Volume 3, No. 11. June 13, 2003
It’s
interactive water play!
Oceans of Fun in Kansas City, Missouri, announces the arrival
of Paradise Falls, May 24, 2003. Measurements: 40 feet high (12 meters),
125 interactive aquatic elements, seven slides, 1,000-gallon (3,800-liter) tipping
bucket. Delivered by WhiteWater West Industries.
With a palette of bright primary colors, tropical faux fauna and several fiberglas
macaws and parrots perching on the structure, the new interactive treehouse
at Oceans of Fun—Worlds of Fun's adjoining waterpark—lacked only one
thing: a colorful soundtrack to go with its colorful appearance.
That was the opinion of Dick Kinzel, CEO and president of Cedar Fair, L.P.,
owner of Worlds of Fun/Oceans of Fun. Kinzel noted the macaw perched alongside
the tipping bucket atop Paradise Falls and wondered aloud to park Vice
President and General Manager Phil Bender how neat it would be to have the macaw
call every five minutes that the bucket spilled its load. “(Bender) just
ran with the idea,” said Bridgette Collins, Oceans of Fun's operations
manager.
At first park officials searched the Internet for macaw songs. “But macaws
give out loud squawks, and that didn’t sound too fun,” Collins said.
So, the park leaned on another ready source: Worlds of Fun’s own Happy
Hookbills Bird Show, featuring parrots, cockatiels and macaws.
The tape features the show’s two macaws, Rox and Ernie. Though the birds
are trained to perform behaviors on command, the park’s sound technicians
merely set up the recording equipment “and let run,” said Debbie Obarka,
who hosts the show with her husband, Mark. Most of the yelling is by Rox, she
said. “Rox loves Ernie, and when you take him away she starts screaming.”
The Obarkas have not visited the new Paradise Falls to hear the recording
of their stars’ finished work. “No, we hear it here every day,”
Mark said. But, truthfully, Rox’s panicked squealing fits in much better
with the tipping bucket action than would, say, Joey the Amazon parrot singing
“I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover” as he does on the Obarka’s
web site, www.parrotpros.com.
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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