Funworld March 2009

New Aquarium Bubbles to Life in Arizona

THE ONLY PUBLIC AQUARIUM BETWEEN ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, and San Diego, California, officially opened its doors Dec. 29, 2008, with famed naturalist Jack Hanna on hand for the grand opening. The 16-acre facility is the newest addition to the 50-acreWildlifeWorld Zoo (now called the Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium), located in Litchfield Park, Arizona. The 180,000-gallon aquarium houses more than 200 species of fish and animals in 60 indoor and outdoor exhibits, and will eventually boast up to 400 species.

The aquarium has an unusual design, according to Mickey Ollson, director of the zoo and aquarium complex. “It is not in one building under one roof,” he explained, “but is done as a village or campus setting.” The three buildings have an architectural theme of the South Pacific, and each has its own theme: “Diversity of Life,” “Wild & Wonderful,” and “Predators.” The buildings take up 33,000 square feet of exhibit space, plus there is another 10,000 square feet of retail space.

Ollson pointed out that one of the buildings includes an upscale restaurant called Tubiron, in which guests can gaze into a shark tank through two large acrylic windows. He noted the 160-seat eatery is stand-alone, so customers don’t have to pay the zoo and aquarium’s $26.50 entry fee ($15 for kids) to dine there.

There’s one other somewhat unusual aspect to the new aquarium, according to Ollson: It received zero public tax support, grants, or financial donations, relying solely on gate attendance. “No public funding was used to develop and build it,” he said. “Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium are completely privately owned. We were a little over budget, but not much as aquariums go.”

The aquarium features not only fish, but aquatic mammals, reptiles, and birds. Ollson said Wildlife World has zoning for 130,000 square feet under roof, and future additions to the aquarium, which will include sea lions and otters, are already planned.

Along with the aquarium, 24-yearold Wildlife World has opened “The Log Flume.” The flume is 35 feet high and 1,500 feet long and is the facility’s fifth ride attraction, supplied by Sky Trans of Contoocook, New Hampshire. Said Ollson: “Rides are another revenue source—they’re just another reason for people to come to the zoo.”

With the opening of the $7 million aquarium, Wildlife World strengthened its position as Arizona’s largest collection of exotic animals, with more than 3,000 creatures representing almost 600 species. About 400,000 guests visit the zoo annually, including 75,000 students. For more information, visit www.wildlifeworld.com.

EarthQuest Is No ‘Dinosaur Park’

PLANS FOR A NEW 500-ACRE ENTERTAINMENT AND EDUCATIONAL PROJECT, WHICH HAS BEENMISCHARACTERIZED AS A “DINOSAUR PARK” IN SOME NEWS STORIES, are taking shape in New Caney, Texas, about 40 minutes from downtown Houston.

To be called EarthQuest, the development include a for-profit entertainment park complete with rides and other attractions, and a nonprofit educational institute, according to Don Lessem, creator and founder of the park. “It’s a $500 million project with about 50 different rides, including several ‘E-ticket’ rides,” he said, “like going inside a volcano, going through an actual ice cave, launch rides, coasters, and technologies that haven’t been used before.”

The park will be divided into sections— one devoted to sky, one to water, one to land, and one to prehistory, which will be called Pangaea. There will also be a waterpark and an animal park featuring creatures from Africa, South America, and Texas.

At the center of the park, said Lessem, will be the EarthQuest Institute, a $100 million research and educational center comprising 58 acres. “It’s a very interactive environmental presentation,” said Lessum, “and a lot of that is about how we change the way we live. It’s going to have 4-D theaters, reconstructed environments from the past, and lots of very enterprising interactive presentations of new research.”

Lessem said the reason the park has been mischaracterized is because of his reputation for creating traveling and permanent exhibitions featuring dinosaurs, his work as an adviser on the original “Jurassic Park” movie and theme park ride, and his creation of the two largest charities for dinosaur research, all of which have earned him the nickname “Dino” Don.

Lessem noted that Marlin Atlantis is the company behind EarthQuest, and its principal, John Marlin, is a developer who owns the project’s land. Contour Entertainment of Van Nuys, California, has been brought on board to design the project, and Lessum said they’ve already chosen the suppliers they’ll be using for the project. The institute is slated to open in the fall of 2011 and the park in the spring of 2012. Anticipated attendance for the entire project is 3 million annually.

Great Wolf Lodge to Be Largest Indoor Waterpark in Southeast U.S.

A $120 MILLION GREAT WOLF LODGE INDOOR WATERPARK IS SET TO OPEN IN LATE MARCH in Concord, North Carolina, near Charlotte. The 475,000- square-foot resort is the first major indoor waterpark in the state, a bit surprising considering North Carolina is the 10th most populated state in the United States and the third fastest growing. The massive complex will employ about 500 people, and the indoor waterpark itself, at 80,000 square feet, will be the largest in the Southeast.

“This location will be similar to the Grapevine, Texas, location that opened last year,” said Jennifer Baranek, public relations manager for Great Wolf. “It will offer the interactive MagiQuest game and Scoops Kids Spa, as well as a 20,000-square-foot conference center. The location will also have a ‘GR8’ space, which features computers with teen-conscious Internet access, docking stations for iPods and MP3 players, as well as multiple gaming stations for those who strive to win one of our daily contests on systems such as Nintendo Wii, XBox360, and games like ‘Guitar Hero.’”

To land the project, Concord agreed to provide $1.5 million in infrastructure work in the area surrounding the lodge, and Cabarrus County approved a $2.6 million tax incentive grant for the project. More information can be found at www.greatwolf.com/concord.

Wild Wadi Riders About to Go into a ‘Tantrum’

WILD WADI WATER PARK, which opened 10 years ago in Dubai, announced expansion plans.

The Wild Wadi Water Park opened about the same time as the nearby seven-star Burj Al Arab hotel in late 1999 and has been the city’s most popular family entertainment destination ever since. Now, the park is adding two major new rides.

“We have just announced the addition of ‘Tantrum Alley’ and [‘Behemoth Bowl’] to our exciting 30 rides and attractions—[they] will launch in 2009,” said Jihane El Fadl, the park’s marketing communications manager. “[‘Tantrum Alley’] is going to be the first [ride] of its kind in the Middle East, and we find this news very exciting.” The park closed from Jan. 22 to Feb. 12 to make preparations for the rides, which will open later this year.

“Tantrum Alley” is a four-person tube slide in which riders plunge downhill and enter a “tornado,” where they slide back and forth several times, then speed downhill again before entering a second “tornado.” “Behemoth Bowl” is another four-person tube ride in which guests travel downhill into a bowl, entering a spiraling spin before splashing into the finishing pool. Both attractions are being provided by Proslide Technology of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Check out www.wildwadi.com for more information.

Farewell to ‘The Golden Nugget’ Mine Ride

“THE GOLDEN NUGGET” MINE RIDE, WHICH OPENED ALMOST 50 YEARS AGO at Hunt’s Pier in Wildwood, New Jersey—now part of Morey’s Piers—was honored in a public farewell ceremony Jan. 31.

The three-story classic coaster was built by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters Inc. and engineered by John Allen, and the theming was designed by Bill Tracy. The Morey Organization, which owns Morey’s Piers, decided to hold the memorial ceremony to give fans of the attraction the opportunity to reminisce and say ‘good-bye’ to the ride.

“The ‘wake,’ as some people called it, allowed those who were troubled by the closing, or those who just wanted to see it one more time, to say goodbye,” Jack Morey, executive vice president of the Morey Organization, told FUNWORLD.

Morey said some descendants of the original Hunt family, which owned the ride when it was constructed, spoke at the event. Also, some park and attraction enthusiast groups were given time to speak. The Morey Organization also had models and pictures on hand of two major future attractions they have planned for the piers—a haunted house and a wooden roller coaster. Morey said the coaster would use some of the land on which “The Golden Nugget” sat.

“The part I’m really proud of is we had pieces of the original track available, cut into eight-inch sections and bronzed, with a metal nameplate saying where they were from—they were really nice,” he said. “For the special groups and the Hunt family, we had them encased in glass boxes. This was extra track we found during the [ride’s] removal process.”

Morey noted the ride had been sold to a buyer prior to removal but said he wasn’t at liberty to announce yet the name of the purchasing party. However, he noted, “I can’t imagine a better person to be the caretaker of the ride.”

Second Lotte World Theme Park Slated for Seoul THE LOTTE GROUP HAS REPORTEDLY BEEN GIVEN THE GREEN LIGHT to begin work on its second Lotte World theme park in Shincheon-dong, Seoul, South Korea. The original Lotte World, located in the Songpagu section of Seoul, opened in 1989 and is one of the largest indoor theme parks in the world. The Lotte Group is currently involved in the six-month process of securing permits from various government entities, so construction will not begin until later this year. Plans for the main tower of Lotte World II call for it to be 112 stories high, which would make it one of the tallest buildings in the world. The Lotte Group puts the cost at somewhere between US$1.1 and $1.5 billion (KRW1.5 billion and 2.05 billion). Construction should be completed around 2014 and the park will employ about 23,000 workers. www.lotteworld.com

Legoland Building Fifth Park in Malaysia

MERLIN ENTERTAINMENTS GROUP HAS SIGNED AN AGREEMENT WITH ISKANDAR INVESTMENT BERHAD (IIB) to build East Asia’s first Legoland park in Iskandar, Malaysia. The park will be the heart of a 145-acre complex that will include a retail center, offices, hotels, and residential units. Merlin will be a 20 percent shareholder in the $210 million park, which it will design and operate; IIB will own the remainder.

Penny Roberts of The Firm, which handles public relations for Merlin Entertainments, told FUNWORLD the park is still in the planning stages, but its size and makeup will be similar to Legoland’s four other theme parks in Denmark, the United Kingdom, Germany, and California.

Legoland Malaysia is expected to open around 2013 and will include more than 40 interactive rides, shows, and attractions, including roller coasters for kids.