Ho-Chunk tribe to meet with city officials to discuss expansion proposal

JeremyWdowicki — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 21:50:52 +0000

Madison officials will meet Thursday with the Ho-Chunk tribe to discuss a long-delayed zoning agreement that could clear the way for a proposed 40-acre development including a hotel, convention center, amusement park, movie theater, restaurants and other businesses around the existing Ho-Chunk gambling facility on the Southeast Side.

Read more: http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/ho-chunk-tribe-to-meet-with-city-officials-to-discuss/article_b0ee45e4-7934-11e1-9b9a-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz1qdheI3Sq

Amusement Park Group Names Zippin Pippin Best New Attraction of 2011

JeremyWdowicki — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:56:48 +0000

The Zippin Pippin grabs a national award during its first year of operation.

Read more at WBAY

Palace Entertainment Acquires America’s Largest Water Park, Noah’s Ark

JeremyWdowicki — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 12:20:48 +0000

Festival Fun Parks, LLC dba Palace Entertainment announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Noah’s Ark water park, located in the popular, family vacation spot of Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin.

Noah’s Ark is America’s largest water park with 70 acres, 51 water attractions, including 2 wave pools and 2 lazy rivers plus dozens of other various attractions. Located in the city of Wisconsin Dells, known as the “Water Park Capital of the World,” Noah’s Ark is the region’s most popular family attraction and has two hotels on the property featuring over 300 rooms. Noah’s Ark offers the greatest variety of water rides in the nation, including Black Anaconda, the nation’s most thrilling watercoaster. The Travel Channel hailed Noah’s Ark as “THE place for water in the Midwest,” and TripAdvisor.com named Wisconsin Dells the number one family vacation destination in the U.S.

Read more at PR Web

KeyLime Cove Indoor Waterpark Resort Named 2011 eMarketer of the Year for its Creative Connections with Today’s “Always On” Consumer

JeremyWdowicki — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 18:14:03 +0000

NEW YORK, Feb. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — KeyLime Cove® (www.keylimecove.com), Chicagoland’s largest indoor waterpark resort, was named the 2011 eMarketer of the Year at last night’s Adrian Awards gala in New York City. Awarded by TravelClick®, the leading provider of revenue-generating solutions for hotels, together with Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI), eMarketer of the Year recognizes the hotel that best demonstrates success in attracting and converting guests through the web. This year’s presentation gave a nod to the role of social media and the Twitter hashtag in digital marketing with an “#ILoveBookings” theme. In addition, TravelClick was recognized for excellence in digital marketing with 13 of its customers in HSMAI’s annual Adrian Awards competition. With more than 1,000 entries, the program is the travel industry’s largest and most prestigious competition honoring outstanding achievements in advertising, public relations, and digital marketing.

Read more at Bradenton.com

On The Record With … Hank Salemi (Six Flags Great America)

JeremyWdowicki — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 18:11:42 +0000

Six Flags Great America is building a new coaster. “X-Flight” will be unique to the world of thrill rides, unlike any other coaster out there, says Hank Salemi, Great America park president. The coaster will open in mid-May, shortly after the park opens on May 5.

Read more at Lake County Journal

Florida teenager who fell from a Wisconsin amusement park ride has returned to hospital that likely saved her life

JeremyWdowicki — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:02:02 +0000

A Florida teenager who plummeted 100 feet from a Wisconsin amusement park ride has returned to the state to promote an expansion project at the hospital that likely saved her life.

Hospital staff and others watched in awe Monday as 14-year-old Teagan Marti strode across the lobby at American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison under her own power, using only a walker for support. The teen, whose spine was severely injured in the July 2010 fall in Wisconsin Dells, appeared at a news conference to promote funding for the $32 million hospital expansion.

Read more at PostCrescent

Mount Olympus re-creating Atlantis

JeremyWdowicki — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:51:47 +0000

Excavation is under way at Mount Olympus on the ruins of the Lost City of Atlantis.

Archeologists predict the outdoor water fortress situated in front of the Triton water slide complex will rise six stories in the air and span an area of three acres.

Owner of Mount Olympus Water and Theme Park Nick Laskaris said the formerly lost city will feature seven water slides, a massive dump bucket and a geyser, which, on a regular interval throughout the day, will shoot water 12 stories into the sky.

Read more at WiscNews.com

UPDATE 2/29/12: Here is an artists impression of the new attraction that was posted by the park on Facebook.

X-Flight ‘like riding on the wing of a plane’

JeremyWdowicki — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:41:51 +0000

A year ago this week at Six Flags Great America, director of maintenance/construction Gary Pohlman dealt with the headache of digging new pools for Hurricane Harbor while the Lake County landscape was frozen rock-solid and covered in two feet of snow.

But Tuesday’s spring-like conditions brought a new set of obstacles for crews building the X-Flight roller coaster in County Fair — with temperatures pushing 55 degrees, the ground had taken on the consistency of pudding.

“It’s a mud pit,” Pohlman said with a rueful smile, standing in the shadow of the American Eagle as heavy equipment lumbered through the muck. “We prefer hard ground to move around on at this point. We got all the concrete put in before the holidays, and since then, we’ve been praying for cold, but it’s not working.”

See more at News Sun

New “Northern Lights Sky Ropes” Indoor Ropes Course Now Open at Wilderness Hotel & Golf Resort

JeremyWdowicki — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:59:26 +0000

If you like zip lining, there’s a good chance you’ll also like the new adventure ropes course located inside the Wilderness Hotel & Golf Resort. It’s called the Northern Lights Sky Ropes Course and it’s perched 30 feet above the mega arcade in the Wild West region of the property. Wearing a full-body safety harness, you’ll climb your way around 42 challenges with varying degrees of difficulty.

Read more at Wilderness Resort

Read more on the Press Release

Mt Olympus adds pics on Facebook with groundbreaking and concept artwork for Lost City of Atlantis (New 2012)

JeremyWdowicki — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 22:40:24 +0000