Volume 1, No. 18. October 5, 2001
[Photo of Terra Mitica's Miguel Navarro and Luis Esteban with Paramount Park's Jane Cooper and Johnny Taylor.]
Paramount's world view
Paramount Parks has been itching
to get into the European market for awhile, but the Viacom company did not want
to dive into an economic quagmire in the process. When Paramount Park's CEO
Jane Cooper finally sealed the deal Tuesday to take over management of Terra
Mitica in Benidorm, Spain, after a summer of negotiations, Paramount Parks immediately
made itself a major player in Europe while apparently protecting its own financial
footing.
Terra Mitica opened July 31, 2000, to immediate accolades as one of the most
beautiful amusement parks in the world. Costing about 70 billion pesetas (US$360
million) to build and extensively themed in minutia detail depicting the five
classical civilizations of the Mediterranean, the 245-acre park sits on a mountainside
above the seaside resort city of Benidorm. Though it drew almost 3 million guests
in its first year, Terra Mitica still performed below its potential, and while
it has a couple of good rides, the product seemed to be underperforming from
an operational standpoint, too.
"The park has a good reputation because it's gorgeous," said Lamberto Fresnillo,
the secretary of the Association of Spanish Parks and Attractions, of which
Terra Mitica is a member. "They have all the conditions to be one of the most
important parks in Spain and Europe: the product, the design, the rides, the
attractions, the site. But, of course, you need to operate it very well." Paramount
Parks will take over security, sales and marketing, maintenance, retail, restaurants,
human resources and training, Miguel Navarro, managing director of Terra Mitica,
said in a statement.
Paramount Parks officials would not reveal details of the management deal, but
according to Spanish newspapers the Valencian regional government, in addition
to paying Paramount an undetermined fee for operating the park, handed over
5 percent of its shares in the park for four years. If in those four years the
park turns a profit, Paramount Parks may extend the contract another four years
and increase its shares to 15 percent.
Under an experienced hand, the park should turn a profit. Aside from Spain's
40 million residents, including a huge middle class, the country draws 42 million
tourists every year, and Benidorm is a hot spot especially for British, German
and Northern European holidaymakers. "It has everything that is necessary for
a theme park to succeed; at least on paper," Fresnillo said: "Site, sun, infrastructure,
airport, you can operate 11 months a year, tourists. It's amazing there. The
destination right now is not the park, it's Benidorm." The challenge for Paramount
Parks is to tap into that market more thoroughly than Terra Mitica had done
in its inaugural year. "This is a personal opinion, but to be able to sell the
tickets they have to be able to sell the park to tourists, whether at the destination
or as part of a tour package," Fresnillo said.
Which is precisely why Paramount Parks picked such a gem to make its entree
into Europe: though located in Spain, Terra Mitica could easily draw from as
far away as Scandinavia. If the park's ride package and operations ever equaled
its theming, Terra Mitica could be the world's benchmark theme park.
Meanwhile, Europe is getting yet another American operator in its amusement
park market. "I don't think there is happiness or unhappiness," Fresnillo said
of Spain getting its third U.S. operator, with Universal's ownership of Port
Aventura in Tarragona and Six Flags opening a Warner Brothers Movie World near
Madrid next spring. "I have to say the general impression is that it's good
news that some expert is coming here. (Paramount Parks) is a well-known operator,
and I think people expect success."
Fellowship
of foes
The fiercest of competitors are also the steadfastest of colleagues in the amusement
industry. Nowhere is that more evident than with the Northern California Attractions
Association, which rushed to the aid of member Bonfante Gardens when the Gilroy,
California, theme park shut down its season early last month because of financial
difficulty.
"We support our brother attractions," said the association's president Rodney
Fong, vice president of the Wax Museum at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco.
Bonfante's closing left its season ticket holders out in the cold, so eight
of the other nine member attractions offered those pass holders special deals
at their properties. Six Flags Marine World in Vallejo will give pass holders
free admission for the rest of its season, the Wax Museum and the National Steinbeck
Center are offering free admission through the rest of the year, and Santa Cruz
Beach Boardwalk is providing unlimited rides. Paramount's Great America in Santa
Clara, Roaring Camp Railroads and Big Trees in Felton, Winchester Mystery House
in San Jose and Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey are offering discounted admissions.
"We're just helping (Bonfante) out, and we're keeping that visitor in northern
California," Fong said. "Plus we all get an opportunity to expose our attractions
to some of their guests."
The association formed 15 years ago, and while some members have left and re-joined,
none have shuttered before now. Along with sharing the cost of advertising in
national and regional media, the association maintains a scholarship fund for
students attending travel and tourism academies. The members also have formed
what Fong called "a little bit of a fraternity, a group of friends" that shares
concerns, insights and business barometers.
"From big attractions to smaller guys like Winchester and Big Trees, it's a
good mix of people," Fong said. "We all realize we're fierce competitors, but
our job is to get people into northern California. Then we fight over them once
they get here."
For more information on the association, visit their web site at www.sfbayfun.com.
[Photo of Disney-MGM Studios' Sorcerer's Hat icon.]
Prevailing Memories
Monday was supposed to be the national
kick-off of the "100 Years of Magic" celebration at Walt Disney World
in Florida honoring the 100th birthday of founder Walt Disney. However, given
current nationwide circumstances in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks,
Disney officials decided to postpone the national media launch until December
5, Walt Disney's actual birthday.
Still, the 15-month-long celebration did inaugurate Monday, with new parades at each of the four major Disney World theme parks, new topical shows, new souvenirs and a new icon for Disney-MGM Studios, a 12-story Sorcerer's Hat, the kind Mickey Mouse wore in "Fantasia." The company also installed 10 trivia game computer kiosks in each park. The touchscreen units, called "Discover the stories behind the magic kiosks," offer 10 questions covering topics that tie into each kiosk's particular location.
The company's cast members also gost their own personalized memento of the celebration with new nametags that include a personal magical memory of a Disney experience engraved on the badge in place of the employee's hometown. Cast members choose one of 100 different memories, ranging from "Magic Kingdom" to "Mickey Mouse Watch" and "Disney Lunch Box." Imagineer Roger Holzberg, for example, picked "64 World's Fair" for his nametag because that exhibition is where he first saw the animatronic Abe Lincoln, a moment that inspired him to become a Disney Imagineer.
"It's another way to interact with guests," said Walt Disney World Public Relations Representative Michelle Baumman. "Instead of having the hometown you can have these memories you can talk about with guests, and they can tell you theirs." Baumman's new nametag bears "Winnie the Pooh," the first stuffed Disney character she owned as a child. "I kept it for a very long time, and it's still my favorite stuffed animal, and now it's my daughter's favorite."
Pride ride
The terrorist attacks on September
11 continue to impact the amusement industry across the United States, but the
stories are now turning more positive.
Last weekend Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania, opened to the public under a special promotion called "Ride for Relief," raising more than $200,000 for The September 11 Fund established by the United Way and the New York Community Trust. The day was originally booked for a private party, but when the group, who wanted to remain anonymous, suggested that Hersheypark open to the general public, as well, park officials came up with the Ride for Relief idea. At the same time, the local NBC affiliate approached the park about a similar project, and the synergy allowed the promotion to come together in only two weeks' time. Though marketing only locally, the event drew 16,000 patrons, and the park ran out of commemorative pins by 5 p.m. (17,00).
Guests were encouraged to wear red, white and blue, and most did, said Chris Barrett, Hersheypark's managing director of sales and marketing. "We had a lot of radio and TV out here, and everybody they interviewed said how proud they were to be here and wanted to help. The lion's share of people came to show their patriotism and do something for the cause." Barrett also said several employees donated their day's wages to the fund.
[Photo of SeaWorld's American Hero passes.]
The Busch Entertainment parks—SeaWorlds and Busch Gardens—are offering free admission to all police officers, firefighters and emergency medical workers through the end of the year. LEGOLand California in Carlsbad is giving active military and public safety personnel discounts to its park October 13-21.
Whalom's
woes
The family that has owned Whalom
Park in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, for 66 years and hopes to get the amusement
park opened next summer after remaining dark for all of the 2001 season won
an ally last week. Historic Massachusetts, an advocacy group for historic preservation
in the state, listed Whalom on its ninth annual Massachusetts' Ten Most Endangered
Historic Resources List. That register includes historical and cultural landmarks
threatened by neglect, insensitive public policy, vandalism, inappropriate development
or insufficient funding.
Those last two items apply to Whalom. The Bowen family, who own only 41 percent
of the Whalom Park Amusement Company shares, have been unable to convince the
other shareholders to sell their stakes to amusement operators rather than real
estate developers.
"We have good backing as far as private investors who want to get involved in
the amusement industry, or specifically in our park," said Allyson Bowen, whose
grandfather, Henry G. Bowen, bought the 1893 trolley park from the Fitchburg
and Leominster Street Railway Company in 1935. "Currently our offer to the other
stockholders is the best one on the table, and it has been since it was made
in the spring. But we are running up against obstacles buying out the other
stockholders." Bowen said she does not know why other stockholders—none
of whom hold a majority share in the company—are balking. "If I knew what
the obstacle was, I would try to get around it."
The 35-acre park has 30 rides, including a 1939 wooden roller coaster, two flume
water slides and several classic flat rides, including a tumblebug and flying
scooter. Also on the property is a carousel with Loof carvings dating to the
late 19th century and a Mangels mechanism circa 1912. Allyson Bowen is director
of the Whalom Park Carousel Association which won an IAAPA award last year for
its efforts at saving the carousel from destruction. Even if the park as a whole
doesn't reopen, the carousel is safe, Bowen said. "The three towns that make
up the tri-town area (Lunenburg, Fitchburg and Leominster) all want it. There's
going to be no lack for a home for the carousel. But our first choice is to
keep it on the midway."
Bowen cites poor management of the park the past five years as what "basically
set the company back," but she remains optimistic that Whalom, which historically
pulled in annual attendance of 200,000 to 250,000, can be a money-making enterprise,
especially with its authentic nostalgic setting and equipment. "Whalom is different
from other parks in the fact it has retained its history," she said. "It has
a feel of an amusement park that my parents and my grandparents would have gone
too." She also points to the park's location 45 minutes outside of Boston and
the surrounding 11 million-residents population. "With proper management and
proper marketing, I think we can really find a niche within the New England
amusement industry."
Even if the park reopens, it will have to overcome the stigma of being closed
all of 2001. Aside from cosmetic and mechanical renovations to get the grounds
and equipment suitable for public use, the park would have to spend money simply
advertising its survival. "It will be an uphill battle to get the people back,"
Bowen admitted. The ability to do that, and to even obtain a majority of shares
in the company, rests on the park's convincing the local population and its
own ownership what a historical treasure it is.
"There's a double-edged sword in preservation," Bowen says. "It's only when
people see things being lost that they decide to actually save those that remain.
It takes being the last of your kind to make people stop and notice you and
make historic preservation profitable."
[Photo of Chelsea shortly after her birth.]
At least it wasn't in a
taxi
No drill had prepared the Jacksonville
Zoo staff for handling the developing situation, particularly concerning issues
of the public's need to know. “We acted on whim,” said Angie B. Lindsey,
manager of marketing and communications of the Florida institution. “We
just knew there was a need to get out there and explain what was going on to
the public.” The zoo's education director, Kelli Whitney, quickly gathered
the necessary information, imparted a quick lesson to the volunteers and sent
them out as troops into the crowd of some 150 people who had gathered around
the giraffe and zebra enclosure. There one giraffe had an extra set of hoofs
sticking out from her belly.
The births of two giraffes in one month—the first giraffe births at the Jacksonville Zoo since 1989—was news enough, but the second birth occurred on public display. “Usually they happen at night," Lindsey said. “The keepers walk in in the morning and there's a baby.” That was true of the September 7 birth of the as-yet-unnamed daughter of E.T. (Extra Tall, who herself is a 19-year-old Jacksonville Zoo native) and Sterling, a 5-year-old brought to Jacksonville in 1998. The baby was to go on public display September 28, but two days before her debut she was upstaged by the dramatic arrival of her half-sister, Chelsea.
Six-year-old Zawadi, also impregnated by Sterling, went into labor at 10:30 in the morning. After her water broke and the baby's feet appeared, keepers moved her to a private yard, though it was still in public view. “We had several school groups in the park that particular day,” Lindsey said. “The giraffes are in an enclosure ysou can see from three different locations, and at every one you couldn't get through the pack of people.” Quickly on hand were the education volunteers, explaining the feet- and head-first sequence of giraffe birthing and the infant's 6-foot plunge to the ground from the standing mother. The volunteers also fielded questions, but as always there's nothing quite so precious as parental involvement in a child's education. “This little boy saw the feet sticking out and said, ‘That looks like it hurts,’” Lindsey said. “And his mom looked down at him and said, ‘It does.’”
Chelsea was named after The Pride of Chelsea, the nickname for a New York City Fire Department Unit that lost five members during rescue operations at the World Trade Center September 11.
Return
visits
Miniature parks around the world (LOOP,
June 29, 2001) formally organized a new association at their meeting
last month in Rimini, Italy. Called the International Association of Miniature
Parks, the association has 20 members and appointed four officers: Rudi Rasschaert
of Mini-Europe in Brussels, Belgium, as president; E.M. Bierens of Madurodam
in The Hague, The Netherlands, as chairman of the Public Relations and Promotion
Committee; Diethard Humer of Minimindus in Klagenfurt, Austria, as chairman
of the Membership Committee; and Paolo Rambaldi of Italia in Miniatura in Rimini
as chairman of the Product Committee.
IAMP also put up their own web site, www.go.to/miniatureparks.
Here are the other founding members in addition to those listed above (to visit their web sites, you can find some of these parks on our Connections page):
Cockington Green in
Nicholls Act, Australia;
Miniature World in Victoria, Canada;
Pueblochico in the Canary Islands;
Miniaturpark Klein-Erzgebirge in Oederan, Germany
Modellpark Berlin in Germany;
Mini-a-thur in Ruhla, Germany;
Freizeit und Miniaturpark Allgau in Weitnau, Germany;
Rugen Park in Gingst, Germany;
Bekonscot Model Village in Beaconsfield, England;
France Miniature in Saint Quentin en Yvelines, France;
Parcs des Mini Chateaux/Groupe Durand-Allizé in France;
Mini Israel in Shimshon, Israel;
Sardegna in Miniatura in Barumini, Italy;
Miniatuurpark Appelscha in Norden, The Netherlands;
Catalunya en Miniatura in Barcelona, Spain;
Swissminiatur SA in Melide, Switzerland.
Drawing
water
Holiday World only has two roller coasters, but thanks to a concerted and clever
marketing push—and the fact those two wood coasters, The Raven and
The Legend, have earned Top Five status on many rankings—the Santa
Claus, Indiana, park has, over the past couple of years, become something of
a coaster mecca for enthusiasts and television producers. So, when it came time
to beef up the offerings in Holiday World's waterpark, Splashin' Safari, you
could bet that roller coastering would somehow be involved.
Yesterday, Will Koch, president and general manager of Holiday World, climbed
aboard a track-hoe to break ground on ZOOMbabwe, a 102 foot-tall, 887-foot-long
(31 and 269 meters) enclosed family raft slide from ProSlide Technology. "It's
taller than The Raven," Koch pointed out, then noted, "I think we are
going to be comparing it to our roller coaster experiences a lot. It's kind
of like the roller coaster of the waterpark: the nice curves, the nice drop
sections. It's a family ride but also a high-thrill ride."
Not that he's expecting the new ride to make as big a splash on coaster enthusiasts'
internet sites as have The Raven and The Legend. With this $1.7
million investment—the largest expansion in Splashin' Safari history—Koch
is ssmore concerned with improving Splashin' Safari's capacity and continuing
steady attendance growth. "We don't expect it to appeal to the coaster enthusiasts
as a new coaster would, but we are hoping the general public will see it in
the same magnitude as a roller coaster for the waterpark."
Even Koch may be underestimating the enthusiasts. To ride ZOOMbabwe,
guests will pass underneath The Legend, and the tower to the new water
slide will offer great views of the coaster. ZOOMbabwe also interacts
with The Legend, at one point passing just 8 feet (2.5 meter) over the
coaster's track, providing a new scrunch element for the woodie.
Still, while the enthusiasts will effectively have a new Legend to visit,
and the Kochs have forged a strong bond with coaster fans, Will is glad to be
"talking waterpark again," he said. "It's been since 1998 that we did anything
in the waterpark, and this will enable us to move the focus back to Splashin'
Safari again. Not that it's bad talking about new roller coasters, but it's
time to do something else."
Abridged
season
The world was still reeling from the shock of the September 11 terrorist attacks
when, four days later another major tragedy struck closer to home for Schlitterbahn
Beach on South Padre Island, Texas. The park's receptionist, Jackie McClendon,
lost her daughter Chelsa Welch and son-in-law "Harpoon" Barry Welch when they
were driving across the causeway linking the island with Port Isabel just as
a barge rammed into one of the bridge's supports. As the highway collapsed into
the bay, several cars plunged into the water, among them the Welches, who left
behind a 2-year-old son. They were among eight people killed in the 2 a.m. (0200)
incident.
The bridge collapse also put a sudden halt to all commercial activity on South
Padre Island, whose only link to the mainland is that causeway. The NBGS-owned
Schlitterbahn Beach shut that Saturday because few employees could make it to
the park. On Sunday, after consulting with other island leaders and facing the
logistical problem of getting chemicals to the park when no tanker truck could
get across the Intercoastal Waterway, NBGS CEO and Schlitterbahn Beach General
Manager Jeff Henry shut the park down for the rest of the year. The move wiped
out 14 operating days in the weekend-only shoulder season. "It's like a long
hurricane hitting you," said Public Relations Director Sherrie Brammel. about
130 seasonal employees were laid off, and the full-time staff, after winterizing
the park, were shifted to NBGS and Schlitterbahn in New Braunfells, Texas.
It was a dour ending to the NBGS showcase park's inaugural season (LOOP,
June 1, 2001), which had been a creative and operational success for
the company. "This was so much bigger than Schlitterbahn; it's impacting the
entire island," Brammel said. "All the fast food restaurants have closed down
because there's no people and they can't get supplies." Authorities say the
bridge should be repaired by the first of the year and NBGS hopes to sreopen
Schlitterbahn Beach as planned for spring break next March.
Slip-slidin'
success
Most
waterparks throughout North America reported increased attendance during the
2001 season, but one, Camelbeach in Tannersville, Pennsylvania, not only saw
a stellar year but could measure the park's success against a singular barometer:
it's own 38-year-old ski business.
The Camelback Ski Corporation expanded it's sparse summer offerings (a swimming
pool, small set of body slides and a dry alpine slide) in 1998 with a tube water
slide complex, lazy river and interactive kiddie area. The company annually
added to the waterpark, climaxing this year with the 31,000-square-foot (9,394-square-meter)
Kahuna Lagoon (LOOP,
June 29, 2001). With each addition, Camelbeach has seen attendance increases
and witnessed a 60 percent jump this year over 2000's numbers.
Such a jump the corporation never saw in the history of it's winter business.
Furthermore, the summer stats are closing in on those of winter. "I would guess
that prior to 1998, the numbers of people in attendance in summer were 16 to
18 percent, at the most, of our winter business," said Rich Wiseman, vice president
and general manager of Camelback Ski Corporation. "This last summer it was 70
percent of our winter business. So summer is gaining very rapidly."
Even more significantly, the 2000-01 winter was Camelback's best ever, said
Wiseman, who would not reveal exact attendance figures. Part of the resort's
winter upturn was perfect ski weather, but though the two clientele differ ("There's
no skill involved in going to a waterpark," Wiseman pointed out), Wiseman is
certain the rising summer traffic in 2000 also played a part in winter's good
numbers. "A lot of people that came in the summer saw what we had to offer in
the winter, and that helped us in marketing the ski side of the business." And
vice versa. This summer for the first time area resorts began booking rooms
for people specifically planning to visit Camelbeach. "That has to be carryover
from the previous year," Wiseman said.
In what may surprise many of their waterpark brethren, the Camelback corporate
folks find the summer business more resilient than their winter market, which
generally caters to weekend skiers from the New York City-Philadelphia metropolitan
corridor. "In the winter, if you have a day of rain or warm weather, skiers
stay away for a couple of days even though we have great snow-making equipment,"
Wiseman said. "In the summer, you can have a cloudy, rainy day, and the next
day it was like it never happened. We found it rewarding. I'm glad we got into
the waterpark business in 1998."
For a profile of Camelbeach Waterpark, see the October issue of Splash Magazine
(click here
for details).
New Arrivals
It's a gondola!
Adventure World in Perth, Australia,
announces the arrival of The Rampage, September 29, 2001. Measurements:
13.5 meters high (45 feet), 15.8 meters long (52 feet), 31 seats in a 10.5-meter-long
(35 feet) gondola. Delivered by Moser Rides.
Ironic that a ride shrouded in absolute secrecy up to the very moment it opened to the public should have the most unshrouded, shall we say, of media debuts. Tuesday night, four days after Rampage opened with Adventure World's season, the popular television talk show "Rove [live]" pulled together 31 riders to take a spin on The Rampage in the nude, a stunt broadcast live across the continent. "It was shot from a distance, so you couldn't see anything but a lot of white skin," said Natalie Cameron, the park's spokeswoman.
Stormy weather inadvertently continuing the shroud over the $1.8 million (US$904,000) ride on Saturday—hardly anybody showed up at the park until Monday—and the Royal Show's weeklong residency in town drew Adventure World's clientele. Consequently, the "Rove [live]" telecast gave The Rampage the exposure it deserved. "We were working against a pretty strict construction timeline, and the landscaping wasn't ready Saturday anyway, so we decided to use the 'Rove [live]' stunt as a launching," Cameron said. "And it was a good launching pad. Since Tuesday we've had a flood of radio interviews and a lot of newspaper coverage."
But still not a lot of crowds, thanks to competition from the Royal Show. What crowds do come to the park are giving The Rampage, Moser's most technically advanced version of its rotating/twisting gondola thrill ride, the longest queues, albeit only five minutes in duration, Cameron said. That is fine with the Adventure World. "It's always good for the park to have that soft opening week so the staff can get used to the operations."
It's a waterpark!
Grand Country Square in Branson,
Missouri, announces the arrival of Splash Country Indoors, September 21, 2001.
Measurements: 20,000 square feet (6,061 square meters) , 2,000-square-foot (606
meters) toddler area, 150-foot (45.5 meters) lazy river, three-story treehouse
with two tube slides, two spas holding up to 20 people each and a recreation
pool with three basketball goals. Delivered by EMPEX Watertoys, Fugleberg Koch/Group
One Entertainment, Mendota Engineering, Neuman Pools, ProSlide Technology, SCS
Interactives, Superior Foam, Turner Construction, Water Technology and West
Coast Netting.
The two little boys stood outside the door to the new indoor expansion of Grand Country Square's Splash Country waterpark. It was 9:30 a.m. (09,30) Sunday morning, two days after the park had quietly opened to guests of the Square's 319 hotel rooms. Glenn Robinson, Grand Country Square's founder and owner, came upon the boys and told them the doors would not open for another 30 minutes. "Do you mind if we wait here?" one of the boys asked. Robinson said, "Sure, you can," whereupon one of the boys said, "You have an amazing place here for kids."
That was all the dedication Robinson needed for his new installation, though he is planning an official ribbon cutting October 18 with 1,500 invited guests and local dignitaries. Of all the ventures Robinson has pursued in his retail/entertainment center, which includes restaurants, music theaters, souvenir shops and the hotel, the 1999 opening of the mine-themed Splash Country ranks among his favorites. He loves watching three generations of families play in the park, and his business sense further tingles at the incremental increases in booked hotel rooms and rates guests are willing to pay that the waterpark brought. "It seemed to me that in the last few years of retail we were not seeing near as many families as we used to," Robinson said. "The first summer we opened up the outdoor waterpark, we had more beautiful families than I'd ever seen in business before."
The indoor addition, which carries on the outdoor park's mine theme plus uses 55-foot tall windows to give the lazy river the feel of a real mountain river, gives the hotel a year-long water play element. In just the two weeks since its unannouced opening, Robinson has seen a noticeable increase in families with pre-school-age children visiting on weekdays. "It's amazed me."
Obviously, he has a great place there for business.
See the November issue of Amusement Today for a profile on Splash Country Indoors.
Eric’s
Turn
Troubled waters
The year has been, for the most part, a good one for waterparks in North America.
After a soggy early summer, the weather turned glorious in much of the country,
and many parks were reporting attendance increases over what was generally considered
a disastrous 2000 season (which had seen attendance top 71.2 million people,
a 4.7 percent increase over 1999, according to the World Waterpark Association).
This year's attendance boost came without much capital investment, the second
year in which fewer parks were placing orders.
That last point is the prevailing concern as the waterpark industry gathers
at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, next week. The terrorist
attacks of September 11 have thrown even more consternation at the industry
convocation, even prompting the agent for Olympic athletes Mark Ruiz and Brook
Bennett to temporarily cancel their promised and promoted appearances at the
show (as of this posting, the athletes do plan to be at the show, but will not
post scheduled booth appearances). Though the WWA board and staff has marshalled
an impressive letter-writing campaign to encourage members to attend in spite
of current travel restrictions and trepidations, the trade show was already
facing an uphill battle for attendance by it's choice of venue. Orlando is a
prime draw in most years, but in a year when the IAAPA Trade Show had already
scheduled for the same convention center just a month hence, many operators
were opting out of two trips to central Florida.
Such issues are magnified in a year when the show needs to succeed to boost
the association's viability and, more importantly, the industry itself needs
to rebound from the sluggish sales and downsizing suppliers of the past year.
The WWA is doing its best to bolster the efforts of the 180 companies listed
to exhibit. On Friday, the WWA will be drawing for cash prizes totalling $2,000.
Attendees can register at Booth 657, and prizes will be awarded beginning at
12:30 p.m. (12,30) and thereafter every half hour to 3:30 p.m. (15,30), the
amounts rising from $100 per drawing to $400. "It will pay to stay!" is the
slogan of this promotion.
Despite the troubling waters beneath the surface, this edition of the WWA Convention
and Trade Show promises to be a special one. The opening general session at
11 a.m. Thursday will include a dedication to the association's founder, Al
Turner, who died in April. The beach party that evening at Walt Disney World's
Typhoon Lagoon will include a special toast to Turner, as well. Anybody who
has attended a WWA knows that this group will get into the party spirit, even
in memorium to their long-time leader. Next week's show also will be the membership's
introduction to new President and CEO Rick Root.
WWA Conventions often schedule no-holds-barred seminars, from water quality
issues to emergency response training. This year's course work includes Tina
Bruno, new executive director of Time to Learn, who will present the seminar
"Is the August Creep Hurting Your Business?" at 1 p.m. (13,00) Wednesday. With
her successful organization of a grass-roots campaign to roll back the school
calendar in Texas (LOOP
June 1, 2001), Bruno's tips on marshalling resources in your locality
to combat over-extending school administrators is must hear matter.
Even if the WWA should see low attendance next week or slow sales on the trade
show floor, too many mitigating factors will keep the show from being an accurate
barometer of either the state of the industry or the state of the association.
However, if despite the obstacles attendance and business is good, the whole
amusement industry will have much to hope for.
LOOPing to success
For those suppliers attending the IAAPA Trade Show in November, you still have
time to bolster your own chances at a successful show by promoting your presence,
your new products and your show specials in THE LOOP. Click here
for more details on our show specials, or email our advertising manager, Lynne
Mosman, at lynne@gettheloop.com.