ITPS Amusement INdustry News 2.11.11

[Shawn Haas]



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	Friday February 11, 2011
	SeaWorld to eliminate pay boost for killer-whale trainers SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment is eliminating a $5-an-hour wage premium it had been paying to the company animal trainers who work in the water with its killer whales, according to multiple people familiar with the plan. Click for Article Disney, union meets with federal mediator Disney union talks: Walt Disney World, Service Trades Council hope to break impasse. Negotiators from Walt Disney World and its largest labor group are meeting with a federal mediator this morning in hopes of breaking a months-old impasse. Click for Article Disney Battles Hong Kong Government Park as Buzz Lightyear Rides to Rescue For 15 minutes, 11-year-old Lily Li stared through a glass panel at hammerhead sharks and bluefin tuna in Hong Kong’s newest attraction, Aqua City. “It’s like a dream,” said Li, from China’s Guangdong province, who crowded with her mother and about 50 others at the window, the width of a basketball court, on the packed Jan. 27 opening day. Click for Article Hollywood Landmark Pink's to Open at Cedar Point This Summer SANDUSKY, Ohio, Feb. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Labeled as the "Hot Dog To The Stars," Pink's, a Hollywood legend for more than 71 years, will serve its special brand of hot dogs and chili dogs this summer at Cedar Point amusement park/resort in Sandusky, Ohio. Click for Article Toontown Closes Ahead Of Disney Expansion LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- An attraction that's been part of the Magic Kingdom for decades will close Friday as the park's planned expansion of Fantasyland is under way at Walt Disney World. Click for Article Parents sue Disney, say son suffered 'severe burns' from nacho cheese San Diego parents who say their young son suffered "severe burns" at the hands of scalding hot nacho cheese served to them during a family vacation have filed suit against Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, records show. Click for Article Former Owner of Wild Waves Theme Park Makes a Big Splash Seattle, WA - Jeff Stock, successful Northwest entrepreneur and player with the original Seattle Sounders, announced today that he has returned to lead Wild Waves Theme Park in Federal Way, Washington. Stock owned and operated the park in the 1990s. He and his team were recently selected by the park's current owner, CNL Lifestyle Properties, Inc. to resume management of the park starting immediately. Click for Article Jump on an amusement-park hiring story Somewhere in the whistle of the winter wind, you can almost hear the whirr of roller-coaster wheels and the screams of petrified passengers. At least, you can if you’re the HR manager at theme parks like Kings Dominion, which just held a job fair to start filling 2,500 positions, or Kings Island, which needs to fill 4,000 jobs before its April 30 opening, or Six Flags Great Adventure, which is holding job fairs the next two weekends to find thousands of workers for its park in Jackson, New Jersey. Click for Article County gets Tuesday deadline on taking over Silver Springs FL - Palace Entertainment has given Marion County commissioners until Tuesday to decide on taking control of the Silver Springs attraction, or the offer will be rescinded so Palace can pursue "other options," the company said Thursday in a letter to county officials. Click for Article Smart phone apps aplenty designed to make theme park visits more efficient, fun ORLANDO, Fla. — Need maps, wait times for rides and restaurant tips for Walt Disney World and other central Florida attractions? There's an app for that. Plenty of them, actually. And they could prove particularly useful for visitors heading to Orlando during Presidents Day week in the U.S. (beginning Feb. 24), traditionally one of the busiest times for theme parks. Click for Article The magic begins with new Disney Parks Ad Campaign Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney World this week launch their first major portfolio marketing campaign entitled ‘When Are You Going To Tell Them’, clearly communicating the powerful reaction and real emotions experienced by children when they are told they are going to visit a Disney park. Click for Article Rawhide Celebrates 40 Years Of Wild West Fun PHOENIX -- A weekend packed full of live bull riding and stunt shows is awaiting families this weekend as Rawhide celebrates its 40th birthday. Click for Article Gold Reef City’s new 4-D release: Pirate Story South Africa - The best attraction at Gold Reef City Theme Park’s 4D Theatre to date. ‘Pirate Story’ is the latest attraction to be sprung from the Belgium-based nWave, a company that specialises in (largely animated) 3-D ‘ride entertainment’. Click for Article
	CEC Entertainment, Inc. to Webcast Fourth Quarter and Year End CEC Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:CEC) today announced that it will host a conference call with investors on Thursday, February 24, 2011, to discuss financial results for the fourth quarter and year end January 2, 2011. The conference call will begin at 3:30 pm Central Time and will be broadcast live over the Internet. A press release, including financial statements, will be released after the market closes on Thursday, February 24, 2011. Click for Article Alpharetta clarifies definition of coin-operated games GA - Coin-operated amusement games have been given the OK in Alpharetta, after city staff concluded a state senate bill passed last year made the law potentially blurry. Click for Article
	TradeWinds resort to open water park in Gulf of Mexico ST. PETE BEACH, FL — A new 20,000-square-foot floating playground is set to open next month along the waterfront behind the TradeWinds Island Grand Resort. The new Splash Island Water Park may not rival the parks in Kissimmee, but it has the potential to become one of the city's premier attractions. Click for Article Contractor hired for Prosser water park By the Herald staff PROSSER, WA - Prosser has selected Spokane Valley contractor T.W. Clark Construction to build the city's water park project. The $2.4 million new aquatic center will include two pools to replace the aging old pool and a water slide feature. Plans call for the center to open June 10. Click for Article
	Mission Officials Say Aquarium Plan Still on Track MISSION, KS — The lot at the former Mission Mall site has been empty for years, but developers say it's long talked about saltwater tank continues to be the focus of it's new project. Since 2006 the lot where the old Mission mall used to sit has sat dead. Promises of a new mixed use development called 'The Gateway' has been the buzz for years. And now it looks as if those plans are about to come to life. Click for Article Aquarium To Open Climate Change Exhibit In May CA - The Aquarium of the Pacific will open a new major gallery and exhibit focusing on environmental climate change and its effect on our world, in hopes of raising awareness of the issue. “We hope that the new exhibits will give the public insight into the effects climate change has on our ocean and how they can make a difference,” said Barbara Long, Aquarium of the Pacific vice president of special projects. Click for Article Clearwater Marine Aquarium buys land FL - The Clearwater Marine Aquarium purchased a 1.47-acre site east of the existing aquarium facilities for $3.1 million. The price equated to $2.11 million per acre. Click for Article Smaller operation now proposed for former Safari Wild site FL - Safari Wild has evolved into the slimmer, more subdued Florida Wildlife Ranch. Gone are the plans for a bustling wildlife-oriented operating in northern Polk County that would host hundreds of tourists a day and feature amenities like overnight lodging and a restaurant. Those plans created worries about the impact on the nearby Green Swamp and were ultimately shot down by the state Department of Community Affairs. Click for Article Columbus Zoo looking at solar, too OH - The Cincinnati Zoo recently began installing some of its proposed 6,400 solar panels in an $11 million project that will provide about one-fifth of the park’s energy by spring. And the Columbus Zoo isn’t too far behind. “We’ll look at doing a smaller installation this year and next,” said Barbara Revard, director of program planning at the Columbus Zoo. “Eventually, we’d like to do something bigger.” Click for Article Bronx Zoo offers closeup look at majestic, but now-grounded, bald eagles NY -  After cheating death in Wyoming, a pair of grounded bald eagles have started a new life in the Bronx. Their outdoor exhibit, part of the Birds of Prey display at the Wildlife Conservation Society's Bronx Zoo, allows visitors to get up close and personal.  Click for Article
	Family donates $25,000 to amphitheatre in memory of Will Koch SANTA CLAUS, Ind. — On the eve of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, the Koch family at Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari is making a $25,000 “challenge donation” to Lincoln Amphitheatre in memory of Will Koch. Click for Article Tourism spending to see a big surge: survey China - Tourist spending from the Chinese mainland is expected to see a big surge this year, with sightseeing and ecotourism topping the list, a survey has found. About 80 percent of holidaymakers from the Chinese mainland, 70 percent from Hong Kong and 65 percent from Taiwan said they intend to spend more on leisure travel this year, according to the latest findings by Travelzoo Asia Pacific, a US-based Internet media company. Click for Article Taiwan`s Tourism Enjoys 20% Revenue Growth in 2010 Driven by the economic recovery and rising mainland Chinese tourists, Taiwan`s tourism industry enjoyed nearly 20% growth in revenues in 2010. Last year tourist-grade hotels in Taiwan generated combined revenues of NT$43.031 billion (US$1.388 billion), up 19.64% from 2009`s NT$35.967 billion (US$1.16 billion), with amusement parks scoring revenues of NT$6.232 billion (US$201.03 million) in total, for a sizable annual growth of 20.29%. Click for Article
Shawn M. Haas Vice President of Retail, Operations and Information Technology International Theme Park Services, Inc. 2195 Victory Parkway Cincinnati, OH 45206 513-381-6131 Phone 513-381-2756 Fax Email Shawn	For over 11 years, ITPS has been providing news updates to the industry. We continually strive to improve our offering and have made some changes to the news, beginning this week. We hope you find the changes beneficial and make it easier for you the reader to quickly find the news you want to read. Please email us for your feedback and suggestions. Thanks for reading! To UNSUBSCRIBE or SUBSCRIBE, Change Email Address, delivery issues or to send attraction, facility press releases or job openings to the daily mailing, please email Shawn. Visit news.interthemepark.com for past editions of the news are available on our website. Click here for previous daily news updates. To search the archives of ITPS Amusement News, click here.