Person to Watch: RAFFI KAPRELYAN
Raffi Kaprelyan is rounding out his first full year as Knott’s Berry Farm’s vice president and general manager.
We picked the Knott’s Berry Farm veteran—whose first job at the park was cleaning rides his sophomore year in high school—as person to watch this year with an eye toward the competitive challenge of the new Cars Land at Disney California Adventure.
The response from Knott’s turned out to be rather muted. The Buena Park theme park offered no new rides. Instead, Kaprelyan focused primarily on sprucing up the park’s ambiance with building improvements; he also added some nighttime entertainment and more characters walking around the park.
Knott’s parent Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. of Sandusky, Ohio, said in November it will add three rides to the park next summer: the Coast Rider, Surfside Glider and Pacific Scrambler, all planned for the park’s beach-themed Boardwalk area. The moves follow the September closure of the Perilous Plunge rollercoaster in the Boardwalk area.
—Kari Hamanaka
Company to Watch: WALT DISNEY CO.
The finale to the $1.1 billion makeover of Disney California Adventure in Anaheim has delivered big for Burbank-based Walt Disney Co.
The June opening of the 12-acre area themed off the Pixar Animation Studios movie Cars and a remodeled Buena Vista Street entrance has helped boost park attendance.
California Adventure accounted for about half of the daily visitors to the Disneyland Resort—which also includes Disneyland—during the company’s June quarter. That’s up from 25%.
Cars Land was cited during the company’s September quarter earnings call for helping boost overall attendance and per-capita spending during the quarter at the Disneyland Resort.
Cars Land and the redone entrance to California Adventure mark the end of a five-year project that has seen new rides, restaurants and entertainment. The entrance—renamed Buena Vista Street—was themed after 1920s Los Angeles, complete with a Red Car Trolley and a remake of the Carthay Circle Theatre. Between Cars Land and Buena Vista Street alone, the park saw the addition of four rides and eight eateries.
—Kari Hamanaka
5 Big Tourism Stories
• Disney California Adventure unveiled the final phase of a $1.1 billion, multiyear park expansion and makeover with the opening of Cars Land.
• Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau President Charles Ahlers announced his retirement at the end of this year.
• Delaware-based HHC HA Investments II Inc. acquired the 1,572-room Hilton Anaheim for an estimated $215 million to $230 million.
• Walt Disney Co. announces its $4.05 billion purchase of Lucasfilm, stoking speculation of a third gate at its Anaheim theme parks.
• Comic-Con sister trade show WonderCon debuts at Anaheim Convention Center.
