Fast Talk: Summer Amusements

Build a Distinctive Showcase

John Jakobson

President and general manager, Legoland
Carlsbad, California

Everyone knows our Lego toys, which first appeared in 1932. The first Legoland park began as a showcase exhibition next to company headquarters in Denmark in 1968. It was extremely popular, so they began adding more and more features, and soon it was a theme park. We opened a London Legoland in 1996, the California outlet opened in 1999, and a German park in 2002. Each one attracts between 1.3 million and 1.6 million people annually.

Our European parks are the leading ones in their countries. But we have lots of competition here in California, so we stress that we're providing more than just entertainment. We're providing an interactive learning experience where children can build their own robots, make music in our musical fountain, or design a Lego self-portrait. But we also have roller coasters and water rides like other amusement parks; we don't want people to overlook that. Balancing education with entertainment is our trickiest marketing challenge.

We also need that balance in our staff -- we have a good mix of amusement-industry people, and then there are people like me, who are Lego people. Ironically, when I was a student I always wanted to have a summer job at the Danish Legoland, because it looked like a fun place to work. But there were never any available. I joined Lego's corporate office straight from college 19 years ago, and joined the parks division in 1990, when we were first looking outside of Denmark. I tell our staff, "You've got the job I always wanted!"

The tallest tower ever made out of Lego bricks, just over 90 feet, was recently erected at Legoland in California.

Swim Against the Sharks

Mark McHugh

President and CEO, Gatorland
Orlando, Florida

We're a 110-acre theme park with alligators, snakes, spiders, and creepy-crawly stuff. With Disney, SeaWorld, and Universal all located nearby, the expectation level of our customers is much higher than if we were in a more isolated spot. It's like being the Main Street retailer competing with Wal-Mart.

I spent 13 years with SeaWorld, training killer whales. But then I married into the family that owns Gatorland, and in 1996 they asked me to run it. At first, I tried to run it like a big theme park, and that was a mistake. This is a completely different critter. I had us advertising in Great Britain and Germany -- two of our big feeder areas -- but that took away from local efforts. So in 1998, we switched to marketing only within a 100-mile radius. We can still reach foreign tourists by advertising in the airports, at the rental-car counter, and so on. We let the big guys funnel people into central Florida. Then we strive to get their attention. By the time a British tourist gets to her hotel, we've been in her face 13 times.

Vacationing families are much more go-go-go today than they were 20 or 30 years ago, especially here in central Florida, so we try to provide a little break, some relaxation. But obviously, our marketing pitch can't be, "Come in here and slow down." Gatorland had been a pretty passive, static zoo experience, and I wanted to bring more interactive entertainment to the park. So we opened a petting zoo and a free-flight aviary. And employees walk around now with animals, so visitors can pet them. We're high-touch, not high-tech.

Gatorland, founded in 1949, is home to the Gator Jumparoo, where alligators are trained to jump out of the water and take a piece of chicken from a trainer's hand.