PARKLIFE Parklife “The Crazy Action Stunt Show is still very popular and
takes place daily,” adds Kurz-Möller, “while in the show Movie Magic we give our guests the imagination of how it is to act in a movie.” Character appearances also make up the “live”
entertainment on offer at the park, with popular characters like Shrek, SpongeBob, Patrick, Pink Panther, Dora the Explorer & Diego and the Backyardigans who mingle with guests. Licensed characters are clearly a very important element to the overall attraction mix.
The main target group these days is families with children
aged four up to 11, as well as teenagers and young adults, the strategy changing towards a more family oriented target market in 2006. In 2009 the park played host to 1.26 million guests, 78 per cent of whom came from Germany, 19 per cent from the Netherlands and the remaining three per cent from other countries. There was a 10 per cent increase in visitor numbers between 2008 and 2009, with the busiest day last year being on October 31, a Halloween Saturday, when more than 25,000 guests came to the park. Numbers were no doubt assisted by the fact that the
short break trend continues to be popular in Germany, as a result of which Movie Park extended its co-operation with partner hotels in 2009. As Kurz-Möller confirms, the short break market “is very important for us and is increasing every year. That’s why we are thinking in general about an accommodation facility on site,” something that will surely come in the near future. The park employs approximately 80 full time staff and
around 800 seasonal staff. Looking to the future, as is the case with all parks, Movie
“Nickelodeon is a very strong partner for us,” explains
Kurz-Möller. “Their characters are established worldwide like SpongeBob, Dora the Explorer, etc. Also DreamWorks’ Shrek is a magnet for families and kids. So this mixture of different characters and licences makes Movie Park Germany interesting for everyone. It is very important to have the right characters to suit the taste of the target group and that is what Movie Park Germany has achieved.” In addition to the ride based attractions and facilities, the
park also features a variety of catering and retail outlets, as one would expect, with 24 restaurants, cafes and fast food restaurants being available to guests. “There are two fully equipped restaurants,” says Kurz-
Möller, “the Pizza&Pasta Restaurant serving pizza, pasta, salads and steaks indoor and outdoor in a peaceful oriental style courtyard, and the Music Club, a traditional American diner with a family buffet, also used for dinner shows and B-to-B-Events.”
Park Germany will continue to develop and general manager Wouter Dekkers comments: “Movie Park Germany did a great development during the last three years. We were able to increase our visitor numbers enormously. I’m sure that we will be able to continue this success story during the next years. We will continue on our strategy to co-operate with different movie and TV companies like 20th Century Fox, Nickelodeon, MGM and Dreamworks and presenting well-known characters like SpongeBob, Shrek, Pink Panther and new in the 2010 season the X-Men. We are convinced that a mixture of attractions for all ages, a high-class entertainment programme, well-trained and motivated staff and well-known and beloved TV and movie characters are a good basis for the future development.”
STOP PRESS
As InterPark went to press, it was
announced that Movie Park had been acquired by the Spanish leisure parks group Parques
Reunidos. Full details of the aquisition
will appear in the next issue.
Opened on June 30, 1996 Owned by Parques Reunidos Built on a site of 40 hectares Operates March to October annually Guest average length of stay - eight hours
Five main areas including The Old West, Streets of New York, Hollywood Street Set, Santa Monica Pier and Nickland Incorporates two film studios
Main attractions include MP Xpress suspended coaster, the Highfall free-fall tower, Bandit wooden roller coaster, Ice Age Adventure water ride, Movie Magic – Voyagers to Mars, Nickland, Santa Monica Pier, Shrek 4D Cinema and licensed characters
www.moviepark.de 67
AT A GLANCE
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