Archive: June, 2010

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

• Will Koch's passing has brought about an outpouring of support and appreciation.
• Iger speculates that Marvel characters could appear at Disney parks, but obviously not in Orlando. We ponder what Universal's contract length might be, but it's probably in the decades.
• King Kong ride will be filmy at Universal Studios Hollywood. Jeff wishes they'd revisit the banana breath giant monkey.
• The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opens at Universal's Islands of Adventure, and the reviews are mostly positive despite enormous crowds.
• Jack Falfas did leave Cedar Fair, and Jeff got it right. The aftermath has resulted in a lot of gossip, but not any huge answers. The conversation still leads to the ultimate question: When will Dick Kinzel step aside? Carrie is cautious about what the ex-employee club has to say.
• Chang was on, then off, the agenda for Six Flags Great America. Now it sounds like it'll end up at Six Flags Great Adventure. Stand-up roller coasters still seem like a remarkably bad idea.
• Jeff wore is his recycled Dorney Demon Drop T-shirt to work, and one guy at least knew what Demon Drop was.
• Mike got a spin on Little Dipper at Six Flags Great America.
• Six Flags partners with Foursquare for prizes. Jeff hates the service and wonders why people want to advertise when they're not home.
• Kennywood's Sky Rocket is about to open, and we're pretty excited about it.
• ACE donates some cash to Connaut Lake to refurb Blue Streak. The podcast crew believes that throwing all of this cash at something that isn't sustainable seems like a waste of time and money.
• CoasterBuzz launches the CoasterBuzz 100... the top 100 roller coasters according to track record data. Complete your track record to have your voice heard!
• Give Kids The World is competing for some cash from Pepsi to do some upgrades at the village. Vote now! Coasting for Kids information will be updated this week.
• Check out the event list on the CoasterBuzz Club page. Got a ticket for Holiday World? Come to the Fall Affair for a couple of bucks extra!
• You can get the latest headlines on CoasterBuzz from the Twitter. Follow us @coasterbuzz.
• CoasterBuzz Club is $25 per year. You can join or renew today. Enjoy CoasterBuzz with no ads.

"I guess I hope that by our example, we will have shown the industry that some things are possible that maybe some folks in the industry don’t think are possible, and that by doing a park the right way, and creating great value and providing the things that people want, respecting their time, that you can make a park work, even in a place as remote as Santa Claus, Indiana." - Will Koch, recorded October 1, 2005 for CoasterBuzz Podcast #2

The CoasterBuzz Podcast celebrates the life of Will Koch, the owner of Holiday World and Splashin' Safari, who passed away last week. Will appeared at least twice on the show, and we're replaying those clips here.

• The first clip is from show #2, recorded at Holiday World live in front of an audience on October 1, 2005, at the first Fall Affair event. Will talks about the decision to build The Voyage roller coaster and what he hoped his legacy would be. Jeff, Mike, Rob and Scott co-host, photos below by Kara Dhuse, and video shot by Dave Althoff. You can download the video here.
• The second clip is from show #10, where Will announces a significant change in the construction of The Voyage. Jeff, Mike, Rob, Scott, Greg and Pat co-host.
• Of course, there is a bonus outtake, as is tradition on the show.

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

• Word on the street is that Cedar Fair COO Jack Falfas has resigned. How we heard and justified posting it, plus the gossip and the future of leadership in the company.
• Looking back at Dick Kinzel's fall from grace and differing attitudes toward him over the years. To Jeff it's not about personality as much as it is the tanking investment.
• Orca dies giving birth at SeaWorld Orlando, no comments. Jeff remembers the birth on TV of an orca at SeaWorld Cleveland. Plus giraffes. Birth is a big bloody mess regardless.
• The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opens at Universal's Islands of Adventure, on a soft opening basis at least. Reviews start to flow. Mike points out that Lost Continent was a mess of different themes prior to the Potter re-do.
• Cedar Fair has three board members re-elected, since they were uncontested. Two new appointees are made on behalf of Q Investments, and they have actual industry experience from the outside. Angry and pissed off people show up at the annual unitholders meeting.
• PointBuzz streams the Coastermania keynote live with B&M's Walter Bolliger. See the replay in high definition.
• Santa Clara voters approve 49ers stadium plan. Cedar Fair's next move for their parking lot?
• Minor aside: Mike's Mexican soccer fans and the World Cup.
• Disneyland turns 55, continuously evolves, as Walt intended. Mike talks about the differences there from Florida.
• Disney's California Adventure opens World of Color as part of its rebirth. Still strange how the park has been considered a failure by many.
• Give Kids The World is competing for some cash from Pepsi to do some upgrades at the village. Vote now!
• Check out the event list on the CoasterBuzz Club page. Got a ticket for Holiday World? Come to the Fall Affair for a couple of bucks extra!
• You can get the latest headlines on CoasterBuzz from the Twitter. Follow us @coasterbuzz.
• CoasterBuzz Club is $25 per year. You can join or renew today. Enjoy CoasterBuzz with no ads.

Jeff, Gonch and Carrie review this week's news in the amusement industry.

• Gonch spent the holiday weekend at Cedar Point, Carrie at Six Flags Great America (with Mike).
• Whacky Shack is 40 years old at Waldameer.
• Bell's Amusement Park almost had a chance to lease land near Tulsa, then they county folk decided not to make the offer for a sales tax to pay for the land. Jeff's tired of taxes and the government being absolutely evil. Carrie makes the distinction between principal and situational beliefs.
• Six Flags is doing the online social gaming thing. Jeff can't wait to block yet another application. If you're gonna waste time on the Internet, do it taunting LostKause on CoasterBuzz!
• Kentucky Kingdom may have yet another chance, but what should it really be?
• Universal Hollywood reopens its giant backlot with the help of the Governator and Steven Spielberg.
• Zamperla pulls off Luna Park in just 100 days. A minor stabbing occurs outside the park on its opening weekend. The place was really mobbed.
• Kings Island gets Googled to death, but we diffuse the reasoning to the park not having its proper domain name, and people who Google what they already know exists. A discussion about Chrome ensues.
• Merlin wines and dines tourism officials from Florida to give assurance that Legoland Florida will be superawesome.
• Security roughs up some teens with pepper spray at a Six Flags Over Texas show. Get off my lawn!
• Teens rough up an autistic kids at Idlewild. Adults just watch and let it happen.
• Give Kids The World is competing for some cash from Pepsi to do some upgrades at the village. Vote now!
• IAAPA lobbies Washington at a cost of $190,000.
• Shoot The Rapids at Cedar Point: Still not open. Only Intamin could make something not work that Arrow Dynamics did in the 70's.
• Comcast says they wouldn't shed the theme parks if they acquired NBC-Universal.
• Giant attempt at swim lesson: Not so interesting, actually.
• Check out the event list on the CoasterBuzz Club page.
• You can get the latest headlines on CoasterBuzz from the Twitter. Follow us @coasterbuzz.
• CoasterBuzz Club is $25 per year. You can join or renew today. Enjoy CoasterBuzz with no ads.