Dodgergirl
Feb 17, 2008, 08:53 AM
1,623 enjoy some added features and spruced-up old ones at Fresno parks.
By Doug Hoagland / The Fresno Bee
Schedule
Open: Today and Monday; weekends through June 15 (also open Memorial Day, May 26); Wednesdays through Sundays from June 18 to Aug. 17; weekends through Nov. 30 (weather permitting)
Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Admission: free to Playland (rides cost $1.50 to $3); Storyland: $3.50 for children 2 to 11; $5 for adults; $4 for seniors 55 and older.
Web site: www.storylandplayland.com
A little boy's excited voice rang out across Fresno's Playland on Saturday morning shortly after the gates opened for a season organizers say will bring plenty of change.
But with $400,000 in improvements not quite finished at Playland and Storyland in Roeding Park, 5-year-old Ivan Gonzales of Dinuba spied an old workhorse of a ride.
"Daddy! The Ferris wheel!" Ivan squealed.
Ivan was among the hundreds of Valley residents who showed up on opening day at the historic amusement parks, where a revival plan is under way that includes several new attractions.
A free splash park in Playland is among the new features that officials hope will boost attendance this season to 115,000 -- about a 10% increase over 2007.
The new attractions weren't ready, partly because of January's heavy rains, but they will begin opening in several weeks.
The delay didn't dampen the enthusiasm of some visitors.
Nine-year-old Marissa Condie of Santa Barbara said she liked the old roller coaster best because of its ups and downs.
Freshly painted older attractions and spruced-up landscapes -- not to mention three little pigs in Storyland whose fiberglass forms positively gleamed in the sunlight -- greeted crowds that slightly lagged from opening day 2007. On Saturday, total attendance was 1,623; it was 1,819 a year ago on the first day.
Playland and Storyland are pieces of Fresno's history. Playland opened in 1955 after local Rotary Clubs raised money to build it. Storyland joined it next door in 1962.
"It's for the generations," said 38-year-old Hilario Rodriguez III of Fresno, who brought his three children and a niece.
The two nonprofit attractions slumped financially in the 1980s, and several times received financial help from the city of Fresno.
Since 2000, Playland and Storyland teetered between yearly losses up to $32,000 and small profits. They suffered through a particularly rough 2006 because of bad weather and closure of Playland bathrooms most of the year, but then rebounded last year.
Ride ticket sales and admissions went up more than $160,000 compared to 2006, and attendance totaled about 105,000, a 30% increase from 2006, said Barry Falke, executive director of Playland/Storyland.
Falke said the new attractions scheduled to open this year are important to luring return visitors and stabilizing the finances of Playland and Storyland.
"The more new things we add, the more opportunity we have for people to make return visits ... and spend money over and over again," he said.
The attractions -- along with improvements in painting and landscaping -- are being paid for with donations of money and labor from local Rotary Clubs, along with cash raised by Playland/Storyland and $100,000 in matching city funds, Falke said.
Shipwreck Cove, a new pirate-themed boat ride on Lake Washington, is scheduled to open at the end of February, followed closely by the new Tilt-A-Whirl ride, Falke said. Both are in Playland.
An Alice in Wonderland outdoor birthday court -- where families can reserve space for parties -- is scheduled to open in Storyland in April.
In late May, the Splash Junction park -- which will have sprays and waterfalls, but no slides -- is scheduled to open in Playland.
Opening weekend wasn't perfect. Two of 12 audio machines in Storyland -- where children insert a plastic key and hear a story -- initially weren't working. Workers scurried to fix them -- and did, Falke said.
He was upbeat about Saturday's kickoff: "It's nice to open the Playland gates and have a line of people waiting."
The reporter can be reached at dhoagland@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6354.
http://www.fresnobee.com/263/v-printerfriendly/story/402623.html
By Doug Hoagland / The Fresno Bee
Schedule
Open: Today and Monday; weekends through June 15 (also open Memorial Day, May 26); Wednesdays through Sundays from June 18 to Aug. 17; weekends through Nov. 30 (weather permitting)
Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Admission: free to Playland (rides cost $1.50 to $3); Storyland: $3.50 for children 2 to 11; $5 for adults; $4 for seniors 55 and older.
Web site: www.storylandplayland.com
A little boy's excited voice rang out across Fresno's Playland on Saturday morning shortly after the gates opened for a season organizers say will bring plenty of change.
But with $400,000 in improvements not quite finished at Playland and Storyland in Roeding Park, 5-year-old Ivan Gonzales of Dinuba spied an old workhorse of a ride.
"Daddy! The Ferris wheel!" Ivan squealed.
Ivan was among the hundreds of Valley residents who showed up on opening day at the historic amusement parks, where a revival plan is under way that includes several new attractions.
A free splash park in Playland is among the new features that officials hope will boost attendance this season to 115,000 -- about a 10% increase over 2007.
The new attractions weren't ready, partly because of January's heavy rains, but they will begin opening in several weeks.
The delay didn't dampen the enthusiasm of some visitors.
Nine-year-old Marissa Condie of Santa Barbara said she liked the old roller coaster best because of its ups and downs.
Freshly painted older attractions and spruced-up landscapes -- not to mention three little pigs in Storyland whose fiberglass forms positively gleamed in the sunlight -- greeted crowds that slightly lagged from opening day 2007. On Saturday, total attendance was 1,623; it was 1,819 a year ago on the first day.
Playland and Storyland are pieces of Fresno's history. Playland opened in 1955 after local Rotary Clubs raised money to build it. Storyland joined it next door in 1962.
"It's for the generations," said 38-year-old Hilario Rodriguez III of Fresno, who brought his three children and a niece.
The two nonprofit attractions slumped financially in the 1980s, and several times received financial help from the city of Fresno.
Since 2000, Playland and Storyland teetered between yearly losses up to $32,000 and small profits. They suffered through a particularly rough 2006 because of bad weather and closure of Playland bathrooms most of the year, but then rebounded last year.
Ride ticket sales and admissions went up more than $160,000 compared to 2006, and attendance totaled about 105,000, a 30% increase from 2006, said Barry Falke, executive director of Playland/Storyland.
Falke said the new attractions scheduled to open this year are important to luring return visitors and stabilizing the finances of Playland and Storyland.
"The more new things we add, the more opportunity we have for people to make return visits ... and spend money over and over again," he said.
The attractions -- along with improvements in painting and landscaping -- are being paid for with donations of money and labor from local Rotary Clubs, along with cash raised by Playland/Storyland and $100,000 in matching city funds, Falke said.
Shipwreck Cove, a new pirate-themed boat ride on Lake Washington, is scheduled to open at the end of February, followed closely by the new Tilt-A-Whirl ride, Falke said. Both are in Playland.
An Alice in Wonderland outdoor birthday court -- where families can reserve space for parties -- is scheduled to open in Storyland in April.
In late May, the Splash Junction park -- which will have sprays and waterfalls, but no slides -- is scheduled to open in Playland.
Opening weekend wasn't perfect. Two of 12 audio machines in Storyland -- where children insert a plastic key and hear a story -- initially weren't working. Workers scurried to fix them -- and did, Falke said.
He was upbeat about Saturday's kickoff: "It's nice to open the Playland gates and have a line of people waiting."
The reporter can be reached at dhoagland@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6354.
http://www.fresnobee.com/263/v-printerfriendly/story/402623.html