Well, it has been a while since I was this late in getting you all a new column. This must bring back some memories for those of you who have been reading the column for so long.

Should I just say I did it to celebrate my two-year anniversary with RollerCoasterWorld? Or should I say that the reaction to my picture from the last column was so great, that all the ladies asked me to keep it online for an extra two weeks?

That one will be up to you. Pick the excuse you like best and go with it. Now on to more important things...




The Cyclical Industry

It has been mentioned so many times: the amusement park industry is cyclical. There will be good times and there will be bad times. By all appearances, we are heading into one of the down times. Who knows how long it will last or how severe it will be. That is impossible to tell. Instead, we can speculate as to just why this industry runs on cycles.

Reason Number One: People Are Cyclical

The average human being runs on the same exact cycle. Child, teenager, young adult, parent, grandparent. Children typically love amusement parks, but on average are not likely to be the most frequent visitors to the park. That would depend on the parents and their own interest in using amusement parks as a part of the family experience. But, it is at this stage that future park usage is normally determined per region, meaning...

During the teenage stage the parents lose influence and other teenagers take over. If a particular region did not see a lot of children at its park, then not many teenagers will follow suit. There has to be a set of teenagers within each group who were accustomed to visiting parks that will bring the rest of group to the park. This is a key stage to the park.

The young adult stage is normally one where a person is less likely to visit a park, unless he or she is an enthusiast. How many groups of teenagers do you see during a park visit? How many groups of twentysomethings?

The parent stage is essentially like starting over. This time, you have more control over if and how often parks are incorporated into family life. And the cycle begins again. As for the grandparent stage, well I know how important grandparents are, but for this example I'm afraid their influence is minimal.

So what does this all mean to the industry? It means that a park is somewhat dependent on the general definition of its locale's population. If its in a location where the largest group is the young adult group, then they'll be likely to be in a down cycle until these young adults have families. This isn't a large influence on the general cycle of the industry, but it is something that shouldn't be ignored in this discussion. Of course, if other factors force the industry to be in a downward cycle when the bulk of the local population is in the critical teenage stage, then the negative influence on the park's success will be more apparent. The opposite is also true.

Reason Number Two: The Economy Is Cyclical

According to many, the economy is in (or at least recovering from) a deep recession. Although there are those who will argue that the recent performance of the stock market makes the economy look worse than it is. But I digress.

This is an obvious reason, in any event. When the economy is down, just about every industry will follow. This is especially true with any form as entertainment, such as the amusement industry. The US economy is remarkably influential around the world. Its cycles are something that the industry as a whole cannot escape.

Portions of our industry may have escaped the worst of this economic cycle due to the timing of the unfortunate events of last year. The bottom of the cycle occurred at a time when many regional parks were closing shop. By the time the majority of the parks were reopened, the economy was still struggling, but many people were beginning to become tired of the stress. They were looking for a release, and in a few instances that became regional amusement parks.

That is a very small explanation as to why quality regional parks like Cedar Fair parks, Holiday World, and others are either seeing steady attendance or booming attendance this year. In a handful of instances, parks have become the release. As a whole, though, the economic downturn is inescapable. And as we'll see a little later, the tragic events of last September certainly hurt more than they helped the theme park industry.

Reason Number Three: Industrial Spending Is Cyclical

This is true of any industry. It takes money to make money. Fill in pretty much any company in any industry into this example and it will work. But, a company will find investors, raise money and spend to attract consumers. As the consumers begin to come, the company has more money to spend and more means of raising money...and credit.

The more they spend, the more they come, until the growth in demand slows and the spending outweighs the income. The company must stop spending and the attraction of new products fades away. People stop coming so frequently. The company must again search for a way to raise more money, if it can. That is the cycle.

Reason Number Four: Extraordinary Events Make The Industry Appear Cyclical

The random tendencies of the world make life seem cyclical. There are good times and there are bad times, often appearing to be forming cycles, but in general life is random. (Stock Market Reference #2: The stock market is also random. Think about that one for a while.)

The amusement industry was booming in the early part of the twentieth century. Then came World War II and amusement parks were abandoned. Life's cycle wasn't at the point when a war was supposed to happen, it just happened. The amusement industry was adversely affected, thus creating what some often look back upon as a downward cycle in the industry.

The same thing happened last year. The attacks on the US were so detrimental to the travel industry in general that destination parks were hurt in a big way. For the end of the 2001 season, most regional and local parks were also devastated. Again, it wasn't time in life's cycle for a terrorist to attack, but when all is said and done the industry's cycle will look more drastic this way.

There is much more to it all than this. I didn't even get into the aspects of competition or social perceptions of entertainment as a way of life. These and more make up the ways of the amusement park industry. Whether it is all random or cyclical, it is something that is out of control of Six Flags, Paramount, and Anheuser Busch.

TV Review: PCN Tours Dutch Wonderland

I have been somewhat harsh on the HERCO takeover of Dutch Wonderland. DW was one of my favorite parks growing up, leading to the one moment in time that I was yelled at in public by my mother. We were at Walt Disney World, riding the boat from the Magic Kingdom back to the parking lot. We had had a great day and my mom asked me what I thought of Disney World.

"It's great, but not quite as good as Dutch Wonderland," I replied.

It was then pointed out that a trip to Dutch Wonderland would have saved the family several hundred dollars. To me, though, Dutch Wonderland was the superior park.

Fast forward twenty years and the Clark family that had owned the park since it opened in 1963 and who I worked with briefly in a professional setting have sold the park to...a corporation. Not just any corporation, but a corporation that I feared would put the park and the lowest end of its totem pole.

With this in mind, I eagerly anticipated the PCN Tour of Dutch Wonderland, as I hoped to get an idea of exactly what HERCO thought about the park. After watching the show several times, I just don't know what to think.

The tour was hosted by new Assistant General Manager Chris Barrett. I got the feeling that Mr. Barrett was talking down to the viewer. This opinion has no real basis behind it, but it just reminded me of watching an eighth grader have to give a speech to support an opinion. You know the kind I mean, where they start spouting out over exaggerations in hopes of making their point. For example, Barrett said that the Princess character that greets guests at the park "really tries to espouse the most positive roles as possible for children. To stay in school, to strive to attain all of your dreams, to listen to your parents." I'm sorry, but she could just as easily have been put inside a Kit Kat bar costume and would have gotten the same reaction from children.

The tour did their best to point out the unique features of DW. I emphasize unique since he said that word at least ten times during the tour. One thing that made me feel better was that Barrett continuously noted that several of the unique attractions, such as Bossie the cow and the different PA Dutch exhibits, were ones that visitors demanded remain in the park.

In fact, Barrett spent more time on the "different" attractions than he did the rides and more bland attractions. This gave me even more hope that HERCO got the picture. He even called Bossie one of the signature attractions of the park! That's good news.

Barrett said that "Off Road Rally", one of the new rides they added this year, is one of only two in the US, with the other being in Kentucky Kingdom. This is a Zamperla SUV-themed car ride - you can tell by the Zamperla plates on the ride that were even visible from distant shots.

The Lady Gay Riverboat, one of the four original attractions at the park, was rebuilt for the season. I didn't get to the park this year, but from this show it certainly looks like they did a good job. Changes to the original attractions are fine as long as they keep the intension of the original ride. Barrett did give props to the Clark family on several occasions during the tour and I was glad to hear that "Clark Tower" has kept its name.

He also emphasized that HERCO had to make certain changes, including updates to restrooms and food services. Both were items that needed to be addressed, in my opinion.

The Giant Slide has always been my favorite ride at Dutch Wonderland. While they technically did not change the name of the slide, the "Giant" now refers to Giant food stores, a long-time corporate partner of HERCO. The same chain also sponsors the Giant Wheel at Hersheypark. With that said, every person they showed going down the slide made it all the way to the bottom, so it looked like the park was waxing and keeping up with the upkeep that is so important to a slide like this.

So, I have mixed emotions after watching the PCN Tour. It appears as if HERCO has done a lot of good things, keeping what needed to be kept and updating what was ready to be updated. However, I just got this feeling that they would have been more willing to just scrap everything and start over if the people of the area weren't so demanding. Does this mean that as time goes by, we'll start to see the "uniqueness" of Dutch Wonderland fade away? I doubt it, but I am nervous nonetheless.

Coaster 3:16 Goes Legit

As I mentioned a few times in the past, I have been somewhat self-conscious about how many times I've seen the Dance To The Music show at Dorney Park. It is a wonderful show, but with a small Center Stage setup, I'm concerned that cast and crew have noticed the freaky guy who has shown up a couple times each week to watch the show. Typically, I would be alone since I would usually just stop in to the park after work in the evening. But as it was, even I can step back and see that it doesn't look normal.

A week before the show ended its summer season (a shortened version of the show is now running), I invited my parents to the area to see the show and do the park. I had told the folks at the office that it would be my chance to "legitimize" myself by actually going with a group instead of alone.

We got to Center Stage about two minutes before the 6:00 show began and when they started I noticed that the Dorney Park Orchestra only did one song before the dancers came out instead of their normal two. I mentioned this to my parents, apologizing that they weren't going to see everything. About fifteen minutes into the show, at approximately the halfway mark, the one singer finished the country portion of the show and then said good night and to come back for the 7:00 show.

I couldn't believe it. I had been overhyping the show for months to my parents, they finally come to town and they run only half the show.

So we go back to the 7:00 show, getting there while they were on the second or third number. We watch a few songs again, they get to the country portion, and the guy says good night again and reminds us of the 8:00 show. I was stunned and starting to get upset. As my parents walked out of Center Stage, I stopped at the production booth to ask if they were ever going to do the full show. He said that both the 8:00 and 9:00 shows would be the full deal. Good.

We went back to the 8:00 show. This was the first time I had actually seen a show when it was getting dark and they were using the lighting effects. It made a difference, bringing an even more professional appearance to what was already a world-class performance. They got to the country part, I held my breath, and they went on to do the whole show.

It was worth it, as my parents joined the crowd in giving a (partial) standing ovation halfway through the amazing rendition of "God Bless The USA". My mom agreed that it was the best amusement park show she'd ever seen. However, we did not agree on which of the dancers was the prettiest.

The moral of the story? I should never try to legitimize myself. I was worried that people thought I was a freak and tried to alleviate that by actually showing up with people, giving myself the appearance of having a life. Instead, I ended up showing up three times, now appearing to be the freak that forced his parents to go to the show with him.

Sometimes, I just can't catch a break.

That does it for me this time. I'll skip what should have been the August 22 issue of The View, and go ahead and call this the September 5 issue. That means I'll be back on September 19 with my next issue. I have some PCN Tours to catch up on, but I promise I won't make any column just show reviews. I'll have some other, intriguing stuff for you next time.

Until then, I'll be at Paramount's Kings Dominion at least one day in the next two weeks and hopefully will be able to sneak off to another park in that time, too. In case I can't though, I hope you all get to your favorite parks and take a back seat ride once for me...


                                                                                 Coaster 3:16

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You can reach him at:  Coaster_316@yahoo.com