Volume 3, No. 12. June 27, 2003
New Arrivals
It’s
a theme park!
Herschend Family Entertainment Corp. announces the arrival of Celebration City
in Branson, Missouri, May 30, 2003. Measurements: 28 acres, four restaurants,
10 themed shops, two shows and 20 rides including 80-foot-tall (24 meters),
2,600-foot-long (792 meters) wood coaster, a 60-foot-tall (18 meters), compact
steel coaster, a 52-foot-high (16 meters), 130-foot-long (40 meters) compact
steel coaster, an 80-foot (24 meters) tower ride, and a 95-foot-high (29 meters)
Ferris wheel. Delivered by Allen Herschall, Amusement Products, Eli Bridge,
Great Coasters International, KMG, Majestic Floor, Mel Park, Miler, Moser Ride,
Preston Barberi, Reverchon, S&S Power, SBF, SDC/LT System, Sellner, Visa
International, Zamperla and Zierer.
This year’s only major new theme park to open did so right on time—a
soft opening May 1 with the grand opening gala May 30—but the guests were
late coming. “We’re getting much more late arrivals than we thought
we would,” said Celebration City General Manager Steve Honeycutt.
All along, Celebration City was geared as an evening attraction for this tourism
town. The park’s hours run from 3 p.m. (15,00) to 11 p.m. (23,00), and
attendance has continually grown as the evenings progress, Honeycutt said. However,
the later they come, the less time they have to stay, and instead of the anticipated
five-hour stay the park is seeing an average of two-hour stays. Because most
of the first-month attendance was made up of season pass holders, i.e. locals,
“We think that will change when more tourists come into town,” Honeycutt
said.
As for product, the Herschend team is pleased with the results, the company’s
first theme park set in post-19th century—albeit, just barely, as Celebration
City represents an early 20th century amusement park. The Ozark WildCat
wood roller coaster from GCI is proving a big draw with its twister-style coarse
and 310-degree spiraling double-down first drop, Honeycutt said, and the custom-produced
nightly multimedia laser show, Celebrate!, has been another expected hit.
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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