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Send us your news and pictures. E-mail Keith Miller at kmiller@IAAPA.org.
Giving a New Meaning to ‘Fun Money’
 Several years ago, when Worlds of Fun/Oceans of Fun in Kansas City, Missouri, introduced Beagle Bucks, they were seen as a safe way to let little kids pretend to be adults. Instead of carrying cash, which makes them a target for thieves, kids could carry the Beagle Bucks—park money sold in $1 and $5 denominations and featuring pictures of Peanuts comics characters Snoopy and Charlie Brown, good for admission tickets, merchandise, lodging, food, and even parking. Now, the park is using the bucks in its group sales efforts, and Brandon Stanley, the operation’s public relations manager, answered a couple of questions about this idea:
How are Beagle Bucks used in group sales? They’re really popular with group sales, where companies will buy Beagle Bucks for their employees. Companies use them like rewards at the events. We also allow them to return them and get their money back.
What are some other advantages of Beagle Bucks? They don’t have to carry cash. They can buy them in the park, and [now] they can buy them online and have them delivered by mail, or print an e-ticket that they exchange for Beagle Bucks at the park.
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Belly Flopping for a Good Cause
On June 24, firefighters were called to Water World waterpark in Denver, but not to answer an emergency call—rather, to compete in the park’s 14th Annual Belly Flop Showdown. The event is held in honor of local firefighters and raises money for a firefighters’ charity. The firefighter with the best belly flop into the pool won a week’s vacation for two at a beach in Mexico.
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Not Your Typical Sleepover
Most museum sleepovers don’t feature shrunken heads, live hissing roaches, and two-headed animals. But that’s some of what kids get at the Extreme Sleepover at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museum in New York City’s Times Square. They also compete in an intense laser race and embark on a flashlight tour and scavenger hunt to find the most astonishing items in the museum’s collection. Says Stephen Ekstrom, director of sales and marketing: “The approach we’re taking is not creepy or weird—it’s fascinating, fun, and exciting.”
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 Coasting on a Whirlwind
This season, Parque de la Costa in Tigre, Buenos Aires, Argentina, opened “Torbellino,” (“Whirlwind”), the country’s first spinning coaster. Manufactured by Beijing Jiuhua Amusement Rides, the “wild mouse” sit-down ride is the park’s fifth roller coaster and twirls guests along 1,116 feet of track.
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Sealing the Deal at the Louisville Zoo
This season, the Louisville Zoo opened its much anticipated seal and sea lion habitat, featuring the animals living in a state-of-the-art outdoor pool that holds 108,000 gallons of saltwater kept at 66 degrees year-round. The facility can house 14 seals and sea lions and also includes a shaded amphitheater that seats 200. It’s part of the zoo’s $27 million “Glacier Run” exhibit, which when completed will also include polar bears, Steller’s sea eagles, sea otters, and an animal sanctuary.
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Fun-for-All Fundraiser
For the second year in a row, Fun Fore All Family Entertainment Center in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania, had the honor of hosting the Alex’s Lemonade Stand fundraising event. The event was set up by a local family wanting to raise money for childhood cancer research after losing a friend to the disease. The event raised $5,400, and Fun Fore All matched donations up to $10 on donors’ Fun Cards for use in the park.
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