INSIDE: Amusement Today celebrates ANNIVERSARY 20th anniversary ISSUE TM & ©2017 Amusement Today, Inc. PAGES 30 & 31 April 2017 | Vol. 21 • Issue 1 www.amusementtoday.com Old Town enhances its Lamberink's portable Sky Eye Wheel skyline with Fabbri wheel AT: Pam Sherborne becomes a new star at Florida State Fair AT: Pam Sherborne [email protected] [email protected] KISSIMMEE, Fla. — A TAMPA, Fla. — Indepen- new 82-foot-tall Fabbri wheel, which opened Jan. 26, is the dent ride operator Michael icing on the cake for the im- Wood of Wood Entertainment proved, updated and expand- had high hopes for the readiness ed Old Town USA complex. of the Lamberink RL45 portable Old Town, a retail complex wheel at the Florida State fair, and amusement attraction lo- which ran Feb. 9-20. "We would cated along Kissimmee's tour- have liked to open on time," he ism corridor that originally said. opened in 1986, was purchased Unfortunately, that didn't in 2014 by Los Angeles-based happen. But was during the Travel Corp. Since then, the four days the fair was open and new owners have been work- the wheel wasn't, the process of ing on improving the area to assembling the Sky Eye Wheel the tune of about $10 million. became its own attraction. The new wheel is valued at $1 "We would look around and million. The Fabbri-built wheel for have people just watching as we "The wheel has been very Old Town in Kissimmee is 82 put it up," Wood said. "The peo- well received," said Joe Cad- feet tall, features balloon- ple working on it said they felt mus of Ridewerks, the com- shaped gondolas and a like stars. Some people would pany that erected it. stunning LED light show ask us questions about the con- Although Old Town pur- package from Fun LED/Losi struction of it and said they chased the new wheel and Elettronica. would be back when it was op- owns it, the Arie family, which AT/GARY SLADE; erating. In fact, we recognized owns Fun Spot of America COURTESY RIDEWERKS many of them." amusement parks, is operating But, not being able to do it. Fun Spot in Kissimmee is what they said they were going located adjacent to Old Town's to, i.e., have the 150-foot wheel, southern tip. The family owns touted as the largest portable another Fun Spot in Orlando. wheel in North America at that When Travel Corp. pur- time, up by the opening of the chased Old Town USA, one of fair on Feb. 9 wasn't preferable. the first moves made by the The loss of revenue hurt as well. Florida State Fair fairgoers who rode on the new Lamberink new owners was to remove Wood and Frank Zaitshik, the few rides that existed in RL45 portable wheel, now named Sky Eye Wheel, could see of Wade Shows, provider of that southern area of the com- 15 miles in all directions from the top. The wheel debuted the Florida State Fair midway, plex. Then, they took down the at the Florida fair, which ran Feb. 9-20, but wasn’t operating entered into a partnership last fence between Old Town USA until Monday, Feb. 13, due to shipping delays. Standing at year to purchase and operate and Fun Spot so guests could 150 feet in the air, the wheel is touted as the tallest portable the wheel, which cost about two pass between the two facilities. of its rides into that southern wheel operating in North America. It is owned jointly by in- million Euros. Delivery dates Last spring, Old Town area of Old Town USA and dependent ride operator Michael Wood of Wood Entertain- USA and Fun Spot owners an- continue to operate them. That did change a little early on, but ment and Frank Zaitshik of Wade Shows. The latter is the nounced an agreement where- the final date was set for Jan. 31. midway provider of the Florida State Fair. by Fun Spot would move four 4See OLD TOWN, page 5 4See SKY EYE, page 6 COURTESY KATIE LOWE NEWSTALK PARKS & FAIRS Page 3 Page 16 Dated material. material. Dated RUSH! NEWSPAPER INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS POSTMASTER: PLEASE 17, 2017 March Mailed Friday, Page 8 Page 26 PERMIT # 2069 # PERMIT FT. WORTH TX WORTH FT. PAID US POSTAGE US WATER PARKS CLASSIFIEDS PRSRT STD PRSRT Page 11 Page 39 2 AMUSEMENT TODAY April 2017 April 2017 AMUSEMENT TODAY 3 NEWSTALK EDITORIAL: Gary Slade, [email protected] FLINT’S VIEW: Bubba Flint Tidbits This month's April issue marks Amusement Today's official 20th anniversary issue. We don't know where the time went, but it certainly seems to go by as fast as launch coasters do today. AT's Tim Baldwin takes a look at our 20 Slade years of publishing on page 30. We have a number of fast facts presented there, but wanted to share one separately. AT has published a total of 11,378 pages in its first 20 volumes. If you took the length of each page, and laid them end-to-end, you would have enough newsprint to lay between the rails of our 2016 Golden Ticket Awards' Best Steel Coaster: Carowinds' Fury 325 (6,602 feet long) and Best Wooden Coaster: Lake Compounce's Boulder Dash (4,725 feet long) and still have 1,000 feet of newsprint to spare for a family coaster. Thank you to all of the parks and suppliers that have supported AT through the first 20 years. Our success is a result of your support, help and friendship. Most of EDITORIAL: Andrew Mellor, [email protected] all, thank you to the unsung heros of AT, our dedicated Staying power! staff, for their hard work in making sure our monthly In the many years I’ve been involved in hotel or other accommodation.At Alton issues present the current news and trends, are factually the amusement and theme park industry, Towers in the U.K., for instance, a new accurate and presented in the most professional, easy-to- it’s been fascinating to watch parks around CBeebies themed hotel is set to open. read design format. the world develop and to see what different New hotels are also being built at Lego- • owners and operators do to entice guests land parks in Florida, California and Congratulations to Leanna Muscato, who has back year after year. Germany. In January, the California re- Obviously rides and attractions are at sort broke ground on North America’s become the first female president of the Pennsylvania the forefront of their minds as they look Mellor first Legoland Castle Hotel which is set Amusement Parks Association (PAPA), which dates back to add something new every year or two, to open in spring 2018, while its Ger- to 1935. Leanna is a third-generation Knoebel family while new facilities such as F&B venues, merchan- man counterpart is developing the Pirate Island member and becomes the latest from the family to serve dise outlets and other secondary spend offerings Hotel. At Puy du Fou in France, the park will open as the association's president, following Dick Knoebel are also regularly introduced or redeveloped to, its fifth hotel this year, while Efteling in the Neth- and Buddy Knoebel. See PAPA recap story, page 27. hopefully, improve the bottom line each season. erlands is due to open a new holiday village at the As parks have grown in size, of course, many end of May. • have reached attendance levels that have justified These are just a few of what I am sure will We want to remind everyone that next month's issue investment not only in major attractions, and so be many new accommodation offerings this year will be our annual What's New Guide, compiled by Jeffrey forth, but also in accommodation facilities of one at parks worldwide, as well as nowadays being Seifert, with listings of new rides and installations at form or another. Be it a simple campground area, an important income stream for operators. They parks and attractions, carnivals and on cruise ships. We chalets, log cabins or a full service hotel, the past also, of course, encourage guests to extend their invite all amusement facilities, carnivals, suppliers and 10 to 15 years have seen a huge increase in parks stay, which in turn means they are on site longer providing accommodation and we continue to see and therefore spend more. cruise lines to send us your new ride and attraction info. such developments within the industry each year. With so many parks now of a size where a We MUST have the attraction name, location and supplier Further examples abound in 2017 too, with single day visit doesn’t really do them justice, it’s name. Attraction entries are due by April 5. Please send many parks in various parts of the world introduc- something of a no-brainer that accommodation your entry to: [email protected]. ing their first such offering or adding to existing developments are so popular. Call (817) 460-7220 for advertising, circulation or editorial inquiries Amusement Today is an independent, privately- Founder, Publisher and Editor Social Media & Editorial Print Issue & Extra Extra owned trade newspaper published 14 times Gary Slade • (817) 460-7220 x3 Dean Lamanna Desktop Edition Production per year by Amusement Today Inc., P.O. Box [email protected] [email protected] Website Maintenance 5427, Arlington, Texas 76005. Print issues are John Robinson • (513) 256-1441 $50 per year and are mailed Presort Standard Postage (permit No.