We were able to sit down with Jennifer Lauerman, marketing director of Nickelodeon Universe, the largest indoor Theme Park in America located at the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN. The park operated as Camp Snoopy from 1992-2006 and The Park at MOA from 2006-2008 before opening as Nickelodeon Universe in Spring 2008.

We talked about how the park is doing so far this year, considering the massive heatwave that’s hit Minnesota recently, and we also talk about how they market such a unique and challenging park to guests. There are also hints to big new things coming soon! After our interview, I was given the chance to ride “Brain Surge,” the park’s newest thrill ride. I will have a complete review up soon of this thrilling and intense attraction.

Make sure to check out Nickelodeon Universe’s website and “like” them on Facebook!

Listen below or download here.

We were privileged to be one of the first to talk to Ed Hart, the leader of the Kentucky Kingdom Redevelopment Group. The group is the new operator of Kentucky Kingdom, the park in Louisville, KY that was closed down by Six Flags earlier this year. Ed was a key player in the 1989 revival of Kentucky Kingdom, and led the park to having more than 1.3 million visitors his last year in control in 1997.

You can find the Kentucky Kingdom Redevelopment Group on Facebook, Twitter, or their website.

Some new details from the interview:

• The park will reopen in 2012, if the group can get all the proper funding.
• The new roller coaster will be built by Bolliger & Mabillard (exact details such as type will be announced later).
• The water park will be doubled in size.
• A dedicated parking lot for the park will be built that will feature free parking.
• Prices of food will be priced competitively with outside food vendors to keep guests in the park.

Listen to the interview below or download it.

Recently, I got a chance to interview Michael Graham of the Gravity Group.  The company has been producing top notch wooden coasters even though it is just a few years old.  Some examples of their work include, the world’s number 1 coaster: The Voyage

Mike, it’s  pleasure to be able to interview you!  I can’t wait to hear your responses to some of the questions I have.  So let’s jump right in: The Gravity Group is a fairly young company when compared to some other roller coaster manufacturers.  How exactly did the Gravity Group form?

When we were laid off from Custom Coasters, and it then went bankrupt, we liked what we did and wanted to continue doing it.  We started out consulting on a number of smaller projects including the Raven upgrade to two trains, and then in the fall of 2004 we began our first ride, Hades at Mt. Olympus.  Eight years after our inception we have now completed 5 roller coaster designs with 4 more opening next year.

Of all the Gravity Group coasters you have worked on, which has proven to be the most challenging to design?

This is an interesting question as each ride has posed its unique challenges of site constraints or other random features.  I would say the Timberliner project probably has been the most challenging as our goals for the product were set very high, and it has been a different exercise than producing another ride design.

Source: Holiday World

Which project was the most fun to work on?

The Voyage may have been the most fun as it was such an epic design.

Gravity Group is a wooden coaster design firm, but has the company ever looked into working on steel coasters?

We often brainstorm about delving into other ride styles, but development is a very involved and time-consuming process.

The Timberliner is a revolution in a wooden coaster trains.  The cars are described as being able to smoothly navigate the track among many other features.  How exactly did the concept of the Timberliners come to be?

For a very long time, there has been a need for a ground up new design for wooden roller coaster trains.  Significant changes have been needed to address maintenance, comfort and capacity.  After discussing parks’ needs, we felt that these were the key objectives that we needed to address

Source: Gravity Group

Have a good number of parks expressed interest in the Timberliners for their existing wooden coasters?

Yes.  They are designed to be compatible with existing tracks and our data clearly shows that tracks will breathe a breath of fresh air when running the lighter more nimble Timberliners.

2011 will be the first year two Gravity Group coasters open up in the same season.  Could 2012 bring two or more as well?

One never know what the future holds.

Source: Grona Lund

Just a few weeks ago (August 9, 2010) Gröna Lund in Sweden announced the addition of a new Gravity Group coaster.  How long ago did the park approach the Gravity Group?  And how long in general does it take from conception to opening day for one of your coasters?

We have been talking to them for quite a few years.  With the ability to make the super tight turns, we were able to provide them with a very unique ride with a tiny footprint compared to that of typical wooden coasters. This enabled the park to do the ride for 2011.  Often the conceptual design is done in conjunction with zoning hurdles so sometimes it is quick while other times it is iteration after iteration. Once all systems are go, it typically takes less than a year from design to completion.

We really appreciate you giving Park Thoughts and it’s readers an opportunity to get an inside look at the Gravity Group!  Can you give us an insight at what the future holds for Gravity Group?

We plan to keep making improvements in what we do and how we do things.  We will continue to focus on designing the best roller coasters on the planet, now coupled with the best trains on the market.

Well, once again Mike, thanks for the interview!  We really appreciate it.

Recently, I got a chance to interview Don Carson, an illustrator and artists for theme parks.  He has worked on several projects ranging from Disney classics such as Splash Mountain, to Universal’s Island’s of Adventure’s latest addition of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  Don has been the industry for more than 20 years, and is an expert at what he does.  It was very fascinating getting an inside look at the design process for such lavishly detailed attractions.  He also has a fantastic blog that showcases much of his work.  All artwork shown in this interview can be viewed on his blog by going here: http://themedenvironments.blogspot.com/ I had a fantastic time interviewing Don and I hope you enjoy it too.

Me: Hi Don!  It is a pleasure to meet you.  For those who don’t know, Don is a spectacular illustrator that does concept artwork for theme parks. He has also worked for some big names like Universal and Disney.  So Don, how did you get into this field of work?

Don: Well, I started as an Illustration major who also had a love for Disneyland. My childhood was spent making bi-yearly trips to southern California and the highlight was always visiting the Disney park. Leaving college I arrived into an industry that was on the way out, as traditional editorial and advertising illustration was being replaced with more photography. I took my newly acquired skills as an illustrator and began to apply them to the design of themed environments. One of my very first jobs was as the Design Director for the Renaissance Pleasure Faires in California. This gave me a quick education in building large scale themed spaces with very little money. We used to say that we deliver “Elizabethan England using plywood and hay bales”. These early years gave me an important perspective on just how much story can be told with very little investment. Later at Disney, despite the much larger budgets, I always made sure to design smart, and see what could be achieved with less.

You have a fantastic blog (http://themedenvironments.blogspot.com/) that shows lots of your early work.  What was your first theme park related project?

I was hired as a Show Designer for Walt Disney Imagineering in 1989, and on my first day I was handed the designer role for the Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom version of the Splash Mountain attraction. I was initially only supposed to be on the project for two weeks, but changes to the width of the ride flume had so altered the layout of the attraction show scenes that my involvement stretched over two years and included my re-designing every aspect of the ride. It was a fabulous experience, and I was mentored by a talented and infinitely patient Show Producer, Kathy Mangum. It was only later that I realised that getting to experience your attraction from concept to opening was rare indeed, and mine was filled with good memories.

The sheer amount of detailing in your work is incredible.   What project of yours has proven to be the most difficult? Why?

As a concept artist, especially for theme park attractions, your design is only as successful as its ability to communicate your idea to a large variety of disciplines. I always work to include as much detail and description as I can, because I know that architects, engineers, graphic artists, and fabricators will be looking to these drawings for information. Where any theme park designer falls flat is when their work has too much room for misinterpretation. Making sure my designs work in scale and are eventually “build-able” is the most important value I can add to my designs.

Any project has its challenges, the only really difficult jobs are those that you have no infinity for. Each artist’s work has its own individual look, this is usually based on an affinity they have with the subject matter. I personally have a fairly “cartoony” style, so I only really struggle when given something that it is outside my own aesthetic. Casting me as a designer for an “edgy” futuristic attraction is a recipe that will make me, and inevitably my clients, unhappy. The rest is all just plain fun to do.

You seem like you have worked on some very inventive and clever projects, such as Toy Story Midway Mania and Men in Black: Alien Attack.  Which of your projects was the most fun to work on?

Really, my favorite projects are always the ones I am working on at the moment. All assignments have their challenges and my job is to try and exceed the expectations of my clients, whether it is Disney, Universal, or a computer game company. One of my current assignments is working with Imagineering’s Show Ride department to develop attraction overlays for their newest ride technologies. This means I work from very basic ride concepts and try and design a deep, immersive experience around them. I have to say this has been the most fun I have had in years. I love the people I am working with and it touches every aspect of my professional design background.

To my understanding, the procedure of making attractions from the concept to the finished product takes years.  What would you say is the average time it takes for such a task?

Attractions can take up to five years to go from concept to ribbon cutting. This is for very large complex projects, but I have also worked on assignments that only had 12 months between the first sketch to the first guest. Mickey’s Toontown took 23 months to complete, which at the time was unheard of for a project its size. Since then many projects have had to work with less time, and often smaller budgets. The truth is that this is never a boring job.

Some of your renderings seem very accurate to what the actually came to be, while others are a bit far off.  How many of your contributions are worked into the final design?

As a concept artist, especially a freelance one, you never know what will make it into the final product. I would estimate that a good 70% of your work is leading you up to that final design. It is not as important that your design gets built as it is that the best design makes it to the final attraction. More often then not your project never makes it past the concept phase, for a variety of reasons, most having nothing to do with the quality of the proposed attraction. There were half a dozen complete Little Mermaid attraction proposals and teams over the years, but only recently did they decide to build the ride… and when the did they used another new team to design it. Your job as a designer is to support the Story that is being told, and give the client more then they expected, having your design get built is just icing on the cake.

Another reality to freelancing is that you are seldom if ever invited to watch your design go from concept to fabrication. This means that you can only hope that you fulfilled the initial assignment, and given enough information that it will indeed make it into the finished project. I often don’t find out whether one of my designs made it into an attraction until years later when I get to ride it. This was true of the Men In Black attraction. It wasn’t until I saw Dave Cobb’s ten year anniversary pictures of the attraction that I actually got to see what did and did not get into the finished product (man, I still can’t believe it has been ten years!?).

Well Don, on the behalf of the staff of Park Thoughts and its readers, thank you for your time!  Any chance you can tell us some of the projects you are working on at the moment?

It was my complete pleasure, thanks for asking! As you can imagine I can’t talk specifically about the projects I am working on, but I can say that they include parks in China, and one very large expansion for the Magic Kingdom in Florida. All my work is done from my studio in Oregon, with my very seldom needing to travel. The computer allows me to work with several teams at a time, and digitally turn around concepts, whether traditional illustrations or 3D models instantly. Although I do a lot of unrelated work, theme park design is my true passion and I always work to apply all my weight of experience into every project.

Don

Once again I would like to thank Don Carson for allowing me to do this interview with him!  Remember to check out his blog: http://themedenvironments.blogspot.com/ Don also has more pictures of his work on his main website at: http://www.doncarsoncreative.com/  Be sure to leave a comment with your park thoughts below.

[podcast]/radio/sfdk-captainlee.mp3[/podcast]

If you missed our live updates from the park, you can find them on our Twitter. You can follow Captain Lee himself on Twitter or like him on Facebook. Plus, you can like Six Flags Discovery Kingdom on Facebook.

We’ll have higher quality pictures coming soon, along with a full review of the park. Stay tuned!

Since it’s opening in 1946, Holiday World in Santa Clause, Indiana has grown to become a power house in the theme park world.  When the park originally made its debut, it claimed the title as the first theme park in the world.  It began as just a small getaway where families could have fun riding the few attractions.  Now, Holiday World has expanded into a full time resort, with a world class theme park, Holiday World, as well as an award winning water park, Splashin’ Safari.

Back in 1995, the park introduced, Raven, a Custom Coasters International creation that curved with the forest not against it.  The coaster instantly became a hit recieving numerous awards and plenty of praise.  Continuing the craze, the park added the Legend in 2000.  Another creation by Custom Coasters Inc, yet again the park did not disapoint.  And in recent years, the park has added Pilgrim’s Plunge, a revolutionary water ride, Zinga, a massive ProSlide Tornado, and the Voyage, the world’s number 1 wooden coaster.

Wildebeest, the world's longest water coaster, at Splashin' Safari. Image Copyright Holiday World

2010 marks the arrival of Wildebeest, the world’s longest water coaster.  Wildebeest hurdles riders up and over numerous hills through magnetic technology.  Riders get a roller coaster like experience on a water slide.  Also  new for 2010 will be new Timberliner trains, made by the Gravity Group for the Voyage.  These new trains will create a much smoother voyage, for riders.

Park Thoughts had a chat with Paula Werne of Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari for a quick chat about Wildebeest, Timberliner Trains, and the park itself.  You might be surprised by her responses:

1. At what point in time did the park start considering the addition of Wildebeest? And for that matter, how far in advance does the park look for future additions?

Oh, we’ve been thinking about adding a water coaster for years. We studied all the different types, looking for the most exciting model with the highest capacity. We found that with Wildebeest.

2. What prompted the decision to replace the original PTC trains with the new Gravity Group Timberliner trains on the Voyage?

Since The Gravity Group designed these trains with The Voyage in mind, we were of course intrigued. TGG tested their prototype on The Raven a year ago and we truly liked what we saw. We thrilled to be able to have the first set.

3. Holiday World has some of the best wooden coasters in the world, the Raven, the Voyage, and the Legend.  Have you ever considered a major steel coaster?

Oh, we’re always talking … some folks post that they “know” we’ll never add a steelie. I wonder where they got that?

4. Can we expect to see the addition of unique, record breaking attractions as a continuing trend at Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari?

Well, not *every* season, but we definitely like to shake things up a bit. Sometimes just adding a bit of height or length can make the ride a record breaker. What’s not to love about that?

We would like to thank Paula and the rest of Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari for taking the time to answer our questions.  We hope you enjoyed it.  Leave a comment with your Park Thoughts below.

I was able to take a few minutes to talk to Brandon Stanley, Public Relations Manger at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, MO. Take a listen to our interview below! We discuss everything from how the season is going, to Prowler, plus we get his thoughts on Cedar Fair’s announcement of possibly selling the park earlier this year.

A big thanks to him for doing this interview, and giving us backstage access to Prowler! I will be posting the photos from our exclusive backstage access this week.

This interview also kicks off Park Thoughts Radio, our new podcast! We will talk about the latest news and give our thoughts about it. We may even have a few guests join us sometimes! We will also read off reader’s comments if they are well written and give a good opinion, so start commenting!

[podcast]/radio/episode1-july2909.mp3[/podcast]

Remember to subscribe to our podcast!