Michael Jenkins: Put the theme back into the theme park.

For some reason I've been having problems getting the contributer to work. So here is where I'm putting it instead.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/columnists/chall/stories/DN-hall_21bus.ART0.State.Edition1.1cbd446.html

They certainly have the right attitude. Lets hope they follow through on their plan.

This is my favorite part:
"We feel we can improve on that by going back to the philosophies of Angus Wynne," says Mr. Jenkins. "Workers aren't employees. They're hosts and hostesses. No customers, only guests. Angus used to say, 'Customer service isn't the most important thing. Customer service is the only thing.'

Perhaps your summary was too long. That causes an error. Not really news anyway, more of an opinion column.

True. And thanks for the tip. I'll keep that in mind for next time.

Well, they certainly say all the right things...

I agree that 2007 is too soon to make major changes. Hopefully they pull it off in 2008.

Good luck to them!

Nice to finally see some industry folks pretty much say "It takes time" in print. :)

Now maybe the people that expect overnight change in these takeover situations will finally get it. ;)

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He and Mr. Drew, partners in PARC Management in Orlando, Fla., believe each park deserves its own identity unfettered by Bugs Bunny, Batman and meaningless flags.

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I love this!

Why am I *not* surprised to see ^this^ from WOF Guy...there's a park with a CONCEPT to it's theming.

MEANINGFUL items:
"When you enter, there's a story that unfolds. When the stories don't ring true – a section of the park isn't themed correctly, it's dirty or it's not well-managed – that affects your ability to create treasured memories for families."

Workers aren't employees. They're hosts and hostesses. No customers, only guests. Angus used to say, 'Customer service isn't the most important thing. Customer service is the only thing.' "

Regardless of Dennis Spiegel's comments, I'd LOVE to work for these guys... :)

Elitch's, that's the park that just MIGHT turn over to developers...the rest of the properties, my bet is they're going up, WAY up...

*** Edited 1/21/2007 9:09:57 PM UTC by rollergator***

It all sounds wonderful in theory, and it seems like a great plan. Let's see if they can pull it off. I'm cautiously optimistic.

Hopefully, down the road, Jenkins and PARC will decide to build that sorely needed theme park near Houston. What they could do is make it a Texas themed park (without the flags) while providing a good mix of family and thrill rides and shows.

Houston just isn't the same since SFAW closed and Kemahs is too small (even with the new coaster) to fill the vacuum. SFAW wasn't the greatest park in the world but it was OK and drew around 1.5 million visitors annually. Given the population in the Houston area, a well-designed park should be able to draw at a level between 2 and 3 million annually.

I will get flammed for this but , Isnt this what the new management of the Six Flags Chain said they were going to do too.

Just loo kat the palns for Discovery Kingdom.

I just think the new management will have a harder time and need more time to do it with the remaining parks.