Germany's Nuclear Theme Park

Daily Mail: These extraordinary images show what could be the world's most bizarre theme park - built around an abandoned nuclear power station.

Wunderland near Kalkar, Germany, cleverly combines a never-been-used multi-million-pound reactor with classic fair rides, including a merry-go-round, Ferris wheel, carousel and log flume.

A swing ride has even been fitted inside the old cooling tower, while a 130ft-high climbing wall features on the outside.

When it was originally built in 1972 the construction - dubbed the SNR-300 - was destined to be the world's most technologically advanced nuclear power plant and Germany's first fast breeder nuclear reactor.

But 12 years and more than £3 million later, the project was eventually cancelled after a series of public protests and nuclear disasters elsewhere, including Chernobyl.

Dutch businessman, Hennie van der Most, bought the entire complex for an undisclosed amount in 1995.

By 1996 there were a few hotel rooms on the site, which gradually expanded to several hundred - as well as bars and restaurants.

Since 2002, the park has seen the addition of more than 40 rides and a museum as well as a miniature golf course and tennis courts.

A spokeswoman at the park said they received some 600,000 visitors a year and employed about 550 people during the high season.

She said: 'People come from all over the world because they are completely fascinated by the park. It's totally unique and that's what draws people in. It's not something you see every day. Some people worry it's unsafe but it is 100 per cent safe. Because the nuclear power station has never been put to use, the whole complex is guaranteed free of radiation.'

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Australia Theme Park Ends 'Tiger Walks'

Gold Coast: Dreamworld has axed its Tiger Walk Experience with the theme park planning on replacing it with another animal-themed attraction involving the park's 14 Sumatran and Bengal tigers.

Tiger walks have been offered by Dreamworld for more than 10 years and cost $695 for up to five people to walk with a tiger.

A spokeswoman for Ardent Leisure CEO Greg Shaw said the new experience, expected to be announced this week, was not offered anywhere else in Australia.

She said while the tiger walks were still generating daily bookings it was past its use-by date and put pressure on limited staff numbers.

Dreamworld is no longer taking bookings for the tiger walks but will honour all existing bookings until the end of the year.

Rock Start Icon Designing Theme Park Maze

NorthJersey: Rock icon Alice Cooper will help design a theme park maze for Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights as Southern California theme parks battle to lure more fall visitors.

In recent years, Halloween has represented a new opportunity for huge revenues for theme parks such as Universal Studios, Knott’s Berry Farm and Disneyland.

Universal recently announced that Cooper, known for his macabre-tinged stage persona, is the second celebrity that the park has named to help create horror-inspired mazes for the annual Halloween celebration that runs on selected nights Sept. 23 to Oct. 31.

Horror movie director and actor Eli Roth, who produced the 2002 horror film "Cabin Fever" and 2005’s "Hostel," among other movies, will design a maze called "Eli Roth’s Hostel: Hunting Season."

According to Universal Studios Hollywood, Cooper’s maze will include "guillotine decapitations, electric chairs, a sadistic insane asylum, predatory snakes and giant black widow spiders that have helped make his imagery timeless and indelible."

Taking the Plunge at Busch Gardens

Hampton Roads: Look out below!

After a nearly three-month delay, Busch Gardens in Williamsburg finally opened the gates Friday on its newest attraction - a nearly 240-foot-high, free-fall ride called Mach Tower.

The early reports?

"The overwhelming comments have been, 'It's been worth the wait,' " said Carl Lum, president of the theme park. The ride, which is in the park's Oktoberfest village, rotates 30 riders atop a spire, then drops them at "breathtaking" speed.

Busch Gardens had planned to launch Mach Tower in the spring and set a date of May 27 for reporters to test it out. But mechanical problems delayed the opening.

"During the manufacturer's initial testing, some mechanical issues were discovered that caused the delay," Lum said in a news release. "We're pleased our guests will be able to ride Mach Tower before the summer comes to a close."

The company announced the ride in September. Earlier this summer, several roller-coaster-fan blogs and online forums, including BGWFans.com, Coaster-net.com and Screamscape.com, posted reports of problems during testing of Mach Tower. The posts cited employees who spoke of a malfunctioning brake system, improper installation of shock absorbers, and defective parts.

Busch Gardens acknowledged that the mechanical issues took longer than expected to resolve, but emphasized that the safety of its patrons was paramount.

"When Mach Tower opens, it will be as safe as every other ride in our park," Lum said in a July email.

SeaWorld Looks Beyond Theme Parks

Orlando Sentinel: Freed from the constraints of owners more interested in brewing beer than building theme parks, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment is accelerating plans to expand into new businesses, including movies, television and hotels.

After flirting with the idea for years, the Orlando-based theme-park operator will release a feature film this month through SeaWorld Pictures, the company's new film division. The sea-turtle documentary, expected to reach as many as 400 theaters this summer, is the first of what executives hope will be a long line of SeaWorld-produced nature films that capitalize on the company's reputation for marine-life expertise and buttress it against criticism from anti-captivity activists.

SeaWorld wants to make more than movies eventually. Company executives say they are exploring new projects in television, publishing and consumer products.

At the same time, SeaWorld is working on plans to build its first hotel. And it says it is making progress toward its first international theme park, with the most likely location somewhere in Southeast Asia.
With such projects, SeaWorld is borrowing a page from the playbooks of other large theme-park operators such as the Walt Disney Co., all of whom are searching out new sources of growth to confront what experts say is a nearly maxed-out American theme-park market. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts has devoted much of its capital spending in recent years to building up "flanker" businesses, such as cruises and time shares, and to international expansion, including the $4.4 billion Shanghai Disneyland resort scheduled to open in about five years.

SeaWorld's expansion plans come even as it pumps nearly $200 million this year into new rides and shows for its 10 existing U.S. amusement parks, which collectively draw more than 20 million visitors annually.

The first glimpse of SeaWorld's plans will come June 21, when "Turtle: The Incredible Journey" premieres in a 3-D theater at SeaWorld San Diego. The documentary follows aloggerhead sea turtle on a 9,000-mile journey from hatching to maturity to a return to its Florida nesting grounds.

Developed by Hannover House, a small production studio, the film was initially released in Europe. SeaWorld purchased the film's North American distribution rights and made it the launch film for its new SeaWorld Pictures banner.

Big-ticket construction projects are also on the horizon. Atchison said SeaWorld is "actively pursuing" plans to build one or more hotels at some of its existing U.S. parks.

"It's a good fit with our business," Atchison said. "I don't know that it makes sense in every market where we have a park. But certainly there are some markets where I think we could get in the hotel business in an on-property format that helps better the guest experience."

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Comcast Plans to Fully Own Universal Theme Parks

Orlando Sentinel: Comcast Corp. has decided to buy The Blackstone Group's half of Universal Orlando, two people familiar with the plan said Tuesday. The move will give the Philadelphia-based cable giant full control over NBCUniversal's biggest and most profitable theme park, which has been experiencing record crowds since opening the Wizarding World of Harry Potter last summer.

The pending deal was first reported by TheWrap.com, a news website covering the entertainment industry. Comcast is expected to pay between $1 billion and $1.5 billion for Blackstone's stake in Universal Orlando, TheWrap.com reported, citing an unidentified source with knowledge of the detail. Universal generated $267 million in operating profit last year.

Representatives for Comcast, Blackstone, NBCUniversal and Universal Orlando all declined to comment Tuesday. The people familiar with the pending sale who spoke with the Sentinel did so only on the condition that they not be identified because they were not authorized by any of the parties to discuss the deal publicly.
Blackstone formally offered to sell its Universal Orlando stake to Comcast in March, weeks after the cable company completed a $13 billion acquisition of NBCUniversal from General Electric Co.

Comcast has until June 12 to buy out Blackstone or the private-equity firm will be free to solicit third-party bids for the entire resort. Comcast would be compelled to sell if Blackstone were able to find a rich enough bid. Comcast executives have hinted in recent weeks that they were learning toward accepting Blackstone's offer to sell. During a conference call with analysts earlier this month, Comcast Chief Financial Officer Michael Angelakis called the resort "well-managed" and "growing nicely."

NBCUniversal's new chief executive officer is Steve Burke, who had previously been Comcast's chief operating officer. Burke is a former Walt Disney Co. executive who once ran Disneyland Paris. Universal Orlando is also in the midst of the strongest financial performance in its history, thanks to the popularity of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The resort's two theme parks — Universal Studios Florida and Universal's Islands of Adventure — drew 11.2 million visitors last year, up 20 percent from 2009. Profit rose more than six-fold to $148 million. The gains have continued in 2011. First quarter attendance was up 68 percent from a year earlier.

Industry analysts say a deal between Blackstone and Comcast is the ideal outcome for Universal. Most of the resort's key intellectual property licenses — including its deal for Harry Potter with Warner Bros. Entertainment — include provisions in which Universal could lose those rights if acquired by a new owner. But those change-of-control provisions wouldn't be affected by NBCUniveral assuming full ownership.  "Full ownership by NBCU, which owns other Universal-branded theme parks globally, rather than in a 50-50 joint venture with a private-equity firm, would clarify the long-term strategic and financial position of the company," John Puchalla, a corporate-credit analyst with Moody's Investors Service, wrote in a research note in March.

Comcast, through NBCUniversal's Universal Parks & Resorts division, already owns Universal Studios Hollywood in California. And it operates Universal theme park parks in Japan and Singapore through licensing deals. Blackstone has co-owned Universal since 2000, having paid $275 million cash to buy the stake from Rank Group PLC. The firm in 2009 bought Orlando-based SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment for a deal valued at about $2.5 billion.