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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Super Parks

If the thought of flying at break-neck speeds of 100 miles per hour on the Superman ride makes your head spin, imagine being dropped 85 miles an hour from 40 stories high. That’s the kick Magic Mountain is promising thrill-seekers come opening day in Valencia this Saturday, when the park unveils “Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom.” The new ride, according to Six Flags Inc., is the world’s tallest vertical drop ride representing what observers say is an investment of at least $10 million. Along with two of the most expensive attractions ever built opening in Los Angeles this summer — Disney’s “Cars Land” and Universal’s “Transformers: The Ride 3D” — amusement companies are betting hundreds of millions this summer that the more they spend, the more they will get back in ticket sales and profits. Total investment in area parks this summer tops $210 million, industry experts said. And despite stubbornly high unemployment, a choppy stock market and stagnant house prices, observers believe these big bets will pay off as consumers put off bigger, overseas vacations but open their wallets for a day in the parks. “Our business lives on repeat visits, which comes through capital investment,” said industry consultant Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services Inc. “If we remain stagnant, we see a drop in attendance, which is what we saw in the recession. Now parks are spending and reinvesting and we’re seeing an uptick in attendance.” That was the lesson many theme parks absorbed from the phenomenal success of “Wizarding World of Harry Potter” at Islands of Adventure at Universal Orlando, one of the most expensive installations of all time, but one that that raised attendance 29 percent to 7.7 million in 2011. Indeed, that one installation helped increase North American theme park attendance by 2.9 percent, according to the to Themed Entertainment Associates’ 2011 Global Attractions Attendance Report. Without Harry Potter, attendance growth was a much more modest 1.6 percent, according to the report. New thrills Reinvestment is certainly the strategy of Grand Prairie, Texas-based Six Flags Inc. A year after emerging from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, the company is spending an estimated $90 million a year on new thrill rides to fend off the kind of financial “doom” that stalked the company following a leveraged buyout that piled $2 billion in debt on its books. Freed from that obligation, the company is pumping money back into big thrill rides, Six Flag’s forte. Nowhere is that more apparent than in Valencia, where “Doom” represents Magic Mountain’s third ride side since just last year. “Green Lantern: First Flight” opened last year as did “Road Runner Express,” a kiddie coaster. Though “Doom” is not officially a coaster, Magic Mountain now has 18 coasters, making it the coaster capital of the world. The commitment to new investment follows a few years of turmoil as the parent company sorted out its financial affairs. “It’s been a mess at the corporate level,” said Robert Niles, founder and editor of Pasadena-based Theme Park Insider. “Drop of Doom” is attached on both sides to “Superman: Escape from Krypton,” which actually helped Six Flags capitalize on the already built tower portion of that ride. Riders are seated in floorless gondolas on two vertical tracks flanking the “Superman” ride. They are pulled to the top of the tower — a height of 400 feet — and after a pause of a few seconds, dropped at a speed of 85 miles an hour. After a five-second freefall, riders are brought to a stop by a magnetic braking system. The ride offers spectacular views of Valencia and nearby Santa Clarita, but you may not notice it with your heart pounding. Magic Mountain’s climb Magic Mountain executives declined to be interviewed for this article, but theme park experts believe Six Flags will recoup its investment in fairly quick order. Magic Mountain is likely to benefit from the investment that other theme parks are making in new attractions this summer, said Christian Aaen, partner with Beverly Hills based Entertainment and Culture Advisors, consultants to the destination entertainment industry. “There is competition, for sure, but Disney drives both attendance and pricing at other parks because it expands the market with new products,” Aaen said. “People who haven’t gone to a theme park in recent years are likely to come back this year.” Unlike Disney, which raised both its daily rate and the cost of annual passes this year, Six Flags kept prices the same, which may help the theme park attract value seekers this summer. Six Flags also should get a lift from lower gasoline prices, as the vast majority of its guests drive to the park. Even the sluggish economy should provide a bit of a boost as people who otherwise would take a longer vacation out of town are likely to stay in California, Aaen and others said. Attracting about two million to three million visitors a year, Magic Mountain does not draw nearly as many guests as Disneyland, where attendance was 16.1 million in 2011, or Universal Studios Hollywood, which drew 5.1 million, according to Themed Entertainment Associates. In recent years, attendance has been either flat or growing slightly, according to Niles. But with the parent company now committed to reinvestment, he said that should improve. “As long as they are adding something new every year, they should be in pretty good shape.” Coaster enthusiasts are excited for the new ride, even though it’s not officially a coaster. “I’m licking my lips,” said John Gerard of American Coaster Enthusiasts. “It’s gonna be fantastic.” The 50-year old San Diego resident — who has ridden 685 different coasters in his life — plans to visit in July, when he leads a coaster camp. Santa Clarita officials also are excited for the opening, which often attracts out-of-towners like Gerard. “We get excited every time Magic Mountain opens a new ride because we know it attracts coaster enthusiasts from around the world to ride and stay in Santa Clarita,” said Jason Crawford, marketing and economic development manager for the City of Santa Clarita. “It’s good positive recognition and brings people here to stay in our hotels and spend money in the community.

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