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Dreamworld Busy Helping Guests Fight Obesity, Predators, Aliens
 IN AN EFFORT TO HELP KIDS LEARN ABOUT AND AVOID the growing problem of childhood obesity, Dreamworld and White- Water World in Coomera, Queensland, Australia, has launched “Dreamkids—Healthy Habit Attack!” an active educational program that takes place inside its parks.
Designed for students ages 5 to 9, the half-day programs encourage children to analyze three areas of health—fitness, sun safety, and healthy food habits—while crisscrossing the 91-acre theme park. They’re tasked with calculating how much energy they expend walking from one attraction to another, the number of steps they need to climb to burn off popular foods, and how to plan their day in the park to avoid the sun’s most intense UV rays.
“The program was designed by a qualified secondary physical education teacher, Andrea Sandford, who now works in our education department,” said Shelly Winkel, public relations and communications manager for Dreamworld and White Water World. “She designed the program based on the essential learnings, which is the new syllabus mandated by a Queensland teachers study board authority.”
The program helps the kids cut through the confusion of how much food they should consume by putting it in simple terms: Energy in should not exceed energy out, and when it does, that’s when they gain weight. Dreamworld CEO Noel Dempsey launched the program May 12 with the help of Gold Coast City Mayor and former Olympian Ron Clarke. Dempsey noted recent exit surveys showed over the course of a single day’s visit to Dreamworld, a 10- to 15-year-old walks almost 10,000 steps and at White Water World swims 30 minutes and climbs up 1,270 stairs to access waterslides.
 Meanwhile, Dreamworld also unveiled a new elaborately themed laser combat game called “Alien vs. Predator vs. You.” In the AUS$2.5million (US$2million) game based on the science fiction movie “Alien vs. Predator,” participants engage in laser battles through a temple and a sacrificial chamber in an attempt to reach the Queen Alien Labyrinth without being killed.
“The arena is literally littered with props, including the two-story ‘Temple of Three Cultures,’ which has laser beams on the doorway that bar entry depending on the color of the beam, a 10-foot-tall Queen Alien (the mold has been taken from the mold used for the movie), a standoff between the Predator and another alien, a mural full of aliens, and more,” said Winkel. www.dreamworld.com.au
PassmoreLab Brings New Dimension to ‘Stargate’
 FANS OF THE SUCCESSFUL SCIENCE FICTION TV SERIES “Stargate SG-1” will finally be able to enjoy the feeling of passing through the show’s signature feature, the Stargate. PassmoreLab in San Diego, California, is collaborating with MGM Location Based Entertainment to convert MGM’s “Stargate SG- 3000” four-minute simulator ride film from 2-D to 3-D.
“Stargate SG-3000”’s conversion to 3-Dwillmake riders feel even more like they’re really experiencing the sensation of going through a Stargate,” said PassmoreLab President Greg Passmore in a statement. “The new and improved simulation film will add depth to the attraction and will be a hit with existing Stargate fans as well as those unfamiliar with the television series.”
Steve Glum, head of branding and distribution for PassmoreLab, explained to FUNWORLD why the 2-Dto- 3-D conversion process is so significant: “When shooting in 3-D, you have to shoot the spatial relationships as they exist. But when converting 2- D to 3-D, you can actually change the spatial relationships—the space between people and objects. You can create whatever feeling and space you want in the conversion process.”
Glum said an attraction need not be a massive destination park to afford 2- D conversion to 3-D: “Some projects can be done with high quality for around $10,000 per minute of film. So a five-minute film could be done for $50,000, and it’s worthwhile because if you have the same movie running in 2- D and next door in 3-D, the 3-D attendance will outperform the 2-D, even at a higher cost.”
The 2-D “Stargate SG-3000” debuted at the Space Center in Bremen, Germany, in 2003 and has appeared at Six Flags Marine World in Vallejo, California, and Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville, Kentucky, as well as Lotte World in Seoul, South Korea.
www.passmorelab.com
Universal Orlando Offers Layoff Insurance
 AS A SIGN OF THE TIMES, UNIVERSAL ORLANDO RESORT offered “layoff insurance” to guests who booked vacations with them by June 30 for travel between May 26 and Oct. 8, 2009. Called the “Vacation Protection Plan” as a part of the resort’s “Vacation Stimulus Offer,” the coverage was available at no additional cost to guests who booked a vacation package of three nights or longer. If guests lose their job involuntarily, they can cancel their package and receive a full refund if they’ve been with their employer at least one year.
The resort also offered a “Kids Free Package,” in which children between the ages of 3 and 9 received free unlimited park admission if their parents book a package of four nights or longer at a Universal Orlando Resort hotel or at lodging close to the resort by July 31.These guests also received free travel insurance.
www.universalorlando.com/vp/bf/vso.html |
Zoo Animals of a Different Kind
SAN DIEGO ZOO FINDSWHAT IT’S LOOKING for at IAAPA Attractions Expo.
 Since zoos are where people go to see live animals, Designer Connie Kautza at National Rock & Sculpture in Wausau, Wisconsin, probably didn’t expect to be approached by a world-famous zoo looking for animals. But that’s exactly what happened at IAAPA Attractions Expo 2007 in Orlando.
The San Diego Zoo was working on its new $45 million elephant habitat, “Elephant Odyssey,” and needed someone to provide high-quality life-size replicas of extinct animals for the exhibit. The zoo was looking for something special—it didn’t want the sheen of fiberglass and wanted something sturdy enough for kids to climb on—so officials went searching on the Expo floor.
“They came to our booth and said they thought we were who they were looking for,” said Kautza. “They looked at all the people who do this kind of work, but with us being right there with a booth at the show, they were able to stop by and visit with us, and that’s what made it happen.”
National Rock & Sculpture provided eight full-scale sculptures, including three mammoths. Beyond the fact these animals are extinct, Kautza mentioned another reason why the zoo would want static sculptures: “Guests can’t touch and climb on the live animals, whereas they can with these sculptures, and this hands-on approach really contributes to the learning and the fun experience for people, especially kids.”
Kautza said her company has done a lot of work for waterparks, miniature golf courses, and lodging resorts. Photos of some of the sculptures can be seen at www.nationalrock.com.
Tourism Expert: Don’t Scrimp on Marketing
IF ATTRACTIONS ARE FACING TIGHT FINANCES because of the slow economy, now is not the time to cut advertising and marketing budgets, a tourism expert warns.
Maura Gast, chairperson of the Destination Marketing Association International and executive director of the Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau in Texas, said the road to recovery will be more difficult if attractions slow their marketing efforts.
Gast made the comments while speaking at a May 12 meeting of the Albuquerque Convention And Visitors Bureau, and she elaborated on them to FUNWORLD: “You can’t just cut back and then start right back up again where you left off. Once you start again, you’ve got a lot of ground to make up because others have stepped into the void.” She said tourist destinations have to keep themselves in front of travelers or risk being replaced by others. “Las Vegas has kept advertising because even though they have one of the best known brands, they understand they must stay up front, or someone else will fill that vacuum,” she said.
Gast also noted there are many new ways to market to audiences, especially youth: “If you’re not comfortable or knowledgeable about things like online marketing and social media, go hire a college student. It’s a great opportunity for an internship and they’re often looking for real-world special projects.” |
Famous Turtles Finally Get a Ride
 FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE 25- YEAR HISTORY of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, an amusement park ride will be created based on the four fictional turtle heroes. 4Kids Entertainment, the children’s entertainment and media company headquartered in New York, and Mirage Studios, licensor of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, announced the ride will be built at the new SciFanta indoor theme park scheduled to open in Incheon, South Korea, in April 2011.
4 Kids and Mirage will work with Falcon’s Treehouse of Orlando and 3DBA of Knokke Heist, Belgium, in creating the attraction, called “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4-D Dark Ride.” 4Kids Entertainment said the ride will be “an exhilarating, multidimensional Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles experience and will reinvent how fans experience the brand when the ultimate attraction for SciFanta’s new Incheon, [South] Korea-based theme park opens in April 2011.” www.4kidsentertainment.com.
Venerable Conneaut Lake Park Re-opens
CONNEAUT LAKE PARK IN CONNEAUT LAKE, PENNSYLVANIA, reopened its doors to guests after being shuttered for two years due to financial difficulties and more than $2 million in debt. The park underwent much refurbishment during the off-season, and Lisko & Sons Amusement Rides of Lowellville, Ohio, signed a multiyear agreement with the park’s trustees to operate the rides.
 “The leasing concept was reintroduced to the park on a grander scale than in the past,” said Jack Moyers, chairman of the trustees of Conneaut Lake Park. “Several profit centers were identified and categorized, then advertised for lease. This concept gives ‘ownership’ to each of the areas and reduces the number of accounts the board must monitor.”
The park’s most famous ride, the 71-year-oldwooden“Blue Streak” roller coaster, will reopen by June 2010. Moyers said results of an inspection will be used to formulate a repair plan.
As to the future of the 107-year-old park, Moyers said: “One of the goals that the current board of trustees has is to dispel the question of ‘Will the park open next year?’ This will allow for planning and execution of more and larger festivals and events. Building this momentum will be an arduous task, but the vendors are committed to multiyear contracts and understand fully the rebuilding that must occur to transform the past practices into new ones with viability that keep people coming back to Conneaut Lake Park.” www.conneautlakepark.com. |
This Factory Is Not About Work
A NEWFAMILY ENTERTAINMENT CENTER IN ARIZONA is themed after an unusual place: a giant old factory. Here the holes at the miniature golf courses include things like ground-shaking earthquakes and water towers splitting open to gush water. Guests can also enjoy a steak dinner at a sit-down restaurant and watch shows on a 14-foot video wall.
 The elaborate factory theming at Yuma Fun Factory in Yuma, Arizona, was the brainchild of Robert Busse, one of the operation’s managing partners. “We don’t have any small-scale props,” he said proudly. The elaborate entrance sign is so large that walkways had to be built inside it so workers could install the illumination.
Busse noted the miniature golf courses aren’t just themed and interactive; they have story lines: “On one of our courses, the story line is that California falls into the ocean and Yuma is on the waterfront, and it becomes more of a ‘Waterworld’- type theme.”
Besides the usual FEC offerings of go-karts and bumper boats, he said the 18-acre amusement center is high-tech throughout and, in addition to the video wall, features several PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 play areas. For adults, there’s a 5,000- square-foot bar to have fun in while the kids play.
The distinctive facility received a lot of local media coverage, so much in fact that 2,000 people showed up in March for a job fair to hire 120 to 150 staff members for the center. www.yumafunfactory.com
New Adventures in Old Scottish Quarry
SCOTLAND-BASED VW LEISURE LTD. is preparing to build a $24 million amusement park in a rather unusual location: an old gravel and sand quarry site in West Lothian, Scotland.
VW Leisure plans to start the project as early as winter 2009 on a 72-acre site and open the park in summer 2011. The park will be ideally located for quick access from several major cities, including Edinburgh and Glasgow. Developers told the local media they are not too concerned about the impact of the current economic slowdown because they believe recovery will be well underway by the time the park opens.
The former quarry was restored over the past five years in preparation for a major development; following a feasibility study by RGA Associates, VW Leisure decided to build an amusement park. The company said the space will be fully utilized, and the property’s lakes will be used for kayaking, sailing, windsurfing, and water skiing.
Plans also call for a children’s play park with a large wooden Trojan Horse slide, a 1,000-foot sailing ship, and wooden forts. Accommodations will include a nautically themed park lodge and 33 New England-style log cabins.
The park will use wind power to supply electricity and utilize a geothermal heating system, while recycling much of the development’s waste. |
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