• Waterford Crystal to reopen visitors’ center
  • When Waterford Crystal went into receivership in January 2009, the famous visitors’ center went with it. For 25 years it had been one of Ireland’s big tourist attractions, catering to up to 330,000 visitors per year. It closed its doors officially on February 5, 2009. But this June a new Waterford Crystal center will open. It will be smaller than the previous center and at a different site – in fact, right in the heart of Waterford City. | read more

• Johnny Rockets Rides Into Two Six Flags Theme Parks
  • Johnny Rockets have arrived at two new Six Flags theme parks, Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, Calif. and Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio, Texas. The two new openings are a result of the strategic marketing partnership formed between Johnny Rockets and Six Flags theme parks in 2007 | read more

• CA: State rejects all seven bids for O.C. Fairgrounds
  • The state rejected all bids for the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, including that of Newport Beach-based developer Craig Realty Group, for being too low. | read more

• MOA's Nickelodeon Universe to launch new ride Friday
  • Nickelodeon Universe, the seven-acre indoor amusement park at Mall of America in Bloomington, said today it expects to debut a new ride Friday that is themed to Nickelodeon’s new hit game show “BrainSurge.” | read more

• Cedar Fair's largest shareholder not interested in possible higher bid for amuse
  • Cedar Fair Entertainment Co.'s largest shareholder said today that it would continue to oppose the company's proposed sale to Apollo Global Management no matter the price. | read more

• Singapore's Universal Studios opens, expects 4.5 million tourists
  • Singapore's brand new Universal Studios officially opens today, and the theme park is confident that it will draw at least 4.5 million tourists every year through its gates. | read more

• With Legoland set, Haines City wants missing piece: Hotel
  • “We’re eager to get a possible hotel or motel for Haines City, one that can grab the folks coming down (U.S.) 27 to Legoland,” said Allison Beeman, deputy director of the Haines City EDC. “If there’s anyone who has a property in Haines City and is willing to put a hotel on it, let us know.” | read more

• Sculptors from around the world are to compete for a place in Grenada’s underwat
  • A newly formed action group says the competition scheduled for next year, is part of efforts to regenerate the world’s first underwater sculpture park which has fallen into disrepair. | read more

• 70% of merchandise at Universal Studios theme park exclusive to S'pore
  • Southeast Asia's first Universal Studios theme park opens to the public on Thursday. Many of the rides are making their world debut. -- 70 percent of the items for sale can only be found in the Singapore theme park such as the Betty Boop pins with the Chinese Zodiac or a clapperboard photo-frame. | read more

• National Geographic Museum Quadruples Visitors With Terra Cotta Warriors
  • The National Geographic Museum has an unprecedented problem -- a bona fide blockbuster. Its amazing terra-cotta warriors are way too popular. -- So far, Norton said, 293,874 tickets have been sold, a complete sellout. "We had projected 250,000 tickets and that would [have been] really great," she said. "This is the largest, most ambitious exhibit we have ever done." | read more

• PGAV Destinations to Assist Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts with Planni
  • PGAV Destinations, a global leader in the planning and design of unique destinations, is pleased to announce their work with Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts for future development at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. PGAV is providing planning services as part of Delaware North’s renewed contract at the Center. | read more

• Green Bay to borrow $2.4M to bring Zippin Pippin roller coaster to Bay Beach
  • Despite lingering opposition, Green Bay aldermen agreed Tuesday to borrow $2.4 million to bring the Zippin Pippin roller coaster to Bay Beach Amusement Park. -- Mayor Jim Schmitt and other supporters of the deal have said the coaster will pay for itself, with projected ridership of 200,000 people a year. | read more

• UK: Planning appeal heard over Wycombe ski slope
  • A PROPOSED multi-million pound ski centre may have moved a step closer after developers and a council came to an agreement over the decimated Wycombe Summit site. | read more

• Dubai: Talks on to secure $460m for F1-X theme park
  • Union Properties is continuing talks for sourcing funding for the $460 million (Dh1.68 billion) F1-X theme park in MotorCity, but no deals have yet been concluded, its chairman said. | read more

• Cedar Fair: Apollo holds sweetener talks with bank group, sources say
  • Cedar Fair (NYSE:FUN) is likely to see Apollo Group (NASDAQ:AINV) sweeten its offer for the amusement park company following weekend discussions with Apollo’s bank group, two sources following the situation told dealReporter. | read more

• SFMOMA architects in play
  • The group of architects being invited to compete in SFMOMA’s proposed 100,000-square-foot expansion includes a mix of grand masters like Renzo Piano and Norman Foster as well as emerging stars like Norway’s Snohetta and London-based Tanzanian designer David Adjaye. | read more

• Cedar Rapids: New science education center planned
  • Backers say a new $16 million science education center would replace the flood-damaged Science Station in downtown Cedar Rapids, if the plan makes business sense. | read more

• Walt Disney World in Florida may be the next stop for bullet-train makers in Jap
  • Central Japan Railway Co. and China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corp. are competing for the $8 billion President Barack Obama granted for 13 high-speed corridors across the U.S., including a Tampa-Orlando line that may include a station at the Walt Disney Co. resort in Orlando. | read more

• Slide Show: UK pavilion for World Expo finished
  • Construction of the exterior of the UK pavilion for the Shanghai World Expo has been completed. The Seed Cathedral is the centerpiece, with its 20-meter-high cube-like structure covered by 60 thousand slim, transparent acrylic rods, extending outward and quivering in the breeze | read more

• Hawaii: Zip Isle adds adventure to World Botanical Gardens & Waterfalls
  • Zip Isle features seven lines over the World Botanical Gardens and Waterfalls | read more

• UK: Paultons Park expected to be allowed to keep The Edge ride
  • A HAMPSHIRE amusement park looks set to win a six-month battle to save one of its biggest rides after receiving a massive show of support. | read more

• Ritchie Smith Associates to lead work on Discovery Park
  • Ritchie Smith Associates has been chosen to lead the planning and implementation of the multi-phase site plan of the $100 million Discovery Park of America in Union City, Tenn. | read more

• Final safety checks underway ahead of soft opening of Universal Studios
  • Final safety checks are underway as Universal Studios Singapore gets ready for its soft opening on Thursday. -- 18 of the 24 attractions planned for the park are either newly created or adapted for the Singapore park. -- About 4.5 million visitors are expected to the park each year. | read more

• Universal Studios Singapore Expects 4.5 Mil Visitors
  • RWS's Communication Assistant Director Robin Goh told newsmen, during a pre-opening tour today, that 4.5 million visitors are expected to visit Universal Studios while the resort anticipares a tourist arrival of over 13 million | read more

• Attendance: The Top 25 North Carolina museums and historic attractions
  • Biltmore, the lavish Vanderbilt house and gardens on a mountainside in Asheville, once again attracted more than a million visitors. A total of 1,038,348 guests visited during 2009, only a slight decline from the 2008 attendance total of 1,070,900. | read more

• Cedar Fair shareholder meeting postponed to April 8, 2010
  • The special meeting has been postponed for the purpose of soliciting additional votes and proxies and giving unitholders additional time to consider and vote on the proposed acquisition. During this time, unitholders will continue to be able to vote their units, or to change their previously cast votes. | read more

• The sale of Chanhassen Dinner Theatres has now closed
  • A group led by the theater’s artistic director, Michael Brindisi, choreographer Tamara Kangas Erickson and Steven Peters, owner of VenuWorks, executed a letter of intent they had signed with Thomas K. Scallen in January. -- About 225,000 people attend the theater annually, bringing in revenue of about $10 million. | read more

• Report: Annual spending by overseas visitors to the UK is set to almost double b
  • Annual spending by overseas visitors to the UK is set to almost double by 2020, a report released by the VisitBritain organisation has revealed. | read more

• Law enforcement museum planned for Texas Rangers in Fredericksburg
  • The center will consist of a 41,350-square-foot educational facility with five galleries showcasing the history of the Texas Rangers through interactive exhibits. Stephen F. Austin swore in the first Texas Rangers in 1823 | read more

• Legoland gets in on 2010 Census action
  • As if a Super Bowl ad, NASCAR sponsorship and promotional messages in Chinese fortune cookies weren't enough, the U.S. Census Bureau has recruited the Lego toy company to help raise awareness for this year's decennial headcount. | read more

• UK: £1 million maritime centre planned for Maryport
  • A £1 million maritime centre with a lifeboat station and new maritime museum is being planned for Maryport harbour. | read more

• UK: Money sought to develop a new tourist attraction to complement The Deep aqua
  • Hull Forward is continuing to seek funding to develop a new tourist attraction to complement The Deep aquarium. Plans for the £13m attraction suffered a setback earlier this month when The Deep's management, which came up with the idea, said they could not lead efforts to secure funding for the project | read more

• National Museum of Scotland displaying progress in £46m refit
  • THE massive revamp of the National Museum of Scotland is said to be on time and on budget as the project hits the halfway stage. | read more

• Autostadt 2010: 20 million visitors in ten years
  • The decision by those in charge at Volkswagen to open an automobile theme park in June 2000 saw the beginning of a very unusual success story. | read more

• Museums become venue of choice for some bands
  • As museums suffer from budget cuts and ponder their relevance at a time when film and, on a smaller scale, community-based art spaces have captured the zeitgeist, they've turned to resourceful ways to lure in young visitors with immersive, performance-heavy environments. | read more

• India: A thumbs up likely for oceanarium in Mumbai
  • The construction of the high-tech oceanarium at Taraporewala Aquarium on Marine Drive may start in the next six months, and is expected to be completed in 18 months hence. | read more

• Alabama: Funding sought for visitor center at Alabama meteor crater
  • Officials are seeking money to build a visitor center at the site of a crater created when a meteor hit central Alabama more than 80 million years ago. | read more

• Pasadena, CA: Kidspace building project on hold for museum to renew focus on exh
  • An ambitious $20 million building expansion at Kidspace Museum has been put on hold, with plans now focused on revitalizing exhibits at the area's only museum dedicated solely to children. | read more

• Ireland: Leading tourist attractions are drawing more visitors than ever before
  • Dublin Zoo had a good 2009 and pulled in more money than the previous year. "We had over 900,000 visitors -- it was fantastic. It was a very good year and we were delighted. In spending terms it was more profitable than the previous year," explains Veronica Chrisp, head of marketing at the zoo | read more

• $16M expansion planned for Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame
  • The stage is being set for an outdoor theater leading to a $16 million, free-standing enhancement of the museum expected to skyrocket Muskogee’s economy. | read more

• UK: Center Parcs swings toward float
  • CENTER PARCS is to renegotiate the terms of its £1 billion debt pile in a move that could pave the way for a flotation of the holiday company. | read more

• Ireland's National Leprechaun Museum Open in Dublin City Centre
  • The National Leprechaun Museum is the first ever visitor attraction dedicated to Irish mythology and promises to open up a fun and magical world full of fascinating folklore and enchanting stories. | read more

• Leisure business leaders urge the Government to back Britain's tourist industry
  • New research by accountants Deloitte shows that tourism could be one of Britain's fastest growing industries over the next decade, with the visitor economy expected to account for 2.9m UK jobs by 2020, up 250,000 on today. Leading leisure companies believe the growth would be faster if there was targeted Government support and a more proactive approach from the Treasury. | read more

• New Mexico Innovators Join Forces on Fulldome Research
  • “The most common experience many people have with "fulldome immersive environments" is with planetariums such as the LodeStar planetarium at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. In today's digital age, however, it's not surprising that the technology used in producing such immersive environments is evolving quickly and that New Mexico is playing an important role. | read more

• India: Rajkot to get amusement park of int'l level
  • Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) is planning to build two amusement parks at Aji and Nyari dam sites under the guidance and help of Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board (GIDB). The projects, worth approximately Rs 200 crore, will be developed under PPP. | read more

• Tax incentive packages approved for Darien Lake Theme Park
  • The board of the Genesee County Economic Development Center approved two incentive packages Thursday that will benefit Darien Lake Theme Park. The GCEDC granted $380,000 in tax exemptions for a proposed $7 million expansion of Darien Lake's water park. | read more

• City officials are poised to pump some money into the Florida Agricultural Museu
  • During a workshop this week, the City Council discussed a proposed agreement that would provide the museum $180,000 over the next several years. The money would help fund programs and the construction of a campground. | read more

• Oil magnate makes huge donation to Swiss museum
  • An Egyptian-born magnate behind a recent sale of huge West African and Iraqi oil interests to China pledged 20 million Swiss francs to expand Geneva's art and history museum, authorities said Friday. | read more

• Disney Narrows Its Movie Focus, Building on Known Characters
  • Disney plans to focus on films that are essentially brands—like a planned Muppets movie—that can be exploited across its network of theme parks, videogames and commercial products. | read more

• Petzi cuts the first sod
  • On the 15th of April Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen opens, and when that happens there will be a brand new playground for the youngest visitors – the new Rasmus Klump Verden, or Petzi’s World in English. Today the bear cub with the polka dotted overalls grabbed his spade and opened the constructions of his new home. | read more

• Water park could go next to Big League Dreams sports complex in Mansfield, Texas
  • The Manteca Redevelopment Agency – if it secures the blessing of the City Council – could undertake a feasibility study that is the first step in the process to shop Manteca to waterpark developers as the site for their next investment. | read more

• Canada: Waterpark Still On The Agenda
  • A Winnipeg City Councillor says he's optimistic that a proposed multi-million dollar waterpark will still be a reality. | read more