Archive: March, 2008

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

• New owners for the Wild West World land, for another park? Is it viable?
• NCB comes a callin' to Conneaut Lake. Jeff says the CCI bankruptcy is finally nearly complete.
• Gilroy Gardens is now owned by Gilroy. Government retention of park land is pretty common, and this sounds like a good plan to keep it from being more condos some day.
• Six Flags wants to put its brand in Dubai too. Mike wonders if it hasn't been tainted by their previous efforts in Europe. Did they tarnish the name by poor operations there?
• Six Flags posts its balance sheet for 2007. It's not a huge improvement, but it hasn't gone in a negative direction either.
• New area for Busch Gardens Europe, reader comes from nowhere and suggest it's a Sesame Street play area.
• Kentucky pushing through reactionary legislation to create minimum age to operate rides. It's a feel-good bill that doesn't make anything safer.
• Two new GM's at Holiday World with Will Koch still at the top.
• Hard Rock Park is giving tours of the park in progress.
• Jeff saw a demo in Vegas of Hard Rock's memorabilia site. Check it out. He also saw the NBC Olympics video site. Totally amazing.
• Jeff was a little disappointed with the service at The Venetian on his trip.
• Mike asked if Jeff went to Stratosphere, and he doesn't care to visit that end of the strip. Still hasn't been to Circus Circus either.
• Ballmer did "Web developers" at Mix!
• What is it with the exclusive club culture in Vegas? Who cares? Mike used to be a club rat.

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

• Dubailand banking on higher per cap spending and more hotel rooms. Busch announces they're building a big park in Dubai as well. Is the tourism industry really going to bank the way the developers are expecting?
• New water park resort next to Six Flags Great America opens under the watch of Famous Dave's founder. He's about the "adult forward" mode, giving the grown ups something to do.
• Orlando Sentinel profiles the marketing efforts of Siemens at Epcot. It's fun to draw comparison to the marketing deals that Six Flags does.
• Gonch is finally taking the family to Disney World in the fall. It's expensive as hell, but we agree you get what you pay for.
• The Country Bear Jamboree is a little dirty. Tweaks to Haunted Mansion are very cool. Jeff had a video girlfriend on Spaceship Earth.
• Six Flags Magic Mountain will open a museum, organization of which is being handled by a college kid.
• Dick Clark Productions president will answer to Shapiro at Six Flags.
• Family of Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom accident victim roll with the injury and make the best of it. Horrible thing for all of them to go through.
• CoasterImage.com celebrates a birthday, Gonch is all aglow.
• The landscape for Web sites made by coaster nerds has changed so drastically. Where have they all gone?
• Disney dorks, and to a degree coaster enthusiasts, tend to be so close to things that they lose touch, if that makes sense.
• Sponge Bob ride testing at the Mall of America, and it's very quiet.
• Jeff's going to a conference in Las Vegas. Ballmer chants "developers" and here's the remix.