Tagrel
04-08-2004, 09:47 AM
YEA!! :clap: Someone wrote something positive about WDW!!! :mrgreen:
Original Article: 'Mission: Space' boosts Epcot (http://www.sanmateocountytimes.com/Stories/0,1413,87~11271~2070396,00.html)
'Mission: Space' boosts Epcot
By Mike Branom, Associated Press
A ROCKET RIDE to Mars is bringing tourists back into the orbit of Disney's Epcot theme park. "Mission: Space," a simulated voyage to the red planet, opened six months ago in Disney's second-oldest Florida park, and the results have been out of this world.
Emphasizing the attendance boom was a sea of people watching Tuesday at Epcot as Disney honored NASA's two Mars rovers, currently rolling atop the martian rocks and dirt.
Epcot's attendance had flagged in recent years because of a shaky economy, fears of terrorism and a stale lineup of attractions. The park's 2002 turnstile count bottomed out at 8.3 million, an 8 percent drop from the year before, according to Amusement Business magazine.
Disney injected a shot of creativity with October's opening of the new ride, industry analysts say, and Epcot's 2003 attendance hit 8.6 million, up 4 percent.
"They exceeded everybody's expectations," said Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services Inc., a Cincinnati-based consulting firm.
Theme parks across America are in the early stages of a potential boom. The economy is picking up steam, and fading is the anxiety caused by the 2001 terror attacks and the war on Iraq, analysts say. But Speigel noted the rising cost of gasoline could create a hitch in 2004.
Original Article: 'Mission: Space' boosts Epcot (http://www.sanmateocountytimes.com/Stories/0,1413,87~11271~2070396,00.html)
'Mission: Space' boosts Epcot
By Mike Branom, Associated Press
A ROCKET RIDE to Mars is bringing tourists back into the orbit of Disney's Epcot theme park. "Mission: Space," a simulated voyage to the red planet, opened six months ago in Disney's second-oldest Florida park, and the results have been out of this world.
Emphasizing the attendance boom was a sea of people watching Tuesday at Epcot as Disney honored NASA's two Mars rovers, currently rolling atop the martian rocks and dirt.
Epcot's attendance had flagged in recent years because of a shaky economy, fears of terrorism and a stale lineup of attractions. The park's 2002 turnstile count bottomed out at 8.3 million, an 8 percent drop from the year before, according to Amusement Business magazine.
Disney injected a shot of creativity with October's opening of the new ride, industry analysts say, and Epcot's 2003 attendance hit 8.6 million, up 4 percent.
"They exceeded everybody's expectations," said Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services Inc., a Cincinnati-based consulting firm.
Theme parks across America are in the early stages of a potential boom. The economy is picking up steam, and fading is the anxiety caused by the 2001 terror attacks and the war on Iraq, analysts say. But Speigel noted the rising cost of gasoline could create a hitch in 2004.