Park News
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Pleasure Beach announces Grand National re-opening date
B
confirmed its Grand National ride will re-open ahead of the Scottish school holidays. The wooden rollercoaster will open maintenance.
This ongoing work involves replacing sections of the track, installing a new drive sprocket, replacing parts of the pull up chain, and painting sections of the ride. carried out by a specialist team and can sometimes require longer periods of time.
RWS Global Expands Leadership Team R
WS Global, the world leader in live moments across entertainment and sports, has announced two strategic leadership appointments as part of its continued global expansion. Hans Vollrath joins as Executive Vice President of Land Production, while Ashley Hong steps into the newly created role of Vice President of commitment to delivering world-class experiences and setting the standard in live entertainment globally.
Hans Vollrath, Executive Vice President, Land Production
With mre than 30 years of experience delivering world-class productions and guest experiences, Vollrath will lead and
land-based entertainment portfolio, including theatrical productions, theme park shows, immersive experiences, seasonal activations, branded attractions and events. Before joining RWS Global, Vollrath served as General Manager at Meow Wolf, overseeing daily operations and full P&L responsibilities.
Vollrath worked for over two decades at The Walt Disney Company, where he played key roles in cruise operations, themed entertainment, international expansion and new business development. After his time at Disney, he joined as
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Senior Director at Vail Resorts in Broomfield, CO, summer business.
and influential background in themed entertainment are exactly what we need as we scale upwards. Our team is excited about the powerful leadership and fresh perspective he will bring to elevate everything
Known for his approachable leadership style and passion for guest experience, Vollrath has built a career around operational excellence, team empowerment and delivering large-scale projects on time and budget. His specialties include executive-level business strategy, operations, guest experience development, multi-departmental budgeting, business process optimization and customer service management.
Ashley Hong, Vice President, Licensing Hong brings over 20 years of global licensing experience, having driven profitability across multiple product categories for major consumer brands. Most recently, she pioneered
the establishment of Icon Licensing, a full-service licensing agency specializing in creating strategic brand partnerships and innovative licensing deals
across entertainment, lifestyle and fashion. Hong previously served as Global Merchandising Group Manager for Asia Pacific at the National Basketball Association (NBA), where she spearheaded the strategic retail expansion of the brand, notably identifying and negotiating with strategic partners to develop NBA Lifestyle stores throughout the APAC region, which significantly enhanced brand visibility and fan engagement. She then served as Head of International Licensing at Elegance GmbH, managing 17 licensed categories globally to ensure a focus on product and retail strategy before serving as Vice President, International Business Development at Authentic Brands Group, where she led the company's fast- growing international expansion and licensing strategy.
In her new role, Hong will oversee licensing strategy and business development across IP-driven experiences and retail offerings. says Veronica Hart, Chief Growth Officer at RWS global brand strategy and her deep knowledge of the licensing industry will be invaluable assets as we expand our offerings globally and strengthen our with licensees and forging IP partnerships enables RWS Global to enhance its position as a leader in IP-based experiences, helping partnerships, experiential marketing activations and
31st MAY 2025
own engineers, who have had an incredibly busy start to their season: Engineers have been simultaneously working on the re-imagining of Launch Pad, which opened Wednesday May 7. Amanda Thompson OBE, CEO of Pleasure
Pleasure Beach is that we have a unique blend leading, modern coasters like ICON, as well as nostalgic fan favourites such as Grand National. thrilled to be able to announce that she will
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