President Obama and Daughter’s Visit Sea Life Park
President Barrack Obama brought his two daughters to Sea Life Park during his Christmas vacation in Hawaii. The Obama daughters family enjoyed a fun-filled visit highlighted by swimming with the dolphins.
He's the leader of the free world, but as President Barack Obama sat at Sea Life Park , watching daughters Malia and Sasha interact with dolphins, all that Jesus Bravo saw was a doting father. "He was really happy—you should have seen his face," said Bravo, the park's general manager. "He watched it like any other parent."
Sea Life Park in Hawaii is the only place in the USA that offers the special “foot push” and “dorsal tow” dolphin behaviors as well as the only Wholphin, a cross between a whale and
a dolphin, in captivity.
Palace Entertainment Wins Top Honors for Marketing
at Attractions Industry Awards
Palace Entertainment parks continue to win awards for marketing excellence each year at the annual IAAPA Brass Ring Awards. This year’s awards were presented at the IAAPA Attractions Expo in Las Vegas. The awards are regarded as recognizing the “best in the business” and honor originality, creativity and excellence in marketing and advertising in the attractions industry. Receiving first place or finalist awards for Best Television Commercial was Mountain Creek Waterpark, for Best Radio Commercial were Big Kahuna’s Waterpark and Story Land, and for Best Website were Mountain Creek and Story Land.
Palace Entertainment Parks also won high honors at the World Waterpark Association Awards with finalist wins for Best Brochure, Radio and Print Media for Sandcastle, Big Kahuna’s and Mountain Creek. Turnstile Advertising of Dallas, TX is the agency of record and developed the award winning creative for all the winning parks.
Palace Entertainment’s Chip Cleary named IAAPA Chairmen
Chip Cleary, SVP Operations was honored to be named Chairman of IAAPA, the attraction industry’s leading trade association. Chip has been in the business for 19 years starting with the construction of Splish Splash waterpark in Long Island and has been with Palace Entertainment for 10 years. He has served for many years on various IAAPA committees and will travel to many parks and oversee key meetings to help support industry issues.
Raging Waters Debuts Dr. Von Dark’s Tunnel of Terror for 2010
December 21, 2009 - Raging Waters San Dimas has announced the unveiling of their most thrilling new attraction yet, Dr. Von Dark’s Tunnel of Terror!
“It is a unique dark ride, themed around a scientist whose love of the darkness has driven him to pursuits that can only be described as diabolical,” says Brett Petit, Sr. Vice President and Director of Marketing for Palace Entertainment. “At four stories tall, 300 feet long and with a flume tube that an elephant could walk through, it is going to be the “must-do” ride of the summer.”
Positioned face-to-face on new WhirlyWheel tubes, riders will spin freely while descending four stories in total darkness, accelerating them toward a giant funnel. Seemingly out of nowhere, the bottom drops out and riders are driven skyward into the upper hemisphere of the enclosed Tornado Flume. Held by centrifugal force, a series of 360-degree spins are preceded by back-to-back "vertical" banks. Riders are then jettisoned down the mouth of the funnel, down towards the certain doom that is projected on a special effects water curtain completely covering the only escape route. Dr. Von Dark’s Tunnel of Terror—the definitive answer to the ultimate question of courage: you’re not afraid of the dark, are you??
The park opens for the 2010 season in mid May. For more information contact Brett Petit at 949.797.9763 or by email, bpetit@palaceentertainment.com.
Palace Parks Named “Best Of The Best”
September 18, 2009 - For the past 12 years, Amusement Today, the industry’s most prestigious trade publication, has recognized “The Best of the Best” with its Golden Ticket industry awards. In 2009, Palace Entertainment is proud to be represented by no fewer than four individual parks, including Kennywood, Idlewild, Lake Compounce, and Boomers.
Named the 2nd best Kids Park, Idlewild in Ligonier, PA has a long-standing tradition of excellence in family entertainment. On the receiving end of four prestigious awards, Pittsburgh’s Kennywood is no stranger to accolades. In 2009, Noah’s Ark was named the second Best Funhouse /
Walk-through Attraction and Kennywood’s
annual Halloween event was ranked top-five.
No matter how you look at it, the key to success in the amusement industry lies on the serpentine path of the roller coaster—a category in which Palace Entertainment is well represented. Kennywood’s Phantom’s Revenge was ranked a Top 10 steel roller coaster, while Boulder Dash at Lake Compounce was named the 2nd best wooden coaster. Also rated in the top 50 wooden coasters were Boomers Hurricane, and Kennywood’s Thunderbolt and Jack Rabbit.
Palace Entertainment salutes all the 2009 winners in Amusement Today’s “Best of the Best” and is delighted to take its place among the industry’s most recognized and successful parks.
Kennywood Amusement Park Announces
Launch Roller Coaster as New Ride for 2010!
West Mifflin, PA – Kennywood is proud to announce the addition of a
seventh roller coaster for the 2010
season! Joining the ranks of the Lil’ Phantom, Exterminator, Jack Rabbit, Racer, Thunderbolt, and Phantom’s Revenge, the new Linear Synchronous Motor (LSM) launch roller coaster, designed and built by Premier Rides in Maryland, is unlike any other roller coaster at Kennywood.
“This roller coaster will provide a thrilling new experience for coaster lovers at Kennywood,” explains General Manager Jerome Gibas. “The use of LSM launch technology will allow riders to blast from 0 to 50mph in three seconds and offers our first roller coaster with inversions since the Steel Phantom.”
Kennywood’s new launch coaster will feature many exciting and unique features including three
inversions and a 0-50mph launch in three seconds! After the high-speed launch, riders will experience a vertical ascent to 95ft before a brief cliffhanger pause at the top and a 90-degree drop into a maximum G-force pullout. The riders then enjoy extended airtime as the train races into an inverted top hat element, passes into a barrel roll and goes vertical again through a twist up leading to another pause.
Riders experience a second vertical free fall followed by another maximum G-force pullout on the way into a highly banked fan curve. After a traditional corkscrew, a curve to a zero gravity hill, and a series of wave turns, riders finally return to the station.
The new roller coaster will be placed in the current location of the Turnpike, a ride that has been at
Kennywood since 1966. Guests will only have to say ‘see you later’ to the Turnpike since plans are
already underway to bring back the ride in the near future.
The project is expected to be complete in May of 2010. Official coaster name and logo information
will be released in the coming weeks. Click Here for a preview video and updates.
Ride Statistics: Track Length: 2100 feet
Maximum Speed: 50 mph
Ride Time: 65 seconds
Number of Trains: 2
Number of Cars Per Train: 2
Number of Riders Per Train: 12
Kennywood is part of Palace Entertainment. Palace Entertainment hosts over 14 million visitors annually at 38 locations with seven theme parks, ten
waterparks and 21 family entertainment centers and is the largest operator of waterparks and family
entertainment centers in the nation. For more information, visit www.palaceentertainment.com. Palace
Entertainment is part of the Parques Reunidos family of parks.
Release: Immediate
Media Contact: Jeff Filicko
412-461-0500 x1176 JFilicko@Kennywood.com
Kennywood Park Voted Favorite Dark Attraction Park
Eight Consecutive Years
April 8, 2009 - To amusement park lovers, Pennsylvania's Kennywood Park is known as one of the greatest traditional amusement parks in the world. But for members of the Darkride and Funhouse Enthusiasts (DAFE) Kennywood is known as their Favorite Dark Attraction Park.
Why did Kennywood take the honor as DAFE members’ favorite such park for an incredible eighth year in a row? According to DAFE members’ votes, Kennywood offers a nice overall mix of the traditional “darkrides and attractions” that DAFE members love. Unfortunately for darkride lovers, many amusement park chains eliminated most of the ride-through or walk-through haunted houses and/or funhouses decades ago. Fortunately, Kennywood did not.
Additional honors for Kennywood this year also illustrate how Kennywood values “the Dark”:
The park’s Phantom Fright Nights was again named as the group’s Favorite Halloween Event. The new Ghostwood Estate jumped out of the dark and into the spotlight as the group’s Favorite Interactive Darkride, that is a ride in which guests actually shoot at the spooks inhabiting the ride.
Kennywood’s Noah’s Ark wins as DAFE’s Favorite Walkthrough Attraction for the seventh time in eight years. Noah’s Ark, a large, rocking boat-shaped funhouse, is the last of its kind in the United States and one of only two left in the world.
DAFE Director Rick Davis said: “Our members have visited parks and attractions all over the US and many have trekked as far as Japan in search amusement park thrills. That Kennywood constantly ranks as a favorite is not a surprise to those of that have been to the park. Kennywood seems to have the right blend of nostalgic, traditional and thrill rides, something for the whole family.”
Sweet victory
Dallas, TX, April 2, 2009 - Nascar driver Denny Hamlin and tight end Jason Witten trade paint on the high speed tracks to benefit the March of Dimes at SpeedZone in Dallas.
Snoop Dogg Wins Races at SpeedZone LA
Los Angeles, CA, March 22, 2009 - Famous rap star Snoop Dogg put the pedal to the metal while racing the 350hp Top Eliminator Dragsters at SpeedZone in City of Industry. Snoop was there celebrating with his son’s Pee Wee football banquet. Snoop won the drag race and everyone had a great time driving on the Slick Trax, Turbo Tracks and Gran Prix raceways.
September 18, 2009 - For the past 12 years, Amusement Today, the industry’s most prestigious trade publication, has recognized “The Best of the Best” with its Golden Ticket industry awards. In 2009, Palace Entertainment is proud to be represented by no fewer than four individual parks, including Kennywood, Idlewild, Lake Compounce, and Boomers.
