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In
this issue:
(To
go directly to a story, click on a blue keyword below):
The war
in Iraq forces parks to cancel media previews;
Efteling
targets spring as a marketing medium;
DC Comics help
Six Flags Great America promote new coaster;
Parc
Astérix
gets double-duty from its traditional craftsmen;
A boy with autism
celebrates life through Knoebels map;
The
Oregon Zoo uses the alphabet as a curriculum for new preschool
classes;
We welcome a
4-D show to Busch Gardens Williamsburg, A 3-D film
and drop tower to Paramount's Kings Dominion, a
Nickelodeon area and coaster to Paramount's Carowinds,
a new Great Wolf Lodge and indoor waterpark to
Traverse City, Michigan, a new roller coaster to Terra
Mitica, a new food and games area to Joyland
in Texas, and a new bowl slide to West Edmonton Mall;
and,
We go to school
on our own ad manager.
For
a printable version of this newsletter,
click
here
For
more information on the facilities and organizations featured in
this newsletter, visit our Connections Page.
click here
For
back issues of THE LOOP,
click here
War
footing
Mark
Riddell had big plans. Opening the 2003 season with the new Drop
Zone Stunt Tower and SpongeBob SquarePants 3-D movie,
the public relations manager for Paramount’s Kings Dominion
in Doswell, Virginia, planned a media day featuring a Hollywood-style
red carpet opening for the film, complete with paparazzi and Nickelodeon
characters. Then the journalists and VIP guests would move over
to the Drop Zone where skydivers trailing orange and yellow smoke
would drop in to cut the ribbon. “I was getting carried away
with it,” he admitted. “It was going to be very exciting.”
But it didn’t happen. Scheduled for March 20, the park decided
to cancel the media day in light of the war in Iraq starting. Paramount’s
Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina, also canceled its media
event scheduled the same day, and Busch Gardens Williamsburg dropped
the media portion of its Friday preview of the R.L. Stine’s
Haunted Lighthouse 4-D attraction. “Media day was toned
down, and we canceled some events,” said Diane Centeno, public
relations manager for Busch Gardens Williamsburg. One of the events
canceled was a broadcast satellite tour. “We had a couple of
media come out, local newspapers,” she said. “Broadcast
media were interested in R.L. Stine, but they were just too busy.”
That fact, alone, prompted the cancellations. Local journalists
were swamped working local angles to the war coverage, and even
if they had been able to attend the parks’ press previews,
outlets had little room on their pages or in their broadcasts for
local puff pieces. “They didn’t need to be hearing from
us when they’ve got so much else in the world going on,”
said Scott Anderson, public relations assistant manager at Paramount’s
Carowinds. Even an enticing visual and bona fide news story like
the popular Goosebumps author interacting with 550 school kids at
Busch Gardens couldn’t crack through the day’s main story.
Carowinds officials were also thinking of the needs of the invited
VIP, figuring that most people preferred to stay home with families
watching events unfold in Iraq. “I know I was extremely interested
when things started,” Anderson said. “I wanted to watch
it.”
The two Paramount parks decided to cancel their events after President
George W. Bush’s speech the previous Monday setting a 48-hour
deadline for Saddam Hussein’s capitulation. That 48-hour deadline,
Anderson said, “was looking like it would fall right on top
of us.” The Carowinds public relations staff spent the next
two full days calling some 1,000 invited guests. The response from
those reached was positive, he said. The response from the media
was sincere thanks. “The media we heard from really appreciated
it and were receptive to coming out at a later date,” Riddell
said.
In the end, the cancellations made little difference. Both North
Carolina and Virginia were doused by rain showers that day. “We
probably would have had to cancel anyway because of the weather,”
Anderson said. “It turned out to be an awful day,” said
Riddell. While he was disappointed that his big plans never came
to fruition, he felt the park made the right decision, and it was
a decision that made the lost day much more bearable to him than
would have been the case had his big show simply been washed out.
Meanwhile, outstanding weather brought good crowds out to the parks
over the weekend even without the media previews.
Besides, Carowinds had another story going. The park installed metal
detectors at its gates for this season and the PR team pitched that
story to local media the morning of the president’s speech.
For the rest of the week, that story became a hot local angle to
war coverage in all the regional outlets. “We not only got
the message out that this is a safe place to visit, but we combined
it with the fact that, ‘Hey, we’re opening this week,’”
Anderson said. “A lot of the coverage we didn’t get from
canceling the media event we got anyway.”
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Efteling
hopes everything comes up roses, er, tulips for its spring fling.
Photo courtesy of Efteling.
Springing
into action
The
summer was a given. Then Efteling conquered winter. Now the venerable
Netherlands theme park in Kaatsheuvel is aiming to grow its spring
season through, well, growth.
That growth will come in the form of 400,000 flowering bulbs and
more than 100,000 spring plants, in addition to the park’s
voluminous trees. Called Spring Efteling, the festival from April
1 to the end of June will feature a demonstration area on the central
square utilizing the park’s own gardening and landscaping staff
to answer park guests’ questions and offer advice. Multi-lingual
signs will be placed around the park identifying various plants,
trees, fish and ducks. Supplementing the nature-driven festival
will be a sand sculpture festival running the duration of Spring
Efteling and a sheep shearing display at the end of June.
The purpose of the festival, said Henk Groenen, Efteling’s
head of communications, is to drive attendance during a traditionally
soft period, a strategy emboldened by the park’s immense success
with its winter program. “What we are now trying to do is give
extra attention to spring time,” he said. Annual pass holders
make up a small percentage of the 3.4 million visitors per year,
Groenen said, so rather than spurring repeat visits from regulars,
Spring Efteling is seen as a way to get the bulk of the park’s
patrons to make bi- or tri-annual visits.
While bringing attention to its spring beauty, Efteling is in the
midst of an ambitious capital improvement program to solidify the
park as a resort destination. The park is nearing completion on
its new theater which will include a 400-seat restaurant and “great
foyer.” The theater will anchor a new themed district in the
park, the Entertainment Realm, that will include more restaurants,
theaters and possibly a wedding chapel. Groenen said the new realm
will be similar to a Universal’s City Walk or Downtown Disney
“but done in the Efteling way, magical like in the 18th century.”
In 2004 Efteling plans to open another new district, the Dream Realm,
which will include a new hotel fashioned as a castle, woodland villas
and cottages that resemble manors. As a place for families to spend
their nights in an Efteling-style themed environment, it literally
will be a dream realm, and for Efteling itself an attempt to catch
a dream of expanding its primary market throughout Europe.
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A
super gift
As part
of the growing synergy between the technologically advanced thrill
rides and the longtime DC Comics superheroes who have inspired those
thrill rides’ names, the three Six Flags parks that this year
are installing new Superman-themed rides—Great Adventure in
Jackson, New Jersey; Great America in Gurnee, Illinois; and Six
Flags Over Texas in Arlington, Texas—are also getting new Superman
comic books to sell in their stores.
It's just such an old-style comic book that’s grabbing attention
among media members covering Six Flags Great America. Susie Storey,
public relations manager for the park, approached DC Comics with
a request for Superman comic books to use as media teasers and promotional
gifts in her publicity campaign for the May 3 opening of Superman
Ultimate Flight, a B&M flying coaster. DC Comics obliged
with about 2,000 copies of The 10 Cent Adventure version of Superman.
“We said, ‘Here’s how many we’d like,’
and they sent them right to me,” Storey said. “They’ve
been great to work with. They’ve been very, very nice.”
The book, in which Superman takes on Amok in various guises, is
a perfect primer for people unfamiliar with the Man of Steel. It
briefly details his back story and displays his many superhero abilities.
“It’s talking about how Superman came from another planet
and made his home here, and what we’re saying (in the ride’s
promotional campaign) is that Superman is coming to make his home
in Illinois,” Storey said.
Thematic tie-in aside, the book has served its purpose. Storey sent
a copy to some 500 media members. “A lot have called to say
they got it and like it,” she said. “They are asking when
we’re sending invitations to media day.” She also plans
to use the comics for promotional gifts, and her office mailed copies
to the homes of full-time employees. “We not only want to get
the public excited but get the whole park excited as well,”
Storey said. “It’s been really fun. People have made a
point to come into the office and say ‘We got our comic book!’”
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Cesaire
forms a unique experience for Parc Asterix visitors. Photo by
Eric Minton.
Crafting
a scene
They
are part of the environment. In turn, they create the environment.
One section of Parc Astérix near Paris, France, replicates
a medieval French street scene, with timber houses looming over
the street, musketeers dueling in the square, and traditional artisans
crafting their wares. The craftsmen—a stone carver, a wood
carver, a potter, a blacksmith and a glazier—are integral to
the street scene, dressed in medieval garb and working in shops
open to the park’s patrons. Guests can watch the artisans at
work, ask questions and, in some cases, buy their goods.
However, these craftsmen are not merely for show. They also provide
some of the park’s authentic theming. The stained glass throughout
the park was the work of the glazier. The blacksmith provided much
of the park’s wrought iron decorations. The stone carver produced
Caïus’ head at the front of the Caïus Pizzarium restaurant,
and the stone carver and blacksmith together built the fountain
of the Musketeers.
Some of the work is, frankly, not so authentic. The potter, for
example, created many of the pitchers and bowls used in the restaurants,
but they look more comical than traditional; after all, they are
inspired by a series of comic books. “Most of the time they
demand modern-looking things with writings or strange pots with
very bright colors,” said Gilles Cesaire, the Parc Asterix
potter who, in his own Paris studio, specializes in urban pottery.
“I wouldn’t choose that look and color for my own stuff.”
The 40-year-old Cesaire has been a potter since he was 15, turning
professional at age 25. He joined the Parc Asterix scene-making
scenery 10 years ago, recruited by a park director who had visited
one of Cesaire’s exhibitions. “I was very, very frightened
at the beginning,” Cesaire said. “You have to make (the
wares) while people are looking at you. It’s like being on
the stage; you feel naked with all the people looking at you.”
Now, he said, he’s “Very cool with this job.” He
enjoys demonstrating his skills and talking with people. “You
can see the interest in people. You can see the children’s
eyes when you throw a ball of clay down that transforms into a vase.
It’s magic for them.” This is primarily true of French
children who do not get art lessons in their schools. The school
curricula for British and German children, on the other hand, does
include art. “They are not amazed,” Cesaire said. “They
come and most of the time look at the final product and say, ‘Ah,
it’s good or not.’”
Though Cesaire works full days at the park, always “on stage,”
the six-month season allows him half a year to focus on his own
studio and exhibitions, and the two jobs gives him variety in styles
and objects. As for his contribution to Parc Asterix’s scenery,
his favorite is a mosaic reproduction of a Greek mosaic featuring
dolphins located on a wall near the park’s Dolphinarium. Unlike
the commissioned cartoonish work, the dolphin mosaic was wholly
his creation. “They had not given any order,” Cesaire
said. “I proposed it for myself, and maybe that’s why
it’s my favorite.”
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Nicholas
makes a point for his father (right) with his very own Knoebels
map. Photo courtesy of Knoebels Amusement Grove.
Treasured
map
The
first time Nicholas visited Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg,
Pennsylvania, he threw a fit. The boy has autism, and the environment
proved too much of a stimulus for him. But his parents, Sally Lewis
and Henry Chiarkas, tried again, and eventually Nicholas not only
grew accustomed to the park, he grew to love it. Last year he visited
22 times.
When he couldn’t be in his beloved amusement park, he did the
second best thing: he visited the park’s map in his home, wearing
out brochure after brochure of the cartoon-like grid. Lewis resorted
to grabbing whole handfuls of maps from the park’s brochure
racks. Then, at the end of the season she called the phone number
on the Knoebel’s large “you are here” maps. That
phone number put her in touch with the map’s producer, Amusement
Media of Center Strafford, New Hampshire, a firm which provides
map services and marketing for 125 parks across the nation.
“We get a lot of calls from people about our maps in the parks,
people asking for copies or wanting to use them for personal use
and web sites. We answer quite a bit of those,” said Amusement
Media President Peter Wensberg. “This was completely different.”
Lewis’ original call was answered by office assistant Stacy
Scribner, who rode herd on the whole project. When subsequent conversations
revealed that Nicholas liked to draw on the maps, that the maps
were proving to be the primary source for his vocabulary, that he
had an empty wall in his room, and that his fifth birthday was coming
up March 12, Scribner developed the ultimate gift for the boy: a
4-by-8 foot (1.2-by-2.5 meters) laminated Knoebels map with a set
of dry erasable markers. “I”m kind of a sucker for human
care stories,” Scribner said. “She was just really nice,
just trying to help her kid out.”
Amusement Media produced the map at no charge, part of its standard
contract with its clients—the company sells sponsorships and
advertising on its maps. Because of that client relationship, Amusement
Media sent the map to Knoebels, and Joe Muscato, the park’s
director of marketing, wrapped the map and carried it to Nicholas’
home about 20 minutes away to present at his birthday party.
“It was great, his whole family was there, the aunts and uncles,”
Muscato said. Nicholas was enraptured with the gift. “He has
Knoebels memorized," Muscato said. "They can call out
a ride, any ride, and he instantly points to it. Or he can stand
in front of it and immerse himself in Knoebels. Sally told me that
in the off season he has the maps and video tapes of himself at
Knoebels and that’s what he does. His grandmother said that
when you baby-sit for him, you’ve got to be prepared to watch
the tapes. A lot.”
Typically, people with autism become wholly absorbed in an object,
subject or process. “He’s locked into Knoebels,”
Muscato said of Nicholas. “It’s fun to know that something
you’re involved in does that. We’re supposed to be making
kids happy.”
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Brought
to you by . . .
At the
time children are learning their ABC’s, the Oregon Zoo wants
them to learn some TLC for wildlife and ecosystems. So, the zoo
is launching a new education program for preschoolers and their
parents this spring called “Animals from A to Z.” Beginning
April 1 and running through mid-June, the 90-minute sessions will
include a tour, crafts, games and hands-on activity.
The program’s title, however, is not simply a catchy phrase.
Each day’s session will focus on a different animal, starting
with Anaconda and going through Zebra, then filling out the remainder
of the schedule with a repeat of the first nine letters, from Australian
Walking Stick to Insects.
For Oregon Zoo’s education programs coordinator, Rex Ettlin,
that title may have proven overly ambitious. “We’re trying
to do animals we actually have here so the kids would see it here,”
he said. Oregon Zoo has no jaguars, for instance, so J proved particularly
vexing until Ettlin decided to feature the Steller’s Jay, a
bird which is native to the region and hangs around the zoo. “We’ll
take (the children) up to the marsh where the jays are commonly
found. . .and have a picture on hand as a backup.”
For V, Ettlin decided to feature a vermilion sea star, for X he
will feature the veterinary clinic via “X-rays.” He also
had trouble with D, a letter he had to use twice: he settled on
Desert Tortoise and Dwarf Caiman. For U he listed “urchin,”
but before his program was released to the public somebody had placed
the “sea” in front of “urchin,” appropriately
differentiating the echinoderms in the zoo’s collection from
the class members themselves.
Ettlin skipped Q altogether. “I wimped out,” he said,
but later wished he had used “qiviut,” which is the undercoat
of a musk ox. “I could have gone to scientific names, but the
kids wouldn’t have known those,” he said. Wouldn’t
qiviut been even more of stretch for children? “Good point.”
Each class can hold up to 20 people, with no more than five children
per one adult. Only a few weeks into registration, a few classes
have already sold out. “I'm astounded at how much of an influence
a particular animal has on registration,” Ettlin said. “The
elephant class completely sold out instantly. The rhinoceros class
sold out.” On the other hand, three animals have inspired no
registrants whatsoever: the Inca tern, the vermilion sea star and
those jays.
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Eric's
Turn
Photo
by Sarah-Janette Smith.
Term
of endearment
We have just posted something a little unusual in the Reading
Room: a term paper.
Lynne Mosman, our advertising manager, is going to school. Going
back to school, I should say. She didn't finish her college career
20 or so years ago, and she recently resumed her track toward a
bachelor’s of science in business management at the University
of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio. She is participating in that school’s
Off-Campus Program aimed at working adults who already have at least
62 transferable credit hours. The bulk of the curriculum is concluded
via on-line courses.
She recently finished up one of her courses, English 305 E-Rhetoric
which, according to the course catalog, “introduces strategies
for effective communication on the Internet.” As an employee
of Minton Enterprises, Lynne gets full use of our resources toward
any educational pursuit, but she has also taken the opportunity
to use some of her required coursework and electives to supplement
her experience and skills working for THE LOOP. When it came to
the term paper, an assignment requiring a thesis “phrased as
an argument,” Lynne chose to write hers on “The effectiveness
of on-line advertising.” As you might suspect, this is an argument
Lynne has been making to many potential LOOP advertisers.
However, a thesis paper has certain academic standards it must uphold.
Lynne accomplished the appropriate research to find evidence that
would bolster her statement. She followed a specific format in presenting
her argument, which included establishing arguments countering her
own stand. From a purely sales point of view, this may not seem
to be our most profitable course of action publishing counterpoints
to THE LOOP's livelihood, but we see this as an educational piece
for our readers who may be considering advertising on the Internet,
whether it’s in THE LOOP or other sites. It at least serves
as a primer, encouraging you to consider your own particular advertising
needs and to see the big picture of Internet marketing.
By the way, she earned an A grade for the paper, and currently is
carrying a 4.0 overall average.
After you have read Lynne's piece (click
here), if you want to further discuss web advertising with her,
send her an e-mail at lynne@gettheloop.com, or call her toll-free
at 866-902-5667.
Yes, mother
My mother insists I brag on her so, OK.
My
parents, Patsy and Dean Minton, pictured above, are visiting with
us here in Tucson to take in a little baseball spring training.
Parents being wired the way they are, they insisted on helping out
in the office. And I’m not about to pass up free help.
But I didn’t have them do just any menial task. Way back when
I was in high school, my mother—again, being a mom—started
keeping a scrapbook of all my articles published in the local newspaper.
At the time, I didn’t know the importance of a “clips
book” and humored her indulgence. But upon graduation when
I inherited the scrapbook, I realized its importance and I’ve
kept it up since—now comprising 18 volumes. The
past couple of years I had fallen behind, so mom the originator
is happily getting them caught up to date.
Meanwhile,
my father has helped with the editing and posting of this particular
issue of THE LOOP. But what I’m most thankful for was his solid
support of my dreams to be a journalist when I was a teen-ager,
and his continuing support of all my endeavors since.
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Volume
3, No. 6. MARCH 28, 2003
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Click
here to read these stories
Flu
epidemic impacts Ocean Park operations
CCI
auction set for April 15
Duiker
born at Oregon Zoo
Legoland's
Haviluk retires
Diller
resigns from Vivendi Universal
Japanese
theme park files for bankruptcy
SeaWorld
San Diego building camp facility
Six
Flags gives Holland Club even dozen
Three
Tampa attractions team up with AAA
NASCAR
SpeedParks to get simulators
Visionland
splits into two parks
Six
Flags reports revenue drop for 2002
Dubai
trade show postponed
Cedar
Fair increases distribution rate
Kennywood
announces promotions
For
these stories,
click Extra! Extra!
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New
Arrivals
Stine
entered new dimensions, as did his appreciative audience, with his
new Busch Gardens film. Photo
courtesy of Busch Gardens Williamsburg.
It’s
a 4-D movie!
Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Virginia announces the arrival of
R.L. Stine’s Haunted Lighthouse 4-D and Trappers Smokehouse,
March 22, 2003. Measurements: 22 minute movie; 650-seat restaurant,
26 items on the menu. Film delivered by Joe Dante (director), Sam
Hamm (screenplay) and R.L. Stine (story).
Frankly, the media missed a treat. Fortunately, the park didn’t
miss a beat.
For the media day special preview of its new 4-D movie—which
became a media-less day (see related story in this
LOOP)—Busch Gardens brought in the Goosebumps author himself,
R.L. Stine, and 550 third and fourth graders from Hampton Roads-area
elementary schools. Stine engaged the children for about a half
hour, demonstrating how he creates his famous ghost and suspense
stories by prompting the children to lead him through a developing
plot line.
“They shouted out ideas and he created a whole new ghost story
from their suggestions,” said Diane Centeno, public relations
manager for Busch Gardens Williamsburg. “He’d say things
like, ‘What happens next? Should he turn the key or run down
the stairs?’”
Stine’s impromptu story writing might have overshadowed the
subsequent sneak preview of the new film except that it rides on
Stine’s craftsmanship as a story teller. Replacing Pirates
in its Globe Theatre, the new film stars Christopher Lloyd, Lea
Thompson and Michael McKean along with up-and-coming child stars
Sara Paxton and Matt Weinberg. The story sends the children—on
screen and in the audience—on a frightful 3-D adventure through
a coastal lighthouse supplemented by such effects as blasts of air,
water sprays, buzzing seats and ticklers. Though the film went into
an existing theater, the seats were rebuilt for Lighthouse’s
special effects.
In
addition to adding to its entertainment palette, Busch Gardens added
delights for its guests' palates with the new Trappers Smokehouse
in the park’s New France section. Replicating a giant log cabin,
the new eatery imported the former Smokehouse Restaurant's (now
only a drink stand) popular menu of barbecue baby back ribs, chicken
and brisket, then added such fare as fresh grilled salmon, smoked
chicken and shrimp jambalaya and roasted vegetables. The buffet
style Trappers also offers two new signature desserts, apple cobbler
and warm bread pudding.
“This Smokehouse is monstrous compared to the old one,”
Centeno said, which, in a different light, could also be an apt
description of the park’s new 4-D film compared to the old
one.
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The
first 50 enthusiasts got the drop on Kings Dominion's newest thriller.
Photo
courtesy of Paramount's Kings Dominion.
It’s
a drop tower!
Paramount’s Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia, announces
the arrival of Drop Zone Stunt Tower and SpongeBob SquarePants
3-D movie, March 22, 2003. Drop Zone measurements: 305 feet
high (93 meters), 272-foot drop (83 meters), 72 mph (116 km/h),
56 passengers, 93-second-long ride. Delivered by Intamin.
Considering Paramount’s Kings Dominion missed out on the opportunity
to get advanced press in the week leading up to its season opener
(see related story in this LOOP), day one attendance
surpassed that of the 2002 season's opening day. Reason: “Weather,”
said the park’s public relations manager Mark Riddell. “The
weather was absolutely perfect. There’s a fair amount of cabin
fever in the world, and people were so relieved to be out of their
homes.”
The opening of Drop Zone Stunt Tower seemed hardly impacted
by the lack of media coverage. Riddell had been regularly sending
construction shots and updates to thrill ride enthusiasts and media
members, creating more buzz than drop towers typically get. On opening
day, Riddell led a pre-opening walk-back to the ride for about 50
enthusiasts, “the largest number of people we’ve had for
a walk-back,” he said. These were the first public riders,
and they set the tone for the day.
“You see it on their faces,” Riddell said. “The expressions
say the same story for every rider. They are so shocked at the end
of what they just experienced, then they laugh, then they get back
in line.” Unlike Paramount’s first Drop Zone Stunt
Tower installation at Kings Island four years ago, this one
does not rotate during its ascent. “That gives you a reason
to get in line again to get a seat on the other side,” Riddell
said. The lack of rotation also allows 16 more seats. Furthermore,
this tower drops from a greater height (Kings Island’s drops
from 264 feet) and descends 5 mph faster. Whether repeat riders
or first timers, Drop Zone Stunt Tower maintained a steady
30 minute queue throughout opening day, Riddell said.
It also drew a large non-participatory audience. Located on a plaza
in The Grove, the new ride enticed many guests to lounge about on
seatwalls and in the area’s refurbished eateries. “I never
got there on Saturday when there wasn’t a large group of people
sitting in that area,” Riddell said. “That area of The
Grove has become as valuable as beachfront property.”
While Drop Zone Stunt Tower drew the bulk of attention on
opening day, the park’s new 3-D movie starring Nickelodeon’s
SpongeBob SquarePants definitely has broader appeal and might end
up being Kings Dominion’s hottest new addition this season.
“Awareness of SpongeBob was not as great,” Riddell
said of the two new opening day attractions. “After all, when
you come to the park you see Drop Zone from the parking lot.
But I think SpongeBob is one of those great guest satisfiers
that will grow with word of mouth.”
Riddell said the new 3-D movie, which occupies the park’s motion-seat
theater that showed Seventh Portal the past two years, “tracks
closely to the TV show.” In that he’s something of an
expert. “I have 2-year-old twins, so I see it every day.”
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Kids
gunned for their very own inverted experience at Carowinds and got
some face time with Nick characters. Photos
by Shannon Greene/Lake Wylie Pilot.
It’s
a roller coaster!
Paramount’s Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina, announces
the arrival of The Rugrats Runaway Reptar, March 22, 2003.
Measurements: 49 feet high (15 meter), 1,122 feet long (342 meters),
26 mph (42 km/h), one 20-passenger train, 90-second ride. Delivered
by Vekoma Rides Manufacturing.
Give them another couple of years and Charlotte might just have
a whole new theme park. In the past nine years Paramount’s
Carowinds has added or revamped five themed areas, including the
past three consecutive years: the North Gate plaza in 2001, Carolina
Boardwalk in 2002 and now Nickelodeon Central for 2003.
Replacing the Old World Marketplace, the new kiddie area greets
guests with the vibrant, primary colors typical of anything Nickelodeon.
Even the pavement has been painted Nick style. Two existing rides
have been re-themed for the purpose. Powderkeg Flume, an
Arrow flume ride, is now The Wild Thornberrys River Adventure,
featuring a new queue area, a newly themed station house, props
along the flume’s wooded course and a couple of water spray
features. The Gauntlet, a Chance flat ride, is now Rocket
Power Air Time, themed after Nickelodeon’s Rocket Power
with a bright yellow paint scheme. Aside from being brighter, the
ride has emerged from its hideaway behind a retail outlet—thanks
to the removal of that shop. “I’d seen it in operation
in the past and it didn’t have a prominent role because it
wasn’t as visible,” Scott Anderson, public relations assistant
manager for the park, said of The Gauntlet. “Now it’s
easy to find and easy to see, and I think ridership will definitely
increase.”
The landscape’s one bona fide new feature is Carowinds’
12th coaster, an inverted junior version from Vekoma, easily that
company’s biggest hit of the past three years. On Carowinds’
opening Saturday Reptar drew a crowd immediately upon the
first guests entering the park, and it maintained a 30-minute queue
all the way to closing time. Aside from beefing up the ride options
of the new Nick Central area, Reptar fills a special niche
for Carowinds; now kids have their own Top Gun, the park’s
superb B&M inverted coaster. “We’ve been positioning
it that way,” Anderson said. “We’ve been saying it’s
a smaller version of Top Gun. I’m hoping that message
is getting across.”
Because of cancellation of its media/VIP preview day (see related
story in this LOOP), Carowinds needed a positive
promotional message for opening day. It got help in part from Mother
Nature who gifted the park with 70 degree temperatures (21 degrees
Celsius) and a light breeze.
Nickelodeon, though, proved the most alluring lure, and evidence
of that was the element Anderson said appeared most popular throughout
opening weekend: the meet-and-greet station staffed by a continuous
succession of 10 Nick characters throughout the day. “That
was probably, crowd-wise, the biggest draw,” Anderson said.
“The kids just love to interact with the characters, and now
they know where those characters are going to be right off the top.”
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Great
Wolf Lodge II opened just in time for spring break-eager Michigan
residents. Photo courtesy of Great Lakes Company.
It’s
a waterpark!
Great Lakes Companies, Inc. announces the arrival of Great Wolf
Lodge and Bear Track Landing in Traverse City, Michigan, March 17,
2003. Lodge measurements: 48 1/2 acres (19.5 hectares) of which
the lodge occupies 15 acres (6.7 hectares) and 40 buffalo roam on
18 1/2 acres (7.5 hectares), 281 all-suite rooms, three restaurants,
6,500 square feet (604 square meters) of meeting space, two retail
stores, one 7,000-square-foot (650 square-meter) arcade and redemption
center with 125 games, one 3-D interactive theater, one children’s
activity room with a life-size doll house and tree fort, one spa,
one fitness center, one outdoor activity pool. Bear Track Landing
measurements: 38,000 square feet (3,540 square meters), eight waterslides,
87,000-gallon (329,331-liter) leisure river, four story, 12-level
interactive treehouse with 60 guest-activated water effects and
a 48-foot (14.5-meter) tall, 1,000-gallon (3,785.5-liter) tipping
bucket, 77,000-gallon (291,477-liter) recreation pool, 17,000-gallon
(64,352-liter) zero-depth kiddie pool, two 7,000-gallon (26,498-liter)
whirlpools, one snack bar. Waterpark delivered by National Rock
& Sculpture, Neuman Pools, ProSlide Technology, Pro Tile, SCS
Interactive and Water Technology.
Here’s another measurement: 110 inches (279 centimeters). That
is the amount of snow that fell on Traverse City in the month of
February, a new record. Not only were the memories of the harsh
2003 winter lingering among residents, so was the snow itself as
Great Lakes opened its third lodge and indoor waterpark. No wonder
that on a cool, slightly overcast day the mood around the property’s
ribbon-cutting was “very festive,” said Eric Lund, senior
vice president of sales and marketing and a principal of Great Lakes
Companies. “It was a great day to spend inside the indoor waterpark
where it’s always 84 degrees (29 degrees Celsius).”
After first intending to name its lodges for different furry northwoods
mammals—Traverse City originally was to be called Great Buffalo
Lodge—the company decided to stick to a brand name. Besides,
future expansion looks like it would outpace the potential selection
of appropriate animal names (a lodge is scheduled to open in Kansas
City, Missouri, in May, and ground-breakings are scheduled in Niagara
Falls, New York; Williamsburg, Virginia; the Poconos in Pennsylvania;
and the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota). So, the new
lodge and all the rest will use the company’s Wisconsin Dells
namesake. Meanwhile, Great Lakes’ second installation, Great
Bear Lodge in Sandusky, Ohio (THE
LOOP, March 23, 2001), might be renamed, Lund said.
Though the Michigan lodge goes back to the chain’s originating
name, it continues the company’s practice of building on lessons
learned. The new Bear Track Landing is 5,000 square feet (464.5
square meters) larger than the Sandusky version, all the pools are
a little bigger, the slides and river are longer, the snack bar
larger and the deck space spacier. Lund said that despite the mathematical
reality, the deck “feels as if it’s 25 percent bigger.”
The Traverse City waterpark also has a family tube ride, the 336-foot-long
(102.5-meter-long) Howling Wolf using three-person toboggan-style
rafts, that its predecessors don't have.
For last Monday’s grand opening, the lodge hosted an evening
event for about 1,000 VIPs, and the next day the doors were thrown
open for a public open house. About 4,000 people took self-guided
tours interacting with staff stationed in the various rooms and
attractions. All this came after Monday’s official ribbon cutting
attended by about 200 company and community officials. Upon cutting
the ribbon in front of the Grand Lobby’s massive stone fireplace,
the gathering engaged in a champagne toast “to July traffic
year-round,” Lund said.
That must have been good champagne. The lodge, opened in time for
Michigan’s spring break traffic, already is booked solid for
the next three weeks, Lund said.
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Tizona
cuts through the Terra Mitica sky like El Cid's legendary sword.
Photo courtesy of Terra Mitica a Paramount Park.
It’s
a roller coaster!
Terra Mitica a Paramount Park in Benidorm, Alicante, Spain, announces
the arrival of Tizona, March 15, 2003. Measurements: 688.8
meters long (2,260 feet), 32 meters high (105 feet), 100 km/h (62
mph), 17,650-square-meter (189,983-square-foot) footprint, 20-passenger
trains. Delivered by Vekoma.
Terra Mitica’s marketing team found the perfect forum for promoting
its newest thrill: “Mortadelo y Filemón,” a popular
Spanish cartoon. In a recent episode the characters searched Terra
Mitica for the park’s new ride, a show that included footage
supplied by the park of the looping inverted coaster.
Among the “characters” on the ride was Miguel García,
the park’s international sales manager. “They knew when
they needed people to ride a coaster for a long time, they could
ask me,” said the avowed coaster enthusiast. He ended up riding
six straight hours for still and video cameras; on a coaster with
seven inversions, that’s a hardy effort.
García knew from that experience, however, that Tizona,
the park's third coaster but the first steel one with inversions,
would be a hit for Terra Mitica’s guests. "Tizona"
was the name of the sword used by Spain’s legendary hero, El
Cid Campeador, and the coaster got its name by replicating the maneuvers
that weapon would make in battle, swooping up, down, over and around.
“We’re not used to inverted coasters here, so it’s
a new type of coaster for this area,” García said. The
coaster’s first dive in fact swoops down toward the queue area.
Keeping true to Terra Mitica’s emphasis on authentic theming,
Tizona’s station house appears as an ancient Spanish
fortress, historically replicated down to the coat of arms. The
coaster itself is royally presented with a yellow track on purple
supports and red trains.
The official first ride came at a media event on the day before
the season’s Saturday opening day. The park’s General
Manager John Fitzgerald and Commercial Director Elizabeth Williams
christened the coaster along with members of the media. Under sunny
skies but breezy temperatures the next morning, guests sprinted
from the front gates all the way across the park to the Iberia section
where Tizona is located. “We had something like 50 people
waiting before the park opened, and they ran, ran, ran to the end
of the park to be the first to ride it,” García said.
“There was huge expectation for the first days, and everybody
wanted to ride it.” Anticipating the long lines, the park gave
its season pass holders the privilege of moving to the front of
the queue for Tizona.
The coaster helped the park kick off its new identity as a Paramount
Park, a fact now promoted via the park’s name itself. With
the coaster’s bright colors and castle context—not to
mention the facial expressions of riders like García—images
of Tizona have dominated the park’s television and media
advertising and adorn billboards in the region. “It’s
really working well for the start of the season,” García
said.
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It’s
food and games!
Joyland Amusement Park in Lubbock Texas announces the arrival of
Jimmy’s Place, March 15, 2003. Measurements: 450-square-foot
(41.8-square-meter) food service area, 600-square-foot (55.7-square-meter)
games area with two games. Delivered by Bones Framed Pictures, Classic
Creations, Coca Cola, Tony’s Pizza and Toy Works.
Joyland opened the 2003 season March 15 with its “best start
yet,” said President David Dean. While he was glad to have
his new capital improvement, a new foods and games area on the midway,
up and operating by opening day he does not credit it for drawing
the record crowds. “The weather had a lot to do with that,
and we weren’t at war yet,” he said of the 80 degree Fahrenheit
(27 degrees Celsius) opening weekend. “You can have spots on
the 10 o’clock news every night, and it won’t do as good
as 80 degrees.”
The new food stand serves pizza, nachos, chips, Coke drinks, ice
cream bars, brownies, cookies and cotton candy. A seating area adjoins
the stand, but the park is still building a shade for the seating.
Frog Bog and a muffin tin game comprise the new games area, with
the former performing “really great,” Dean said. “We’re
still working on the prizes, trying to get that tuned in, giving
away the right prize at the right price.”
Jimmy’s is named after David’s dad, a nomenclature the
younger Dean chose more for interdictory reasons than tribute. “About
15 years ago we opened another food and games area and we served
lemonade. It was Thelma’s brand lemonade. We only had that
brand for one year, but the name ‘Thelma’ always stuck.
So we said, ‘Let’s give this place a name that would make
some sense,’ so we named it after my dad because he liked pizza.”
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West
Edmonton Mall bowled over patrons with its latest makeover. Photo
courtesy of West Edmonton Mall.
It’s
a waterslide!
West Edmonton Mall’s World Waterpark in Edmonton, Canada, announces
the arrival of Tropical Typhoon, February 14, 2003. Measurements:
10.12 meters high (33 feet), 20-meter-long (65 1/2-foot-long) slide,
six-meter diameter (19 1/2 feet) on the inside of the bowl and 8.4-meter
diameter (27 1/2 feet) on the outside curve. Delivered by Van Egdom.
West
Edmonton Mall did not schedule any fanfare for the opening of the
latest installation in an ongoing $1.2 million makeover of its 18-year-old
waterpark, even though the big blue Tropical Typhoon is now
the park’s eye-catching centerpiece. Turns out the park got
something of a media boost anyway. Just a week before the opening,
a certain romance-based reality show on television featured a bowl
slide at another waterpark. “Hey, free publicity,” said
Kevin Hanson, the mall’s operations manager. “It didn’t
hurt my feelings a bit.”
Tropical Typhoon opened on a cold Valentine’s Day, with
the outdoors thermometer hitting minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus
4 Fahrenheit). “It was 30 degrees Celsius where we were,”
said Hanson, who spent the day inside the 86 degree Fahrenheit waterpark
watching reaction to his new slide. “From the minute it opened
there was a constant line for the whole day.” Since then, “It’s
been lined up throughout all the busy days. It’s obvious that
it’s the busiest slide.”
West Edmonton Mall’s waterpark “in the last few years
was getting tired,” Hanson said, so the mall has undertaken
several changes. All the fiberglass slides are being resurfaced,
some of the slides have been revised with new effects, and others
are being replaced. Tropical Typhoon, Western Canada’s
first bowl slide replaced Cannonball Run, an enclosed slide with
a free-fall drop into the pool. Typhoon in fact uses the
same pool for its splash down pool. This summer should see the opening
of a renovated Raging Rapids tube river slide on which Van
Egdom is adding an enclosed runout featuring strobe lights.
While much of the makeover is intended to integrate more family
activities into the park's offerings, the mall wanted to keep thrills
in the mix and chose the bowl slide for both its popularity and
visual appeal. Tropical Typhoon is located near several viewing
platforms where people can look down into the bowl. “It’s
a big thing not only for the riders but the people watching it,”
Hanson said.
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