Adding new rides and features. Maintaining infrastructure. Delivering fresh experiences for guests. For owners and operators of attractions the world over, this “to do” list has one thing in common: It requires capital, lots of it. Curt Caffey offers one solution.

When planning a food and beverage outlet, most park managers leave it until the eleventh hour. Park World’s resident ‘food guy’ Mike Holtzman explains why you should give the operation the attention it deserves.

Soon after Mark Shapiro assumed the role of chief executive officer of Six Flags in December of 2005, he told Park World he planned to bring in rides and attractions that would appeal to all ages. “We’re going to get back to bread and butter, which is investing in the experience of Six Flags, the great service of Six Flags, a get-away in a clean, safe, friendly environment with a host of offerings, not just 200-foot drops.” It sounded like heresy.

Drayton Manor in Tamworth, England, is putting a renewed emphasis on live entertainment. This season the park invested in a 1,200-seater big top theatre complete with a 30-metre stage - and watched attendances climb. Entertaining audiences inside this new space is London-based show producer Hammond Productions. Here Drayton Manor managing director Colin Bryan and Paul Hammond from Hammond Productions explain why live entertainment is so important to the park mix.

American seaside amusement parks are in crisis. Their numbers have reached alarming proportions, as landowners whack up the rent and force operators to close in favour of new developments like luxury housing. Park World talks to several park operators on the eastern shore of the US to determine the causes and look for possible remedies. Like canaries in the coalmine, their stories are ominous warnings for many in the amusement industry. Paul Ruben reports.

Every day as people drive to work, school, home or other destinations, they see hundreds of signs from the businesses they pass. Unfortunately, many of these signs turn customers away before they even make it to the location in question. Drue Townsend explains how parks and attractions operators can make their signs stand out above the crowd.

When local residents Steven and Susan Roper won a legal case against Alton Towers in 2005 following complaints about noise, the park’s owners were fined and asked to turn it down. However, a recent UK High Court decision to reject their appeal for a harsher penalty strikes a welcome balance between the rights of the public and the commercial needs of attractions operators. Peter Forshaw of law firm Weightmans analyses how and why the court reached its decision.

While some of you might still wonder what the hell Web 2.0 is, others may think it is a passing fad, or that it belongs to a distant digital world, something for the kids to worry about. But of course, the kids are often your customers, so it shouldn’t be ignored. In fact, warns Limor Schafman, Web 2.0 is having an impact on real world locations like theme parks, FECs and museums and it’s developing all the time. Here she explains how to use the technology to your advantage.

Europe’s first waterpark hotel, Cariba Creek was unveiled June 2003 at Alton Towers as part of a carefully considered move to reposition the UK park as a short break destination. From the outset, it was envisaged as an exclusive benefit for hotel guests only, but since 2005 the attraction has been successfully welcoming both residents and non-residents. Two years on, waterpark manager Deborah Hulme explains why Cariba Creek was made available to all Alton Towers guests, and how it has prospered as a result.

When something goes wrong at your park, due to a slip and fall, ride malfunction or any other accident, you want to be sure that it is dealt with in the proper way, and justice is done. Yet should it ever reach court, the way an operator prepares to give testimony can often be crucial to the outcome of their case. Here US attorney and Park World columnist Heather M Eichenbaum Esq (pictured) offers some valuable advice. While the information is intended primarily for an American court of law, we feel sure many of Heather’s tips will prove useful to operators worldwide.

Responsible for the day-to-day running and continued maintenance of Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s 145 rides and attractions, Jim Rowland retired at the end of December following 34 years with the company. Considered by many to be the “heart and soul” of the park, the former travelling showman even enjoyed a spell as a TV star as part of one of the UK’s first ever ‘fly on the wall’ documentary series. Here ‘JR’ reflects on his 34 years with Britain’s favourite, free tourist attraction.

In 2000, Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana, made a big leap of faith. It started a programme that it knew we could never end without really upsetting its guests. But was giving away free unlimited soft drinks too much for Holiday World to swallow? Here the park’s president and general manager Will Koch explains why it was one of the best decisions he ever made