98-186: Roller Coasters Week 11: Amusement Parks (History, Chains, and Design) Thing of the Week! What is an Amusement Park? ● A place with rides and other attractions ● What makes them different? ○ Permanent unlike fairs ○ Has rides unlike a public park ● Sea Lion Park (1895) is considered the first “amusement park” ● First amusement parks were in cities and small Amusement Park ≠ Theme Park ● Theme parks are a subset of amusement parks ○ Tied together by a unifying theme ● Used synonymously in English :( Pictured: Diagon Alley at Universal Studios, part of Wizarding World of Harry Potter American Chains Dominance of the Few ● As sad as it is that independent amusement parks are hard to run, many major parks are part of larger chains ● This makes for better brand recognition, management, and more money for improvements The Big Kids ● Two major “roller coaster” chains: ○ Six Flags –> ○ <– Cedar Fair ○ Former Paramount parks Six Flags ● One of the oldest park chains ● Six Flags over Texas was their first park back in 1961 ● They began with small rides and shows, but eventually added roller coasters ● Six Flags helped to pioneer the profitable amusement park model Pictured: Runaway Mine Train, one of the first steel coasters made (1966); SFOT Why “Six Flags”? ● Texas has fallen under 6 different flags in its long history: ○ Spain, France, Mexico, Republic of Texas, Confederacy, and U.S.A. Moar Parks ● SF expanded with SF Over Georgia (1967) and SF Over Mid-America (1971, now SF St. Louis) ● Six Flags has since bought most of their parks, not built them Expansion of Six Flags ● Began purchasing parks in the 70’s and 80’s and adding the Six Flags name to them ○ E.g. Six Flag Great America ● A deal with Warner Brothers led to Looney Tunes theming in many Six Flags parks Premier Acquisition ● In 1998, Premier Parks bought Six Flags and added their name to all the parks ● Six Flags’ peak was in 2002, when they had about 30 parks worldwide ● They invested a lot of money in improvements The Problem with Growth ● Six Flags’ rapid growth caught up with them around this time ● They began selling parks in 2004 and 2007 to stop shareholder revolts ● Six Flags declared bankruptcy in 2009, due to this and the recession at the time ● They were back in 2010 Present Day ● There are currently 13 operating SF parks, all in the U.S.A. except SF Mexico ● SF was known for mediocre theming and additions in the past ● They have recently been better received by enthusiasts Paramount Parks ● Began as Kings Entertainment Company (KECO) ● First parks were King’s Island and King’s Dominion ● Eventually had 5 parks ● In 1993, Paramount Communications bought KECO, which became Paramount Parks Shameless Plugs ● The parks were well-run, but enthusiasts complained of the focus on movie advertisement and repeating rides ○ The Italian Job: Stunt Track ride was in three parks Cedar Fair Acquisition ● Viacom sold the parks to Cedar Fair in 2006 ● The parks lost the Paramount name and theming Cedar Fair ● Began as Cedar Point ● Took the name Cedar Fair in 1978 after acquiring Minnesota’s Valleyfair (Cedar Point & Valleyfair) ● Did not buy new parks until the 90’s ● 4 parks, including Knott’s Berry Farm, were bought More Sponsorships! ● Cedar Fair’s main theming is Peanuts/Charlie Brown ● Criticized for being out-of-date Cedar Fair’s Peak ● In 2006, Cedar Fair’s number of parks rose to 12 with their purchase of Paramount Parks ● Now operating 11 parks Reputation ● During Paramount acquisition, CF was known as the “best” chain due to SF’s financial woes ● They do have their criticisms ○ Known for killing off Geauga Lake in Ohio ○ Strict locker policy Worldwide Chains Merlin Entertainment (Europe) ● 2nd largest attraction group after Disney ● UK-based ● Runs many of Europe’s biggest parks Legoland! ● They run Legoland Parks worldwide ● 6 exist, with 3 more being built Merlin’s Parks OCT Parks ● Shenzhen Overseas Chinese Town Holding Company (OCT) ● China’s main chain ● Runs the 6 Happy Valley parks Park Layouts Midway ● Long, middle pathway ● Rides/attractions on the sides ● No real directionality Loop ● Continuous circuit of walking ● Attractions can be on the “inside” or “outside” Hub ● Pioneered by Disney ● Central hub (usually with a “Weenie”) ● “Spokes go out from Hub and usually connect with each other as well Long ● Sort of random, but very elongated ● Just goes Blob ● No clear sense of organization North America, Europe, and Asia Thing of the Week pt. 2! The Big Picture North America Cedar Point ● Cedar Fair’s first and flagship park ● Located in Sandusky, northern Ohio ● Records over 3 million visitors annually ● Voted Amusement Today’s best park in the world 15 years in the world Location Lake Erie ● A peninsula on Lake Erie ● Results in very aesthetic pictures at sunset :) Cedar Point History ● Began as a bathing resort in 1870 ● Featured picnicking spots, dance halls ● First coaster was in 1890 ● More rides were added through time, but the resort was the focus ● Diverse attractions led to it surviving the Depression Cedar Point History ● Began growing in the 60’s ● Tried to be a Disneyland-type resort but failed ● The wooden Blue Streak opened in 1964, making it the park’s oldest operating attraction Overachievers ● Cedar Point likes to build tall rides. Cedar Point Now ● 17 operating coasters ● ~70 rides ● A water park ● 4 hotels ● A campsite ● A marina Cedar Point Highlights Magnum XL200 (1989) Maverick (2007) Raptor (1994) Six Flags Magic Mountain ● Six Flags’ flagship park ● North of Los Angeles, CA ● Opened in 1971 ● First wave of rides was mostly Arrow-made, leading us to believe it was inspired by Disneyland SFMM Overview ● Currently has 19 coasters, a world record ○ Criticized for their quality ● 2.8 million visitors annually, helped by being open year-round SFMM History ● The park was bought in 1979 and “Six Flags” was added to the name ● In 2006, Six Flags’ financial woes led them to put the park up for sale, but it was not taken SFMM Highlights Goliath (2000) Tatsu (2006) Busch Gardens Williamsburg ● Opened 1975 ● Eastern Virginia ● Europe-themed ○ Each section is based off of a country Landscaping EVERYWHERE ● Built by Anheuser-Busch as an attempt to develop Eastern Virginia ● Focuses a lot on landscaping and theming ● Golden Ticket award for Best Landscaped Park ● Most Beautiful Park award by NAPHA Quality over Quantity ● Only 6 coasters, but 3 are at or above 200 ft tall ● Most are also themed based on their area :) BG Williamsburg Highlights Apollo’s Chariot (1999) Alpengeist (1999) Holiday World ● Opened 1946 ● Santa Claus, IN ● Areas themed after holidays ● Also has a water park Free Drinks ● Owned by the Koch family ● Golden Ticket for Friendliest Park ● Known for their free unlimited soft drinks Holiday World Highlights Raven (1995) Voyage (2006) Other Great N.A. Parks ● Six Flags Great Adventure (Central New Jersey) ● Dollywood (Pigeon Forge, TN) ● Canada’s Wonderland (North of Toronto) ● Hersheypark (Hershey, PA) ● Islands of Adventure (Orlando, FL) :) Europe Common European Park Traits ● Usually older than American parks; many began as gardens ● Focused more on scenery/atmosphere than coasters ● Size is more variant ● Often contain elements which would be considered weird here Alton Towers ● Name refers to the castle that used to be here ● Opened as a garden 1860 and an amusement park 1980 ● Sprawling, with 13 themed areas ● ~2.7 million visitors; most visited in UK Adapting to your Environment! ● 100 ft height limit on construction due to zoning leads to some interesting workarounds ○ Oblivion is 65 ft tall with a 180 ft (underground) drop Alton Towers Highlights Nemesis (1994) Smiler (2013) Europa Park ● Built 1975 in southwest Germany ● Built by the Mack family mainly to showcase their rides ● Most popular European resort after Disneyland Paris Familiar Theming ● Themed areas for different countries in Europe ● Theming like EPCOT in Disney World Europa Park Highlights Silver Star (2002) Blue Fire (2009) Tivoli Gardens ● Second-oldest amusement park in the world ● Opened in 1843 ● Attracts around 4 million visitors a year, higher than any seasonal American park Tivoli Gardens Location ● Right in the middle of Copenhagen, Denmark ● Close to many lines of transportation! Tivoli Gardens Theming ● Historical theming such as: ○ A lake with a pirate ship ○ Pagodas ● Thousands of decorative lamps Inspirational Landscape ● Said to be a heavy inspiration for Disneyland ● The creator once said “Tivoli will never, so to speak, be finished” ● Walt Disney said “Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.” Tivoli Gardens Highlight Rutschebanen (1914) Still uses a brakeman! Other Notable European Parks ● BonBon-Land (Eastern Denmark) - Please look this one up ● Grona Lund (Stockholm, Sweden) ● Thorpe Park (outside London, UK) ● Blackpool Pleasure Beach (NW UK coast) - Do you remember this? ● Parc Astérix (near Paris, France) ● Parque Warner Madrid (Madrid, Spain) ● Mirabilandia (NE Italy) Asian Parks Common Asian Park Traits ● Before 2000, most were in Japan ● Japanese parks are known for better landscaping than American parks ● South Korean parks are not common, but there are some with big coasters ● Chinese parks have a reputation for being shoddily-made or run-down, but there are some new ones with high quality coasters Fuji-Q Highland ● Opened 1961 ● Central japan ● Home to some very high-profile coasters ● Reputation for bad management :( Fuji-Q Highland Highlights Takabisha