Theme Park Insider

New expansion plans at Busch Gardens Williamsburg

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:59:00 GMT

By Cameron Saunders: Busch Gardens Williamsburg and its water park, Water Country USA, are to announce an expansion and renovation plan later this month. The park's website claims they are "re-imagining the look and feel of some of the most recognizable areas of Busch Gardens and revitalizing both parks with new attractions for your enjoyment". Details will be released on September 18.

Here is a teaser video. And I mean teaser... It tells nothing. But here you go:

Any ideas what they mean by re-imagining the look and feel of some of the most recognizable areas of Busch Gardens?

What's new on the discussion board: Disney World in October, and is Legoland just for kids?

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:40:00 GMT

By Robert Niles: Here are the top new topics this week on the Theme Park Insider Discussion Board. Please click through and throw in your $0.02:

Terri Pierce is planning a visit and would like to hear about Disney World in October.

Stacy Barnes is looking for Universal Island of Adventure Tips for 2-12 year olds. Can you help?

We had so much fun speculating about what Universal would do with Harry Potter - why should we stop now that the land is open? Javi Badillo gets us rolling again by asking Is the Wizarding World of Harry potter being expanded?

Derek Morse is looking for folks' recollections of the Ghostbusters show at Universal Studios Florida.

Daniel also looks ahead to the opening of Legoland Florida and asks, Is Legoland just for kids?

Joshua Counsil considers advances in digital imaging technology and asks about one way that might affect theme parks in Imagineering & You: The Future of On-Ride Photos

Bob Miller wants to know your opinion on What coaster company makes the best coasters.

Bob's also thinking about the future of Six Flags and asks What park will go next

Daniel Etcheberry recalls the old Disneyland ticket book system and wonders What if theme parks charged for every ride again?

What are some of the world's great, but overlooked, theme parks?

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:42:00 GMT

By Robert Niles: Are there any great, unsung theme and amusement parks out there to which we should pay more attention?

We know about the top-attended theme parks, the ones from Disney, Universal and SeaWorld. They top the attendance charts because they typically offer world-class attractions, presented with excellent service. People want to visit those parks; they do visit those parks, and that's why those parks earn the bulk of our coverage here on Theme Park Insider.

But Disney, Universal and the SeaWorld parks don't have exclusives on high quality. Smaller, regional parks can offer world-class rides and service. Over the years, for example, we've become big fans of Indiana's Holiday World, not only for its three outstanding wooden coasters - including The Voyage, the top-rated roller coaster on the website - but also for its customer-friendly policies, such as free parking, free sunscreen and free soft drinks.

What other great, unsung parks are out there?

Allow me a word of caution before you answer. I'm looking for parks which offer something worth driving across the country to experience. A nice, friendly park that's worth a 30-minute drive to visit might not seem so nice or so friendly once you drive 3,000 miles to experience it, only to realize that you passed 10 just like it along the way.

If we're going to direct people from all over the country, and all over the world, to this park, it needs to offer at least one notable thing on the level of the Big Three - or better. Otherwise, we'd just be setting up your fellow readers for disappointment, and the owners of the park for complaints from visitors with unrealistic expectations.

That said, I'm still willing to bet that some parks down the list for annual attendance are worth more international attention. Here's your chance to make the case for your favorite smaller park.

Over the years, I've heard from fans of places such as Silverwood in Idaho and Mt. Olympus in Wisconsin. In Europe, I've heard readers recommend Efteling in the Netherlands and Parc Ast�rix in France. Do you agree on any of these parks, or do you have another to recommend? Remember, we're looking for a place that offers some aspect that's exceptional (in a good way). And the more excellence, the better, of course.

I'd love to hear from some lurkers on this one, as well as from a few new readers. If you know someone who speaks well of a park we don't typically cover, please invite her or him to come on over and submit a comment on this post.

Thanks in advance, and I can't wait to read your recommendations, along with your specific examples why these parks are worthy of more visits from theme park fans.

Labor Day brings the closing of several theme park rides and shows

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 18:04:00 GMT

By Robert Niles: Plenty of theme park attractions will be closing at the end of today's Labor Day holiday, so go get your last rides in today, if you are so inclined.

The most closures will happen at Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, where the Maliboomer will make its last blast off today. Pizza Oom Mow Mow, S.S. Rustworthy and the Bountiful Valley Farmers Market also will close today, as Disney continues its billion-dollar-plus make-over of Disneyland's younger sibling.

In Central Florida, Katonga will be making its final show at Busch Gardens Tampa, to clear the way for the upcoming Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy show. And Star Tours at Disney's Hollywood Studios is slated to close with a special sold-out D23 fan club event tomorrow, making today your possible last chance to experience the original version of Disney's Star Wars ride in the United States. (The Disneyland version closed in July.)

Please pay your last respects to these attractions in the comments. (Or get in your last shot if you weren't a fan.)

Vote of the week: How much would you pay to get into Club 33?

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:19:00 GMT

By Robert Niles: Theme parks offer all sorts of premiums - front-of-line passes, guided tours, character breakfasts, animal encounters - some for no additional charge, but most costing extra, beyond the cost of your admission ticket.

But there's one special theme park "extra" that you can't simply buy your way with a phone call and a credit card: Disneyland's famed Club 33.

The private club, located above New Orleans Square, sells memberships, but has been sold out for years. And if you are not a member, or a senior Disney manager, you can't make a reservation - at any price.

But what if you could? What if Disney suddenly decided to set aside a few Club 33 reservations each day, and make them available to "regular" park visitors at an extra charge?

How much would you pay to get into Club 33?

Now, we're talking just the charge to make a reservation. You'd still have to pay for your park ticket, and for the meal. So keep that in mind when deciding. Let's also assume that your reservation won't allow you to take over the joint - we'll say that the maximum for the ressie would be a party of four. (And in case anyone brings up the argument, let's also assume that this plan wouldn't take reservation space away from any existing members, just from some mid-level Disney managers instead.)

Please tell us how you voted, in the comments. And if you've dined before at Club 33, I'm sure that other Theme Park Insider readers would live to hear about that too! Have a great weekend, and thanks again for reading TPI.

Update: A reader suggests rephrasing this question this way: "How much would you bribe a Disney manager or Club 33 member to make a reservation on your behalf?" Cynics. ;-)

Halloween update: The latest from Universal Orlando, plus Busch Gardens Tampa & Williamsburg

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:38:00 GMT

By Domenik Jost: Universal Orlando just released a little sneak peak of the Halloween Horror Nights 20 commercial directed by the Spierig Brothers who are best known for having directed the horror movies Daybreakers (2009) and Undead (2003).

If you don't want to wait until September 6, a version of the commercial has already aired at least once, and you can find it by scrolling down to the end of today's update and view it.

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Busch Gardens Tampa has already opened it's Shop of Horror with a large dedication to this year's MyX theme. The shop has quite the decorations ranging from electric guitars, posters, band mannequins, and even those cut off bloody fingers hanging inside of it. They have already begun selling T-Shirts with the myX theme, one of them reading "I gave my X the FINGER".

The team this week went to the studio to lay down some growls, screams and sinister laughs for this years event which opens in three weeks.

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Busch Gardens Williamsburg has released a little video teaser for their fans letting them know that Howl-O-Scream is coming.

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Central Florida Halloween event countdowns:

Walt Disney World's "Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween" begins in 12 days on the 14th of September, 2010.

Busch Gardens Tampa's "Howl-O-Scream" and Universal Orlando's "Halloween Horror Nights" are only 22 days away opening on September 24th, 2010.

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And as promised for those who can't wait to see the commercial on TV, here is the version of the Halloween Horror Nights commercial that has already aired.

And as a little extra, another version had already surfaced last week if you click here you can see a second version which had been released during the previews in local movie theaters.

For those who watched the TV commercial, thoughts? Has anyone actually seen it on TV already?

Passing time on vacation with the Ice Game

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:41:00 GMT

By Robert Niles: Does anyone else play this game?

My kids love this one: on airplanes, restaurants and other places that serve ice with a hole in the middle.

Each player fishes one piece of ice from their drink (use spoons, please!), then threads it across the top of the glass, using a straw. Like this:

Brian shows his competitive look while playing the Ice Game at Mythos in Universal's Islands of Adventure

The winner is the one whose ice drops last.

Yes, this is incredibly silly. But it kills time when waiting around like no other no-cost solution I've found.

Me vs. the Walt Disney World Smiling Police

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:38:00 GMT

By Robert Niles: Hey, I love Disney World cast members. Heck, I used to be one. But there's one thing that some Walt Disney World employees do which drives me nuts, and I really wish they'd stop.

Here's the scene: My son and I are walking out of one of Epcot's Future World pavilions, just before lunchtime. We're heading over to The Land, but the August mid-day heat's already baking the park. As soon as we walk outside, the hot air slams us and my son just starts to melt. He'd been having a great time, but the high heat and humidity - coupled with a rumbly tummy - are draining him.

We walk past the cast member stationed at greeter.

"Hey, you need to smile!" he orders my son, while sporting a huge grin. "No need for a grumpy face."

This comment immediately changes my 10-year-old son's mood from tired and hungry to seriously ticked off. All he wanted to do was hurry across the hot plaza to a nice air-conditioned lunch. But now he's got some Disney World cast member riding him, because he doesn't look happy enough.

I've had Disney employees pull this on me in the past, too. Yes, Disney wants its cast members to smile. And it very much would like its guests to be happy and smiling, too.

But, dear Disney cast members, while it is your job to smile, it's not ours. You are getting paid to be there and smile. We're paying out the wazoo to be there, and can sport any facial expression we want, thankyouverymuch. Your job is to give us reasons to smile - not to order us to do so.

Worse, by telling a guest to smile you are, in essence, criticizing him or her - which was an absolute, you're-getting-a-verbal-now no-no back when I went through Disney University.

I suspect that the Disney University lesson that cast members should try to get guests to smile has morphed into a belief among some trainers that cast members should tell guests to smile. That's a training error that Walt Disney World management needs to address and correct.

I'd like to encourage that greeter to find ways to put smiles on the faces of the hot, tired and hungry people emerging from his pavilion. Wearing that big grin himself was a great start. Asking people if he can help, complementing them on their clothes or souvenirs, or even simply wishing them well all can initiate a positive interaction between cast member and guest.

But telling someone to smile sounds like an order - and that's a negative interaction, something cast members should be working hard to avoid.

I've not ever encountered this demand at other companies' theme parks. I attribute that to Disney's obsession with promoting guest happiness in its parks, shown by mass smiling. While that's a noble goal, giving people a reason to smile and telling them to smile are two very different things.

I just wish that all Disney cast members would recognize that.

Disney's former chairman to take over Tribune?

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:51:00 GMT

By Robert Niles: I tweeted about this a few days ago, but haven't yet addressed it on the site. It really doesn't have anything to do with theme parks, but since it involves one of the bigger names from the Walt Disney Company's history, I thought it worth mentioning here.

It looks like former Disney chairman and CEO Michael Eisner is set to become the next chairman of the Tribune Company, the (now bankrupt) publisher of the Los Angeles Times and Orlando Sentinel, among other newspapers. Tribune also owns 23 TV stations and has a stake in several websites and the Food Network.

I'm so conflicted on this story that I really don't know what to say, having worked and consulted for several Tribune properties, and worked for Disney during Eisner's time there.

So I'll punt this one to you, instead. What do you think?

Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy to replace Katonga at Busch Gardens Tampa

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:18:00 GMT

By Robert Niles: Busch Gardens in Tampa has announced that it will be closing its live musical show Katonga on September 6, to replace it next year with a production of Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy.

That show played on Broadway starting in June 2008. Currently, Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy has two productions on the road, one at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, and the other (closing today, BTW) at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods in Connecticut. (That production stars former pop idol Debbie Gibson, which TPI readers of a certain age might find noteworthy.)

Here's a video look at the production, from the Cirque productions website:

Next year's shaping up to be a big one for Busch Gardens Tampa, as the park also will debut its as-yet-unannounced Cheetaka roller coaster in 2011, as well.