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Figures of Fun
2.6
billion US dollars – amount grossed worldwide by Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean films, based on the popular theme park ride
82
US dollars – revised cost of single park admission at Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando in Florida
3,000
number of people that attended an open house event in Winter Haven to view plans for the new Legoland Florida park
30,000
guests with advance bookings for Walibi Belgium over the weekend of June 19/20. Those without reservations were asked to postpone their visits
5,033,385 new record annual attendance for
Ocean Park in Hong Kong, the sixth increase in seven years
Produced in association with AECOM.
www.aecom.com/economics
Ups & Downs
Universal India? - According to the Wall Street Journal, Universal is exploring the possibility of opening a theme park in India. New Delhi and Mumbai are among the cities being considered in talks with the Reliance ADA Group
BigQuestion
Pat Jones, Kings Dominion, USA: Most of our operations are done in house and it is my belief that’s the way it should be. After all is said and done our guests only know our park and we will get the credit and the grief. The exception to the rule is usually because of precise expertise needed in an area or where very specialised equipment is required. We operate all of our skill games in house but not the arcades.
Dato Richard Koh, Only World Group, Malaysia: We used to let outside companies do it, we got people in to show us how it’s done, but then we had problems. Sometimes they do not give you the service that you want, so we started doing it ourselves. Of course if we do it on our own the costs are much lower, and we retain control. We used to get complaints when F&B operators put up their prices, but there was nothing we could do about it. We still do allow some concessions in when there are new products that we don’t do.
Bill Gehlhaus, Keansburg Amusement Park, USA: When we bought the park in 1995, all the F&B and games were run by tenants. As they moved on or retired we often could not find satisfactory tenants so we have had to begin operating the majority of games and almost half the food stands to keep the high standards our guests deserve. At the waterpark we have run all the concessions from day one to keep control over prices and quality were we always use the highest quality food products on the market. For example, we get our hot dogs from the most respected meat producer in Chicago because they are the best in the nation. For us, it’s all about quality, the quality of the product and the quality of the experience.
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Myrtle Beach Mess - A US federal judge has awarded Tetra Financial Group nearly $14 million after the owners of Freestyle Music Park in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, failed to respond to a lawsuit
Teenage Hits - Fights have broken out for a second time at Parc Asterix near Paris following altercations over queue jumping. Over in the US, police were called to disrupt teenage scuffles following a concert at Six Flags Great Adventure
Lark in the Dark - Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk’s new Haunted Castle dark ride in California was vandalised by a teenager back in June, causing more than $5,000 worth of damage
Life Imitates Park - Following the success of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Disney is reported to making another Haunted Mansion film – proof of the theme park attraction’s strong storyline. Guillermo del Toro will write and produce
AUGUST 2010
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