Disney’s Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida, was the most world’s most popular amusement park in 2006, attracting 16,640,000 visitors. In fact, eight of the top 10 parks last season across the globe were Disney parks, according to an authoritative new report published in Park World.

Uppswinget is the name of a brand new Screamin’ Swing from S&S Power debuting this season at Liseberg in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Echoing a programme pioneered at Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, this year Magic Springs & Crystal Falls, Hot Springs, Arkansas, is offering unlimited amounts of free soft drink throughout the park, plus free sunscreen and free tubes in the waterpark.

Eye-catching in the extreme, Dinner in the Sky is a 22-seater table with affixed seating that offers diners a meal experience like no other.

The bumper car just got interactive. Air-Joe, from Germany, is now marketing a new range of cars with integrated ball or laser cannons.

Joseph Manning had been looking to take on an attraction of some kind for a number of years. The UK amusement operator never would have guessed, however, that he would soon be as well versed on feeding sheep and breeding livestock as he is in maintaining rides and attractions. Welcome to life on the farm.

Back in 2003, Emmanuel Mongon of the French company Imaginvest was asked by the City of Vienna to devise a masterplan for one of Europe’s great metropolitan amusement parks: The Prater. This Austrian institution, famous for its iconic 1897 Ferris Wheel, had become a chaotic collection of competing interests and attractions. Mongon’s task during the three-year plan was to unite the 80 individual operators and create a coherent vision for the future, while installing much of the day-to-day infrastructure that had previously been missing. But how successful was he, and what is the future for the Prater as it enters its first full season since the masterplan was delivered? Owen Ralph quizzes Emmanuel Mongon to find out.

As readers of my columns in the past will know, I first coined the phrase “leisurized marketing” in the early 1980s. It was much later, in the 1990s, when Disney came along with its creative term “merchantainment.”

Recently the folks at Walt Disney World invited me there to learn more about their “Year of a Million Dreams” promotion. Is that a million dreams in total, or one for each guest? It would be nice if it were all just for me, but since I'm not greedy and was just going to be there one day, I went in search of - do the math with me here - 2,740 dreams.

Cees Kikstra, StarParks, Europe: A few things caught my attention. First, and it's not quite new, interactive computer projection - smoke curtains, water curtains etc that you can walk through. I think these can be manipulated in a lot of ways and offer some very interesting possibilities. Then there's the development of the Mountain Glider. My colleague Bill Muirhead [StarParks CEO] signed up for the first one when he was at Walibi Belgium. This allows you to fly for 60-metres without supports, and that's really new for parks. Finally, the Splash Battle has been a real breakthrough. What visitors want is interactivity and water play, and this has it both. It's now available in a new trackless version I believe.

Kings Island, outside Cincinnati, Ohio, will celebrate its 35th anniversary this year with the addition of a 14th rollercoaster, Firehawk. A Vekoma flying coaster, it operated for the past six years as X-Flight at Geauga Lake, Aurora, Ohio. It will be located at Kings Island behind the Flight of Fear in the park’s Coney Mall.

The Sea World Eye, a 60-metre observation wheel from Ronald Bussink Professional Rides, will stay at the Australian park until May 17. The ride offers unparalleled sweeping views of the Gold Coast and Sea World’s Broadwater surroundings and passengers are given facts about the area courtesy of the on-board sound system in each of the 42 air-conditioned gondolas. The Sea World Eye is free to ride as part of the normal park admission price.

In late April, Six Flags St Louis, Eureka, Missouri, will introduce a spinning coaster from Gerstlauer of Germany, identical to the ride opening this season at Six Flags Over Texas in San Antonio. The new addition will be called Tony Hawk’s Big Spin, themed after skateboard superstar Tony Hawk.

Europe’s first DVD ride system is due to go into full service this coming season at Port Aventura, Salou, Spain.

In mid-June, Busch Gardens Africa, Tampa, Florida, will re-introduce SheiKra, its two-year-old dive coaster from Bolliger & Mabillard, with new floorless cars allowing riders an unobstructed view of the 70mph rush. Six weeks earlier, sister park Busch Gardens Europe, in Williamsburg, Virginia, with introduce Griffon, a brand new floorless dive coaster.

Since introducing the first Splash Battle at Walibi World in 2005, 3DBA and its partners have enjoyed great success with the ride. Now, with three versions available on the market, the company’s Roger Houben reckons he’s got more than enough to keep the concept fresh in the face of copycat products from rival suppliers.

Thanks to generous state funding, France boasts a higher level of educational/cultural parks than arguably any other country in the world. But, as elsewhere, commercial realities are forcing a handful of venues to add ride-based attractions in order to widen their appeal.

In an ongoing effort to become more family friendly, Six Flags Magic Mountain, Valencia, California, will not operate two rides this season, shattering its claims to the world record for most coasters in one park (a title now claimed by Cedar Point).

S&S Power has developed a water drop ride. The Pirate Plunge is available for either waterparks or traditional amusement parks.

Blue Anchor Leisure has sold the Fantasy Island theme park

at Ingoldmells on the UK east coast to Conduit Leisure.

Leading UK amusement park Alton Towers experimented with a new format called “Towers, Treats and Trails” when it opened up for two weeks in February to cater for guests during the February ‘half-term’ school holidays.

ABC Rides has confirmed that a fifth River Splash Ride, combining elements of a Rapid River, has been ordered by Bayern Park, Reisbach, Switzerland, and is due to go into operation in July 2007.

Although he’s stepped back from some exhibitions in recent years, attending the Euro Attractions Show recently in Seville was a bit of a ‘no-brainer’ for French bumper car specialist Philippe Reverchon.

The developers of America’s largest waterpark, Wilderness Resort in Wisconsin Dells, will break ground in April on two parcels of land adjacent to the new Sevierville Events Center in Sevierville, Tennessee.

When Splashwater Kingdom reopens this season at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom, Louisville, Kentucky, it will introduce a thrilling new water coaster called Deluge. From ProSlide Technologies, this much anticipated cutting-edge attraction is powered by LSM-based “rocket booster” technology.

After setting the highest attendance record ever seen at any Legoland park, Legoland California in Carlsbad is planning to continue its success with the addition of two new attractions in 2007, Miniland Las Vegas and a new ride, Captain Cranky’s Challenge. In total, 13 new attractions have been added in the last three years.

Galaxyland, the indoor amusement park in the West Edmonton Mall, Alberta, Canada, will soon introduce a new Gerstlauer spinning coaster.

Marcel CB Schonenberg, for seven years general manager of Walibi World in Biddinghuizen, the Netherlands, has relocated to serve as general manager of Walibi’s mother park, Walibi Belgium, Wavre, replacing Rudy Hulsman.

New attractions and entertainment are promised this season at the Walt Disney World and Disneyland resorts in Florida and California as part of the “Year of a Million Dreams” celebration.

The underwater world that charmed audiences in the Disney-Pixar film Finding Nemo comes to life in an all-new musical stage show at Disney's Animal Kingdom, Walt Disney World Resort, Florida.

Nemo, Dory, and Squirt make a big splash in an eye-filling new dark ride attraction at Walt Disney World’s Epcot.

A new dark ride celebrating the wondrous world of Woody the Cowboy, Buzz Lightyear and friends is planned next season for Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World in Florida and Disney’s California Adventure in Anaheim.

Described as the “audiovisual innovation of the decade, FogScreen produces a thin curtain of ‘dry’ fog that serves as a translucent projection screen, displaying images that literally float through the air.

The NASCAR Speedpark, Sevierville, Tennessee, is adding four new rides for 2007 season, including Starship 2000 by Wisdom Industries, a Sellner Tilt-A-Whirl, Eli Bridge Scrambler and Mini Swings from Zamperla.

The Indian Association of Amusement Parks & Industries – IAAPI – staged its 7th annual Trade Show from back in February at a new venue, the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai.

This year three parks around the world will open Thomas & Friends themed attractions, the first deals to be realised since licensor Hit Entertainment announced its decision to target the amusement industry.

Crealy adventure park, Devon, England, got off to a positive start to 2007, enjoying its busiest February for three years.

Officials at a Blackpool regeneration company have insisted the future for the British seaside resort is still positive despite it loosing out recently on the right to host the UK’s only ‘super casino’.

A new 63-acre waterpark called Aquaventure has opened in the Bahamas as part of the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island.

Legoland Windsor near London will this summer unveil its biggest investment to date, a 400-metre-long rapids ride called Vikings’ River Splash. Supplied by ABC Rides of Switzerland, it will be the highlight of the park’s new Land of the Vikings area.

Classic compact coaster designs from Pinfari could be built once again following acquisition of intellectual property rights by fellow Italian manufacturer Interpark Srl.

Merlin Entertainments, backed by the private equity Blackstone Group, has acquired the Tussauds Group, in the process creating one of the world’s biggest visitor attractions operators, second only to Disney.

Bonfante Gardens, Gilroy, California, has been renamed Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park, as new owners Cedar Fair hope to take better advantage of the garlic-growing city’s name recognition and boost attendance. Previously the park took the name of its founder, Michael Bonfante.

RED Development, an American shopping mall developer, is proposing a new $561 million development outside Kansas City, Missouri, that would include a 100-acre entertainment district anchored by a Legoland attraction, Sea Life aquarium and a resort hotel.

One of the most tangible signs of improvement since the masterplan was delivered at the Prater park in Vienna will be Kern-Waldmann’s new River Splash ride, which debuts this Spring.

Visitors are in for a treat at April’s “Amusement Rides and Entertainments” – or RAAPA Trade Show – with record numbers of companies taking part in this major Moscow event.

The Dubai Entertainment Amusement and Leisure Show (DEAL), the Middle East’s largest industry event, takes place towards the end of April and organisers are hoping it will be bolstered by unprecedented demand in the region for entertainment venues.

Fancy speeding though a waterslide beneath a dolphin enclosure? Aquatica, the latest park planned alongside SeaWorld in Orlando, will let guests do just that. Opening March 2008, it will blend animal experiences with high speed thrills, sandy beaches and waters from the serene to the extreme.

Spanish theme park Isla Magic celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2007. The Seville-based attraction, built incorporating remains of the city’s Expo ’92, reopens for business on March 30 and anchoring its additions for the new season will be a major new interactive dark ride.

What is described by the park as the biggest single investment in its history will open this spring at Gröna Lund, Stockholm, Sweden. Kvasten (“Broomstick”) is a Suspended Family Coaster from Vekoma Rides Manufacturing with new bucket-style seating and heavy theming courtesy of Farmer Attraction Development.

Prolific Italian ride manufacturer Zamperla has released three new rides, combining a mixture of old and new ideas.

According to the year-end survey of indoor waterparks in the United States and Canada by Hotel & Leisure Advisors (H&LA), the number of indoor destination resorts has grown from 30 available properties as of year-end 2005 to 43 available properties as of year-end 2006.

In late April Six Flags St Louis, Eureka, Missouri, will introduce a spinning coaster from Gerstlauer of Germany – identical to the ride opening at sister park Six Flags Fiesta Texas.

Zamperla's newest family flat-ride is a progression of the same manufacturer’s Crazy Bus, adding a new gondola and resembling a ‘Miami’ type attraction.

One of the family ride success stories of recent years, the Rockin’ Tug should need no introduction. But now it’s available with a new skateboard theme, available in both park and trailer models, seating up to 24 riders a time or up to 600 an hour.

Pioneered by the Austrians, but made cheaper and more practical by the Italians, tower swing rides are expected to take off in a big way in 2007. The first version to be realised in Italy is Zamperla’s Vertical Swing.

IAAPA and EAASI, organisers of the Euro Attractions Show (EAS), have switched the dates of the 2008 event planned for Nice in France to avoid a direct clash with the ATEI/ICE coin-op/casino exhibition in London.

After last year’s event in Vienna, when visitor numbers plummeted more than 40 per cent, the 2007 Euro Attractions Show in Seville had to be good. It was certainly busy, attracting a record 7,400-plus guests according to preliminary figures released by co-organiser IAAPA. But were they the right visitors? Owen Ralph reports from the Fibes Conference and Exhibition Centre.

Cedar Fair Entertainment Company has announced results for its fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2006. The figures include the results of the Paramount Parks since their acquisition from CBS Corporation on June 30, 2006.

Universal Studios Florida, Orlando, has been transformed into the “Big Easy” for the ultimate street party during Mardi Gras 2007, running eleven Saturday nights beginning February 3 and running through until April 14, 2007.