As I scrolled through the morning links on twitter I came
across this article detailing the 14 most anticipated rides of 2014. I am heavily involved in following what’s
going on in the amusement industry considering that a majority of my
photography work revolves around it. My
Facebook page and my Twitter account are full of amusement parks,
manufacturers, vendors and enthusiast pages.
I also belong to two coaster clubs.
I’m left to wonder why such an article would come out before a majority
of the amusement parks have made their announcements for 2014.
Amusement parks use to keep their projects top secret until
the end of the summer. This way kept people from postponing trips until the big attraction was installed. It seems these days that theme parks take one
of three approaches to announcing an attraction.
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| Fahrenheit was one of the parks first teaser campaigns. |
The first is that they start a teaser campaign by social
media, by physical mail or both. They
hype up the attraction and keep people focused on them and their brand. Hersheypark developed to very elaborate
marketing campaigns for recent coasters.
In 2007 the park announced that a company called Nantimi would be
handling a part of their marketing. The
park went so far as to create a fake PR site that held clues to what the new
attraction would be. The park then released
the news that Fahrenheit would be built and the company Nantimi was actually an
anagram for Intamin, the design company for the new coaster. In 2011 the park once again started a viral
marketing campaign. A website for the
Ride Institute of Technology was created and featured clues. Several fake websites were linked to the
original website in this elaborate guessing game.
The second trend that has popped up recently is parks
waiting until the off season to announce a new project. Last year Hersheypark shocked the amusement
community with an announcement of the removal of Roller Soaker and the addition
of more water slides and a spray ground after the park had closed for the
season. Stratosfear, a drop tower at
Knoebels, wasn’t announced until after they closed for the season.
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| Stratosfear added to the ride line up at Knoebels with very little advanced notice. |
Of course there are parks that announce new attractions
before the end of the season. Some of
these parks do it if a ride construction is going to take more than a year to
complete. Other parks make announcement
because they may have to remove a ride or two to make room for the new
attraction, requiring them to remove a ride in the middle of peak season. Busch Gardens Tampa recently announced the
removal of a ride to make way for a drop tower.
This article doesn't even make mention of the construction of a new roller coaster at Kings Island. A mystery ride and a new park entrance made the list however. When all is said and done this article felt
like filler. There was no reason to
write it until a majority of the announcements were made. It seems these days that they try to write the news before it happens.
/End Rant
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| Skyrush was added to the park line up in 2012. In 2011 they used a viral campaign with clues from the made up Ride Institute of Technology. |
Check out some of my amusement park stuff for sale at www.etsy.com/shop/supkophoto and follow me on facebook at www.facebook.com/supkophoto.
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