Rye Playland Discussion Thread

I just noticed we didn't have a thread for this.

There has been A LOT of drama here... with redoing the entire park... does anyone know more?

So I just heard that the Sustainable Playland group has dropped out of the running to remodel the park. This is a good thing because their plan was to dratically cut rides and go more towards an open space family concert approach. Looks likle the Zamperla folks that are running Luna Park in Coney Island are going to get the nod to take over for 2015. New rides coming??? I would guess yes!

I'm hoping we see new rides! Hopefully not just Zamperla. I wanna see an Air Race though.

SPI was dropped they didn't drop out. they could not handle the park and there was mounting pressure and lawsuits against them. yes their plan was the cut out all the rides to the right of the midway on the water side. this would have removed their biggest money makers such as the flume and music fest. sad thing was they were not even looking to operate the park they were simply a middle man subcontracting out the parks to other companies to operate things like the park, ice rink, pool, field house etc.

At this time the county remains in control and there is nothign set in place to change that. there is a push to look for a new operator but it will likely not be for 2015 do to time frame.

Central amusements (Zamperla) is one or 2 candidates that were in the running before SPI was picked by Astrino.They also plan to remove the pool for a splash pad and plan to remove many of the current rides for Zamperla rides of the same style. Yes an air race was called for to replace the music fest. while I'm sure they could do an amazing job I would hate to see another Zamperla showroom with 2 already in the NY area.

Standard Amusements L.L.C. A group of amusement operators that know what they are doing and have the money to do it. This group offered the est financial plan for the county. They also plan to keep the pool and add a sports field an area currently used for overflow parking that is located behind the park. This option keep many remaining rides while bringing in new option and swapping out less profitable current attractions.

Not one of the 3 options proposed a re-tracking of Dragon which is needed or made plans to bring back the airplane coaster. Zamperla did propose replacing some of the central flats with a Speedy coaster.

http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2014/August/10/Playland-10Aug14.htm

according to this story they are trying to get the two remaining companies to work together and save the money in 2015. I guess time will tell.

I'll have to track down the other article I read it was a lot more in depth. it showed and interest to talk to the other two companies to lease but said nothign about both companies at the same time. doesn't really make sense unless central amusement takes over the park and Standard take over the rest of the property.

http://www.lohud.com/story/politics...tendance-revenue-up-for-2014-season/16195441/
Attendance at Rye Playland was 467,948 this year, up 20 percent from the 2013 season, according to the Westchester County Board of Legislators. Gross revenue in 2014 was 24 percent higher than last year -- $8.75 million compared to $7.07 million. Earlier this month, representatives of the two companies that submitted proposals along with Sustainable Playland several years ago spoke to lawmakers about their continued interest in obtaining a contract to run the park.

Yes they had a great year and those number wouldn't include the pool and the beach front. I see it mentions that it doesn't couldn't special events that took place on property.

So the latest from Screamscape is Centrasl pitching to take over the park solo.


Park News - (10/28/14) Central Amusements has made their official pitch to take over Playland, after setting an example of what they can do with their management of Luna Park at Coney Island since 2010. Their plan is to invest $25 million into Playland over the first 5 years, stop the practice of being closed on Mondays and remove the entrance gates and wristband system. According to their predictions, they believe they can grow attendance at Playland to 700,000 within the first five years from current attendance levels which are around 350,000.

Attendance was more then 350K this year. They have been making the pitch for the park over and over in different town hall meetings around the county.

Don't get too excited over the $25 mill price tag. A lot of the plans call for taking out current rides and replacing them with the Zamperla versions of the same ride. a couple examples S&S double shot for a Zamperla Tower Drop, Zamperla Mouse for a Zamperla Spinning Mouse. The plan is solid but like Luna it's will basically be another Zamperla showroom with a few Dark rides.

Here's the video of the presentation

Playland getting ready for the season.

It's a bit funny seeing the guy painting the coaster on a ladder.