Busch Gardens, Williamsburg, Applause Award Winner

This award is presented every other year to an amusement or theme park whose management operations and creative accomplishments have inspired the industry with foresight, originality, and sound business development.

The selection of award winners is determined by a board of governors consisting of representatives from the international amusement industry, Liseberg, and Amusement Business.

Past Applause Award winners from most recent to oldest are Hershey Park, Silver Dollar City, Cedar Point, Universal Studios Florida, Efteling, Europa-Park, Knott’s Berry Farm, Walt Disney Epcot, Opryland, and Walt Disney Magic Kingdom.

General Managers Luncheon with Moore

Roger Moore, former James Bond star, kicked off the IAAPA convention and trade show at the What’s New Theatre.

Moore was there in his role as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador to assist in IAAPA’s partnership, which was recently established with the children’s organization. He spoke on the subject during the What’s New Theatre and the General Managers Luncheon.

IAAPA committed to promoting and supporting UNICEF’s Immunization Plus program, so that millions more children in 160 countries around the world can lead happier, healthier lives.

“Through this alliance with UNICEF, we are showing our unequivocal support for social programs that will benefit children in need all around the world,” said Alain Baldacci.

The campaign, “Your Change for a Real Change,” is a voluntary program in which IAAPA members can pick from several activities and events to help support UNICEF and its immunization work.

New Staff at IAAPA

Shauna DeGeorge was appointed assistant editor for the publications department in September. She interned at Maxim magazine in New York City, was a staff writer for a New Jersey shore entertainment magazine, and worked at a local newspaper and publishing company in Maryland.
Shauna graduated magna cum laude from Monmouth University, N.J., with a degree in communication/journalism. While attending school, she was news and copy editor, sports writer, and photographer for the school newspaper, The Outlook.

Sallie Fox was hired as the IAAPA receptionist and has previously attended the IAAPA trade show. She is the proud mother of two
children ages 23 and 25 and has been married to the same wonderful man for 30 years. She was involved in
volunteer work for many years including the Pentagon Crash Disaster Center. Sallie has also run a daycare center for 20 years. Being at IAAPA is a dream come true, she says.

2002 Passing of the Gavel

In an emotional ceremony during the final hours of the trade show, IAAPA president Clark Robinson described outgoing chairman Alain Baldacci as person who “has real compassion and feeling about the children of the world and a dedication to hard work.”

Baldacci thanked IAAPA members, staff, and especially his family for supporting him through a difficult but exciting year for IAAPA. He cited his most proud achievements as forging an important alliance with UNICEF, visiting and cultivating relationships with many of the IAAPA members around the world for the first time, and surviving through the year.

Baldacci then thanked John Collins for supporting him through difficult times and wished him well in the coming year.Collins took the podium and the gavel, and officially became IAAPA’s chairman. He promised to continue programs that Baldacci started during his year of leadership. He said the theme for the year would be communication, as he wants to reach out to members in all parts of the world.

Quarter Million Dollar Donation Kicks Off Fundraising for Coaster Museum

The American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) announced a gift of $250,000 to the National Roller Coaster Museum and Archives (NRCMA) during the IAAPA trade show. The NRCMA board of directors accepted the gift during a morning presentation at ACE’s trade show booth.

The proposed roller coaster museum will house ACE’s growing collection of roller coaster cars, models, photographs, artwork, history, and other artifacts related to roller coasters. The facility will also include a library center for coaster-related research on new and upcoming projects among other things.

The NRCMA Board of Directors is presently made up of seven members: Carole Sanderson, newly elected president of ACE; Ray Ueberroth, ACE archivist; Richard Munch, ACE historian and founder; B. Derek Shaw, former ACE vice president; Jan Kiser, former ACE president; Gary Slade, publisher and editor of Amusement Today; and Tom Rebbie, president of Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters. In addition, there are two vacant seats, which the board is seeking to fill with amusement industry representatives.

In development since 1992, the museum is now one step closer to reality. Sanderson said, “This substantial gift recognizes the efforts of ACE to achieve this goal and kicks off a three-year fundraising campaign, wherein donations for the future facility will be actively solicited.” Accomplishing this will require financial support from individual contributors, organizations, and corporations, she said.

The NRCMA seeks to operate the museum for the education and benefit of the public and the amusement industry; to maintain archives of roller coaster-related material; and to provide technical, academic, and historical research facilities.

Established in 1978, ACE is a worldwide organization of more than 8,500 members dedicated to the preservation and enjoyment of roller coasters.

2002 IAAPA Hall of Fame Awards

The Hall of Fame inductees were announced during the What’s New Theatre at the association’s eighty-fourth annual convention in Orlando.

Welcome, Marty
One living inductee, Marty Sklar, was honored. Walt Disney guided the creative philosophy of the Disney theme parks from 1952 to 1966—a 14-year period during which he opened only one park. Over the next 34 years, Marty Sklar provided this guidance at Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI), the group behind all the parks that followed.

Sklar began as Walt’s speechwriter and became a real-life and successful version of “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” providing creative leadership and statesmanship to WDI through the creation of eight of the subsequent nine Disney parks, plus dozens of innovative attractions outside the parks. During Sklar’s tenure, WDI has grown from 2,000 to 4,000 employees and is the largest architectural company in America, despite being exclusively devoted to the amusement business.

Along the way, Sklar has mentored two generations of future themed attractions leaders. Today Sklar’s influence is omnipresent in the careers and creative philosophy of an entire generation of young designers and showmen and, by imitation, in non-Disney parks throughout the world.

IAAPA also posthumously honored two industry pioneers Rudyard Uzzell and Leon Cassidy.

The Circle Swing
Rudyard Uzzell was one of the early manufacturers in the amusement park industry. He was noted as a ride and amusement park designer and builder, credited with installations in Brazil, Germany, England, Spain, and Belgium. Along with Harry Traver and J.W. Ely, Uzzell installed hundreds of Circle Swings and later built rides like the Frolic and Scoota Boats.

For 26 years, Uzzell wrote a column titled “Around the Parks” for Billboard. He was a primary founder of the National Association of Amusement Parks (the root of IAAPA), and its historian for 31 years. Uzzell also operated rides as a concessionaire at Luna Park on Coney Island, N.Y., and at Belmont Park in Canada.

The First Dark Ride
Leon Cassidy was a professional musician who changed careers in the late 1920s and became the manager of Tumbling Run Park in Bridgetown, N.J.
Inspired by an Old Mill Ride, Cassidy modified some old amusement cars and placed them in an aging building where they were attached to a rail. The result was the Fire Fly, the first non-water-based dark ride. The ride was wildly popular, and within two years Cassidy had sold 60 of these rides. Throughout his lifetime, more than 1,000 such Pretzel dark rides were sold worldwide.

What’s New Theatre

The splash of color at this year’s What’s New Theatre came strictly from the performance artist who created IAAPA’s logo and the Statue of Liberty onstage. The rest of the ceremony had a somewhat somber tone because the overwhelming theme was the recent alliances formed with two charity organizations—UNICEF and International Institute for Peace Through Tourism. Roger Moore spoke about the world’s starving children and UNICEF during the What’s New Theatre, and former IAAPA president John Graff introduced IIPT’s outline for the audience, explaining what its mission and goals were and how they would affect IAAPA members.

Alain Baldacci then discussed important aspects of his year as chairman before the presentation of the parks, coasters, and attractions that debuted last year. This included Xetul in Guatemala, Winterwonderland in Liseberg, Discover the Bay in San Francisco, Calif., Whisker’s Wild Ride at Ocean Park in Hong Kong, and Sawmill Splash at Adventureland in Des Moines, Iowa.

Trade Show Numbers

IAAPA Orlando 2002 ended on November 23, bringing to a close the second-largest event ever for the organization.

In search of the latest and greatest products and services in the global amusement industry, 29,427 attendees made the trip to Orlando to enjoy all the exhibits, seminars, and special events on offer from November 18-23 at the Orange County Convention Center.

“It’s an honor to host the best amusement industry trade show on earth,” said outgoing IAAPA chairman Alain Baldacci. “The crowds came out because they know the annual IAAPA trade show is truly a ‘can’t miss’ event. We’re glad they made IAAPA Orlando 2002 a great show, and we look forward to seeing them back here next year.”

Buyers came from 58 countries to view the products and services of 1,295 exhibitors in 556,000 square feet of exhibit space. Of those buyers, 83 percent were U.S. and 17 percent were international.

This year’s show also offered more than 50 well-attended educational sessions, including IAAPA’s Attractions Management School and facility tours of Walt Disney World Resort’s Blizzard Beach waterpark, Universal Orlando, and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.

Many special events were popular this year. The General Managers and Owners Luncheon featuring Roger Moore, on Thursday, November 21, greeted 310 guests. The International Reception on Wednesday, November 20, brought 796 attendees. The Thursday Night Social at Walt Disney World Resort’s Magic Kingdom welcomed a party of 2,934.

The Hall E Exhibitor Pavilion was the site of the traditional “Passing of the Gavel” ceremony on Saturday, during which Alain Baldacci bestowed the chairmanship of IAAPA upon John Collins of John Collins Leisure in the U.K.

Collins will serve as chair for one year, ending his term by hosting IAAPA Orlando 2003 in Orlando, Fla., from November 17 through the 22, 2003.

The Future of the Industry Seminar a Big Success

IAAPA Europe, which was celebrating its fiftieth anniversary, organized and ran a its first major event in October at Efteling in the Netherlands.

The two-day seminar focused on the future of the industry and began IAAPA Europe’s efforts to improve member services in the region by organizing seminars and training sessions.

More than 180 guests, speakers, and journalists gathered in the Fata Morgana Palace of Efteling in Kaatsheuvel to find out what experts had to say about the region’s future outlook. The seminar focused on the tourism industry in the growing European Union and looked at the benefits of several recent developments: the arrival of major chains like Disney, Six Flags, and Warner Bros. as well as the expanding European chains like Tussauds Group and Grévin et Cie.

The seminar’s featured keynote speakers talked on issues like applications of entertainment technologies and challenges of traffic congestion in many regions.

The Two-Day Seminar
To get a perspective on the future of our industry, IAAPA Europe invited a group of experts to share their views and discuss our challenges and opportunities. John Graff, former president of IAAPA, was the moderator.

The first speaker was Li Edelkoort, chair of the design academy in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, who said parks should begin to prepare for more regional tourism possibilities because global tourism is declining.

Olivier de Bosredon, CEO of Grévin et Cie, said the amusement industry will experience a real shakeout within 10 years. Five out of 10 parks will be part of a group or corporation to stay afloat, three will remain as they are now, and two will be out of business, he said.

One of the highlights of the second day was a presentation from Alejandro Torrado of Global Estudios in Spain. He discussed the developments in the southern European market, which has a climate for growth, no current market saturation, and endless opportunities. But he also warned that the need for huge investment and and questionable future profitability can be risky.

The final presenter of the second day was Cees Kikstra, Efteling’s director of strategy and development. His presentation underlined his belief that there will be no saturation as long as the product is unique. “We will have to compete with new parks, new brands. We will be confronted with even shorter life cycles of our attractions. We will have to offer quality experiences in this time of the experience economy.”

Delegations from Romania and China Bring Projects to the Table

During the week of the trade show Clark Robinson, IAAPA president, and John Collins, the new chairman, met with international delegations to hear discussion of their plans for upcoming projects and to offer support.

Alexandru Stancu, the general manager of the National Institute for Research and Development in Tourism in Romania, a Romanian architect, and a financier explained their plans to build Dracula Park in Transylvania.

Stancu told Collins about their desire to bring more tourists into Romania and share their culture with the world. He said, while they have substantial opposition, critics don’t understand that they want to preserve the legend of Count Dracula and Bram Stoker, not degrade it.

They have several major investors already, including Coca-Cola and Brau Union Romania, but they still have a ways to go to get the funding they need, Stancu said.

Collins and Robinson met with a Chinese delegation later in the week. Led by Chinese Mayor Shuzu Wang and the U.S. Ambassador of China, they shared details about the Chinese amusement industry, including training methods and the possibility of collaboration on seminars.