Volume 3, No. 12. June 27, 2003
New Arrivals
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.
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
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