Theme Parks Try to Keep Up With Disney's Expansion

San Diego Business Journal, March 12, 2001 by Gig Patta

With San Diego's neighbor Disney to the north opening the California Adventure theme park in Anaheim last month, it's no wonder some local theme parks already made plans for expansions of their own.

Many of the largest theme parks in San Diego County have already begun or planned construction of new rides and features to their current attractions.

According to the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau, the San Diego tourist attraction industry received more than 21 million visitors last year.

Con Vis tracks tourist attraction attendance at seven San Diego attractions, which include SeaWorld, San Diego Zoo, Wild Animal Park, Legoland California, Old Town State Park, Cabrillo National Monument and Mission Bay Center.

For the San Diego Zoo, No. 3 on the San Diego Business Journal's List of Tourist Attractions, it already began the process of converting its animal habitats from enclosed areas to more open and natural environments.

* Parks Have Historical, Entertainment Value

The List defines tourist attractions as entities at a fixed location whose primary business is entertainment or have some historical significance and are operated year-round.

The Zoological Society of San Diego operates the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Wild Animal Park, No. 5 on The List. The parks received 3.5 million and 1.5 million visitors in 2000, respectively.

"It's an ongoing process to convert our old enclosures to more naturalistic environments for our animals," said Christina Simmons, public relations manager for the San Diego Zoo "The San Diego Zoo has such a wonderful climate, which allows us to present the animals in open-air exhibits."

By converting to these natural enclosures, visitors can observe more of the creatures' natural habits and behaviors, she said.

For example, many of the animals can be seen wandering together as family groups, which is very difficult to observe if the animals are enclosed in cages.

Some of the natural environments have multiple species living together, so visitors can observe many animals interacting with other species.

* Animals Seen In

Natural Surroundings

Some of the natural environments opened in the past two years included the Douc langur exhibit, where Southeast Asian monkeys live in a forest environment; Owens RainForest Aviary, a walk-through Asian jungle where visitors observe 60 different exotic birds; and the Ituri Forest, a central African rain forest for observing buffalos, hippos, otters and okapis.

"(The natural enclosures) make it like observing the animals in the wild," Simmons said.

In addition, the San Diego Zoo has plans to expand the park by adding new exhibits, parking and mass transportation in Balboa Park.

"The newer enclosures take up more space, so there'll be more changes in the zoo's leasehold," she said.

SeaWorld, No. 2 on The List, is currently making plans to further expand in its 189 acres in Mission Bay Park, which is leased from the city of San Diego.

* Sea World Plans

Four Projects

In its proposal for expansion, the park plans four specific projects: a themed splashdown ride with a marine-life education component; three-story educational center; special events facility; and a re-themed front entrance.

Each of the projects must be reviewed by the city's Planning Commission, the City Council and the California Coastal Commission. Next week, SeaWorld will issue its environmental impact, report ready for public review.

According to Meg Newcomb, community relations manager for SeaWorld, the park is planning to construct its first project, the Splashdown ride, in 2003, pending review by the public.

SeaWorld had an estimated attendance of 3.6 million visitors last year, according to Nashville, Tenn.-based Amusement Business, a trade publication.

Legoland in Carlsbad recently planned a new 5-acre area to the park, which has not yet been named. Early next month, the Lego Technic Coaster will be its attraction to this newly expanded area.

Legoland is ranked No. 6 on The List with an attendance estimated at 1.45 million visitors last year, according to Amusement Business.

The Lego Technic Coaster features 10 Lego vehicles on a roller-coaster rail. The fourpassenger Lego vehicle is built out of life-size Legos, which is different from standard roller-coaster cars at other theme parks.

"The unique element to the ride is the car," said Kina Paegert, senior communications specialist for Legoland. "The whole family can experience the fun altogether."

* Ride Teaches

Kids About Safety

The car on the roller-coaster rail will ride through dips and turns at speeds of up to 26 miles per hour. Along the ride, there will be signs teaching children the importance of safety by learning the techniques of acceleration, braking and maneuverability.

In addition, the first sit-down restaurant in the park will be opened this summer in the same area. The Test Track Diner will serve menu food in contrast to a cafeteria selection at other eateries in the park.

"The restaurant has an engineer's playground theme to the setting," Paegert said.