Archive: May, 2008

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

• Holiday World starts serving allergy sensitive food. Apparently more people do have food allergies than they used to, but why? What's the medical reason for that? Gonch shares a "when we were kids" story.
• Toy Story Mania coming together and passholders got a sneak peak at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Jeff just wants to see the Mr. Potato Head pull his ear off.
• It looks like Cedar Fair is going to let go of the Star Trek Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton. Science fiction stuff like Star Wars and Star Trek surprisingly doesn't have a strong presence in theme parks. Somehow we drifted off to Lego.
• Orlando rides open with a phased approach, which is so different from the way the seasonal parks must get them open on time.
• Ed Markey enlists the Lassiter family to again promote his latest safety bill. This one, like all of the previous incarnations, doesn't make the rides any safer. The CPSC has jurisdiction over portable rides, and still a Yo-Yo recently collapsed and hurt a bunch of people.
• While the issue around the Kentucky Kingdom accident is emotionally charged, this legislation won't change anything, nor would it have prevented this particular accident.
• Minnesota tourist attractions join forces to market themselves. Makes sense in an economy where long-distance tourism may be on the decline.
• Dark Knight coaster opens in New Jersey to mixed reviews. Who doesn't love those mouse rides?
• Kennywood Entertainment sale to close by end of the month. It's too early to be skeptical.
• PointBuzz has photos and videos from Planet Snoopy opening.

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

• ComputerWorld ran a nice Q&A with Six Flags' CIO.
• Results week... Cedar Fair and Six Flags are up over last year because of the shift of the holiday. Too small of an attendance count in the context of the year to take much from it.
• Legoland the latest to sign up for Dubailand. Is this thing really going to be able to support all of this development? Of course, if the US Dollar comes back (hold your laughter), perhaps the Europeans will abandon Orlando.
• Disney blows everyone away with $2.7 billion in revenue in one quarter... just at the theme parks. Just take yourself out of the experience for a couple of minutes and look around at all of the money.
• Disney is such a machine, and yet people don't generally feel dirty handing over their cash to the mouse.
• Fat sea lions get transplanted from the Columbia River to SeaWorld Orlando and San Antonio.
• Wild West World sold for a tiny $2 million to a fair operator. Not sure what's left there beyond the land and buildings.
• Gonch runs down the perks for Discovery Cove, running nearly $600 for two people. Ouch. But hey, you get to swim the dolphins.
• What's the deal with the food at Cedar Fair parks? It's expensive and it sucks. How can parks that get ride operations so right do food so wrong? Get ready... this is a very long rant!
• Jeff talks about his experience at Cedar Point while Gonch talks about Kings Island..

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

• Gonch has a Wii problem, and it's called Mario Kart. Jeff isn't doing much better.
• Branson does what it does best: Branson. Jeff sucks at making it to new places unless it's on the way to another destination.
• Kings Island safety isn't anything new, but a Cincy TV station wants to make sure you know they inspect stuff.
• You can eat the flatware at Busch parks. OK, maybe not, but it is biodegradable. The company makes beer, so of course everything they do is a "good corporate citizen" PR effort to some degree. Jeff recalls his first exposure to Busch as the owner of theme parks.
• Behemoth opens at Canada's Wonderland, and the trains aren't that complicated, they're just two-row cars with a lot of space between the back seats. The design lends itself to different airtime sensations compared to the other B&M hypers.
• The Simpsons Ride opens at Universal Studios Florida. Good reviews so far. One of many changes abound at Universal Orlando, including serious construction at Islands of Adventure. Ever notice that Lost Continent basically has three themes?
• Cedar Fair tries to get its daily and season pass mix right, after screwing it up in the acquired Paramount Parks. How do you just change things while ignoring what the market expects?
• Morons try to steal some coaster track.
• The last Wild West World story: Time line paints former park owner as a total ego-driven moron with no business plan. The people who lent him money aren't much better.
• Paula already posted the flyer for the Fall Affair at Holiday World, on the official Holiday World club page.