Amusement Parks

Sunday, March 07, 2010 Family Entertainments: Brushboarding Taking Off! As a father of pre-teens I am naturally considered desperately, wincingly uncool. I am not “butter”, certainly not “all that and a bag of chips” and hopelessly at sea with today’s rappity-pop stars and their portfolio of perplexing hand gesticulations. However…...View more

Tuesday, February 23, 2010 Are amusement rides part of the real property? The Feb 22 story in Crain’s New York reporting that Kentucky officials are suing bankrupt theme park operator Six Flags Inc. over ownership of rides and equipment at a shuttered amusement park in Louisville was something I expected to see after public comments made by the Kentucky State Fair Board officials and the people at Six Flags....View more

Monday, February 15, 2010 Are Farm Animal Attractions and Petting Zoos too dangerous for young children? Following a serious outbreak of E.coli 0157 in the UK, during the latter part of 2009 which saw a number of children hospitalised and several farm attractions closed, Professor Hugh Pennington, Emeritus professor of bacteriology at Aberdeen University, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that parents should "think hard" before letting children, particularly those under the age of 5, touch animals at petting farms....View more

Friday, January 22, 2010 Theme parks & resorts : Pondering safety and legal liability Over the past 2 months, I have traveled to several different cities and enjoyed the sights. My travels required me to stay several nights at various hotels and motels. And it seems to me that, given the times we live in, even with a reasonable duty of care that innkeepers legally have to their patrons obvious safety measures seemed to be lacking....View more

Wednesday, December 16, 2009 Theme Parks: Paultons Park gets approval for Cobra A separate application to retain the Cobra steel rollercoaster at Paulton's Park was approved this morning at the NPA's headquarters. The approval means the Gerstlauer customer coaster, complete with its control building, catering kiosk and photography booth, can stay in its current location and does not have to be scrapped or moved.
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Monday, December 14, 2009 Theme Parks: IAAPA Expo photos. From 17th to 20th November 2009, and for the first time in its 91 year history, the IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) Attractions Expo took place at the Las Vegas Convention Center, USA. For the first time ever, the world's biggest event in this sector was held in the capital of gambling and entertainment...
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Tuesday, November 24, 2009 Theme Parks and Cultural Attractions: Judy Rubin reports on IAAPA in Las Vegas, Part 2 From Insecticide to Coney Island, Flip books to running machines, Blooloop Editor Judy Rubin reports from the show floor at the year's biggest bash and meets an industry leader who is just not what he was..
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Friday, November 20, 2009 Amusement parks:Overheard at IAAPA, Las Vegas Seen and heard by Blooloop's Judith Rubin at the biggest annual trade event of the Themed Entertainment Industry....View more

Thursday, November 12, 2009 Attractions Business: Meet me in Las Vegas (IAAPA booth 4524) We at Blooloop want to meet you in Las Vegas during the IAAPA Attractions Expo Nov 17-20. Please stop by our booth for a chat (# 4524). Blooloop will be podcasting and blogging live from the show, so bring along some witty remarks and observations, too, and you might get interviewed or otherwise included in our coverage! We will also have our signature giveaways: some Blooloop pens (soon to be in much demand on eBay) and our genuine clotted-cream Devon fudge......View more

Thursday, October 29, 2009 Amusement Parks: Paulton's Park pickle underscores the importance of prior planning approval for new rides or attractions Business owners at times forget the control local and regional governments have over the development of their business or real property......View more

Friday, October 09, 2009 Theme Parks: Weighing in on Blackstone's purchase of the Busch parks Ever since the international beverage giant InBev acquired Busch Corp. a little over a year ago , it has been expected that InBev would spin off the parks division. Swimming rapidly through the industry is the news that the private equity firm Blackstone has stepped up......View more

Saturday, September 26, 2009 Themed Entertainment: Blue Sky Adventure at TEA's SATE Conference After a briefing and introduction from George Wiktor, Karen Armitage, Larry Tuch, Jeff Mayer, Chick Russell and Linda Smith, attendees of the 3rd annual SATE Conference (Storytelling-Architecture-Technology-Entertainment) in Orlando split up into five groups to conduct two-hour mini-charrettes......View more

Thursday, September 24, 2009 Theme Parks: Fun For Mom at Manta SeaWorld Orlando helped the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) kick off its annual SATE (Storytelling-Architecture-Technology-Experience) Conference in style last night with an industry mixer behind the scenes at the new Manta roller coaster/aquarium attraction.
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Saturday, September 19, 2009 Themed Attractions: Talking Pirates Today Why are pirates so fascinating? They just arrrrr! An old joke of course but appropriate as today is National Talk Like a Pirate Day* in the US. My little boy did all the Orlando parks and attractions last Autumn, saw Spider-man, Shamu, Mickey and a host of other magical characters......View more

Wednesday, August 19, 2009 Waterparks : Canada's biggest waterpark - renderings. Canada's biggest waterpark, Calypso theme waterpark, is set to open next June between Ottawa and Montreal. Construction is 80% complete...
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Friday, July 31, 2009 Theme Parks: Shamu Rocks I was fortunate enough to see the remarkable and award winning "Believe" production at Seaworld last November but missed "Shamu Rocks", which when the park is open late is the last show of the day. Received these stunning images and really looking forward to experiencing the show in person. Shorter and less educational than Believe, the focus is on the dazzling video, glitzy wet suits and a live rock guitarist. Oh and the whales, which are pretty impressive too......View more

Tuesday, July 28, 2009 Amusement Parks: Freestyle Hairloss. The London Bridge Experience is looking for a zombie on £30k a year . Great PR/marketing stunt very similar to the recent “Best job in the world” PR campaign run by the Queensland Tourism Authority......View more

Friday, July 10, 2009 Attractions Marketing: Twittering and 100 million Marie Celestes. Blogs are so 2008 aren’t they? Just 12 months ago it seemed like every man and his dog had their own blog. Millions of stream-of-consciousness online journals were launched and the blogosphere had developed into a virtual world where everyone and their opinion was important. It was a free for all - everyone’s opinion could be heard. The traditional media, newspaper, radio and television, was so old hat, with their so-called “experts” and their interesting, clever and well informed people......View more

Monday, June 22, 2009 Waterparks: Chemicals and Safety With all the water safety instruction supplied by such institutions as the International Association of Amusement Park and Attractions, World Waterpark Association......View more

Sunday, May 17, 2009 Amusement Parks: Going for a Thong The themed entryway into a Disney park, Universal’s Islands of Adventure, SeaWorld, Alton Towers or indeed any well-designed amusement park property contains images, signs, sounds and symbols that promise thrills and high adrenaline experiences and build a heightened sense of anticipation in the visitor. Guests at Love Land, “China's first sex theme park,” will be greeted by a pair of huge, disembodied legs...
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Thursday, April 30, 2009 Amusement Parks: Let's talk about Marty Sklar Marty Sklar has been with Disney for 53 years. Five decades. Half a century. Longer than I've been alive...
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Tuesday, March 31, 2009 Amusement Parks: Between a Rock and a Hard Rock... As a followup to the (Hard Rock Park) story, Judge Carey made a decision yesterday via a telephone conference saying that he would not finalize the sale as requested by the park's new buyers......View more

Friday, March 27, 2009 Amusement Parks: What do you mean we don’t have all the rights in the former Hard Rock Park? An interesting legal question is being discussed in the federal bankruptcy court in Delaware today. The park’s former CEO and two other founders of the park formed an entity called H.R.P. Creative Services Co., LLC in Florida......View more

Monday, March 16, 2009 Amusement Law: There’s more than bad guys lurking around the corner at a Wild West Show If you enjoy amusement parks, you have probably experienced those funny and sometimes scary Wild West Shows. Wild West themed areas in amusement parks can be found throughout the world.
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Tuesday, March 03, 2009 Amusement Parks: Not Just a Monorail Alton Towers' monorail always did what it said on the tin, took you from the hotels to the park entrance. The views are pretty, the ride smooth but it was a pretty functional experience. Not now. For this year the trains have had a makeover…...View more

Wednesday, February 25, 2009 Amusement Parks: "They Want You Back, yeh, yeh, yeh, yeh" A story that, to “the man on the Clapham omnibus”, (a quaint English expression originating from the legal profession, possibly from the same judge who had not heard of Bruce Springsteen) might seem outlandish and improbable has been in the news recently: The Badgary Historical Resort....View more

Saturday, February 21, 2009 Amusement Parks: The Economy and Regional Theme Parks. 2009. It’s the economy, stupid. Some days I feel pretty stupid because I can’t envision what effect the economy will have on us as a regional theme park......View more

Sunday, January 25, 2009 An Amusement Park? Good Night Bush - A Marketing Story An interesting piece of guerrilla marketing showed up in some industry inboxes shortly before the inauguration of President Obama. On first glance it appeared that an architectural firm was sharing an interactive site plan for a commemorative educational venue themed on the GW Bush administration......View more

Wednesday, January 14, 2009 Amusement Parks : Adding More Value at Gold Reef City Theme Park Steve Cook, CEO of Gold Reef City Theme Park & Casino in Johannesburg, reports on a successful holiday season and end of year for the complex and is pleased when a visitor thinks a ride looks "old and rusty"...
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Wednesday, December 31, 2008 A Happy New Year to all our Readers! Further to our seasonal E cards feature (I know a tree frog isn’t exactly festive but red eyes will be much in evidence come tomorrow morning), I am adding a couple of further messages......View more

Tuesday, December 23, 2008 Amusement Parks : I know What you Did Last Christmas! Saw a pantomime yesterday. Like jellied eels, stiff upper lips and fighting outside chip shops, the pantomime is a peculiarly English experience....View more

Friday, November 14, 2008 Amusement Parks: Queueing for Devon's Finest Fudge at the IAAPA Expo Queues on my mind this week. This is not just because I am English and queuing is a national pastime...
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Tuesday, October 28, 2008 The Attractions Industry Press wants to be your Marketing Partner In the age of electronic media, the industry press has a different format but its role is essentially the same as before: facilitate the exchange of information, report on trends, projects and people, and help you connect with customers....View more

Friday, October 24, 2008 Amusement Parks: Will Dubai be the new Orlando? Will Abu Dhabi be the new Dubai? Having just completed my magnum opus, an article about the UAE and factors in its growth as a leisure destination, to be published in the 2009 TEA Annual (which will be available in TEA's booth at IAAPA next month), my head is still buzzing with the topic......View more

Tuesday, October 21, 2008 Amusement Law: Legal Learning at WWA and IAAPA For those interested in legal and regulatory issues, fall is a useful time as it’s the season when some of the industry’s largest associations hold their annual conventions.
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Friday, October 10, 2008 Amusement parks: Off Season - Free, Unlimited Bon Bons Well, it’s October 9 here in Indiana. The trees are starting to turn. We have just one weekend left in our season, and then it’s the “off-season.” For those of us who operate seasonal parks, the off-season is the time of year when we get very tired of answering the question, “What do you do all winter?” as though we had nothing better to do than sit around, tell jokes and eat bon bons....View more

Wednesday, September 24, 2008 Amusement Law : How IALDA Serves the Amusement Park Industry, Legally Speaking Many industries have lawyers who specialize in legal issues that matter most to that particular industry. Fortunately, such a legal group also exists for the amusement industry...
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Friday, September 19, 2008 Amusement Parks: Terminator - The Woodie? Hmmmm… Ever since Six Flags Magic Mountain let it be known that its 2009 wooden coaster will be themed to the 2009 “Terminator Salvation” flick, there’s been much grumbling among the scream machine cogniscenti....View more

Tuesday, September 09, 2008 Halloween Risk Management for Amusement Parks: Curbing the Scary Specter of Legal Liability Now that Labor Day has passed, many parks are gearing down for the close of this year’s season. However, a growing trend within the industry has been to keep certain operations going through the Halloween-time....View more

Monday, September 01, 2008 Life in Dubai : Cranes, Waterparks and Atlantis... Hello all, my name is Scott Deisley and I am a part of the Management Team at Atlantis, Palm Jumierah in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. My responsibilities specifically include the safe and profitable operation of Aquaventure, the waterpark at Atlantis. ...View more

Thursday, August 28, 2008 Don't Curb your Enthusiasm: Lovin' Theme parks The enthusiasts’ sites are abuzz with news of Holiday World’s latest announcement. In summer ‘09 it will debut Pilgrim’s Plunge ride, said to be the tallest waterslide in the world....View more

Wednesday, August 27, 2008 Amusement Law : Theme Park Trends in Central Florida and the Game of "What-If?" I sat down last weekend to write about local government regulatory issues that have slowed, stalled and even stopped new projects from opening, and which vex a wide variety of operators. Then, a fascinating conversation with an industry insider prompted a quick change in direction ....View more

Monday, August 25, 2008 Fancy a Nut Cutlet Sir? Merlin Entertainments Group’s Nick Varney on Food, Satisfaction and Dungeons Revealing interview with Merlin Entertainments Group’s CEO Nick Varney in this morning’s Times, in which he talks healthy food, pricing and customer satisfaction. He also explains why Merlin’s “naughty child” fell foul of the church...
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Wednesday, August 13, 2008 Amusement law: Snakes Alive! Amusement Legal and Business Update This week’s column starts out with an update to one of last week’s stories. Word continues to spread that the Busch/World of Discovery parks will be sold once InBev completes its purchase of Anheuser. What’s becoming especially interesting is the list of potential suitors that are popping up in published reports:...View more

Wednesday, August 06, 2008 Amusement Law: As the Summer Season Winds Down… Here in the States, August means that the peak summer amusement park season is beginning to wind down since many states now start their school years well ahead of the Labor Day weekend (though efforts continue to reverse that trend and return school starts to their traditional post-Labor Day spot). With amusement park facilities hopefully wrapping up a successful season, this week’s Update focuses on a series of quick legal and business notes facing the industry these days....View more

Wednesday, July 30, 2008 Abandoned Waterparks , the World’s Best Roller Coasters and One Mighty Big Fish tank

This weekend’s Sunday Telegraph carried a neat piece about the roller coaster industry, journalist Rose George travelling to Alton Towers to experience the theme park's famed Nemesis coaster and over to Switzerland (the offices are in “…Monthey, a small, less than beautiful city on a plain between dramatic Alps and more dramatic Alps”) to meet Walter Bolliger of Bolliger & Mabillard ......View more

Wednesday, July 23, 2008 Amusement Law: InBev/Busch Gardens Africa? InBev / Busch Gardens Africa? This week’s Update begins with word that Anheuser-Busch may be selling its chain of theme parks (the Busch Gardens and SeaWorlds, in particular) now that the domestic beer giant has been purchased by, InBev, one of Europe’s largest brewers.
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Wednesday, July 16, 2008 Amusement Law: How the Airline and Amusement Industries are Tied Together With the recent high-profile failures of major U.S. banks and lenders like IndyMac, the troubled domestic airline industry has been given a respite from harrowing headlines. However, that doesn’t mean the threat to their business model has gone away. Indeed, with oil surpassing $145 per barrel (and going higher at a brisk clip), most U.S. commercial airlines are facing bleak prospects in both the short and long terms. So, why does this matter to the amusement park and recreation industry?...View more

Wednesday, July 09, 2008 Amusement Law: Gun Laws and the Amusement Industry Take Center Stage Welcome to the first Blooloop Legal and Regulatory Update. I’ll be writing this on-line column most Wednesdays.
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Sunday, July 06, 2008 Amusement Parks: X2 – Thrilling As Ever, Almost To A Fault Recently, John Hogg and I spent a sweltering Sunday morning taking a couple of spins – pun intended – on the revamped X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park. Briefly, it is probably as intense as I ever want a thrill ride to get....View more

Tuesday, June 24, 2008 Butterflies and the Law An interesting morning. Had a chat with Clive Farrell, the man behind the ambitious £25 million Butterfly World project here in the UK about the economic and environmental impact it is set to make upon the local area. The centre piece of the project is an enormous biome, a vast greenhouse, set to include the third largest collection of tropical plants in the UK but also to boast a staggering variety of butterflies from across the world....View more

Wednesday, June 18, 2008 Amusement Parks: Genesis of Nemesis A quintessentially British couple of days, one spent at a Dorset garden party the second sitting in the rain at a kid’s sports day. Met one of the men behind Nemesis (my favourite coaster) and an old friend from India…...View more

Monday, June 16, 2008 Amusement Parks: Growth of the Amusement Industry in India Investments to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore are likely to flow into the domestic amusement park and leisure sector by 2020 with about 500 new amusement parks are expected to come up across the country by then, an industry body has said....View more

Tuesday, June 03, 2008 Focusing on Families Hi. It’s Will again. I said I’d try to share the benefits of what I’ve learned through a life lived in and around a theme park, Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari. I’d like to kick off with a lesson I learned nearly 20 years ago about focus. Twenty years ago (OK, 25 if you’re keeping track), we were a smaller family park called Santa Claus Land. ...View more

Monday, June 02, 2008 Brush Boarding at Crealy There is nothing new under the sun . Everything has been done . Whatever your great idea might be, it's not new. However, you've been surfing. You've been snowboarding. But have you ever Brush Boarded? ...View more

Tuesday, May 27, 2008 Enjoying The Ride: An Enthusiast's Perspective As this is my first contribution here, allow me to further introduce myself. I’m Robert Coker and I’ve been riding roller coasters and thrill rides for as long as I can remember. Although my initial exposure to such delights was at Los Angeles, California’s Beverly Park kiddieland, it was a trip to Disneyland as a four-year-old that put me on the path I’m still following today.
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Friday, May 23, 2008 Amusement parks: Brush Boarding to Launch at Devon's Crealy Devon, England : the lazy and popular stereotype would have it that the county’s social life involves sitting on a 5-bar gate with a piece of straw in one’s mouth talking about tractors, drinking coooider and pointing at aeroplanes . Not so....View more

Tuesday, May 13, 2008 Waterparks: A Wet and Wonderful Phoenix from the Ashes Didn't Geauga Lake waterpark close?...No, not really....View more

Tuesday, May 06, 2008 Amusement parks: Holiday World starts to Twitter... Amusement park Holiday World is "Twittering" and a week ago I would have had no idea what this meant. A week on and I now have a small idea. Kinda like blogging I guess but more immediate, messages are shorter and (as yet) it seems even more informal. Looks fun too. HW is the first amusement park to twitter......View more

Tuesday, April 29, 2008 Living the Tradition: notes from a Family Owned and Operated Theme and Water Park By way of introduction, I’m Will Koch, the president of Holiday World & Splashin' Safari, a small theme park and water park combination in Santa Claus, Indiana, USA... ...View more

Monday, April 28, 2008 Amusement parks: Discovery Channel Show on Theme Park Ride Technology I am very excited about this, my first blog ever! I finally feel like I have a reason to write one. Our idea to make a film on the latest and coolest amusement park and thrill ride technology recently got commissioned by the Discovery Channel.
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Monday, April 14, 2008 Amusement parks: Dubai Amusement Expo. And Madonna. This week the trade show merry-go-round moves onto the UAE where the DEAL( Dubai Entertainment, Amusement & Leisure Show) show takes place, starting on the 20th....View more

Tuesday, April 08, 2008 Amusement parks: It's a Small World Rumours and Bristol's New Aquarium In the news today, the science based attraction in Bristol, "@Bristol" is adding an aquarium and the weekend saw Disney's Imagineering quash various rumours flying around the revamping of its iconic and much loved "It's a Small World" ride.
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Thursday, March 20, 2008 Amusement parks: New Coaster set to Rumble at Universal Studios Orlando in '09 Universal Studios Orlando this week announced that its "Project Rumble" will in fact be a dazzling new hi-tech coaster which will sweep over the heads of the crowds in the Citywalk entertainment district and will wow riders with high tech wizardry, appealing to the "You Tube Culture."
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Saturday, March 08, 2008 Paramount Movie Theme Park planned for Kolkata A film city along the lines of Universal Studios in Hollywood could be on the cards for Kolkata as Paramount VP Tom Renger's visit with Priya Entertainment Private Ltd last week suggests......View more

Tuesday, March 04, 2008 Dubai: Theme Park Capital of the World? Dubai is in the news again with a number of major projects revealed, the main ones being the agreements involving Six Flags and Busch Entertainment, both big players on the American stage but until now with little presence overseas....View more

Wednesday, February 27, 2008 Amusement Parks: Thursday's Big Announcement by Busch Entertainment? Scheduled announcement ; what's it to be? International expansion say the analysts......View more

Wednesday, February 27, 2008 Amusement parks: A Winter's Tale - Alton Towers and Singing Chickens A weekend, mid-Winter in the UK's premier theme park....View more

Monday, February 18, 2008 Amusement parks: The Indian Amusement Industry Show - Thoughts. I got back from Mumbai yesterday after we had a booth at the 2008 IAAPI trade show. The show was for us a great success and think this was feedback was echoed by almost everyone I talked to. ...View more

Sunday, February 10, 2008 Amusement parks: Enough Vision, Let's see the Theme parks! The amusement park, amusements and attractions industry in the Middle East needs to focus on the execution and delivery of the massive developments planned for the area, according to global industry experts....View more

Saturday, February 09, 2008 Amusement parks: Kung Foo Panda to Star at Dubai Theme Park Dreamworks move into Dubai......View more

Friday, February 01, 2008 Amusement parks: The Rise and Fall of Appu Ghar India's oldest amusement park closes....View more

Saturday, November 03, 2007 Amusement parks : Welcome to Bemusement, the Blooloop Blog View the post