Volume 3, No. 12. June 27, 2003
Financial
bath
Of the first 16
operating weekends this season, Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Virginia saw rain
on 15 of them. And that park was lucky.
Many amusement venues east of the Mississippi River have had rain on every weekend
this season. Many parks didn’t see two straight non-rain days in a row
until this week. After taking a financial beating for the first two months of
the 2003 season, some parks held on to one bit of obvious optimism: communities
suffering cabin fever would come out in huge numbers when the weather broke.
That
did happen this week at several parks. Nevertheless, the weather may have broken
too late for some venues. Anthony Catanoso, owner of the Steel Pier in Atlantic
City, is considering the season a loss; he doesn’t feel he can recoup the
missing revenues of May and June.
Zoos faced even more weather-related worries than amusement parks. For many
locations in the northeast and middle Atlantic states, 2003’s was the worst
winter in 20 years, followed by the wettest and coldest spring in 20 years.
Attendance is off 50 percent this year at the Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown,
Pennsylvania, said Operations Director Rafael Suarez. The zoo lost two of its
traditionally strongest months, with May seeing 23 rain days. The weather was
so wet and cold, even school groups canceled their visits, Suarez said. Furthermore,
when the long-looked-for break in the cold, wet weather finally did come, it
just exacerbated the zoo's plight because the temperatures jumped straight to
near 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) with high humidity; still not good
zoo-visiting conditions.
Despite the bleak weather conditions, many parks determined to go with the flow,
as it were. Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania, released a Top Ten list of
things visitors could still do in Hershey Resort even with all that continuous
rain. The bulk of the list comprised indoor activities at the resort or Chocolate
World, but Number 1 was “LET THE FUN CONTINUE! Go ahead, make the six drenching
water rides at Hersheypark an even wetter experience, or make every ride a water
ride. Hersheypark rides continue to operate in most weather conditions, and
wait times are reduced when raindrops are falling.”
A happy Union
Brussels, Belgium,
may be one of Europe’s most beautiful cities, but it lacks the superstar
attraction status of, say, a Paris, Rome or London that would put it on the
must-do list of most tourists’ itineraries. Yet, while many of Europe’s
other capitals are steeped in history, Brussels’ history is happening now
as the European Union capital city.
“When we ask tourists, ‘What’s Brussels for you?’ 54 percent
say Brussels is the capital of Europe,” said Thierry Meeùs, owner
and president of Mini-Europe, a 14-year-old park featuring scale models of Europe’s
famous cities and landmarks. “Up to now, there is nothing for the public
that shows that. You can see the facade of the European Parliament, but nothing
popular.”
Though his park already stood as Brussels’ most visited attraction, Meeùs
decided to fill that need by adding a new exhibit devoted to the European Union.
“I want to be one of the major information centers for the general public,”
he said. “Here they can have a taste for Europe.”
Opened May 1, the Spirit of Europe is a 350-square-meter (3,767-square-foot)
exhibition hall sitting at the back of Mini-Europe. Upon entering guests see
traditional exhibits explaining the history of Europe and the Union’s success.
Further in, however, the exhibit becomes a high-tech playground using seven
interactive games to tout the benefits of a unified Europe. Some games can be
played solo, like “Words of Europe” requiring players to identify
the 11 official languages in Europe. For other games, the more players the better.
“European Symphony” plays the European Anthem (the fourth movement
“Ode de Joy” of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony) when a player places
his or her hand on a map of Europe. Each country plays a different instrument.
The more hands placed on the map, the fuller the orchestral arrangement. “The
more we are, the better the symphony,” Meeùs said.
The attraction’s highlight is EuropEmotion. Using technology by Alterface,
a new company which grew out of the University of Louvain La Neuve, two players
are filmed and integrated onto a large screen; it does not use blue or green
screen technology, nor do the players have to wear any sensors. The randomly
selected games include grabbing musical notes and jumping to place them on a
stanza to create the European Anthem, moving old European currencies into a
furnace to create the Euro, and throwing fire balls at member nations’
flags that appear on a pole. Get all 15 flags, the European flag appears. In
another game, the two players have to jump up to reach keys that will free pigeons,
representing how the Union has engendered the continent’s longest period
of peace since the Roman Empire.
By its very nature, the new exhibit is destined to go through some changes.
The European Union’s membership expands to 25 next year. “Maybe in
2007 it will be 27, and who knows afterward,” Meeùs said. “Every
year I have to change something. And maybe I’ll have to adapt the games
to make sure they will be good for our customers.”
In addition to offering an attraction for and about the European Union, Meeùs
hopes to spread his pro-Union message, especially to younger generations. “I
have a passion for Europe,” said Meeùs, a member of the board of
the European Movement Belgium, “So I combine both: it should attract people
in one way, and in another way it’s important to give a basic message that
we are young, we have successes, not everything is perfect but being European
is fun.” Politics and marketing aside, that’s what the Spirit of Europe
comes down to: fun: “I still want to be in the leisure time and not a library
about the European Union.”
Thick
as a brick
Many parks offer their season pass holders certain privileges: early entries,
premium parking, sneak previews. Legoland California in Carlsbad hits its season
pass holders with a brick.
LEGO bricks, of course, but not your typical building block. These are “Collector
Bricks” commemorating special events at the park or new LEGO product lines.
“One of the things we’ve done since the park opened was create collector
bricks for special events like Fourth of July, Halloween and the opening of
new attractions,” said Kina Paegert, the park’s senior communications
specialist. “People liked them, and when they go away people always ask
for more.”
In brainstorming marketing ideas for promoting Legoland’s revamped annual
pass program, the notion of including one commemorative brick per month for
the 12-month term of the pass built momentum. Already for $89 ($65 for children
3 to 12) passholders receive special discounts, invitations to park events and
a subscription to the Legoland newsletter and, for kids, LEGO Magazine.
And every month, waiting for pass holders at the park, is a newly issued collector
brick.
In
May, the first month of the new program, the blue Explorer brick bore the logo
of the park’s new Lego Sport Center which opened that month. June’s
features a new-shade-of green brick with the Legoland Sports Jam summer show,
which opens this week. For July, the park will issue a red Bionicle Blaster
brick, based on the ride that opened in April. Later this year passholders will
get a pink brick representing the toymaker’s new Clikits product line.
Any limited-edition bricks left over at the end of the issue month will be made
available to the general public for purchase in the park’s retail stores.
“It’s an exclusive opportunity and extra bonus to being a passmember
of Legoland,” Paegert said. She could not say whether that exclusivity
has boosted pass sales, but she knows its a selling point for LEGO fans. “They’re
really excited because it’s something unique they get ahead of everybody
else.”
Coaster Con Report
Safety
first
Coaster
Conventions are all about celebration. This year’s event, marking the end
of the American Coaster Enthusiasts’ 25th anniversary year at two Virginia
parks—Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Paramount’s Kings Dominion—where
the organization got its start, was to be the most celebratory of all. The 713
registrants were the third most in the club’s 26-year Coaster Con history.
Instead, a pall hung over the proceedings. The May 31 death of ACE member Tamar
Fellner, 32, at Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana,
colored the weeklong events of Coaster Con XXVI. The fatality that occurred
while some 850 enthusiasts had descended on Holiday World for the annual Stark
Raven Mad event dominated discussion at ACE’s annual business meeting.
Barry Short of Richmond, Virginia, earned third place in the convention’s
annual video contest with his sweet-cum-bitter footage titled “Stark Raven
Mad Memories” chronicling that tragic Saturday in a black-and-white, faux-vintage
film that brilliantly captured a sense of lost innocence.
Losing a member, even a new one, was hard enough. That the accident occurred
at Holiday World, one of ACE’s greatest allies, on a favorite coaster,
The Raven, hurt even more. That it happened simultaneous to an enthusiasts'
event made it all the more troubling. But it was the nature of the accident
that raised the ire of ACE’s executive committee. According to law enforcement
reports and an independent investigation, Ms. Fellner was standing in her seat
during the fatal ride.
ACE distributes a code of conduct to all its members, now numbering about 8,000,
upon their joining. That code includes adhering to all safety rules of ride
operations at the parks. Failure to do so can lead to expulsion from the club.
Furthermore, ACE members are required to report violations of that code to ACE
or park officials. Notably, the Raven accident occurred not during ERT
but on the last public ride of the night while the enthusiasts were supposed
to be gathering in the park’s picnic pavilion.
“If we don’t conduct ourselves to this code of conduct, there will
be no ACE events. Parks will not invite us,” ACE President Carole Sanderson
told almost 200 members gathered for the club's annual business meeting. Already
sensing a distancing by park operators—despite the fact this was the first
ride-related death in the history of the club, which has had more than 25,000
members over the years—the ACE Executive Committee will be publishing an
open letter to the industry describing its code of conduct and its enforcement
of that policy. “Basically, we’re reiterating everything we already
have, but people forget it,” Sanderson said.
Well before the Holiday World incident ACE had already changed the rules in
its annual video and photography contest disqualifying any point-of-view ride
shots, a nod to many parks’ regulations forbidding cameras on coasters.
In the wake of Ms. Fellner’s death, the organization also has changed its
policy toward non-ACE members attending ACE events. In the past, they merely
had to adhere to the code of conduct or be expelled from the event. Now non-members
can attend events only as guests of a member, and in addition to the non-member
being expelled from the park, the member becomes responsible for all of that
nonmember’s actions.
“We cannot let the actions of a few people in this club ruin it for 8,000
people,” Sanderson said at the meeting, a statement which incited a loud
round of applause from her fellow enthusiasts.
Survey
says
Al Weber, CEO and president of Paramount Parks, told the American Coaster Enthusiasts
during his keynote speech at their annual Coaster Con banquet that his company
listens to the market. “We listen to you, and to you, and to you,”
he said, pointing to individuals in the room. “Of course, you’re the
market on steroids.”
How true. Nevertheless, this is a market that patronizes many amusement parks
as often as possible. It comprises smart consumers who have experienced enough
parks and rides to know what they like and what they don’t, what works
and what doesn’t. Said Weber: “You are the most loyal and most passionate
of our users.”
With this in mind, THE LOOP conducted its first Amusement Industry Survey at
last week’s Coaster Con, giving both operators and manufacturers a window
into the likes and dislikes of park guests across the spectrum of the industry.
In keeping with Weber’s observations, we knew that these results would
not necessarily represent the feelings of the general public; however, in keeping
with Weber’s observations, we also know these findings are of value because
they come from passionate and observant veteran users. We also knew they would
be skewed toward roller coasters, so for a couple of questions, second place
finishes are the the most notable.
Of 300 surveys handed out randomly at the convention, we received 143 replies.
We broke these down into age groups: under 18 (11 respondents), 18 to 34 years
old (23 respondents), 35 to 54 years old (78 respondents) and 55 and over (31
respondents).
We started off asking “favorite type of amusement rides" and allowing
five selections. Not surprisingly, roller coasters were selected on 143 surveys,
but dark rides were not a too-distant second at 111. Coming in third were tower
rides (66) followed by carousels (56). Dark rides came in second for all age
groups. Youths prefer spinning/undulating rides third, while adults shifted
from tower rides to carousels the older they got. We concluded the survey by
asking “What kind of attraction would you like to see built at your favorite
amusement venue?” They could choose only one. Roller coasters were selected
on 97 forms, dark rides on 31, way ahead of simulator/motion theaters at 7.
Among youths, simulator/motion theaters got two votes, the only category other
than coasters (8) to get more than one vote, but among all adults dark rides
were a clear desire behind coasters.
“What are the most important factors toward having a good park experience?”
we asked, again allowing five choices. Cleanliness received 102 votes, efficient
ride operations 93, and friendly staff 87. Prices came in with 73, number of
coasters 71, and short queues 69. Among youths, cleanliness and friendly staff
tied at 7. Efficient ride operations came ahead of cleanliness and friendly
staff for the 18-34 age group, cleanliness was a runaway favorite ahead of efficiency
for the 35-54 age group, and the two categories tied among the senior members.
Separately we asked if they preferred children’s rides grouped or scattered
throughout the park: 102 favored grouped, 32 scattered, a gap consistent through
each age group. Among “favorite foods” the most often listed were
fries (60) and ice cream (50).
Of course, we asked about coasters. Woodies (101) were favored over steel with
no inversions (40) and steel with inversions (14), though youths favored steel
with no inversions (5) over inverted steel (4) and woodies (2). For the question
“What do you believe makes a good roller coaster?” with an allowance
to choose five, air time earned 138 total votes to speed’s 130. Type of
trains came in third with 95. Youths chose air time and speed (both with 11)
followed by height (9) and G forces (8), young adults followed air time (22)
and speed (18) with G forces (16) and trains (15), middle age adults followed
air time and speed (both with 75) by trains (55) and theming (38), and for seniors
air time (30) and speed (26) was followed by trains (22) and both G forces and
height (13).
For the complete survey results, click here.
A
hand of 5 aces
At the convention-ending banquet Friday night, when Paramount’s Kings Dominion
General Manager Richard Zimmerman was introduced along with Paramount public
relations officials David Mandt, Jeffrey Seibert and Mark Riddell, the ACE members
gave them a standing ovation. Despite a week of rainy weather, the entire banquet
passed without one mention of rain outs; instead, the commentary focused on
gracious hosts.
Before giving out his annual Spirit of ACE Award (this year's winner was ACE
Census Director Lisa Scheinin), Philadelphia Toboggan Coaster President Tom
Rebbie, noting the comments he had heard from various ACE members, told the
Paramount Parks’ group, “You’ve achieved the monumental task
of pleasing everybody in this group.”
The 2004 Coaster Con had been regarded with high anticipation among the membership
because Cedar Point would be co-hosting with Six Flags Worlds of Adventure—and
everybody knows the kind of bash Cedar Point is capable of throwing. Yet, after
last week’s banquet, after the week of typical ERT and atypical moments
like the Midway Olympics and Seibert’s humorous video account of the games;
like eating gourmet-style “finger food” while a dance band performed;
like the 12 specially made “Welcome ACE” flags placed at each of the
park’s 12 coasters, and the scavenger hunt through which ACE members could
win those banners; like the hilarious MTV-like “pop-up” version of
the Hollywood film Roller Coaster; like the three-course hot breakfast;
after all that, Larry Scott, assistant regional rep for northwest Ohio, commenting
on next year’s Con could only promise to “match” this year's.
“The bar has been raised awfully high,” he said. “I think the
best anybody can do is match it.”
Loched
in time
ACE officially was founded at the Fort Magruder Inn near Busch Gardens Williamsburg
during the first-ever coaster convention at the theme park. That convention’s
chief drawing card was a new double looping steel coaster, the loops intertwined
at the center of the cat’s-cradle ride. That ride, Loch Ness Monster,
like ACE, turned 25 this year. ACE commemorated the event with a landmark plaque
and ceremony. Busch Gardens commemorated the event with tie-dye and Afro wigs.
Trying to achieve the ultimate retro-look, Busch’s PR team had ACE members
don psychedelic swirling-colored T-shirts, black Afro wigs, headband scarfs
and sunglasses. With the ride being broadcast via satellite feeds, the enthusiasts
held up two-fingered peace signs throughout the coaster’s course.
As those of us who lived through both eras know, that was the look of 1968,
not ’78 when leisure suits, gold-chain necklaces and big hair were the
fave. However, as Ryan Vulcan, Busch’s public relations representative,
pointed out, the look for the coaster celebration needed to be colorful and
eye-catching for the cameras. And to tell true, founding member Richard Munch
very much resembled his younger self in the pictures taken during the events
of 1977 and 1978. He’s a preservationist in more than just coasters.
Midway
to excellence
Sixteen teams signed up, one forming during the opening ceremony. The big winner
was Paramount’s Kings Dominion. After its first session of ERT, the host
park staged the first-ever Paramount’s Kings Dominion’s Midway Olympics
comprising ACE teams competing in 10 events: Whack-A-Mole, Spilt Milk, Ring
Toss, Skee Ball, Quarterback Challenge, Basketball Free Throw, Ladder Climb,
Water Gun Battle, Power Tower and Speed Pitch. The selection of games were not
announced until the opening ceremony. “We didn’t want teams to practice
and get an unfair advantage by knowing ahead of time what games we were playing,”
said Mark Riddell, public relations manager for Paramount’s Kings Dominion.
After Scooby-Doo presided over an opening ceremony featuring a parade of referee
stripe-shirted judges (members of the park’s marketing department), the
six-member teams moved off to the Grove’s Midway led by the judges and
followed by local press. Rachel Sanders, the park's marketing supervisor, had
an apropos background for her job as judge of the ring toss; one of her regular
duties is to organize the park’s public competitions for bands, cheerleaders
and the like. “I always hire professional judges and pay them well,”
she said of her official events. For refereeing ring toss, however, “Somehow
I feel very qualified for this.” After each team failed to land a ring
on a bottle neck, she told them all the same thing: “You’re tied for
first place, which is zero.”
While nobody earned a single point on Ring Toss, everybody earned the maximum
150 points on Wack-A-Mole. According to the rules, two players from each team
pounded on the moles and the highest score between the two would be awarded
to that team. When Riddell wrote up the rules, he was not aware that in Dominion’s
version of Wack-A-Mole, the first person to 150 ends the game. Meanwhile, only
one person scored 300 points on Skee Ball: Steven Corbly of Carnage, Pennsylvania,
who has a skee-ball alley in his garage. His Skee-ball performance lifted his
team, The Volunteers, to 716 total points and the title of “Worldwide Kings
of the Midway,” besting, The Dominionites at 701 points and Hungry Texans
at 688. For their efforts, each member of the winning teams received handsome
medals engraved with the ACE 25th Anniversary logo and “Midway Games Champion”
on one side and the Paramount’s Kings Dominion logo on the back.
The park got more than good publicity out of the event. The excitement buzzing
around the Midway increased general public traffic to the games, and for that
morning the take was better than usual. Furthermore, the park scored points
with ACE members for the inventiveness of the idea, the effort of the opening
ceremony and those Olympian-calibre medals. “It was a blast,” said
Scott Connor of Texarkana, Texas, and the winning Volunteers. “I told (Paramount
officials) that it was the neatest thing they’ve come up with. It was an
absolute blast.”
Said 12-year-old Kari Lipnicky, “Now I’ve got to defend the title
next year.”
Just
a song before he goes
Mark Riddell’s first gig for Paramount’s Kings Dominion came when
he was a teen-ager, playing with a Christian group on a stage in the Doswell,
Virginia, park’s picnic pavilion. So, there was much irony in the fact
that in the waning days of his tenure as Kings Dominion’s public relations
manager, Riddell brought his dance band, Sonny Daze, to the park to perform
at the ACE welcoming reception. Riddell plays keyboards for the combo that performed
oldies rock mixed with some modern Top 40 tunes in honor of the convention’s
25th anniversary theme.
Riddell began his music avocation as a 12-year-old playing the organ and switching
to piano in high school when he discovered “there’s not too much of
a call for organs in bands.” He took some formal lessons, but “I was
never much of a student; I didn’t like to practice.” Nevertheless,
he was good enough to join Sonny Daze, already an established unit, about five
years ago. The band performs a couple of times a month, mostly for corporate
clients, country clubs and weddings. For the summer the band will assume an
alter-ego as the Down Island Kings, a Jimmy Buffet cover band for marinas and
pool parties.
“We have so many songs in our repertoire we don’t try to memorize
any of it,” Riddell said, and the band practices only in advance of scheduled
shows. The repertoire has to be wide:
because of the type of venues Sonny Daze plays, the music must appeal to all
ages and all types of people, exactly like a theme park, Riddell noted.
Coordinating and hosting the ACE Coaster Con was Riddell’s last official
task for Paramount’s Kings Dominion. The man who came to the theme park
after working for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is going
back to Ringling Bros. to be national director of public relations. He certainly
went out on a high note.
Last
rides
The two empty trains parked half way up the lift hill of the Rebel Yell
racing coaster. In the midway below, ACErs gathered for a moment of solemnity
rare among Coaster Cons as the organization paid tribute to the members, park
personnel and coaster designers who have passed away over the past 25 years.
As part of the service founder Richard Munch and the Reverend Cliff Herring
Jr., pastor of the United Church of Christ in Northampton, Pennsylvania, read
off a list of 120 names. ACE member number 18, one of the originals, Herring
presided over the service. After the names were read, the two empty coaster
trains, representing, Herring said, “the void (the members) have left in
our club and fellowship,” started up the lift hill again and coursed through
the Rebel Yell while the enthusiasts stood by in silence.
“I wasn’t planning to come to the convention this year,” Herring
said. Time off from his church duties is becoming increasingly precious. However,
when Munch and the organization’s leadership began planning the memorial
service, Herring knew he had to be the one to officiate. “I didn’t
know all those names, but I knew several,” he said. In particular he thought
fondly of Marie Miller, the club’s oldest member and adopted grandmother
in the early years. At the request of her family in New Jersey, Herring had
conducted her funeral service.
For this 55-year-old man of the cloth, the link between coaster enthusiasm and
spirituality is an easy one. Based upon years of communing with his fellow enthusiasts,
he comments on the beatific nature of everybody’s “first time”
on a coaster. “Their language parallels that of a religious experience,”
he said. In the memorial service he described the deceased members as having
moved on to the eternal amusement park “where I am hoping Harry Traver,
John Allen, Herb Schmeck and others have built heavenly rides. They must have
coasters there—after all, they call it heaven. May they enjoy ERT: Eternal
Ride Time.”
Rise
and shining
OK, so Paramount’s Kings Dominion was planning a “hot breakfast”
for the final morning of the ACE convention. Waffles, of course, and pancakes.
That was more than enough to entice the 700-plus members to the picnic pavilion,
where, however, they also found biscuits and gravy, breakfast potatoes, fresh
hash, scrambled eggs, sausage patties and go-for-thirds bacon. That kind of
breakfast spread is unheard of for such a large group in a picnic pavilion.
“We do it for special occasions,” Lisa Gatewood, the park’s catering
operations manager, said matter-of-factly. Then she admitted that such “special
occasions” normally would entail 50 to 100 people. A little bit later,
she admitted that the largest crowd she had served such a breakfast to prior
to ACE numbered 50.
Most
items for hot breakfasts cannot be pre-cooked, and Gatewood also wanted sufficient
variety. Thus, she served three different main courses and three different meats,
the third being a hash that was drawing Volcano-calibre raves. The bacon
was cooked fresh in perforated pans so that the grease would drip through.
Given the difficulty of the feat, why did Paramount’s Kings Dominion attempt
a hot breakfast spread for such a group as ACE (which, some say, actually stands
for All you Can Eat)? “Our overall goal was to impress,” Gatewood
said. “I think it worked.”
Day
of future past
“Ladies and gentlemen,” intoned the emcee, Alan Glueckman, “your
ACE presidents.” Spontaneously, the audience packed into Busch Gardens
Williamsburg’s Abbey Stone Theatre rose to its feet in thunderous applause.
This show of affection and appreciation, and perhaps awe, came at the end of
a panel discussion featuring the seven American Coaster Enthusiasts' administrations
through its 25 years: current president Carole Sanderson, Bill Linkenheimer
(1998-2002), Jan Kiser-Schnoor (1994-1998), Ray Ueberroth (1990-1994), Randy
Geisler (1986 1990), B. Derek Shaw, vice president during the presidency of
Lucy Ambrosini (1982-1986), and Richard Munch, ACE member # 1.
Munch, a New York architect and already known as a roller coaster historian,
had helped the producers of the film Roller Coaster and took part in
the Kings Dominion marathon to promote the movie's 1977 opening. The following
year he joined 55 other enthusiasts for the first-ever coaster convention in
conjunction with the opening of Loch Ness Monster at Busch Gardens. At
the end of that convention a dozen of the conventioneers formed ACE, with Munch
emerging as the club’s first president.
Since then the club has steadily grown to the current roster of 8,000 members.
Over the course of its 25 years, about 25,000 different people have signed up
for membership. That a dozen coaster fanatics could evolve into a viable organization,
financially healthy and moving steadily toward the founding of a national museum
is reason enough for applause, and before the membership could express it, Munch
weighed in. “I want you all to look at the people up here,” he told
the audience. “Each president here brought a different spirit to the club
and an energy to the club, and they took the spirit of ACE from generation to
generation, from administration to administration. I really want to thank you
guys for everything you’ve done to take our concept and make it better
every year and every term. I really appreciate everything you’ve done.
It means a lot to me.”
Though ACE is more widely know throughout the industry for ERT (a term which,
Munch said, was first used at the 1978 Busch convention), slavish devotion to
getting ride credits and providing photo-op fodder at new ride openings—and
more than 500 new coasters have opened during the organization’s history—from
the start, one of ACE’s primary missions was preservation. “In 1977
we had less than 85 wood coasters remaining in the USA,” Munch said. “Our
goal was to get some attention to the roller coaster as part of Americana. It
took some time, but the actual demolition of rides has subsided to a point that
we feel we stopped the bleeding. While it still happens, we feel we have changed
the way people think about the ride. Owners now think about relocation before
destroying a coaster.”
Shaw considered that respect one of ACE’s greatest accomplishments over
the years. “I really think one of the biggest hurdles was educating the
public on who we are and what we are, that we aren’t just a group of rag-tag
people doing crazy stunts on roller coasters but that we work on other things
in terms of preservation, in terms learning more about the rides and who designs
them and their physics.” Witness the “buck-a-ride” campaign suggested
by Amusement Today publisher Gary Slade that ACErs contribute $1 for
every ride to the National Roller Coaster Museum and Archive Fund. Volunteers
holding buckets at each loading platform during the ERTs last week raised $1,315.
Getting the museum opened is Munch’s final goal. “The true accomplishment for ACE is the completion of the museum,” he said. “Then I can fade away with a big smile.”
Guiding
light
Tim O’Brien, senior editor for Amusement Business, has just released
the fifth edition of his Amusement Park Guide, the industry’s most
thorough and knowing guidebook to parks big and small around the world. For
his latest update of the book, O’Brien is donating a portion of the sales
proceeds to the National Roller Coaster Museum and Archives. Flyers were sent
with the latest edition of ACE News that members can use to purchase the book
directly from O’Brien.
Non-ACErs can also use a purchase of the Amusement Park Guide to boost
the museum fund. You can order the book directly from O’Brien and request
that he make the donation, or you can order from his web site, www.casaflamingo.com,
using the special ACE PayPal button. “Pretty much, as long as I know it’s
ACE-related, I’ll make the donation,” he said. It’s his way of
saying thank you to the ACE members who have been the primary purchasers of
the book’s first four editions. And, he said, the museum fund “is
a worthy cause.”
New Arrivals
It’s
a 4D film!
Universal Studios Orlando announces the arrival of Shrek 4-D, June 12,
2003. Measurements: 300-seat theater, 8 minute preshow, 12-minute film, 50 foot
by 25 foot (15 by 8 meter) screen, four projectors (two for each eye). Delivered
by PDI/DreamWorks.
Give Universal Studios a new attraction to open you can count on two things
from its publicity department: a world record and pyrotechnics.
Shrek 4-D, the first animation created for a theme park by PDI/DreamWorks
studio, picks up where the Academy Award-winning Shrek feature-length
animation left off: the ogre and Fiona have just gotten married and are off
for their honeymoon accompanied (hounded?) by Donkey where they encounter various
adventures audiences also experience through “ogrevision.” The theme
park film, in fact, serves as a narrative bridge between the first film and
the Shrek 2 sequel due out next summer (in effect, Shrek 4-D is,
in Hollywood terminology, Shrek 1 1/2). All of the original film’s
actors—Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and John Lithgow—returned
to voice the characters in Shrek 4-D.
To celebrate such a groundbreaking venture even beyond what the theme park’s
Terminator 3-D accomplished, Universal Studios’ PR team came up
with something appropriately big: a five tiered, 22-foot-tall, 4-ton wedding
cake (7 meters, 3,629 kilograms), breaking a world record for matrimonial confection.
Attending the wedding reception for Shrek and Fiona were both invited dignitaries
and park guests wearing green paint and ogre ears. Unfortunately, the doors
to the theater were incomprehensibly shut, keeping the guests out and the happy
couple from taking off on their honeymoon but the dragon from the film appeared
and in a burst of pyrotechnic magic opened the door.
The reception guests ate wedding cake for the occasion, but not the record-breaker.
“The assembly of that wedding cake took a long time,” said Tom Schroder,
Universal Studios Orlando’s director of public relations. “We wanted
to make sure guests had good fresh cake to eat.”
It’s a
4-D film!
The opening of Shrek 4-D at Universal Studios Orlando came two weeks
after the film opened at Universal Studios Hollywood, California, in
a 500-seat theater. The movie had its official premier May 10, 2003,
in grand Hollywood style, except that the theme park used a green carpet rather
than a red one, down which both the Eddie Murphy family and Mike Myers family
traipsed to see—or, rather, hear—their latest performances.
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.
It’s
a show ride!
Noah’s Ark Waterpark in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, announces the arrival
of Noah’s Incredible Adventure, May 24, 2003. Measurements: 8,000-square-foot
building (743 square meters), 52-seat Mystery Swing. Delivered by Mack, Scenery
West and Technifex.
For a change, Noah’s Ark had a new ride ready well before the park’s
opening day. Building a highly themed, multi-special effects dry ride had its
complications, namely with electronics, but while construction on your typical
water slides is an easier proposition, it is more prone to suffer the vagaries
of the weather because of the slides’ heights and caulking needs.
For Noah’s Ark, doing non-traditional rides is becoming something of a
tradition. After being the first stand-alone waterpark to install a shoot-the-chute
a few years ago, Noah’s Ark this year installed the waterpark industry’s
first show ride that, except for its Noah’s Ark theme, has no water whatsoever.
Technifex produced the attraction, provided the show controls and supplied the
Elevator that simulates passage to the buried ark. Scenery West built all the
theming, and Mack supplied the mystery swing that seems to take passengers on
a rough ark journey.
“School groups are screaming quite loud,” said Noah’s Ark president
and co-owner Tim Gantz. “We can hear them all the way up in the control
room,” which sits between the pre-show and the elevator and so not adjoining
the swing. There operators also can watch the video monitors of the ride in
action. “We saw a kid 9 years old who really thought he was upside down,”
Gantz said. “He had seven buddies with him and they were all laughing at
him. Then a week later, a big body builder had the same reaction.”
Noah’s Incredible Adventure has been catering primarily to school
groups so far, but as the traditional tourism season heats up, the ride also
seems to be appealing to families, too. Having a totally dry ride also gives
Noah’s Ark the opportunity to offer a new Adventure Pass, packaging Noah’s
Incredible Adventure with the mini golf course, bumper boats and Flash Flood
shoot-the-chute. The $12 package can be upgraded to include the entire waterpark,
and through June the park has been giving away the pass to entice people to
the park and upgrade.“To have a viable package there, we needed something
strong,” Gantz said.
That something is the new show ride. Gantz said he and his brother, Dan, were
“out there looking for the next big thing out there in water rides. But
we have all the thrills in water rides already.” Deciding to do a dry ride,
the two owners decided as well that it had to be strongly themed on Noah’s
Ark. While visiting last summer the Noah’s Ark walk-through at Kennywood
in West Miflin, Pennsylvania, which uses a Technifex Evelator, Dan Gantz called
on Technifex to put together a show ride for his park (THE
LOOP, January 10, 2003).
“Technifex was really easy to work with,” Tim Gantz said. “Not
doing this type of thing before, we were not sure what we were doing and what
we were getting into. They were really helpful. We learned a lot.” The
lessons seemed to have paid off well, too. “People clap at the end,”
Tim Gantz said of the ride. “That’s got to be a good sign.”
In
the nursery
Other
recent New Arrivals.
It’s
a dinner theater!
Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede may be a representation of the War Between
the States—one full of song, dance, fun, good horsemanship and good eating
yet still maintaining the underlying North versus South rivalry—but for
the opening of her newest Dixie Stampede Dinner and Show in Orlando, Florida,
Parton stressed a United state. The show has a finale featuring Parton’s
Color Me America which she penned in response to the terrorist attacks of September
11. She was on hand for an afternoon press preview and evening VIP show June
18, at both of which she sang the grand finale herself. The show opened to the
public June 19, 2003, in the $28 million, 128,000-square-foot/11,892-square-meter
theater—Parton’s fourth Dixie Stampede venue—located off
Interstate 4 between Walt Disney World Resort and Universal Orlando. The theater
includes a 30,000-square-foot/2,787-square-meter arena, 1,200 seats, 200
servers, 32 horses, 30 riders, 30 doves, eight buffalo and 14 volunteers from
the audience for each show.
It’s
a train!
What better way to see trains than by train? That was the reasoning at the National
New York Central Railroad Museum in Elkhart, Indiana, which purchased a
1955 National Amusement Device 24-inch-guage train ride with one locomotive
and five cars carrying up to 60 people. The train’s tracks,
currently stretching 800 feet/242 meters but with a planned expansion
to 2,000 feet/606 meters and eventually 8,000 feet/2,424 meters, winds through
the museum’s rolling stock displays. “It’s a neat ride for us
because it turns our attraction from a static display to an operating display,”
said David M. Bird, the museum’s executive director. The museum also added
a Ward Train Company kiddie train with three cars. Both rides opened
June 14, 2003, with a preview party for members of the museum. The first
weekend of the trains’ operation, 950 people visited the museum, prompted
by the new mode of viewing the exhibits. “That for us is a lot,” Bird
said.
It’s
a show and waterslides!
The Peanuts gang moved up to the big time. For the first time in its Peanut-themed
incarnation, Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown, Pennsylvania,
gave its costumed street characters a stage to play on. The live Peanuts
Characters Show, a song and dance review featuring five characters
(Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Sally and Schroeder) and two non-costumed performers,
opened June 13, 2003, on the Hercules Stage in the midway near Camp Snoopy
. On May 24, 2003, Wildwater Kingdom opened one of its largest expansions
ever with three towers of 10 new slides from WhiteWater West. Patriot’s
Plunge features double-tube slides in red (354 feet/107 meters),
white (275 feet/83 meters) and blue (405 feet/123 meters); Wildwater
Rapids has two enclosed body slides (268 feet/81 meters and 182
feet/55 meters) and two open-air body slides (295 feet/89 meters
and 308 feet/93 meters); and Jumpin’ Jack Splash
offers two open-air body slides (200 feet/61 meters and 202 feet/61
meters) and one enclosed slide (180 feet/55 meters). Opening day,
said public relations manager Chris Ozimek, “wasn’t the best opening
day for the waterpark,” referring to a steady, daylong cold downpour. Nevertheless,
Dorney Park kept Wildwater Kingdom open all day for a handful of guests, two
of whom wore wetsuits. “They were happy there were no lines,” Ozimek
said.
It’s
a lorikeet exhibit!
Nectar is proving to be a nectar for the Oklahoma City Zoo in Oklahoma,
which dedicated its new ExpLorikeet Adventure exhibit on June 12,
2003. The 1,100-square-foot/102-square-meters exhibit that reaches
a height of 20 feet/6 meters currently contains 48 lorikeets representing
eight different species, but plans call for up to 100 to reside in the aviary.
Guests can get the full interactive experience by carrying a cup of nectar into
the aviary. “If you’ve got nectar in your hand they’re right
on top of you,” said Scott Darnold, the zoo’s public relations associate.
“They are unbelievable friendly and outgoing, so they are great for kids,
but we’re finding that adults are going in and having just as much fun”
The zoo also has found that about 70 percent of everybody who walks in purchases
nectar.
It’s
a dive show!
Roaring Springs Waterpark in Meridan, Idaho, decided to do something
a little extra for its fifth anniversary season, and gave its guests an extra
attraction: the Roaring Springs High Dive Show featuring six
divers jumping 80 feet into a 10-foot pool. Debuting on May 31,
2003, the show runs three times a day on weekdays and four times daily on
weekends. Brown Entertainment Group produced the show for Roaring Springs,
which brought in bleachers to accommodatean audience of 200 while another
500 guests can watch from the surrounding beach area. That much room may
be needed, said Tiffany Quilici, Roaring Springs’ sales and marketing director.
“The stands are packed,” she said. “People seem to be enjoying
it so much,” especially the fiery finale dive. “A fair number of people
come to the waterpark and don’t want to swim, so this is something a little
extra.”
It’s
a tower and slide!
Eight years since it put in a major waterslide tower—during which time
its three million gallon/11.4 million liter swimming pool underwent a complete
overhaul—Coney Island in Cincinnati, Ohio, installed a WhiteWater
West Cyclone slide at the deep end of the Sunlite Pool. The slide
stands 20 feet/6 meters high with 70 1/2 feet/21 meters of enclosed
chute corkscrewing 540 degrees on its descent. “We felt we needed to put
something in Sunlite Pool to shake it up a little bit,” General Manager
Vic Nolting said. “We wanted a slide that was geared to younger kids that
wasn’t so imposing.” He also added 1,000 square feet/93 meters
of deck space and three 20 foot/6-meter umbrellas. The slide opened
May 24, 2003, Coney Island’s opening day when the park also debuted
a Frog Hopper from S&S Power. The seven-passenger
kiddie tower drop is appealing to more than just youngsters, Nolting said. “I’m
amazed at how many adults ride the ride. There’s that adult center seat,
and every time I walk by there’s a big brother or big sister or parent
in that seat.”
It’s
a waterpark!
As Six Flags New England in Agawam, Massachusetts, expanded its Island
Kingdom waterpark into Hurricane Harbor with six new body slides, two new
tube slides, a new wave pool and the second-ever ProSlide Tornado, the park
strongly identified its new features with its new waterpark name. The six body
slides, 25 feet/8 meter and 17 feet/5 meter tall, are named for actual
hurricanes: Agnes, Bertha, Lola, Marge, Myrtle and Nellie. The
500,000-gallon/1.9 million-liter wave pool, which contains a children’s
play area, is called Monsoon Lagoon. The 45 foot/14 meter tall tube
slides, using four-passenger cloverleaf tubes, are called Geronimo Falls
and Zooma Falls—not really tropical weather-related names; but the 45-foot/14-meter
tall Tornado is a meteorological event and looks like its name. The
expansion also includes a sandy beach, new changing area, two food outlets
and enough new deck area to expand the number of lounge chairs from 700
to 2,200. The newly christened Hurricane Harbor, featuring all ProSlide
Technology slides and produced by Aquatic Builders, made its public
debut May 24, 2003, and despite its pedigreed name, it couldn’t
compete with the day’s real meteorological event, a cold rain that shut
the park a couple hours early.
It’s
an African exhibit!
The 50-year-old hoofstock exhibits at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs,
Colorado, may have been antiquated, but they were home to profligacy. Cheyenne
Mountain Zoo has seen 181 giraffe births since 1954. Now those reticulated giraffe
have a more suitable home in the $11 million African Rift Valley, which
opened May 23, 2003. Designed by Jack Rouse Associates and constructed
by Geograph, Brandon Kramer, CLR Architects, J.E. Dunn contractor, Nor-com
and Myra Simms, the 4 1/2-acre exhibit contains 11 different species,
67 animals, including 19 giraffe. The exhibit also contains a giant talking
baobab tree, research outpost, children’s play village and safari discovery
trail. Fittingly, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s first major capital improvement
in years lies near the front entrance, becoming the zoo’s iconic centerpiece
and a fitting kickoff to a $50 million masterplan.
It’s a waterpark!
The Great Wolf Lodge franchise expanded into Kansas City, Kansas, May 20,
2003, giving that market its own Bear Tracks Landing indoor waterpark.
The 38,000-square-foot/3,530-square-meter waterpark (Water Technology,
Architectural Design Consultants, Stevens Construction and Neuman Pools)
contains two 636-foot/193-meter tube slides, two 300-foot/91 meter body slides,
one 336-foot/102-meter, three-person raft slide, three kiddie slides, a 77,000
gallon/292,600-liter recreation pool, 17,000-gallon/64,600-liter kiddie pool,
a 90,000 gallon/342,000-liter leisure river, two 7,000-gallon/26,600-liter hot
tubs, one snack bar and 60 lifeguards. Centerpiece to the waterpark is a
$1 million, four-story interactive treehouse waterfort with more than
60 guest-activated water effects, a 1,000-gallon/3,800-liter tipping bucket
and Totem Tower body slides. This is the Great Lakes Company’s fourth Great
Wolf-style property, and while it is the southernmost location, it seems to
have gotten off on the right tracks. Within a month birthday party packages
had sold out through the summer.
It’s
quadruplet flat rides!
Here is a ride that, at least figuratively, is grabbing guests off the midway
at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The Claw by Chance
Morgan Rides opened to the public May 15, 2003, spinning 32 dangling
riders 65 feet/20 meters into the air while swinging them 120 degrees in
a pendulum at 11 rpms. “The kids love The Claw,” said
Kathleen Burrows, Hersheypark’s public relations director. “That line
is so long.” The Claw opened a week after the park’s season
opening day saw the debut of the Larson International Frontier Flyers
with eight manipulatable flyers rising to 18 feet/5 meters and
two kiddie versions of popular teen rides: the Mini Pirate ship
by SBF VISA International and the Mini-Scrambler by Eli
Bridge.
It’s
flat rides and a show!
Gradually expanding its dry-ride offerings to balance its waterpark attractions,
Sesame Place in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, added two new Zamperla
amusement rides for the season, a teacup ride themed as Grover’s
World Twirl featuring Sesame Street characters in various ethnic outfits
and settings, and Big Bird’s Balloon Race, with eight
circling baskets rising 40 feet/12 meters in the air. The two rides
opened with the season May 10, 2003, when a new show debuted at the park’s
Paradise Theater, Gotta Dance! by David Jack featuring Big Bird
and Zoe. Jack has produced several shows for the park’s Circle Theater,
but that space has now been turned into the 1-2-3 Smile With Me meet-and-greet
station for Big Bird and Elmo, who are available throughout the day now.
It’s a slide tower and interactive waterplay!
Dolly’s Splash Country Water Adventure Park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee,
waited two years before embarking on its first expansion. The season opened
May 10, 2003, with two new attractions. Raintree Hollow, a 2-acre/.8
hectare children’s attraction is themed as a lumber camp with interactive
elements. The ProSlide Technology Mountain Twist complex features
three mat slides with a 42-foot/13-meter drop.
It’s
a raft ride!
While most parks this spring fretted potential snowy conditions for their ride
openings, Six Flags America in Largo, Maryland, embraced a chilly forecast
for the grand opening of Penguin’s Blizzard River, a spinning
raft ride by WhiteWater West Industries (60 1/2 feet/18 meters tall,
469-foot/142-meter flume, 12 six-passenger rafts). For the April 29,
2003, official first ride, Six Flag America’s Director of Maintenance
and New Construction Tony Zelko donned a tuxedo and cut through an ice-carved
ribbon between two 3 1/2-foot/1-meter ice penguin sculptures. Also in tuxedo-type
attire was a real Magellanic penguin loaned from Six Flags Worlds of Adventure
in Ohio that proved an effective public relations ambassador making the rounds
of local radio and television stations. Under snowy conditions, thanks to two
snow machines placed on the roof of the station house, Batman accompanied by
a family from nearby Saverna Park, Maryland, took the official first ride, and
everybody was treated to ice cream swirled red, yellow and blue, matching the
raft’s colors on Penguin’s Blizzard River.
It’s
a 4-D theater!
If you are going to build a 448-seat theater for your guests, you might
as well include specs that allow that building to serve as a meeting venue,
too. So, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony April 3, 2003, Europa-Park in Rust,
Germany, opened Magic Cinema 4D in the park’s French-themed
section, a 735-square-meter/7,911-square-foot building with a 9-by-19-meter/30-by-63-foot
screen and a 33-speaker, 55,000-watt sound system, a 2.2 million
Euro (US$2.5 million) theater that doubles as the Confertainment Center
featuring state-of-the-art meeting facilities. For park guests, Magic Cinema
4D is presenting twice-a-day showings of Panda Vision, a 15-minute movie.
Rebirths
It’s
bumper cars!
Wyandot Lake in Powell, Ohio, announces the rebirth of its bumper cars, May
17, 2003. Measurements: 2,400 square feet (223 square meters), 18 cars. Delivered
by RDC.
Change can be good, though the cause for change often is an unpleasant experience.
For Wyandot Lake, a fire fed by hay bales during last October’s Halloween
festival destroyed the park’s bumper car pavilion. In rebuilding the attraction—using
the same footprint as the old pavilion—the park decided to replace the
old-fashioned bumper cars with the rotating discs produced by RDC. The change
has been well received by guests, said the park’s Marketing Manager David
Rahrig. “Everybody likes something different,” he said.
Eric's Turn
A
Monstrous good time
In a way I guess you can say Loch Ness created a monster.
American Coaster Enthusiasts returned to the park of its founding with Coaster Con XXVI. Busch Gardens Williamsburg hosted the very first Coaster Con in 1978 in conjunction with the opening of Loch Ness Monster, the double looping coaster pictured above behind Ian and myself.
The monster of which I speak is Ian. Four years ago, Ian and my elder son, Jonathan, accompanied me on a tour of amusement parks that included Busch Gardens. Neither boy were fans of roller coasters, tentatively trying the tamer ones. My rule at the time was simple: decide before we get in line whether you want to ride, make the decision immediately, and that decision is final.
Outside the Loch Ness Monster station, I asked Jonathan: “Are you riding?” “No.” I asked Ian: “Are you riding?” “Yes.”
“Let’s
go,” I said, and we walked through the queue area to the end of the line,
whereupon I noticed from his expression that Ian already was second-guessing
his decision. But my rule was law, and I spent the rest of the wait assuring
him the ride would be fun.
Boy, was it fun! Loch Ness Monster remains one of my favorite coasters.
More importantly, Ian enjoyed it. Big time. Coming off he purchased a picture
of his ride, and he spent much of the rest of our day in the park yakking incessantly
about the cool ride and how it was his absolute favorite coaster and he’d
love to do it again. None of this was for my sake; it was little-brother bareness
needling Jonathan (I’m the youngest of three sons and was a bona fide pro
at brat behavior toward my older brothers, so I recognized Ian’s motive
immediately).
Loch
Ness Monster proved pivotal in the life of Ian. From that moment he became
a roller coaster enthusiast. By the end of our trip just five days later, he
had memorized all the names and SAT's of rides at parks we were visiting. He
rode every coaster his short body was allowed to ride, and in five days I noticed
him going through a pronounced growth spurt, one that got him on all coasters
by the end of that summer. A year later he was a member of ACE, and he quickly
became one of the organization’s avid volunteers.
Returning
to Busch Gardens for Coaster Con had special meaning for Ian and I. For him,
just like for ACE, this is where it all began. For me, too, it was a pivotal
moment: I got a devoted member of my LOOP team.
Check it out: as part of our coverage of Coaster Con, we conducted the first-ever
LOOP Amusement Industry Survey, summarized above.
Ian and I together created the survey, he compiled all the data, and he created
the graphs and built the jump page that features the final results. All the
work you see by clicking here
is Ian’s.
On
the road—still
This LOOP is coming to you from Freehold, New Jersey. The previous LOOP came
to you from Charlotte, North Carolina. We have been on the road throughout the
interim.
Any time I produce a LOOP on the road I get much-appreciated assistance from
the many gracious hosts I visit during my travels.
I want to thank the entire marketing team at Paramount’s Kings Dominion
for letting me use their space to produce the bulk of the Coaster Con report.
I also want to thank them for making Coaster Con XXVI a truly exceptional experience
for Ian and I and the ACErs.
I also want to thank Kristin Siebeneicher, public relations manager at Six Flags Great Adventure, for her hospitality and support. And to the Rafael Suarez family, Ian and I are still raving about that lunch and anxiously awaiting receipt of the soup recipe.
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.
©2003, Minton Enterprises
LLC
All rights reserved