History Brought to Life
Conner Prairie Interactive History Park in Fishers, Indiana, brings history to life by literally placing guests in the middle of the 1800s. Its latest permanent exhibit, “1859 Balloon Voyage,” teaches visitors about America’s fascination with ballooning in the 1850s and gives them a 350-foot-high ride in a tethered balloon by Aerophile. Here’s how the park lets guests get hands-on.
1859 Balloon Voyage—A birds-eye view of Conner Prairie and downtown Indianapolis with a walk-through streetscape depicting downtown Lafayette, Indiana in 1859, and a makeshift coal gas factory explaining the science of hot-air-balloon gas. “It’s a great opportunity to see how the landscape has remained the same since it was farmed by pioneer settlers and in other ways how it’s dramatically different,” says Dan Freas, experience director at Conner Prairie.
1836 Pioneer Village—A village replica where costumed staffers draw guests into tasks. Woodworkers at the village ask for help squaring logs and boring holes, and housewives get assistance with baking projects.
Lenape Indian Camp—A historical look at the Lenape tribe, which first inhabited the area of Central Indiana where Conner Prairie now sits. Remaining tribe members educate guests with lessons in the Lenape language and a daily tomahawk-throwing contest. www.connerprairie.com
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Keep Your Noses Covered
“Sunburn in horses is not something you hear about that much,” says Kate Lewis, an animal handler at Crealy Great Adventure Park in the UK. “But horses like Grey Shires with lighter-colored coats are more likely to catch the sun.” Animal wranglers at the parks in Devon and Cornwall cover the noses of their mares with SPF 50 during the hot summer months while promoting good sun behavior to guests. Here are a few other things they do to help protect everyone from the heat.
- Include signage around the park and at the animal shows about the importance of sunscreen and heat protection for both animals and people.
- Provide shelter for animals in large uncovered fields and place box fans in animal habitats during severe heat. “Keeping the pigs’ mud nice and wet also helps cool them down,” Lewis says.
- Give away sunscreen. Crealy offers sunscreen to guests through large pump containers around the park.
www.crealy.co.uk
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Operators in the Making
More than 70 West Virginia eighth- and ninthgraders from the Governor’s School for Math and Science visited West Virginia University in July for “A Day at the Fair.” During the weeklong sessions, students learned key lessons about amusement park operations, including the physics and calculus behind roller coasters and finance and budget management. The students’ knowledge was tested when they each built a miniature amusement parks, including mock-ups of rides and food courts. And what’s a crash course in theme park without an on-site visit? The students visited Kennywood Amusement Park during the week to see how it’s done in real life.
www.wvgovschools.org/GSMS
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