Archive: April, 2007

Jeff, Mike and Pat review this week's news in the amusement industry.

• X-Flight reborn as Firehawk at Kings Island. Weird!
• The Ohio parks are connected in terms of how they scan season passes. Six Flags is doing some clever things with season passes as well.
• The rumor about Harry Potter coming to Islands of Adventure keeps getting stronger. What would it mean for the park?
• Conneaut Lake is still not getting any help. They're trying to raise money by selling old tokens.
• The Simpsons are replacing Back to The Future at the Universal Studios parks. We hope they're going to replace the motion base.
• Mike clears up any confusion about what a churro is.
• Dorney wants to build a "LIM coaster" that we assume is Geauga Lake's Steel Venom. Dorney is sweet.
• Anaheim mayor sides with Disney over the low-cost housing. Mike tells us how Chicago handles the issue of affordable housing.
• Euro Disney still losing money, but less than before.
• A big conversation ensues about big corporations versus small business. Mike loves himself some Target, and we hate Wal-Mart.
• Don't forget that the deadline is approaching for Chocolate Buzz. Register today!

Jeff and Pat review this week's news in the amusement industry.

• The Cedar Fair Maxx passes are a little different from one place to the next.
• Six Flags Great Adventure wants the legal backing for its smoking ban.
• Gonch wouldn't take the Paula challenge. Oh, and The Voyage scares you silly.
• Conneaut Lake gets a band-aid with some debt relief, but Jeff and Pat firmly believe that the debt issue was only one of many problems for the park.
• Six Flags probably has to spend some money to make money in the long run, just in different places than giant rides.
• Shapiro didn't get a bonus, and we're not going to concede that being a chief executive is easy, especially when you have to come in and fix things.
• As the Six Flags parks open, we can see now that many of the marketing agreements are in place. Wiiiiiiiii!
• Cedar Fair refuses to pay for a bus route to Kings Island, so they got local government to pick up two-thirds of the cost. Well done!
• We're excited about Maverick. Less than three weeks to go!
• We've got a round-up of events coming soon. We'd love to see you at Chocolate Buzz, The Fall Affair and BooBuzz!

Jeff, Mike and Pat review this week's news in the amusement industry.

• Holiday World is a best value. Duh.
• This week on the Conneaut Lake Show: No zoning changes for you!
• Alton Towers gets its appeal in terms of the noise restrictions.
• Still more protests over the redevelopment of Astroland.
• Mt. Olympus is an interesting case study in the development of an amusement park. Mike says they have Mario Kart tracks.
• Kings Island sites all have new names, and they're watching the installation of Firehawk (formerly known as X-Flight).
• Sell and lease... the trendy way to infuse capital into your park!
• Michigan's Adventure named best attraction in the state. Jeff strongly agrees that it's a nice park.
• What is the HR crisis facing amusement parks? Why do they have to go overseas to fill the spots?
• The free soda challenge: Value is about perception, not science. Gonch just doesn't get it.