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Industry News:
2008 Park Attendance Report - (4/18/09) For the second year in a row, the Busch parks have a little bone to pick with the new annual attendance report issued by TEA and ERA. They claim that the attendance estimates for the Busch parks are well below what their true numbers are, “wrong across the board” according to Busch spokeperson, Fred Jacobs. He corrects the report saying that the Busch parks combined brought in more than 25.4 million guests in 2008, 10% more than the 23 million reported in the new 2008 attendance report. He even went on record to point out that SeaWorld (Orlando I assume) brought in 6.2 million in 2007, far more than the 5.8 million estimate from last year’s report.
In their defense, ERA did mention that they had come to Busch asking for their help to compile their figures, but Busch, like most other park operations, refuses to give up this sensitive information, so they only have their best estimates to go by.
(4/16/09) The official 2008 Theme Park Attendance Report can be seen (and downloaded) by clicking here. In the meantime you can still download your own copy of the 2007 report.
Coaster Videos - (1/19/10) Theme Park Review has announced that they will soon retire the Theme Park Review “Coaster Footage” line of DVDs on February 1st. For a limited time however they will offer all 12 of their “Coaster Footage” DVDs in a pack with all 12 of their “Coaster Expedition” DVDs together for $99. Click here for more information.
(11/4/09) The all new Roller Coasters In The Raw Volume 4 DVD will ship from Theme Park Review on November 9th. It includes footage of over 30 different coasters, including Fireball, Millennium Force, Prowler, After Burn, Rampage, Expedition Ge-Force, Leap The Dips, Silver Bullet, Ozark Wildcat and many more.
 Coaster Trips -(2/4/10) Theme Park Review is looking to get some feedback on where they should plan group trips to in 2011. I’m told they are looking into the possibility of taking an early 2011 trip to Australia. Other possible locations being looked at include Japan, Spain and Cedar Point. If you are interested in going on a future trip with TPR and want to give your opinion on where you would like to go, take the survey here.
(1/11/10) Negative G is attempting to plan a big coaster riding trip in early August to visit Carowinds, Freestyle Music Park, Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Kings Dominion and are hoping to gather up a small group of other enthusiasts along the way to join in the fun. If your interested, click here to read all the details.
(11/19/09) The CoasterZombies will be taking a trip to Mexico in 2010, with a tentative schedule of July 7th to 11th. The trip will include stops at 3 parks (Six Flags Mexico, La Feria Chapultepec Magico and Parque Bicentenario), 14 coasters… and 2 pyramids. For all the details on how you can go too click here.
(10/12/09) Theme Park Review has announced their list of 2010 Coaster Trips. The Four tours will be trips to the UK, Europe, Middle America and something called the IntimidaTour that will hit the two new Intimidator coasters as well as other nearby parks like BGW, Dollywood and Freestyle Music Park.
General News - (2/1/10) The Coaster Fusion crew has sent us an update about their new coaster club. The group is now providing access to 14 different enthusiast events this year including HoliWood Nights (Holiday World), Coaster Mayhem (Worlds of Fun), Coaster Madness (Dorney), Thrills In The Hills (Dollywood) as well as their very own event at Six Flags America. For all the details click here.
(1/31/10) Through polling several of the internet’s top theme park / coaster related webmasters (myself included) the LA Times has posted their own Top 10 best Steel and Wooden coaster lists.
(1/14/10) The results of the 2009 Steel Coaster Poll are now live, with Bizarro at Six Flags New England (formerly: Superman: Ride of Steel) taking the top spot once again, followed by the defunct Eagle’s Fortress in the #2 spot despite not having operated for the entire 2009 season. As has been the trend the last few years, American coasters are mostly being knocked out of the #10 list by international favorites like Nemesis, Piraten, Katun, Kawasemi and more.
(1/11/10) Check out this new invention at News Plus Notes… a new kind of wave pool that generates waves in a 360º circle from a central point in the middle of the pool.
(12/30/09) The results are in from Mitch Hawker’s 2009 Wood Coaster Poll and I’m happy to report that The Voyage at Holiday World retook the #1 spot this year, followed by El Toro, T Express and Boulder Dash. Though in a bit of unfairness, CGA’s Grizzly has once again taken the last place slot… for the 15th year in a row. Now while I’m not a big fan of Grizzly or anything, I don’t think that the ride is bad enough to be ranked as the world’s worst wooden coaster for the past 15 years, as there are far worse rides out there… like Son Of Beast or Mean Streak for example. Follow the link to see how all the rest ranked.
(11/23/09) Theme Park Review has posted four lengthy videos showing off all their IAAPA highlights and interviews. Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4
(11/20/09) Westcoaster has posted some great coverage from IAAPA this week. Take a look at Day 1 and Day 2.
(11/18/09) I’ve been sent a few bits and piece of info from IAAPA today. Premier Rides is showing off something called a Drifting Coaster it seems, and has a coaster car on display that looks like a race car. I can only assume that the car has the ability to fish-tail or something. Maurer-Sohne had a new 4-across seat version of their X-Coaster Car.
Internet Fun - (2/1/10) Thrill Network is trying out an interesting little idea that they’re calling the 2010 Coaster Draft. They describe it as being kind of like the NFL Draft, but with roller coasters as the players. The winner will receive a T-Shirt and a $50 gift certificate for Amazon. See all the details here. Also the February edition of Andy Shine’s Coaster Quiz is now live.
(1/31/10) Remember that incredible commercial last year that was posted online showing off the guy leaving work and riding a huge waterslide the entire way home? Well the Barclaycard people are back with a follow-up ad, this time showing off a guy living the ultimate coaster enthusiast dream. Yes… riding a roller coaster to work in the morning. What a world… if only this was reality. Check it out here.
(1/26/10) You can vote in the Coaster101 Attraction Awards of the Decade. Voting ends February 5th.
(1/25/10) Looks like the award for the most Terrible Parent of the Year has been awarded before even the end of January. A strange letter from a parent writes in to their local paper asking about what would be the correct polite way to bribe a roller coaster op to let their daughter ride Incredible Hulk when she is two inches too short to do it. Wow... but they were given the right answer in the end, to just deal with it because those safety limits are there for a reason.
(1/14/10) Andy Shines January Quiz is now live… and this one isn’t all about coasters. This time he shakes things up a bit and has themed the whole quiz to Carousel trivia.
(1/8/10) The SeasonPass Podcast will be interviewing Disney legend Alan Menken on Monday’s episode, so be sure to check it out. Also they are accepting any questions you might want to have asked, so send them to nick@seasonpasspodcast.com.
(1/5/10) For those looking for a semi-new and unique theme park related iPhone app, take a look at Wishing Stars, a real life scavenger hunt through Disneyland aided by your iPhone. While the current version only features Disneyland, I’ve been told that a Walt Disney World version is coming up for release in the near future.
(12/30/09) Coaster101 is holding their annual Attraction Awards poll with a twist, this time looking back at the best attractions from the last Decade. Nominations are currently being accepted, so check it out.
(12/18/09) CoasterFusion has a bit of an announcement about the future direction of their site they wanted to share with everyone… the introduction of CFHD.
(12/8/09) Theme Park Review has posted a HUGE 50 page long trip report update covering their East Coast trip from earlier this year.
(12/7/09) Three more polls have gone up at the newest Tournament of Champions poll. One pits three of the nation’s best launched coasters against each other: Hulk, Storm Runner and Maverick. The next puts a great collection of family friendly launched coasters in competition: Revenge of the Mummy, Backlot Stunt Coaster and Powder Keg. Finally it’s the great B&M Inverted coaster showdown: Dueling Dragons vs Raptor vs Great Bear.
(12/4/09) An interesting item is currently up for auction on Ebay… an old attraction concept book from Landmark Entertainment for a little something called Future Zone.
(12/2/09) Amusement Insider has begun an all-new Tournament of Champions poll this week. This time they’ve expanded beyond Orlando attractions and instead will pit Florida’s best attractions up against the rest of the country. This week features a three-way face-off between SheiKra, Griffon and X2.
(11/30/09) Over the past few months I've had more than a few e-mails from people behind various iPhone / iTouch app programs created with a theme park enthusiast in mind. However, I don't own an iPhone and have little use for a iTouch, I've really been unable to review or try out any of these "apps", so they've been gathering dust in my inbox for weeks now. That said, I've decided to go a little file cleaning and I'm going to give a bunch of them a quick shout-out to you all right now. Keep in mind, I've never tried any of these so I can't give an opinion on how good they are, but I'm sure some of them will really appeal to some of you.
First up is an app by the name of FastTrack DB which essentially seems to be a program for coaster enthusiasts that will allow them to keep track of their personal coaster counts, giving you quick access to the number of wood vs steel coasters you've been on, parks you've visited as well as a place to rate each coaster and park. They report that the database has around 3000 coasters in it, with data spanning six continents. Check out more details here.
Next up for Disney fans is the new official app for Hidden Mickeys: A Field Guide To Walt Disney World's Best Kept Secrets. Building upon the concept of the popular book, it contains all of the known Hidden Mickeys featured in the forth edition of the book, plus over a hundred more, bringing up the total to over 800 Hidden Mickeys. The app will offer users cryptic clues and hints to hunt them down, and will keep a score card for you on your hunt. It will also use GPS technology to notify you of the nearest Hidden Mickeys to your current location within the parks. Find out more here.
For Disney fans who want to dig a little deeper into the history of the parks, they might want to check out Walt Disney World Secrets: Main Street USA Windows", a chronological tour of the windows of Main Street. The stories behind over 60 windows are included with original content and over 130 photos. There is also the Walt Disney World Guide Notecast App, allowing you to cram in a whole guidebook into your iPhone. Finally WDW fans may also want to check out the TouringPlans.com website, which testing out a mobile app they're calling Lines, which uses a custom database of knowledge to give you an estimate of the average waiting time for any given WDW attraction at that moment, as well as predictions on what it will do later in the day based on past history.
Also, for anyone interested in Coaster and Park related books, you might watch to check out "America's Top Roller Coasters and Amusement Parks" by Pete Trabucco. As a pilot, the author shares his experiences from traveling around the world and visiting parks and coasters far and wide. The book has also been writen with those who have a fear of coasters in mind as well, as a helpful guide to overcoming that fear.
B&M - (1/7/10) Early rumors are starting to drop here and there indicating that B&M is hard at work on some kind of new coaster design. I suppose it’s about time anyway since B&M haven’t really invented a new design since we saw the first Flying coasters open back in 2002. So I guess the real question is… what’s left? We’ve got Standing, Sitting, Flying, Floorless, Inverted and Diving… so perhaps they are ready to full embrace the Launched coaster concept, as Incredible Hulk was a special one-shot only creation.
(12/21/09) One of our readers has posted a few new pictures taken outside the plant that makes all the world’s B&M coaster track. While there wasn’t all that much to see in the snow, there were a couple of pieces of Blue-ish track in the background here, as well as some small support pieces on the ground here.
(11/24/09) If you take a listen to the Season Pass Podcast with John Wardley, he mentions near the end of the interview (aprox 56:40) that he is “working with B&M on their next new product.” Hmmm… let the speculation begin!
(10/20/09) Just an update on all that missing B&M track… one source tells me  that it’s most likely all heading to China at this point as there are still a few new major theme parks set to open in the next couple of years.
(10/19/09) Just to recap what has been seen at the B&M fabrication plant over the past year that was never identified. In Jan 2009 Yellow track was spotted that has yet to be found anywhere. In April 2009 bright red track started to appear which was likely for Intimidator at Carowinds, along with some leftover pieces of that unknown Yellow track. In May 2009 the plant was full of more Red track and a bunch of Yellow track again. By September 2009 all the Yellow track was gone... but we still don’t know what it was for. Previously shipping containers were also seen on site, so it more than likely may have went to an international destination. I don’t think it’s for Universal Studios Dubailand just yet, but we’ve heard rumors about a Mummy parts being shipping already for that project so you never know.
(10/12/09) We’ve got four new pictures from the B&M
fabrication plant in Ohio this week, send in by one of our readers. Items of note include a truckload of grey supports ready to be hauled off, which I’m assuming are heading towards Carowinds. There was also a truckload of Red coaster track again for an unknown project. Plus lots of unpainted track sitting around.
(9/3/09) Our source has sent in three more pictures from the B&M fabrication plant showing off more track and unpainted supports.
(9/2/09) An unknown source sent in a new but very interesting picture today, showing off a couple of new grey or unpainted pieces of track sitting outside the plant in Ohio that makes all the B&M Track. You never can tell just who or what it is for…
Busch Entertainment - (12/8/09) It seems I was only part right with my first report about the beer brewing at SeaWorld California. The latest word from today is that similar brewing operations were also in place at SeaWorld Florida and Texas… but for the same basic reason, to allow AB to sell their own beer in the parks. It seems that that the law has a requirement that a beer brewer is not allowed to directly sell their product to the public. The beer must first go through a second party (distributor) who will then sell it to a retailer… and the retail location is the only one able to sell the beer to the public. HOWEVER… the loophole we previously mentioned is a policy that allows for a Brewpup / Brewhouse to sell it’s own product if they brew a certain amount of beer on site. Obviously this setup was not needed for the Williamsburg and Tampa parks since they had full scale breweries already on site for years, though I’m certain Tampa was forced to go the same micro-brew route as well once they decided to remove the brewery from the site years ago.
However… I do believe that California laws may have also required this to sell one beer product line exclusively at any given site, which could be the reason AB will not continue to market themselves at the San Diego park.
(12/7/09) After talking over the matter with several people, I think I have a good theory about why the San Diego park was not included as one of the park’s Busch would continue to be a sponsor for. The most likely answer has something to do with the various extra laws in California that apply to the beer sales and such.
For example, it was pointed out to me that when Anheuser-Busch still owned SeaWorld, there was an odd requirement that the park had to do for the company so that they could be allowed to exclusively sell only Anheuser-Busch beer in the park. It didn’t matter that Busch owned the park, it seems that the only way SeaWorld California was allowed to exclusively sell only AB beer products in the park was is they actually BREWED a required amount on-site at the park each month. So to jump through this hoop, a very very small brewery was set up in a back room at the old Hospitality Center that was able to brew the required amount each month. This ‘beer’ was never bought or sold... and never drank as far as we know... as the quality level was said to be such that it was technically even called beer by the nature of the ingredients used to make it.
With Anheuser-Busch no longer the owner of the SeaWorld parks, it seems that it may no longer be legal to exclusively sell only one brand of beer in the California park. Meanwhile Busch’s plan for the remainder of the parks is to sign on as a sponsor to be the exclusive beer sold in the parks under the new ownership.
Again, this is all still a bit of rumor and guesswork as I don’t have a copy of the rules and laws in California about this kind of thing, but as far as I know the bit about brewing beer on site at the park to take advantage of a loophole to only sell AB products in the park for the past 20 years is true.
(12/4/09) In a kind of odd parting shot, a memo was sent out to all Busch employees following the announcement of the sale of the BEC parks to Blackstone to state that “There will be a continuing connection between Anheuser-Busch and BEC. The “Busch Gardens” name will be used in the Busch Gardens parks, and Anheuser-Busch will be a corporate sponsor in all but the San Diego and Sesame Place parks.“ Now I can see why they really have no need to be a sponsor at Sesame Place, but I can’t fathom why they would back out any relationship with SeaWorld San Diego. Anyone know more?
One more fun note… Google Maps Street View has been updated to include in-park coverage of SeaWorld California, SeaWorld Texas, SeaWorld Florida as well as Discovery Cove and Aquatica. They also report that new coverage will be added soon for Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Water Country USA, Sesame Place, Busch Gardens Tampa and Adventure Island.
(12/2/09) According to a press release from the parks, Busch Entertainment Corporation is no more after the final close of the sale to Blackstone yesterday. The new name for chain of parks is “SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment”. As one reader mentioned, I’m surprised they didn’t just rename it “Blackstone Entertainment Corp.” and keep the same old “B.E.C.” thing going. Of course, I was also surprised they avoided using anything to do with the “Worlds of Discovery” theme.
(12/1/09) The President of Busch Entertainment spoke with the Orlando Sentinel about their purchase by Blackstone, what may change and what Blackstone may focus on.
(11/19/09) I’m not sure how true this is, but we’ve heard that August Busch, III and Ginny Busch may be “silent partners” as part of Blackstone’s purchase of the Busch Entertainment parks. Of course the level of this rumored partnership, if true, would be hard to judge. They could simply have been asked to stay on as consultants to lend a guiding hand for the next few years, or it could be a more long term deal, perhaps something similar to how Spielberg is linked to the Universal parks.
(11/16/09) A letter to Busch employees came out late Friday afternoon, confirming that the sale of the park’s to Blackstone is expected to close on December 1st, far sooner than expected.
(11/13/09) The annual attendance at the Busch Entertainment theme parks is expected to fall by 7% over last year according to this report at the Orlando Sentinel.
(10/13/09) The Orlando Sentinel gives a little more insight into the Blackstone purchase of Busch Entertainment as well as thoughts from others in the industry. Meanwhile some current and former Busch execs comment on the changing of the guard over at BlooLoop which is worth a read.
(10/8/09) At long last Blackstone and InBev have confirmed that they have come to an agreement to sell off the Busch Entertainment division (BEC) of 10 theme parks to Blackstone for a price between $2.3 and $2.7 BILLION! (The $400 million variable is a window that will allow InBev the option to participate in the newly spun-off venture of a minority partner is they choose to do so.) Not too many details were released at this point in time, other than that the plan is to BEC to pretty much run itself the way it has been doing, keeping all existing management teams in place. BEC will also be their own group and not merged (yet anyway) into Merlin or any other entertainment asset at Blackstone.
According to Blackstone's Joseph Baratta (Senior Managing Director), "We have long admired the Busch Entertainment Corporation parks. They are the premier
collection of entertainment parks in the United States and offer a unique family experience. We are pleased to have the opportunity to acquire this business. We
have deep sector experience and look forward to working with the excellent BEC management team to continue to invest in and grow the company.”
Michael Chae (Senior Managing Director) said, "We look forward to working with BEC management in continuing a legacy of delivering world-class family entertainment to our customers.”
In an employee memo to staff, BEC head, Jim Atchison remarked, “I realize that a separation from A-B may bring uncertainty for some of you. I encourage you to look at this not as the end of an era, but rather as the beginning of an exciting new one: BEC’s emergence as an independent company. I’m certain you will come to view the acquisition of BEC by Blackstone, as I do, as a wholly positive outcome and the start of an exciting future for us all.”
The deal is expected to be finalized around the end of the year or early in 2010, but moral amongst the employees is said to be high, ending a long term of uncertainty caused by the InBev takeover of A-B last year. According to one contact, they remarked an erie similarity of the employee attitude in the parks and the revised ending of Return of the Jedi. Lots of celebrating... and dreams of a new future.
Cedar Fair - (2/4/10) As I predicted in my last update, investment experts are currently not expecting to see the sale of Cedar Fair to Apollo approved under the current terms. Now a second large investment group (Neuberger Berman Group LLC) has also increased their holding in the company to 9.6% and has also gone on record that they are against the sale’s current terms. This is in addition to Q Fundings 12% holding. Combined the two hold close to 21.6% of the shares, and to kill the deal there only needs to be a “no” vote by 34% of the shareholders. With shares still trading at an average of $12.25 lately, it seems everyone is waiting to see if Apollo will sweeten the deal or let it die.
(1/25/10) Cedar Fair has responded on their official site to the growing number of complaints and lawsuits over the pending sale of the company to Apollo. They report that the $11.50 offer per share is 43% higher than their “weighted average closing price over the 30 days prior to the transaction announcement and a 28% premium over the closing unit price on December 15, 2009.” Currently the 11 cases filed against Cedar Fair have now been consolidated into one case. It has also been pointed out that Cedar Fair’s largest shareholder (Q Funding III, LP) which holds 9.8% of the company’s outstanding units has gone on record that they will vote against the deal. They point out that it makes no sense to sell the company for $11.50 a share when the current closing price of CF stock on January 20th was already $12.21, 6% higher than the current Apollo offer. I’m guessing that Apollo may have to sweeten the deal a little bit before they will get it approved.
(1/15/10) If the Apollo purchase of Cedar Fair goes through, certain top CF executives will be exchanging their stock options in CF for ownership stakes in Apollo. You can read more details here.
(1/7/10) A few new details about the proposed Apollo take-over of Cedar Fair are mentions in this article, including the realization of a provision put into play last year that grants Dick Kinzel a $20 million Golden Parachute payout if he were to lose his job following any kind of sale of Cedar Fair.
(1/4/10) So far there are a total of seven lawsuits against the pending sale of Cedar Fair to Apollo. All of them claiming that the buyout offer is not a fair price. Read more here.
(12/31/09) According to this news report, the Knott’s family is not at all happy about the proposed sale of Cedar Fair to Apollo. Going back to when the Knott’s family sold The Farm to Cedar Fair, they gained 2 million shares in the company as part of the deal, keeping them involved in the decisions involving future developments at the park. Right now, they aren’t sure which way they will vote on the proposed sale as this would essentially involve the Knott’s family cashing out and ending any and all involvement with the theme park that their family created so long ago.
(12/29/09) As we mentioned last week, Cedar Fair does seem to be in a bit of hot water over the proposed sale of the company to Apollo. According to this article, at least five separate lawsuits have been filed across the country in protest to this move and more are expected.
(12/23/09) It seems some Cedar Fair investors are upset about the proposed Apollo buyout deal and have kicked off an investigation of the CF board regarding this “unfair takeover”. They claim that the timing of the deal is designed to be unfair to shareholders, as the $11.50 a share offer is too low. Shares were trading at $12 in August and as high as $14.10 over the past year. Even then the price is devalued because of the downtown in the economy as Cedar Fair shares ranged between $23 and 30 a share in September of the previous two years. In short, it sounds like they held off on making the deal until the shares had hit their lowest point in years, thus giving Apollo a nice price break, but not giving the Shareholder’s their proper worth.
(12/21/09) An interesting read about Apollo’s takeover of Cedar Fair and what it could mean for the company can be found here, and it’s not all good news as Apollo hasn’t always had the best track record it seems. For some background on Apollo, I’ve been told that they are the ones behind: AMC Entertainment, Berry Plastics, Claire's, Countrywide plc, CEVA Logics, Debt investments, Harrah's Entertainment, Hexion Specialty Chemicals, Jaccuzi Brands, Linen's and Things, Momentive Performance Materials, Noranda Aluminum, Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, Regent Seven Sea Cruises, Rexnord, Smart and Final and much more.
(12/17/09) In another shocking bit of news, it seems Cedar Fair may have found that cash rich investment partner they were looking for shortly after swallowing up the Paramount Parks. According to this news article a group called Apollo Global Management has worked a deal to actually purchase Cedar Fair entirely, paying out their stock holders cash for each share, which will then allow the company to go Private… away from the endless and unfriendly waves of the no-longer stable stock market. Cedar Fair’s Board of Directors has already approved of the deal, so it comes down to the shareholders now to give the nod, which they likely will in exchange for the buy-out cash offer. Going private seems to be the new hot thing for theme parks I’m guessing, as we saw this happen earlier this year with Universal Studios Japan, along with the closing of the deal that saw Blackstone take home the former Busch Entertainment parks. Anyone know anything about this Apollo company? They’ve been off my radar, so I know nothing about them yet. I’m guessing this year may end up being very similar to the Blackstone buyout as well, where Apollo will become the owner, but keep all the key Cedar Fair management in place, or at least until Kinzel’s next retirement deadline which I believe is looming ahead at the end of the 2011 season.
(11/23/09) While it has yet to be confirmed that Knott’s is no longer getting Demon Drop from Cedar Point, it technically was never 100% confirmed by the park that it was coming in the first place. That said… the hunt is on to find a new location for the ride. While a few others have poped up as hearing rumors that the ride may come to their ride, in most cases the same reasons as to why it was a bad fit at Knott’s also apply to many of the other Cedar Fair parks. Take Dorney Park for example… where the park not only has a superior S&S drop tower ride already in place, but they also share the same market with Six Flags Great Adventure who also installed an identical ride in the early ‘80s that thrilled people for over twenty years before being removed.
That said, I’ve come up with a very short list of suitable parks in the chain where Demon Drop would make the most sense: Michigan’s Adventure, Canada’s Wonderland and Worlds of Fun. (Note: While WOF has Detonator, it only has S&S Space Shots, not Turbo Drops). Time will tell where the ride ends up.
(11/6/09) In an interesting move ACE voted to honor the closed Geauga Lake Big Dipper by giving it Landmark status. I’m not sure what the point is, unless they hope that by elevating it’s status, it may attract a buyer with the intention of saving it.
(11/4/09) Cedar Fair has released the details of the Q3 Report this week, along with a transcript of the conference call. Attendance through Q3 this year was down 6% to 18.8 million guests compared to last year. Per Cap spending was only down 1% however. Interesting item of note, Shoot the Rapids at Cedar Point was meant to be a 2009 attraction but when the economy went soft they got Intamin to agree to hold off on it until 2010. They also announced that three parks will receive a nighttime light show attraction similar to the Starlight addition at Cedar Point this year. We’ve already heard rumors about it at Kings Island, so anyone care to make a guess about the other two parks getting it?
Chance Morgan - (12/22/09) A video showing off the first test run of the new Unicoaster flat ride attraction can now be seen on YouTube.
Disney - (2/4/10) According to this article, Disney could end up facing a few Anti-Trust issues brought about by their purchase of Marvel comics, caused by Marvel’s previous relationship deal with Universal Orlando. It gets complicated, so real on here for the details and what-if’s.
(1/21/10) Disney and More has posted an interesting story this week, showing off an honest to goodness REAL Disney parade that took place in Rio de Janerio, Brazil in December. Now how did this Parade come to take place in Rio? According to the article, Disney may be planting the seeds for their next long-term theme park growth spot and has eyeballed Rio as the best place to plant the Disney flag in South America. Of course, don’t look for this to happen anytime soon… if at all, since Disney is now focused on building the new resort in China later this decade. Chances are if we see Rio Disneyland at all, it wont be until the mid 2020’s.
(1/20/10) Disney has revelaed the name as well as the official website for their new Resort Hotel in Hawaii. They have named it Aulani, You can sign up for official updates on the site as work towards the grand opening in Fall 2011. In case you were wondering, According to an official Disney tweet, Aulani means “the place that speaks for the great ones” or “the place that speaks with deep messages.” Judging from the artwork they’ve got on the site, it looks like a beautiful resort.
(1/18/10) An interesting article came out over the weekend at the Orlando Sentinel reporting that Disney is spending around $1 billion dollars on a long-term multi-branch concept top secret project referred to only as “NextGen”. The whole point of the NextGen project is to eventually transform the Disney theme parks to offer an entirely new set of experiences for the 21st century… changing forever the experience and concept of your typical park visit. The project is said to be so big that even the various groups working on particular aspects of the project have not been entirely made aware of the big picture behind it all. Meanwhile various security measures have also been put in place to keep any and all information leaks to a minimum. That said, the general feeling is that Disney does consider this to be a game-changer… something that will once again set the Disney parks apart from the rest for years to come. For a good read about some of the technology that may be involved with some of the NextGen concepts, click here.
(1/11/10) Movieline has posted an interesting article claiming that Disney may very well be working on a ride themed around the popular LOST television series. It seems one idea being talked about included a ride that would use a Kuka Robocoaster style arm, much like what we will see used as the ride hardware for Universal’s Harry Potter themed dark ride in Orlando.
(1/7/10) It seems a group of fans have started an online petition to convince Disney to convert Tom Sawyer’s Island at Disneyland into a new attraction themed around the hit-show Lost, despite the fact that Lost will be starting it’s last season in a few weeks. I’ve got to admit, I’ve been surprised Disney hasn’t tried to market Lost to the theme park faithful yet… though I think it would really need to take over something bigger than Tom Sawyer’s Island. Maybe a Lost themed Waterpark maybe?
(1/6/10) Disney has announced plans to set up a new retail location in New York’s Time Square that promises new interactive experiences and attractions when it opens in the fall of 2010. Apparently having Steve Jobs (Apple) on the board of directors is having some influence on the direction of Disney’s newest retail locations. The new store will actually be set up in the site of the former Virgin Megastore. This also seems to be a prototype setup of what Disney may have in store for remodeling the rest of the Disney store chain over the next five years.
(1/5/10) It’s official… Disney is now the new owners of Marvel Entertainment after getting the final approval from Marvel stockholders. It should be interesting to see just what actions Disney will take with their new treasure-chest full of thousands of new interesting characters and very lucrative property licenses.
(12/17/09) Sad news today as it was announced that Roy Edward Disney passed away on Wednesday morning, ending a long going battle with stomach Cancer at the age of 79.
In other lighter news, poking a little fun at the merger of Disney and Marvel Comics, check out this mash-up poster featuring the best of both worlds. You’ve just got to love the Dr. Doom flags all over Cinderella’s Castle.
(12/4/09) Disney and Marvel have confirmed that they will finalize the deal on December 31st with a final vote from the Marvel shareholders.
(11/16/09) Disney reported that their attendance levels have risen by 15% in the last quarter at the Disneyland Parks compared to the same quarter in 2008. However attendance at Walt Disney World dropped 3% by comparison. PerCap spending has also dropped by 10% along with some small dips in hotel room bookings. Revenue has dropped by 7% compared to last year.
(11/13/09) The Walt Disney Company will be posting their Q4 Results late Thrusday after the market closes. Many expect that the results here may be taken as basic benchmark for how the entertainment and theme park industry is doing right now. During 2008 Disney’s Media Networks division accounted for 43% of their total revenue while the Parks & Resorts division was responsible for 31%, with the remainder set by Studio Entertainment (19%) and Consumer Products (8%). However last quarter Disney did report that profits had dropped by 26% compared to the same quarter in 2008. On the upside however, Disney has made some exciting moves this past quarter like the purchase of Marvel Comics and getting approval from the Chinese government allowing them to begin to finalize the deal to build the Shanghai Disneyland resort.
(11/9/09) It seems Disney is taking a bit of a risk with Mickey Mouse himself, trying to breathe new life into the character that has become little more than a corporate icon to many. Expect to see Mickey with a whole new attitude when he stars in the upcoming video game for the Nintendo Wii, Epic Mickey. Mickey will venture back into the Black & White toon era at first, and face off against Oswald the Rabbit and even erase other toon characters with paint thinner. Of course to those who remember all the real Mickey Mouse cartoon’s from Walt’s day say that this is a return of Mickey’s roots, where he was quite the wild devious “rascal”. Check out the screen captures of the work-in-progress video game coming out sometime in 2010. They contain some other weird images, such as a kind of Terminator half cyborg version of Donald Duck
Gary Goddard Group - (2/2/10) Fun times ahead… as the Gary Goddard Group has now launched their own Facebook fan page. Check it out. They’ve also got their own Twitter as well. What has the Gary Goddard Group worked on? Check out the video embedded below.
Gerstlauer - (2/2/10) Gerstlauer has announced two new rides this year: the Suspended Polyp and Sky Fly. The Suspended Polyp actually premiered during this
past Oktoberfest and is owned by German showman Thomas Aigner. The ride concept is based on the old Octopus / Polyp rides from the past era, but adding the new twist of open seating.
The Sky Fly is actually an updated version of the Sky Roller, with both rides allowing the riders to control the rotation of their car by adjusting the wings. Sky Fly changes the experience a bit more however, as the “boom” is now tilted at 45º and every rotation features an elevation change of some kind. The Sky Fly is available in 6, 8, 12 or 16 seat versions.
Great Wolf Lodge - (10/19/09) Great Wolf Lodge will hold a conference call to discuss their Q3 earnings report on November 3rd.
(8/6/09) Great Wolf Lodge reported higher revenue for Q2 this year, but also reported a decline in occupancy rates for the quarter as well.
The Gravity Group - (6/18/09) Earlier this year the Gravity Group took their  prototype Timberliner train out to Holiday World to give it a test run on The Raven. They were nice enough to send me this great picture for use on Screamscape, which I unfortunately misplaced until today, but it gives you a great look at the basic shape of the new train design. You can see even more pictures of it in action over at the official GravityCast, including an video of it making a test run.
Herschend Family Entertainment - (1/26/10) Wondering what plans Herschend Family Entertainment has for the former Celebration City park? Apparently nothing yet… as they are still unsure of what to do with the 110 acre property and have reported that they are not ready to make any kind of announcement about it anytime soon. Read more here.
IAAPA Convention Schedule - IAAPA is currently scheduled to take place in Orlando in 2010, 2012, 2013, 2016, and 2019.
Intamin - (11/27/09) Rumor has it that Intamin is looking into the possibility of including an inversion into their new Spinning coaster design.
Mack Rides - (11/18/09) Mack Rides has announced a brand new creation called Twist ‘n’ Splash. A couple of different layouts are available, but to best explain the ride, watch the video at the official Mack website. In short, it seems like a crazy merger of a Tea Cup ride with a Splash Battle experience. You’ve got to see it…
(11/4/09) I’m not sure what this track is for, check out this picture that was apparently was taken at the Mack Ride’s manufacturing area, and shows off a few pieces of yellow coaster track that look very similar to the style they used on Blue Fire. Anyone know what this might be for? Do we have another launched Mack coaster on our hands somewhere?
MagiQuest - (11/23/09) MagiQuest has announced that they will open a new location in the Chicago area (Yorktown Center) in February 2010, similar in size to the location just opened in the Mall of America. However coming in December however, MagiQuest will be ready to launch their new MQ Online multiplayer game that will recognize players wands used in the real world game somehow.
(10/14/09) The newest MagiQuest location opened this week at the Mall of America. The 12,000 square-foot MagiQuest adventure complex, which was voted best new interactive gaming technology by the Themed Entertainment Association, will be located on the third level of Mall of America outside Sears. If you haven’t read our review of MagiQuest in Myrtle Beach, SC, then you should do so.
National Roller Coaster Museum - (11/20/09) According to a post at Behind the Thrills, an announcement was to have been made today about the National Roller Coaster Museum. I’m still a bit fuzzy on the details of this Museum project, as they’ve been trying to get it off the ground for several years, but I don’t know if they ever finalized a location or anything. Hopefully somewhere fun and in the southern end of the country where it stays a bit warm all year long. CA, TX or FL might be nice. That’s just my 2 cents, but it will probably end up somewhere up North where it gets cold and miserable. Anyway, the good news is that it seems some parts and pieces of the Texas Giant (Six Flags over Texas) will be donated to the Museum as well as an entire Train and some track sections from Big Bad Wolf (Busch Gardens Williamsburg).
PARC Management - (1/31/10) PARC Management has launched their own Facebook Fan Page. Check it out here.
(1/18/10) In response to the story we posted last week about paperwork filed by Six Flags against PARC Management, I received a response from Amie Bolton, the Senior Director of Communications for PARC Management, which I will post below.
“Six Flags has not brought legal action against PARC for the return of the parks purchased by PARC from Six Flags in April 2007. PARC and Six Flags have had an ongoing dispute regarding the language of one of the agreements made between them as part of the 2007 purchase. This dispute involves the interpretation of a promissory note in which Six Flags alleges the language provides for non-scheduled principal pre-payments. Early last year, PARC filed suit against Six Flags asking the court to declare the language does not provide for non-scheduled principal pre-payments. This action was “stayed” when Six Flags filed Bankruptcy (meaning that PARC could not proceed in its legal action without Bankruptcy Court approval). Very recently, Six Flags filed in its Bankruptcy proceeding a claim based on this year-old dispute. You should know that Six Flags has not sought, has no right to recover, and has no security interest in any of its former properties. Six Flags has not requested any relief other than financial recovery for the alleged non-scheduled principal prepayments. In fact, PARC has upheld its obligations under its agreements with Six Flags and will continue to do so. Most importantly, PARC is looking ahead to the 2010 season with many new events planned for its 25 theme parks and family entertainment centers across the United States and Canada.”
(8/24/09) Along with all the stories we had heard so far this summer about the decline of Parc Management, and the deteriorating conditions at many of their parks, another interesting rumor came up from a highly trusted source. I was told that Parc’s own Chairman, Michael Jenkins, had quietly resigned from the company sometime this summer. While I did not want to just post that as a wild rumor, I have tried to contact Parc Management’s headquarters twice over the last few weeks to get a comment or possible confirmation on this story, but all requests for clarification have gone unanswered, so I can only assume at this point that the story is indeed true.
(8/5/09) Over the last month a slow trickle of small news bits began coming in about Parc Management from several different sources, ranging from the dippin dots guy all the way up to high level management types. Like a puzzle, each individual piece didn’t give away the big picture, but with enough pieces in place, things have now become more focused. The picture being painted right now for the Parc Management parks is not a good one at all.
The first real signs that something big had gone wrong was Magic Springs. If you’ve followed any of our updates this summer for that park, you know that it opened for the season with almost every single thrill ride shut down... and still has a majority of them shut down to this day. At first the blame was placed on an odd management snafu from the takeover by Parc that had left the park waiting until the spring to begin their off-season maintenance work. However, this seems to only be part of the story, as it seems a lack of funds to pay for it all may have been the real problem in the shadows.
It now seems that this alarming lack of funds from the corporate office is also now causing problems at several others Parc Management properties. Elitch Gardens seemed to be fine on the surface, but there are several attractions at the park that have been shut down for quite some time such as the observation tower, the Rainbow and half of the cars on Tower of Doom. It’s also been noted that on any given day this summer it seems as if at least one of the parks coasters is down for the day. On a related note, a number of similar issues have been noted with the Frontier City and Wild Waves parks as well. For whatever reason though... all is quiet from Darien Lake. Take that for what you will.
While the problems with ride downtime issues is bothersome for the guests, it is only a small aspect of the overall problem. From the business sector, we’ve heard several reports claiming that Parc Management was not paying all of their vendors. Money is being issued on a priority basis it seems, as the chain is only paying off the vendors that are 100% necessary to continue their operations or those who provide positive cash flow such as food and merchandise vendors. This leaves the ride manufacturers getting the shaft, as some sources report they’ve been waiting close to a year to be paid for work or parts provided to Parc Management properties. Some of these ride companies have struck back too it seems, as we’ve heard a rumor that some are now withholding vital rides parts needed, or refusing to return parts and items sent in for repair until they are paid up front.
Other scary items have also been reported as being cut back or cut-out entirely: security alarms systems, pest control, some cleaning and chemical supplies and so on. The lack of certain chemical supplies is certainly troubling after the news broke last week about a nasty E Coli breakout at Frontier City. Are we on the verge of watching Parc Management implode or is something else going on with the real money holders behind Parc Management, CNL Properties? More information as soon as we uncover it.
ProSlide - (1/26/10) Looks like ProSlide has come up with another new innovation… a little something they’re calling the RideHouse. Think of it as a next generation water fortress where they’ve added in pint sized version of many classic ProSlide attractions. Two will be installed for 2010, one at the Olympic Watercube in Beijing, China and the other is going into a waterpark in Colombia. Check it out here.
Six Flags - (1/18/10) In response to the story we posted last week about paperwork filed by Six Flags against PARC Management, I received a response from Amie Bolton, the Senior Director of Communications for PARC Management, which I will post below.
“Six Flags has not brought legal action against PARC for the return of the parks purchased by PARC from Six Flags in April 2007. PARC and Six Flags have had an ongoing dispute regarding the language of one of the agreements made between them as part of the 2007 purchase. This dispute involves the interpretation of a promissory note in which Six Flags alleges the language provides for non-scheduled principal pre-payments. Early last year, PARC filed suit against Six Flags asking the court to declare the language does not provide for non-scheduled principal pre-payments. This action was “stayed” when Six Flags filed Bankruptcy (meaning that PARC could not proceed in its legal action without Bankruptcy Court approval). Very recently, Six Flags filed in its Bankruptcy proceeding a claim based on this year-old dispute. You should know that Six Flags has not sought, has no right to recover, and has no security interest in any of its former properties. Six Flags has not requested any relief other than financial recovery for the alleged non-scheduled principal prepayments. In fact, PARC has upheld its obligations under its agreements with Six Flags and will continue to do so. Most importantly, PARC is looking ahead to the 2010 season with many new events planned for its 25 theme parks and family entertainment centers across the United States and Canada.”
(1/18/10) In an interesting note, it seems that Six Flags CEO Mark Shapiro has been snooping around the competition a bit on the side, dropping in to visit fan favorite regional parks like Holiday World and Dollywood.
(1/14/10) It’s kind of a long read and I gave up myself part-way through, but Six Flags has filed a claim against PARC Management for unpaid funds related to the sale of several former Six Flags properties. So far it looks like there are disagreements over PARC refusing to pay certain penalty fees owed to Six Flags from a previous late payment as well as a non-payment of a $1.7 million annual payment due at the start of the year. In short… unless PARC pays up, Six Flags is seeking to take back control of the former properties sold to PARC Management including Darien Lake, Elitch Gardens, Frontier City and more. Anyone with a legal background want to skim through it and give us an easy to understand breakdown?
(1/11/10) Six Flags has filed some new paperwork with the SEC regarding their bankruptcy plans. It’s very very long, but has some interesting data here and there. Speaking of the bankruptcy plans, Six Flags reports that they could exit the proceedings as early as March under an $830 million financing deal. Read all the details here.
(12/22/09) Six Flags is on track to have a hearing to approve their reorganization plan between March 8 and March 19th if all goes well. Of course the hornet’s nest is still alive with activity from those who feel their own interests are being ignored by the current plan, and they’ll likely try to de-rail this plan in favor of something new. More as it develops.
(12/9/09) The latest news from the Six Flags bankruptcy hearing is that the judge determined that Six Flags has the right to file their own reorganization plan, throwing out the plan submitted by various noteholders.
(12/7/09) BusinessWeek has posted an update about the current status of Six Flags. Seems that the legal teams for the chain were in court last Friday going over matters with the judge as well as various “noteholders” who are proposing their own reorganization plan for the chain. The hearing will begin again today.
(11/23/09) It was confirmed at IAAPA that Six Flags has struck a deal with 5D International to build the first 5-D attraction to the US market in time for Six Flags’ big 50th anniversary celebration in 2011. To be honest, I’m not sure I know much about 5D International or their products, though I did try out the FlyBoard at IAAPA 2007 which was quite interesting as it was a stand-up solo simulator style experience. Given that Six Flags has a bunch of old simulator theaters at some of their parks (SFOT, SFDK, SDGAm, SFKK, etc…) sitting around, some open and some closed, this could be a plan to remodel them into something new.
(11/18/09) Six Flags has put the old Togo Ultra Twister from Astroworld up for sale at ITAL.
(11/10/09) Six Flags has agreed to the bankruptcy plan proposed by Avenue Capital, which will include selling $450 million in new stock to help pay back the creditors. The plan has yet to be approved in court however and may face opposition from those who feel they have been left out in the cold.
(11/4/09) Six Flags has issued a statement about their Q3 earnings report this week, reporting total revenues of $457 million, down 7% from the Q3 2008, caused by slightly lower attendance figures and mostly from cutbacks in guest spending. Attendance only fell 1% from 12.2 million to just 12 million in Q3 2009. While single day and season pass sales were still strong, the biggest drop in attendance came from the Group Gate as many companies and organizations cut out events this year.
For the year to date, revenue is down 10% from the previous year, going from $903.2 million to $811 million. Overall attendance for the first 9 months of 2009 is also down 5%, bringing in 21.2 million compared to 22.2 million during the previous year’s first 9 months.
Universal Studios - (12/7/09) According to this article about the Comcast purchase of NBC Universal, it sounds as it Comcast does plan to hang onto the Universal theme parks, rather than try to sell them off as InBev did when they bought Anheuser-Busch.
(12/4/09) Sad news to report today, as expected G.E. has confirmed the sale of 51% of NBC Universal to Comcast. The jokes have already started to pour in about how Universal Express times will now become 4-6 hour long windows, Passholders may find their services disconnected without warning and guests who will wait all day in lines for broken rides because the technicians decided not to show up.
(12/2/09) Good news and Bad News time. The Good News is that G.E. has come to an agreement to buy Vivendi’s 20% stake in the NBC Universal. The Bad News is that this puts all the pieces in play for G.E. to them sell off 51% of NBC Universal to Comcast, a company well known for being voted more than once as having THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE in the country. No joke… they were ranked as THE WORST in the 2004 and 2007 American Customer Satisfaction Index survey… coming in below even the Internal Revenue Service (I.R.S.). This is a company who’s general mistreatment of their customers was so bad it drove a 75-year old grandmother into a fit a rage so bad that she grabbed a hammer from home, stormed into her local Comcast office and began to smash up the keyboards, computers and telephones in the office until the police arrived to arrest her. Honestly, the thought that Comcast could soon be given the keys to the Universal Theme Parks just scares the hell out of me.
(10/22/09) According to the LA Times, Universal has extended their deal with Steven Speilberg by another 7 years, before he can ask for a lump sum payout on his consulting deal. Text was also added to the terms that Speilberg’s deal will transfer through to any new owners if G.E. decides to sell NBC / Universal to anyone else before then.
(10/15/09) Again the news reports are hot about a possible sale of Universal to Comcast… (the very thought makes me want to throw up!) Current reports claim it may be only a 51% of the company sale to Comcast with GE keeping 49% percent, but if you ask me 1% is simply too much for Comcast. You can pretty much throw all quality control out the window if they get their grubby mitts on it, they’ll let all the good rides go into ruin, and I don’t even want to think about what will happen to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Comcast would find a way to out-source all ride operations to India if they could.
If the theme park of the coin wasn’t bad enough news, remember that Comcast are the ones trying to pretty much destroy the internet these days, trying to limit their customers bandwidth use, and as a cable TV providers, they’ll probably turn HULU.com into a pay site… charging customers for the programming, then hitting them up for the bandwidth fees on the backside for downloading it all… it’s a lose / lose situation for everyone. (I can see their new Universal Express system now… “Your Ride Reservation window for Ripsaw Falls is between 9am and 6pm. Have a nice ride!”)
US ThrillRides - (11/12/09) Bill Kitchen has done it again and announced through  his US Thrillrides company the SkyView… what some are calling the Ferris Wheel 2.0. This next generation Giant Wheel concept promises to be cheaper ride concept that will weight about half of what a typical Giant Wheel does while still being able to withstand hurricane force winds. The major difference between the new SkyView and older wheel’s is that the wheel itself does not spin. The 6-8 passenger gondola’s instead are attached to a track system and pulled around the wheel by a lift-chain style system. Even better, the wheels do not have to be round… they can be virtually any shape you can think of. Round, square, oval, or even like a giant guitar pick. The unique new shapes also allow for the SkyView to use a much smaller footprint than a traditional Giant Wheel.
Vekoma - (2/5/10) According to this article posted at Park World Online, Vekoma is showing off a new Kneeling-Suspended coaster design called Dragon Fly. Riders will sit four across and be leaning forward slightly while in a kneeling position. As interesting as it sounds, it also doesn’t sound like the most comfortable position to ride in. Remember, not all ideas like this are good... remember the Stand-Up Drop Tower? I’m sure ever guy who has ridden it does...
WhiteWater West - (2/5/10) According to a brief promotional article on Amusement Today, WhiteWater West is promoting their SilkTek line of translucent waterslides. In addition to adding a new feature to the slides themselves, it provides more visual entertainment to the crowds watching below as you can now see the person inside the enclosed slide on their way down. The translucent slides are currently available in blue, red, green, dark green, orange and yellow.
Zamperla - (2/5/10) Zamperla has confirmed that they have sold a dinosaur themed version of their MotoCoaster to Changzhou Park in China that will open sometime next year.
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