La dernière installation majeure de l'armée belge en Allemagne , le Camp d'entraînement de Vogelsang, retournera officiellement dimanche entre les mains des autorités allemandes. Une page de l'histoire se tourne. Mais de l'autre côté de la frontière, on s'interroge encore sur le devenir de ce qui, à l'origine, furent des bâtiments érigés par les Nazis.

Ainsi, le Camp de Vogelsang construit en 1934 par les Nazis, comprend un gigantesque complexe de bâtiments qui servaient en fait à l'époque à la formation politique des jeunesses hitlériennes. Et comme la destruction coûterait trop cher, d'aucuns évoquent l'idée de transformer les anciens dortoirs de ceux qui se disaient être de la race supérieure en hôtel 4 étoiles. La ministre de l'Environnement, elle, tout en se défendant de vouloir créer une sorte de Disney land chez les Nazis, voudrait faire du Vogelsang, un parc d'attractions.

The Stratosphere hotel-casino in Las Vegas is removing its High Roller thrill ride.

Cedar Fair attendance up slightly at amusement, water parks

Attendance at amusement and water parks operated by Cedar Fair LP rose slightly last year, the partnership said Thursday.

About 12.7 million people visited Cedar Fair parks in 2005, up from 12.6 million the year before.

The biggest gains came at Michigan's Adventure, which saw an 18 percent increase to 550,000 people at the park near Muskegon, Mich.; and at Dorney Park in Allentown, Pa., where attendance grew to 1.5 million, up 9 percent.

Cedar Fair owns seven amusement parks and five water parks.

Attendance fell 3 percent at its largest park, Cedar Point in Sandusky, to 3.1 million people.

Source : AP

Universal ticket prices up

Universal Orlando joined its theme park rivals and raised entrance prices Friday, but the resort is encouraging Internet admission-ticket purchases by offering a discount.

Starting today, visitors who purchase tickets at the gates to Universal Orlando and Islands of Adventure will pay, pretax, $63 per adult and $52 per child for a one-park, one-day ticket, up from $59.75 for an adult and $48 for a child.

However, visitors who purchase the ticket online will get to pay the old price and can use the ticket to get into the park for five consecutive days.

Late last month, Walt Disney World and SeaWorld Orlando raised prices. Disney raised the price of a one-day, one-park adult ticket to $63 plus tax. SeaWorld's price jumped to $61.95.

Source : Miami Herald

WORLDWIDE TOP 50: Parks persist in the face of calamity

By Juliana Koranteng

The year might have been dogged by natural disasters and terrorism, but that did not stop the world's top 50 theme and amusement parks from reporting mostly positive gains in attendance in 2005.

The continuing Gulf war, earthquakes in Pakistan, Indonesia and Iran, the devastating tsunami in Thailand, the destructive Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and terrorist attacks in the United Kingdom were not enough to discourage park visits.

Worldwide, the top 50 amusement parks in 2005 saw aggregate attendance increase 2.2% to 253,081,000, or 5.5 million visits over the 2004 adjusted total of 247,490,000, according to Amusement Business/Economics Research Associates.

The regional ruler of the roost was North America, where attendance at its top 50 parks increased 4.1% to 175,970,00. Of the 28 North American parks that made it into the worldwide top 50, 19 reported attendance growth and two remained flat.

Walt Disney Co. parks continued to reign supreme. The company commanded the No. 1 spot with 16.2 million guests at the Magic Kingdom in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., up from 15.2 million the year before. Disney claimed the top eight spots.

Analysts attributed Disney's increases in the U.S. parks to the marketing push behind the 50th "Happiest Celebration on Earth" anniversary in 2005. Additionally, new rides and attractions such as Stitch's Great Escape at Magic Kingdom, the Buzz Lightyear AstroBlasters at Disneyland and the opened movie ride Soarin' at Epcot were a bonus.

Another U.S. success was Paramount Canada's Wonderland at No. 26, which saw a 7% jump in visitor numbers to almost 3.7 million. The boost, during its 25th anniversary, was attributed partly to a new roller coaster based on the movie "The Italian Job."

On the down side, Florida-based Universal Studios (No. 12 globally) and Islands of Adventure (No. 15) each saw visitor numbers slip 8.5% to 6.2 million and 5.8 million, respectively.



EUROPE

Disney also led the rankings parade in Europe. Disneyland Paris in France, No. 5 on the global chart, saw attendance remain the same at 10.2 million. Sister second-gate park Walt Disney Studios Park, launched in 2002, appears to still be struggling. At No. 48 last year, it fell out of the top 50 global chart in 2005.

Despite an uneven economy, the region's leading 10 parks saw visitor numbers grow slightly to 42.2 million from 41.2 million in 2004.

Germany's biggest park, Europa-Park, celebrated its 30th anniversary and jumped to No. 24 with 3.95 million visitors, up from No. 28 (with 3.3 million) the year before.

According to Europa-Park, a record 3.5 million people attended the summer period alone, benefiting from the growing trend of short-destination vacations in Germany. In addition, every fourth visitor stayed overnight at its hotels and camp; every fifth guest visited several times; and 80% were repeat visitors.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach, the U.K.'s biggest park by attendance and Europe's second-largest, reported a drop in attendance to 6 million from 6.2 million.

Managing director Amanda Thompson said that Blackpool is competing in a highly aggressive leisure sector. "We're pleased to have reached the 6 million mark again this year," she told AB. "Like retailers, we're chasing after customers with not as much disposable income. These days, there are so many art galleries and there is Sunday shopping and football. Everybody is doing a lot more to get hold of the people's pound."

Efteling, the Netherland's top park, rose to 3.3 million from 3.2 million. Henk Groenen, communications director, noted that the economy must be improving as the park saw corporate events held there grow in 2005.



ASIA-PACIFIC

Hurt by natural disasters in the region and Japan's deflationary economy, total attendance at parks in Asia-Pacific was lackluster.

Visiting guests at the leading 10 Asian-Pacific parks slowed to 65 million in 2005 from 71 million the year before, with the 8.5% fall illustrated through most of the parks. Attendance at the world's third-most-popular park, Japan's Tokyo Disneyland, slid to 13 million from 13.2 million. Tokyo Disney Sea saw a dip to 12 million from 12.2 million.

Universal Studios Japan was severely hit, reporting a 19% plunge to 8 million. And Japan's Huis Ten Bosch, No. 37 worldwide in 2004, fell off the top 50 radar with a disappointing 2 million guests, though it has emerged with a plan to return to profitability.

The Aicho Expo was also a factor in drawing visitors away from Japanese parks.

There is a sign of growth in mainland China and nearby Hong Kong, where Disneyland Hong Kong opened in September. Also, Hong Kong's Ocean Park defied the slowdown trend with more than 4 million visitors, up from 3.8 million in 2004. Moreover, two mainland parks in Shenzhen, Happy Valley and Window of the World, were newcomers in the global top 50 by bringing in 2.6 million and 2.4 million, respectively.



LATIN/SOUTH/ CENTRAL AMERICA

The only Latin American parks to enter the top 50 worldwide rankings was Six Flags Mexico with a 6% growth to 2.28 million visitors.

Other top 10 regional parks showing signs of healthy growth include Mexico's Plaza de Sesamo in Monterrey, up 18% to 960,000 guests, and Mexico City's La Ciudad de Los Ninos, which was up 0.4% to 810,000 visitors.

The Brazil market did not have a good year. Hopi Hari in Sao Paulo fell a massive 38.4% to 1.3 million visitors, and PlayCenter in the same city slowed 5.2%.

Source : Amusement Business

It has been revealed that an agreement has been reached between Gerardo Camps, the Conseller for the Economy and Joan Ignasi Pla, the head of the Valencian Socialist Party in order that Terra Mitica, the Benidorm Theme Park, be allowed to auction off part of its last that is expected to reach a price somewhere upwards of 40 million Euros.

Park director John Fitzgerald also took part in the talks, which are aimed at pulling Terra Mitica out of bankruptcy. However caught in the middle are the Benidorm Socialists who have vigorously opposed the sale. Despite all this, an auction is expected to take place in January.

Source : Spain News