Welcome to (the new) Park Impressions!

Welcome!

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Wynn Turner and I'm a high school senior who is very excited to spend the month studying roller coasters and amusement parks! This is where I'll be posting daily progress updates on the many things I've been working on.

To start, this blog may look a little cluttered; let me explain. This is Park Impressions, an amusement industry blog that I began several years ago to feature news updates, park photos and reports, as well as research and opinion articles. Unfortunately, due to time constraints and other commitments I was not able to continue posting regularly. All of the old Park Impressions material is still here, and I invite my new (and old) visitors to read through it. I hope to revise the blog as part of my work this month, and finally make the transfer to a full website if all goes as planned.

For those who don't quite know what I mean when I talk about my "plans for this month," I mean Winterim. Winterim is a unique program at my school which gives me the opportunity to spend the month of November essentially taking an elective class of my own design. That's why this month I'll be studying the business aspect of the amusement industry. I'm very excited to spend three days behind the scenes at Cedar Point, learning what it takes to be the Best Amusement Park in the World year after year. After that, I'll be headed to Orlando to visit some of our finest amusement and theme parks and to cover the 2013 IAAPA Expo. Not only will I be posting photos from the trade show floor, but I'll also have the opportunity to network with industry leaders and attend numerous educational programs.

What does all of this mean? Park Impressions will be back at least through November, and I invite my family, friends, and former PI readers to follow along. I've set several goals for myself and for Park Impressions this month:

1. Update the Park Impressions blog at least every other day with news, photos, and videos of my work.

2. Revise and publish an iBook on the history of the amusement industry.

3. Network with industry professionals at Cedar Point and IAAPA 2013 to learn more about what business and operations side of the amusement industry looks like.

4. Research the environmental impact of the amusement industry; write a mock business plan for an amusement park with an emphasis on sustainability. 

The next three weeks should be very exciting as I work to fulfill these goals. I look forward to posting my progress on here and I encourage you all to follow along!

See you soon,
Wynn