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Theme and amusement parks worldwide will undertake capital investments amounting to approximately $250 million for new attractions for the 1994 season. Amusement operators will also spend millions in maintenance and related activities. Good 1993 figures have encouraged operators to invest further in proven products while searching for newer crowd-drawers. A number of parks have already announced plans for several areas such as water rides, new themes and roller coasters., The 1994 season will be a record year for capital investment in existing theme and amusement parks worldwide. AB estimates that nearly $250 million will be spent on new attractions [...]

Some carnival owners are charging ahead with ride purchases, but many seem to be holding the line, waiting to see what happens with the economy and the war on terrorism. [...]

Don't look for any fans on Wall Street of WWF Entertainment's new football league, the XFL. Analysts were uncharacteristically blunt in their disapproval of the plan, and shares in the [...]

Sources say House of Blues Entertainment is in negotiations to purchase popular Atlanta venue The Tabernacle to create House of Blues [...]

By summer 2004, Clear Channel Entertainment (CCE) will complete a $23 million amphitheater, which will play host to a projected 30-40 events annually and help define the Tampa Bay area [...]

Most show owners contacted by AB said they don't have definite plans for big purchases in 2004 but they certainly wouldn't pass up a good deal if one came along. [...]

The owners of the SuperSplash waterpark in Edinburg, Texas, and the waterpark, amusement park and retail/entertainment zone that comprise Visionland in Birmingham, Ala., have purchased land adjacent to both facilities [...]

Sega GameWorks (SG) and Playdium Entertainment Corp. are building the first of about 40 Canadian entertainment centers next to a shopping mall in Mississaugua, Ontario. The center, Sega City @ Playdium, will cost $13.4 million, open in August 1996 and include outdoor sports games and indoor interactive games. Sega and Playdium are studying other Canadian downtown and suburban sites that have heavy traffic and easy access. SG is a joint venture of Sega Enterprises Ltd., DreamWorks SKG and MCA Inc., The first of up to 40 entertainment centers to be developed in Canada as part of a venture between Toronto-based Playdium Entertainment Corp. and Sega GameWorks is being built in [...]

Ogden Entertainment Services has purchased a minority interest in Partecsa, a Spanish firm that runs an entertainment facility on the old Expo '92 site. The facility includes a ride simulator, several pavilions, a 10,000-seat amphitheater and a large lake for firework and laser displays. The Spanish investment represents one part of Ogden's expansion plans into Europe; the company will also provide food and beverage service at the complex., Continuing its international expansion, Ogden Entertainment Services (OES) has invested in a firm called Partecsa, Seville, Spain, and will provide food and drink service for its entertainment attraction on the [...]

London, UK-based Tussauds Group Ltd. and Spain-based savings bank La Caixa have agreed to acquire Grand Tibidabo Group of Barcelona's 70% stake in the Tibigardens theme park project near Barcelona, Spain, for $75 million. Under the agreement, Tussauds would acquire a 40% stake and La Caixa a 30% stake in the theme park. Anheuser-Busch Co. and utility company Fecsa maintain their 20% and 10% share in the park, respectively., The London-based Tussauds Group has finalized negotiations and has agreed to purchase a 40 percent stake in the Tibi-gardens theme park project on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, south [...]

Nearly five years after the death of Jim and Tammy Bakker's TV ministry, their Heritage USA theme park in Fort Mill, S.C., has been reborn. The 2,200-acre resort came alive [...]

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. -- Back in the U.S. after 32 days in Europe, Larry and JoAnn Davis, owners of Carnival Time Shows, brought back a lot of ideas about people [...]

Final negotiations are under way between the Polish government and a group of investors which would transform the shuttered Warsaw Film Studio into a studio tour attraction and theme park. [...]

Live Nation has invested an estimated $3 million in Korn, entitling the company to a 6% return of the band's boxoffice, licensing, publishing, merchandising and CD sales. The deal is [...]

CARNIVAL PURCHASING PLANS A Sampling Of New Rides, Equipment & Attractions Within U.S. And Canadian Shows CARNIVAL/WINTER QUARTERS CONTACT ALL STAR--ASTRO AMUSEMENTS Jeff Blomsness Crystal Lake, Ill. AMUSEMENTS OF AMERICA [...]

The first Huss Giant Ride to be built outside North America will debut at Bobbejaanland, in Lichtaart, Belgium in 2004. Approximately $12 million (U.S.) will be spent in the park [...]

Although rain and cold curtailed season revenues for Brownstone Amusements, Portland, Conn., by 40% this year, the show is looking to add more rides and possibly hire a professional trucker [...]

Belle Island Village, being billed as a multi-use, pedestrian-oriented attraction, has been announced for Pigeon Forge, Tenn. It is set to open in spring 2005. The $60 million attraction will [...]

The largest regional amusement park resort in North America is getting larger for 2004. Cedar Point, on a peninsula jutting out into Lake Erie in Sandusky, Ohio, will be spending [...]

Setting a recent history attendance record, attendance at the California Mid-Winter Fair & Fiesta, Imperial, rose 5.6% to 101,027, over last year's 95,595. 'The weather was great the last six [...]

Pending approval by a bankruptcy court judge in early March, Ocean Journey, the financially troubled aquarium in Denver, will be taken over by Orlando-based Ripley's Entertainment. The company made a [...]

CARNIVAL PURCHASING PLANS A Sampling Of New Rides, Equipment & Attractions Within U.S. And Canadian Shows CARNIVAL/WINTER QUARTERS CONTACT/EST. BUDGET AMUSEMENTS OF AMERICA, Dominic Vivona Jr/. Englishtown, N.J. $750,000 BATES [...]

CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS AT PARKS WORLDWIDE A Sampling Of Rides & Attractions Set To Premier This Year PARK AND LOCATION CAPITAL PROJECT ALTON TOWERS, Calypso Springs, new hotel; and Splash Staffordshire, [...]

Oz Resorts & Entertainment Pres/CEO Robert Kory has finalized a deal with Philadelphia-based Reading Co to make the latter an equity partner in the building of The Wonderful World of Oz Theme Park & Family Resort in Kansas City, KS. The agreement is a significant development for the $300-million project but Kory still needs to secure debt financing. The project is Reading Co's first venture into the theme park business., Robert Kory, head of efforts to build The Wonderful World of Oz Theme Park & Family Resort in Kansas City, Kan., has reached an agreement with the Reading Co. which [...]