Years ago when we first started in the theme park business Janis & I visited a new theme park attraction to enjoy a first ride. I did not mind the wait in the long queue even a little bit for I was busy looking at every detail with the eyes of a builder and designer. I was also taking lots of pictures of everything I saw. I wanted to record it for future reference and inspiration. This was back in the day of film rather than digital photography. We were in line about fifteen minutes and still far from the ride when the person behind us tapped me on my shoulder. She asked me how I could possibly take five or six ROLLS of pictures of the concrete walkway, the fences, and various details both near and far and not a single picture of my lovely wife. She was curious why I was so interested in those mundane details. We laughingly explained that we were in the business of designing and building theme parks and looked with very different eyes than a typical guest. Today we were enjoying the park once again and as we did the rides I was busy looking at details. Even though we’ve visited this place so many times over the last decades I saw plenty of new things I had never seen previously. You can bet I was busy grabbing pictures for future reference. I include two exciting shots of railings just for fun.
Ready for the show!
The setup for the 2018 IAAPA EXPO was quick and easy as per our plan. The trade show organizers had our display placed in our booth when I arrived this morning. The show pallet needed a quick nudge from a passing forklift to be perfectly positioned. That only took a few seconds. I then swung out the two side panels, rolled out the carpets and plugged in the lights and TVs. As quick as that we were ready to show. We come down a few days early - just in case things go awry… but the booth arrived in perfect shape. That means we have a couple of days to go play (I MEAN DO RESEARCH :) ) in our favourite theme parks!
Going for the gold
The main sign for the Hazelnut Inn is almost done. It’s looking very nice! The leave now sport a beautiful rust patina, the tree and background are painted and as a last step the lettering is receiving a shiny coat of real 23k gold leaf. Becke gave Alyssa a quick lesson in applying the size and laying the leaf and then she got to play with the gold for the day. The top letters in the picture are finished with gold while the bottom letters only have a base coat of gold paint. There’s nothing like real gold!
