Industry Awards
Dark Rides
www.parkworld-online.com AWARD-WINNING FUN HAUNTED CASTLE
Three sets of amusement industry awards were presented in the latter quarter of 2009, but who was honoured and why? Here’s Park World’s whistle-stop round-up of the winners
Golden Ponys
After four years in development, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk’s (SCBB) new look Haunted Castle has opened to excited crowds. The extensively rebuilt attraction cost almost $9 million (€7m), highlighting the importance of dark rides to this California amusement park. “We chose to replace the old Haunted Castle with another dark ride because historically there has been one in that location since 1931,” reveals SCBB president
Charles L Canfield. "The previous Haunted Castle was built in 1973 so it was pretty worn out and the building was also in need of repair.”
Golden Pony award winners assemble in Genoa IAAPA Awards
During IAAPA Attractions Expo this November in Las Vegas, the International Association of Amusement Parks & Attractions (IAAPA) presented no fewer than 10 sets of awards. New entrants into the IAAPA Hall of Fame include Ricardo Castillo,
This location has been home to a number of dark rides over the years, starting with Dante’s Inferno in 1935. This was followed by Laff-Land, Treasure Island, Pirates Cove, and now the Haunted Castle. The original Haunted Castle occupied 6,000 square feet, whereas as its replacement occupies nearly 10,000 sq ft of new basement space. SCBB was determined that the existing building should be replaced with a three-story multi-use building. As well as the ride inside, the structure provides new game and retail space at boardwalk level, together with around 10,000 sq ft of new office space and basement facilities. Some elements of the original Haunted Castle, such as the whimsical clock and giant black spider, have been incorporated into the new version.
Frederic W. Thompson and Elmer “Skip” Dundy. Richard Castillo, founder of the Institute for Recreation for Private Sector Workers in Guatemala (IRTRA), created two innovative and award-winning parks – Xetulul amusement park and Xocomil waterpark, both in Retalhuleu on the Pacific Coast. The late Frederic W Thompson (1872-1919) and Elmer “Skip” Dundy (1862-1907) served as luminaries in the birth of the attractions industry, founding Luna Park in 1903 at Coney Island in New York. Their work set the stage for future industry classics, including a chain of Luna Parks opened by Frederick Ingersoll, and later even Disneyland. Recognised for a Lifetime Service Award, Roland Koch of Bruhl in Germany, has been part a prominent IAAPA member during a career spanning more than 50 years. The showman has owned and operated rides and restaurants throughout Germany, helped develop Phantasialand and was also instrumental in bringing large format films to Germany and Scandinavia. Colin Dawson, chief executive of the British Association of Leisure
Back in spring 2006, Canfield and his team approached R&R Creative Amusement Designs in Anaheim, asking them to design a replacement for the long-serving ride. R&R’s owners Rick Bastrup and Richard Ferrin are veteran designers of several dark rides including the Boardwalk’s own Cave Train Adventure, and soon set to work on new concepts. "We have worked hard to design an attraction which mixes traditional elements and effects with the latest technology to create the right mix of chills, spooky atmosphere and laughs for the park’s audience to enjoy for decades to come,” explains Batsrup.
"The Boardwalk has had a long and great working relationship with R&R," adds Canfield. "We were very pleased with their work, they got everything ready on time and on budget." In collaboration with SCBB’s technical and facilities
The Golden Pony Awards were conceived by Italian publisher Facto Edizioni in 2002 and since then over 150 park operators and travelling showmen have been honoured.
The objective of the awards, according to Facto’s Danilo Tosetto, is “to give tangible recognition and visibility to excellence in leisure so that this may be a stimulus and an example for the entire business.” The 2009 ceremony, recognising a further 15 industry representatives, was held during Amusement Expo Europe in Genoa on October 29. This year, for the first time, ride manufacturers and suppliers were recognised alongside amusement operators.
The full list of winners was as follows: Amusement Parks – Crazy
Park Casablanca (Morocco), Mirabilandia (Italy), Cavallino Matto (Italy), Zoosafari Swierkocin (Poland); Travelling Fairs – Europark Krasnal (Poland), Kermis Laren (The Netherlands); Family Entertainment Center – Jacques Cosson (France); Ride Manufacturers – Alterface, Dotto Trains, Gerstlauer, KMG, Mack Rides, Moser’s Rides, Zamperla; Special Award – Giorgio Conti (Italy).
grew and he became a leading light in the FEC (Family Entertainment Centre) business, going on to lead the International Association for the Leisure and Entertainment Industry (IALEI). IAAPA’s Must See Waterparks for 2009/10 are Dollywood’s Splash Country in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and World Waterpark in West Edmonton Mall, Alberta, Canada. Top FECs of the World were declared as iT’Z Family Food and Fun in Houston, Texas, and Magic Planet Kuwait. Other IAAPA awards presented in Las Vegas included the Exhibitor Awards, Best New Products, Big E Awards (entertainment), Brass Ring Awards (marketing), Souvenir Awards (merchandise) and Spirit of Excellence (human resources). For the full listing of all 2009 award winners and the selection criteria see
www.parkworld-online.com and search for “IAAPA Awards.”
staff, R&R provided a complete storyline, art direction, facades, sets, effects, audio production and lighting. Animated characters and additional effects were produced by Sally Corp, with projected King characters by Fox Productions. All sets for the castle, swamps and graveyard scenes were built and installed by Duncan Design of Santa Rosa, California. The track and four-seater ride vehicles are by IE Park from Italy. The ride loads on the ground floor of the boardwalk as guests climb into the car and descend a circular track backwards into the depths of the building’s basement. This is the section of the ride Canfield likes best. Guests are welcomed to the ride by the ghostly floating King who taunts them to venture further. Passing through the dungeons and wine cellar, riders encounter various effects. The cars then pass through the kitchen where rats with glowing green eyes run wild as a phantom chef pulls a rabbit out of a pot. As the cars pass the murky waters behind the castle, they travel up onto a bridge where a large swamp monster is lurking. They then enter the castle graveyard where thunder and lightning blows through the cemetery. Buried by zombie-like gravediggers, a hapless character rises from the grave proclaiming, “I’m not dead yet!” and a large tree is hit by lightning. The cars then turn back into the castle where a vicious dog (salvaged from the original ride) growls and pops out of his cage. The car then heads up a long ramp towards the guillotine chamber. Just it passes underneath, the blade drops and, with a loud crash, the lights go out and riders are hit with a large blast of air simulating a chop from the blade. The car then emerges back into the safety of the station area. Does the new ride provide a marketing boost for Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk? "A new ride is good news for any park," observes Canfield. "Aside from the fact that this attraction is all new and top quality, the new cars double our capacity. We hope the ride will help us increase attendance and we already know it has helped our guest satisfaction."
www.beachboardwalk.com
Parks, Piers and Attractions (BALPPA), was presented with an Outstanding Service Award. As head of BALPPA, he has promoted safety and training issues to great effect, leading to a 79% reduction in ride-related accidents. Colin has also served on multiple IAAPA committees and is currently president of the Europarks lobby group. Winner of this year’s Meritorious Service Award, Tim Sorge is president of Swings-N-Things Family Fun Park in Cleveland, Ohio. After opening a state-of-the-art batting cage in Ohio in 1982, Tim’s vision
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BALPPA’s Colin Dawson collects his Outstanding Service award as IAAPA committe members Mario Mamon (left) and Jim Seay look on
DECEMBER 2009/JANUARY 2010 AUGUST 2010
Charles L Canfield
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