Theme Parks Are Special Types

Theme Parks are special types of parks that emphasize one particular aspect of life and invite people to come and enjoy it. At the same time the attitude of the people changes from year to year and this requires the theme parks to change their get up every few years so that the visitors continue to find interest in the parks. The extreme competition had led the industry to decline over the last few years, and this has led to the development of new facilities in most of the parks. Let us look at some of them. The biggest of the lot, Disney offers a new ride from the top of a haunted hotel and that hotel will be the tallest structure in Disneyland. They have also got a very fast roller coaster that moves into total darkness at more than 45 mph. this has just opened, and opening this month is also the Journey to Atlantis of SeaWorld, and that is expected to be the largest attraction of the park for the last 40 years. (Vrana, pp: No: Unknown)

In this the riders board Greek fishing boats to learn about the story of Atlantis through fake floods and tremors along with the history. They will also see a beautiful underwater view of Commerson's dolphins from below the water level, and all this in eight passenger Greek fishing boats. Another theme park is Six Flags Hurricane Harbor situated in Valencia and they will come up with Tornado Water Slide. Another place is Universal Studios in Hollywood and they will show Revenge of the Mummy ride in a roller coaster. This is based on the Mummy movies and has many high speed and special effects. There is also Legoland in California which was compelled to cut jobs and have stoppages on Tuesdays and Wednesdays due to the fall in the numbers of visitors from 2002, and they will come out with Coastersauras. This will move around at speeds of 18 miles per hour within a forest of dinosaurs made from Lego. Even the small time Knott's Berry Farm will come out with the Silver Bullet. This is a roller coaster that moves around six times. (Vrana, pp: No: Unknown)

Now the problem with all these rides is that they are not tested. It has happened in the past that some rides have led to accidents and thus have caused problems for the parks. For all amusement rides, there are no rules for control of the minimum height limits and this is important for the children. The height limits are set by the manufacturers of the rides, and this is often not objective. Even when the heights limits are fixed, in many cases the age limits and the height limits do not match, and in case they do not have to be approved by the officials. In 2001, this led to a 6-year-old boy being thrown out of a Wipeout ride during a Carnival, and later in the year a 4-year-old girl was thrown out from the same ride in a theme park in North California. The problems in both cases were cases of forceful ejection and that was due to the fixed restraint bar that did not closely against them. (Amusement Ride Height Limits Are Not Subject to Public Safety Review)

At the same time, the children met the 42" height requirement that were fixed. When the manufacturer estimates that any cost of injury will be set off by a higher number of ticket sales, then it makes financial sense for them to lower the height limit. According to the report given by the State of California on the second accident, the theme park tested the ride's capacity to hold back small children by using a water jug and a large stuffed bear which were supposed to behave like passengers. (Amusement Ride Height Limits Are Not Subject to Public Safety Review) in these theme parks, they have fixed the entry prices on the age of the entrant. This has made the cost of adult entry as $49 and children below 48 inches at $39, and left the children less than 3 years old as free. (Vrana, pp: No: Unknown) This brings us to the question as to whether the new games that have been brought will be safe, especially for the children. These are certainly risks for the visitors as well as parks and no proper evaluations have been made, and that seems to be the practice.

Another problem area for tourist entertainment and specially children in Southern California is the effect of air pollution. The surrounding area has a lot of forests and this leads to the risk of developing lung diseases from air pollution. A study has been made for the last twenty years on the subject by Robert Phalen the director of UCI's Air Pollution Health Effects Laboratory. His emphasis was finding out the relationship between air pollution and asthma, bronchitis and emphysema. There are now efforts to concentrate on the effects on children. It is known that children breathe in more air per pound of body weight than adults, and thus pollutants could have a high effect on them. (Floods, natural disasters in Southern California, trauma, respiratory problems and air pollution)

This is probably a low level danger for the theme parks. However the main danger to theme parks and this could be considered to be the biggest danger of all is that visits to theme parks were down 1.5% in 2003. It is said that it was mainly due to poor weather, drop in the economy and worries about terrorism. Worries about terrorism are still not over. The gainers during that period were Universal Studios in Japan and Disney's California Adventure in Anaheim. The last big spending by the parks had been in the 1990s when they had a lot of exciting rides, but the last rides that they added were not adding heart thrilling rides, but mainly adding more of family friendly rides and those were also cost effective. These were rides with slower speeds and linked to movies like "Shrek" which was done by Universal. On the other hand, this year theme parks are going back to what they had done a lot of time ago. (Vrana, pp: No: Unknown)

The biggest question is whether they will yield a positive return for the parks. At the same time, the parks are not really apolitical, and this assault on the order on the New Deal philosophy was launched by none other than Ronald Reagan. He was initially a New Deal Liberal, but shifted to a tax cutting conservative. During this process he converted himself to the support of the new mass culture of South California, and this led him to the support of the Dodger Stadium and becoming the master of ceremonies for the opening of Disneyland in 1955. (Popular Culture in the Age of White Flight) the problem with all this is that the entire process has alienated the black population and they are not likely to visit the theme parks. This cuts down the audience and possible returns on the high investment that has been made.