otters themselves, and next door children climb into one end of a hollow log while a black bear enters the other end with only a pair of grates separating the two beings. Revenue producing activities include a themed carousel and train, as well as photos in a jail cell and video arcade.

Texas Wild's grand opening in Texas Town's central plaza before the city hall-like Hall of Wonders was typically Texas. Cowboy hats and boots abounded, as did red, white and blue, even down to the napkins at the complimentary breakfast buffet. The weather barely cooperated, turning blustery just as the ceremony started and spitting rain, but benefactor Ramona Bass hinted that this was just another special effect of the exhibit. "Rain is good for all the wildlife and land of Texas," she told the crowd of media members, donors and local officials. She, Fouraker and Fort Worth Mayor Kenneth Barr cut a barbed wire to officially open the exhibit.

Barr, whom Bass named mayor of Texas Town to illustrate the public-private partnership integral to the exhibit's creation, said Texas Wild! establishes the zoo as a regional tourist destination. Fouraker said the expanded and expensive theming and showmanship will take the zoo industry in a new, more viable direction. But equally revolutionary is the exhibit's message, one which starts with the zoo's choice of setting: around 1900 "When Texas' wildlife was in trouble," Fouraker said. Since then, the state has reclaimed much of its natural habitats and wildlife viability, and Texas Wild! celebrates those efforts, not only in its interpretive displays, but in its collection which focuses on endangered species, rescued animals and species which have successfully recovered their populations in Texas.

"We have chosen to be optimistic and empower our visitors," Fouraker said. "Shame doesn't get the message across anymore."

 

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