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| This Old Park | |
| Scott L. Jordan |
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A theme park, at itıs best, can be THE most complete art form. A Theme Park
as art can stimulate all the senses and touch every emotion. Only a few
parks have ever come close to reaching this level of quality and detail. It
is because of that potential that Theme Parks are so important to many.
The purpose of this column is to identify problems and shortfalls with Theme Parks and offer creative solutions that may bring them closer to what they can be or what they once were. I believe that one should only criticize if they can offer a solution. I also want to offer the reader that same opportunity here in this forum. Just because I write the column doesnıt mean I am any more creative than you. It just means that I know the people at MousePlanet. Please join me every other week and letıs get to work on these old parks.
Regional Theme Parks: The Demographic That Got Away In 1961 a theme park opened in Texas. The park had a "Fiesta Train" that went through an animated Mexican village. A charming "French River Boat" that searched for LaSalleıs route to the Mississippi and dodged Spanish cannon balls. There were conquistadors leading Guests on a search for the gold of Cortez on the backs of pack mules. What wasnıt there was Roller Coasters (actually there was a wild mouse called La- Cu- Ca- Racha, I wish I could ride that again; maybe this February in Anaheim.)
The park was Six Flags over Texas. The same Six Flags that today is roller coasters, off the shelf thrill rides and very little themeing. When the first Six Flags opened, however, it was a family park more akin to Disneyland than itıs current thrill ride park. It was the number one tourist attraction in Texas. More importantly it was the number one family attraction in Texas and families have and spend a lot more money than teenagers. So what went wrong? There are many factors that contributed to the park becoming less family oriented. First the parkıs founder Angus Wynne lost managerial control of the park. He spent and lost a fortune on the Texas pavilion at the 1964-65 New York Worldıs Fair. He lost even more on the now profitable Six Flags over Georgia. The park was then managed by many different companies including, Penn Central, Bally and Time-Warner. Without Wynneıs guidance the parks artistic direction became less clear and attraction additions became reactionary or worse based solely on profit. The next contributing factor was the "coaster war" of the 1970ıs. Parks were experiencing record attendance levels by adding the biggest, fastest, longest and tallest coasters. Six Flags over Texas was no exception. In 1978 they added "Shockwave," their first looping coaster that was a big hit, but not with families. It was just one more attraction would divide the family during the day. Only the older kids could ride it, which forced at least one parent to stay behind with the younger children. They tried to recapture the family market by adding a "family" coaster two years later. But that just further alienated the family by adding another attraction with a height requirement. Only attractions without height requirements are family friendly.
For management it seemed simple. You could see increases in attendance by adding coasters that required very little or no themeing, but that increase in attendance wasnıt the right visitor, it was teenagers who had left their parents at home and used the park as casual entertainment. The Six Flags experience stopped being a special family outing, it was now more like afternoon at the mall for teenagers. Park management tried to lure families back in the early 1980ıs by building a kiddy land. It created a draw for families with toddler age children but alienated families with older kids or families that wanted to experience the attractions together. When the park opened, every member of the family could enjoy every attraction together. By the 1990ıs 75% of the attractions had a height requirement and the majority of park Guests were teenagers. How do we fix this old park? Here's my take: Fortunately, almost all the coasters and thrill rides that were added were built along two sides of the park. The rest of the park is still much the way Wynne left it. The solution is to split Six Flags over Texas into two parks that use the same infrastructure but have two separate entrance gates. For the thrill ride Six Flags over Texas park you build a new entrance and basically there you have it.
The reclaimed family Six Flags over Texas park would be a little more difficult. We lose the French and U.S.A. sections in this plan so they would have to be rebuilt. The charming rides that made way for the coasters for the last twenty years would also need to return in one form or another. These would be attractions that the entire family could experience together, with no height requirements.
Itıs good for Guests and itıs good for park management. Guests would have a place where parents and children could experience the attractions together in a classic Theme Park style. Guests would also have access to a Six Flags thrill ride park right next door. Management would have two parks which means two gate admissions for a minimal investment. That is what is what I would do. What would you do?
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Scott L Jordan began his Theme Park career as a lead on "El Asseradero," the log ride at Six Flags Over Texas when he was only 15 (love those Texas labor laws). Pursuing a childhood dream, Scott L joined the Walt Disney Company as a Jungle Cruise Skipper at Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in 1985. He realized that there was no humidity in Los Angeles and he was off to the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank. There he was with Disney's Hollywood Records during it's early years. Most recently he was an Imagineer assigned to Disneyland. While at Imagineering he produced Disneyland Forever and Walt Disney World Forever. He is the voice of the first ghost on the right in the new attic scene in Disneyland's Haunted Mansion (his greatest achievement). He is currently a Theme Park industry consultant and show writer. |
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