Thrill Rides and Theme Parks
Author: By Kathy Chin Leong
November 2007
Features
Take Power Meetings to a New Level
Call it the need for speed. At the Ultimate Rush Speed & Thrill Park in Reno, Nev., it’s the go carts that the kids go for. And big kid executives are most eager to whip their vehicles around the “slick track,” which feels like slipping on ice.
“Corporate groups get real competitive,” says Curt Lund, group sales manager at Ultimate Rush. “They get fierce.” The folks at Ultimate Rush will manage a race, call out who is in what position and announce the winners.
Fun? You bet. Tyco Electronics staffers have laid down some serious go-cart rubber during two consecutive annual meetings, according to Tehya Kirkland, Tyco executive assistant. “I first thought we would do miniature golf, but a year ago when we did the go carts, we loved it. This year, I came in third place.”
It’s probably time to refuel the group adrenalin tank. Need a morale booster? A new environment to stimulate creativity? An excuse to bond a workgroup? Theme parks are here to rescue you from the death snores of mundane meetings. The event managers at these locations know how to pump up any gathering with entertainment, hands-on activities and, if you choose, primal scream thrill rides.
Want to see your boss’ face on a WANTED poster? In the Wild West, anything is possible. And at Rawhide Western Town and Steakhouse, a stagecoach arrest can be the highlight of your corporate shtick. Rawhide event planners can help you host a desert cookout with a hay-wagon ride and music under starry skies, or toast with an amber beer at a rustic saloon with swinging doors. A private cattle-rustling rodeo show can also be yours for the asking.
During the day, you can offer horseback riding, jeep tours, Hummer tours, cattle drives and cookouts for up to 700 people. On-site are rides, shows and attractions that will appeal to all ages—especially those attendees who have their families in tow. For instance, there’s a live action shootout, stagecoach and train rides, panning for gold, a mechanical bull, a petting zoo, pony and burro rides, and magic shows.
CALIFORNIA
You can learn a lot about herd mentality when you actually see a herd. Analogies to the corporate world are abundant in the wild, and at Safari West, in Santa Rosa (Sonoma County), you’ll see herds of zebras, antelopes, cape buffalo and more at this African-simulated nature preserve. While you can explore this vast savanna on foot, most impressive is the open-air jeep, a 3.5-hour tour that reaches to the outer stretches of the premises to see the large cats and bucks in their habitat.
Have a sleepover in one of the 31 luxury canvas tents, raised above the ground. Handsomely furnished with beds, nightstands and lamps, the tents also sport—surprise—electricity and your own bathroom and shower with hot water and flushing toilet. According to Diane Farris, events and marketing specialist and Safari West “ambassador,” small to medium-sized groups are ideal for the property, even though they have hosted gatherings with as many as 320 people. The staff can provide African entertainment, team-building exercises and animal presentations. Wineries can come in to do a wine-tasting upon request. Do tell your conferees that cell phone coverage is nonexistent, stresses Farris, but there is Wi-Fi in the meeting rooms. All meals are served buffet style in the main restaurant. BBQ dinners are always ribs and chicken (no African game), with a full salad bar, veggies, breads and dessert.
When she was considering a venue, “I wanted to do something outside the box,” explains Johnnie Thompson, communications manager at Kaiser On-the-Job, in Oakland, Calif. Bringing her group of 29 sales and support staff from the occupational health division was a great way to bond and relax in a wide-open setting. Everyone “absolutely loved it,” she says. “The setting puts people in an unusual atmosphere overnight, and it takes you out of your own environment. We ate outside and looked at the giraffes and porcupines all around us.” The park also provided a photographer who took pictures of the whole group on a jeep—a wonderful keepsake of the event.
Emphasizing adventures on land, sea and air, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom focuses on activities with land animals, sea creatures and rides. According to park spokesperson Gavin Groser, the park is ideal for families with young children, so encourage your group to bring theirs. The theme park offers live elephant rides and will debut a new swimming-tiger show, a sea lion and a bird show. For thrills, the park has a lineup of colossal, hang-on-to-your-head roller coasters.
In 2008, Six Flags will unveil a new roller coaster called Tony Hawk’s Big Spin. If your thrill-seeking CEO would have a great time riding on a spinning car that simultaneously flies up, down and around a roller-coaster track, you may want to book your next event here.
Reserve the picnic area (Discovery Kingdom has no indoor venue) for two-hour blocks, and after lunch guests can explore the property decked out in group T-shirts. The park closes in January and February.
Board the asparagus dip, the strawberry ride or the giant mushroom swing? Hmmm…maybe you’ll have to think about that. But not everyone craves an adrenalin rush, and that’s okay. When you want an outdoor venue that is beautiful and ripe with soft fun, consider Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park, about 30 minutes south of San Jose, with more than 40 rides and exhibits.
Gilroy Gardens pays homage to the farm region and is the only horticultural theme park in California. Impressive are the food stands such as Castroville Corners, where ingredients for signature snacks such as deep-fried artichoke hearts hail from Castroville, the artichoke capital of the world.
Plan a day amid the park’s funky “circus” trees, which have unusually shaped trunks, and visit flowering gardens. The park is aimed at adults who enjoy a slower pace and those who have kids under nine.
Consider booking conference rooms, breakout rooms and the patio area for your group. According to Jim Stellmack, director of marketing, the conference room is a renovated cabin that sits on the property, with a full kitchen. It is ideal for a group retreat for 15 or 30 people or a daytime planning meeting, he notes. Plus, the South County Picnic Grove suits groups of 50 to 5,000.
Dine with a whale—isn’t that what every meeting planner yearns to do? At Sea World, in San Diego, the answer is generally yes. But let’s just say, for a brief moment, you are not into whales. In that case, sup with penguins at the Wild Arctic land or nibble on appetizers in front of a shark tank. Dave Koontz, director of communications at Sea World, stresses that the 17 indoor and outdoor venues at Sea World will have something for everyone.
Companies can also set up private sea lion or dolphin shows, or hire a Sea World bird or animal handler to bring in a creature for an educational animal interaction during a meal, Koontz says.
Because Sea World’s space is utilized for its food and entertainment value, you won’t find any meeting space here. But many companies will run their meetings at a local hotel and book a dinner party or play day at Sea World. “We’ve had every industry host events here, from medical to legal,” Koontz says. While the companies must use the park’s own catering service, they can invite their own team-building firms. Taking advantage of the area’s mild weather, the park is open daily, year-round.
Unique experiences are what professional meeting planners strive for, and at Disneyland Resort, any event can flourish with the Mickey touch. For example, your team can be one of the first to enjoy the new Toy Story Mania!, an interactive ride scheduled to open next year at Paradise Pier at Disney’s California Adventure Park.
The ride takes guests wearing 3-D glasses into a vehicle that visits with Woody, Bo Peep and the rest of the Toy Story gang. In preparation for your theme day at Disney, you can give your group members a gift basket of Toy Story DVDs, figurines and T-shirts.
You can also book private functions at Paradise Pier, which is the California beachfront-themed area, and hire the resort’s Beach Band on Wheels to perform onstage. But for larger events, there’s Stage 17, a new indoor venue designed specifically for group meetings, parties, cocktail mixers, even nightclub experiences, for up to 900 guests. The structure comes equipped with a state-of-the-art A/V system, a production booth and all the amenities of a working soundstage. It features 10,000 sq. ft. of carpeted floor space, a movable stage and hanging projection screens to make the most of your event.
In nearby Disneyland, groups can get creative with an underwater theme and take advantage of the new Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage ride, which opened this year. Using proprietary Disney technology, Nemo and friends are projected under the water, without distortion, in a three-dimensional setting. Disneyland also features a number of other venues specifically geared toward groups, including the Festival Arena and Big Thunder Ranch.
For professional training, you can learn the entrepreneurial and managerial secrets behind Disney’s business magic. The Disney Institute now offers its Disney Approach professional development program for groups of up to 20 people. Each 3.5-day program teaches specific skills such as personnel management, service, leadership and loyalty. And who would know better than the team at one of the world’s best-run companies?
Host a private party at Universal Studios, and your guests will feel like they are getting the star treatment. You can book thematic bashes that match the park venues: a prehistoric theme near the Jurassic Park ride, a space-age theme party based around the Star Wars adventure, and so on. In fact, organizations can host virtually anything: black-tie dinners, award banquets, holiday events, product launches, wrap parties, movie premieres and more, says Deborah Park, Universal Studios’ publicity manager. “If your customers can imagine it, we can make it happen.”
The studio can arrange a private stunt show, and clients can bring their own stars and celebrities. You can also request a private studio tour with your own tram and block off exclusive use of attractions day or night. According to Park, actor Will Smith held his birthday party here and, another time, the American Idol cast and crew sponsored an after-party on the premises. Herbalife, Nestle and Coca Cola are also customers who found Universal a fitting place to celebrate company achievements.
Another fun option is to book the new VIP Experience, which yields a group of any size exclusive visits to closed sets, front-of-line passes for all rides, reserved premium seats at shows and an all-you-can-eat pass at any of the food outlets.
With as few as 100 or as many as 20,000 guests, you can buy out the entire park or use any of the 10 outdoor venues or its one indoor gathering room. Interested? Give the park at least two months’ notice.
Picture this: You are swimming in a pool in Hawaii when a pair of dolphins come behind you and push your feet forward, thrusting your body upward. Cheers erupt as onlookers see you standing on the dolphins’ noses as you cut through the water. Only Oahu’s Sea Life Park can deliver the Dolphin Royal Swim, a thrilling once-in-a-lifetime experience good for many stories around the conference table.
Based in Waimanalo, 15 miles from downtown Waikiki, Sea Life Park is Oahu’s only sea-life theme park that’s brimming with tanks, ponds and pools showcasing the most magical creatures the Pacific Ocean has to offer.
The extensive lineup of interactive adventure with mammals and fish make this excursion worthwhile. You can choose from several options: the Dolphin Swim Adventure, where you learn to train a dolphin; the Dolphin Encounter, which allows you to play, kiss and “dance” with a dolphin; and the Sea Lion Discovery Swim, which lets you train a sea lion and kiss the little fella. Sign up for Sea Trek, a scuba-like adventure where participants submerge three fathoms into the park’s Hawaiian Reef Tank and walk among hundreds of tropical fish, eagle rays and sea turtles. A special helmet provides oxygen.
Luaus are special at the park, for the outdoor venue delivers ocean views of Rabbit Island, a historic lighthouse and picturesque cliffs. In addition to a traditional Polynesian dance and music review, the park also treats guests to an evening dolphin show. Given several months’ or a year’s notice, a buyout of the facility is no problem.
COLORADO
Do you have the guts to walk across the world’s tallest suspension bridge, hanging 1,053 feet above the water? Millions of people do. But if you don’t, you can drive or even take a tram across the Royal Gorge Bridge in Canon City. This historic bridge is 1,260 feet in length and only 15 feet wide. While the structure was built in 1929, a theme park at the other end of the bridge was created years later. Today, at the park, you can also thrill your employees with a ride on the world’s longest single-span aerial trams or a trek on the world’s steepest incline railway.
According to Sales Manager Dorothy Day, up to 350 people can picnic at its Juniper Junction venue, and its meeting room can hold up to 80. An intimate wood lodge, which was remodeled five years ago on the property, can fit up to eight people for overnight stays and features panoramic views of the mountains.
Located one hour from the Colorado Springs Airport and two hours from Denver International Airport, the site offers breathtaking views of the Colorado mountains. If your group includes families, activities also include a petting zoo, carousel and burro rides. Plus, from Memorial Day to Labor Day, the park’s Western town hosts a Mountain Man Encampment where local residents make historic crafts and set up trading posts on-site, showing visitors what life was like in the 1800s. “We’ve had car dealerships, insurance companies, conventions and family events,” Day says. “The scenery is magical, and people have come on three-day retreats.”
NEVADA
It’s a bungee jumping, hang gliding and skydiving ride all rolled into one, and it’s called the Ultimate Rush adventure at Ultimate Rush Speed & Thrill Park, on the premises of the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino in Reno. The ride hoists up to three people, cocooned together, up to the top of an 180-foot tower. Once you pull the ripcord, you plummet, and you feel your stomach flying into your mouth. Yee-ha!
Who is crazy enough to come here? Folks at Squaw Valley USA, Tyco Electronics, Intuit, Best Buy and more. While the property can handle up to 500 people moving about on its seven attractions (which include go carts, mini golf and bumper cars), according to Group Sales Manager Curt Lund, it recently teamed up with Grand Sierra to host 1,000 employees from Applied Materials who stayed at the hotel for a conference. “We shuffled them in and out in stages, and it worked,” Lund says.
Team-building events here are a given, with two different go-cart tracks and various types of activities. Ultimate Rush recently installed a laser-tag game inside the Grand Sierra as well. Companies can cater in their own food, or they can use the on-site catering services. There are no indoor meeting facilities, but there are plenty of picnic tables.
OREGON
Thankful you’re wearing protective goggles, you’re a passenger blitzing through dunes at up to 60 miles per hour in a dune buggy gone wild. Waves of sand hurl into your buggy from every side. Glad also that you listened to the guide, who said to wear long pants or the grains would have pelted your legs until they burned.
Here at Sandland Adventures on the Oregon coast, you can take your team on what feels like a roller coaster on sand. Take a one-hour dune buggy joy ride in a group vehicle and be ready for a surreal and windy ride through the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, a protected region that’s one of the most spectacular in the world.
Imagine a sand sea with scampering coyotes and black-tailed deer, tree islands cloistered by sand and 10-story dunes the size of skyscrapers. The large dune buggies fit as many as seven passengers, and the tour vehicles will take up to 27 people for a calm, educational ride through the dunes.
The best time to come is May through August, after the rainy season; ride in the morning before it gets too windy. As winds shift the terrain daily, no two experiences are alike. You can choose a 30-minute or a one-hour guided excursion. Be sure to call tour operators one or two weeks ahead to schedule your group (cameras are not advised).
Also on-site are train rides, go carts, miniature golf and bumper boats. For groups of 100, half will be taken out on the dunes, while the other half can enjoy the rides. Sorry, no independent dune buggy drivers are allowed! Snacks are sold on property; no dining areas or separate indoor spaces are available.
UTAH
Fifty-five seconds may not seem like a long time. But when you’re on the Olympic Park boblsed ride and your lips are gyrating like a cartoon character’s, 55 seconds is about the length of time until you start crying for your momma. Are you game? If so, here at the Olympic Park Village, you must sign off on a medical waiver in order to ride a real Olympic bobsled—and this one goes up to five Gs, twice the speed of roller coasters. (Maybe upping that life insurance premium ahead of time would be a good idea.)
The aura of the Olympics holds year-round mystique. You can take up to 500 people here to bobsled, zipline, go on an alpine ride and more. You can also host a party on premise at the Alf Engen Ski Museum, which depicts the history of skiing in Utah, or book the museum conference room for up to 80 people.
Vicki Monson, group sales manager, notes that, for cocktail parties, groups can have food brought in by their own caterers or use the facility’s preferred list of catering professionals. The venue is open throughout the year, and you can host a day-long event complete with a tour, ride activities, dinner and a museum visit, then cap off the night with an aerial freestyle show in the summer or trampoline show in the winter months.
WASHINGTON
Microsoft didn’t have to go far to celebrate a product milestone. This summer, soon after the Seattle Aquarium opened its new 120,000-gallon fish tank (called Window on Washington Waters, located inside its Great Hall), the software giant booked the aquarium for an evening bash. “It was a lot of fun,” reports Rose van Ommen, director of catering at the aquarium. “They had X-boxes all set up, and the winners played against each other on our 14-by-14-foot drop screen.”
Groups can rent the aquarium for a private function any time of year, but only after 6:30 p.m. Daytime hours belong to the public, notes van Ommen. “People really seem to enjoy being able to have food and drink and walk around the exhibits without any crowds around them. It’s more intimate and private.” The aquarium can host cocktail parties for groups as large as 800 and sit-down dinners for as many as 300. Former guests have included Expedia, Boeing, US Bank, Wells Fargo and Crate & Barrel.
Opened in 1977, the aquarium credits its $40-million expansion, with the new tank, gift shop and café, for a record-high spike in attendance, topping more than 5,000 visitors a day. Companies can request a private docent tour and also book an evening show where a diver in the new tank interacts with guests on the outside.
The facility also unveiled a new outdoor patio overlooking Elliott Bay, where you can host a cocktail party and stay to watch the sunset. “You see the Olympic mountains in the distance, and it’s fantastic,” van Ommen says.
At last—a chance to resurrect those platform shoes. The Experience Music Project & Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame will bring out your inner Jimi Hendrix or Janis Joplin. At this interactive rock-and-roll museum and adjoining science fiction museum, you can instantly form a band with your coworkers, go on stage, play a gig in front of a virtual audience, and have your awesome band photo plastered as a wall poster.
Try rocking out on drums and guitars and harken back to those high school days with glee. EMPSFM also dazzles guests with its four indoor spaces and its outdoor plaza. The soaring central hall, called Sky Church, features a 70-foot ceiling and brings a full sensory experience with the world’s largest indoor video screen supported by a 48,000-watt surround-sound system. With computer-controlled lighting and an accomplished techie staff at your disposal, you can launch an eye-grabbing, multimedia event no one will ever forget.
A complete buyout of the dual museum allows up to 3,000 special invitees access to the outdoor plaza, sound lab, guitar gallery and everything else. Have live music in the Sky Church, a reception in the lobby, dinner outdoors and cocktails for VIPs in the Blue Lounge—just try not to trip on those platforms!
Don’t be afraid to shake up the status quo by booking challenging activities that remove folks from the normalcy of life. Theme park group event sales managers will guide you, and are more than eager to tailor your fund-raiser, annual shareholder’s meeting or product launch to your group’s comfort level.
Consider your audience and have fun with your imagination. Remember: at theme parks, the sky’s the limit. Freelancer editor and writer Kathy Chin Leong recently won the Northern Lights Award for travel writing by the Canadian Tourism Commission. She has also written for the Los Angeles Times, Dallas Morning News, Working Woman, TravelAge West and many other publications.
RESOURCES
Experience Music Project & Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame
Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier
Rawhide Western Town and Steakhouse
Jurassic Park thrill ride at Universal Studio, Hollywood
