Day 9: Lots of Writing

When I planned this Independent Study, somehow it hadn't occurred to me just how much reading and writing I'd be doing. Not only would I be writing the better part of a book on the evolution of amusement parks, but I also had a business plan on my schedule as well as daily blogs. With it comes a lot of reading, since of course all of this requires research. Yeah, it's a lot of work. But the good thing to remember about all of it is that at least it is something that I truly enjoy.

That said, the last few days I've been reading a lot of very interesting books as part of my research. I've been poring over Cedar Point's gift of Cedar Point: Queen of American Watering Places, as well as checking out a few others from my library (pun intended). A few of them have already helped me greatly to fill in a few blanks in my iBook.

As far as the iBook goes, I've been doing quite a bit of work on that too of course. Aside from my reading and research today, I've been reworking several sections to improve its organization. After much debate I've decided to keep a standalone interactive section that uses Kennywood as an example of a classic trolley park. It's one of the creative-writing style pieces from the original project and it does well to serve my ultimate purpose of showing the growth and change in the amusement industry. There was an interactive section that focused on Disneyland as well, but I've changed that slightly and instead demoted it to simply being a supplement to the textual section on Disneyland that had followed it. I've begun writing a section that will focus on the revival of wooden coasters with Kings Island's Racer, as well as the second wind that the industry felt in the 1970's not only with wooden coasters, but also with looping coasters.

Lastly, I've been revising a section that highlights the "coaster wars" beginning with Cedar Point's Magnum XL-200 in 1989. It had been written as a kind of news article to fit into the creative writing ensemble, but I wanted to remove that styling and leave it purely informational for the final product. After some reworking this afternoon, the coaster wars section is finished.

Before I go, I would like to share this "first look" at the project. Here is one page from the first section on the earliest roller coasters:

Tomorrow I'll be continuing to write and refine the various sections of this project. By no means will this be an exhaustive history of the amusement industry, so dont expect it to be a lengthy iBook; I am, however, very committed to making sure that it is of the highest quality. I look forward to continuing tomorrow. After that, it's off to Orlando next week for IAAPA and a few park visits! As always, stay tuned!

-Wynn

Day 8: Home Again

I gotta say, after three great, full days at Cedar Point, it's been kind of quiet working back in Toledo. I started out the day by heading downtown to the library once again. I needed to take stock of my work and figure out what needed to be done. Unfortunately, it was a short day as I had separate dentist and orthodontist appointments this afternoon.

Knowing that time was in short supply, I grabbed a sheet of paper to jot notes as I looked through what exists so far. The book had been divided up into 9 sections: the earliest roller coasters, American trolley parks, an interactive section on trolley parks, an interactive section on Disneyland, a written section on Disneyland, looping roller coasters, the coaster wars, the industry today, and a conclusion summarizing the change in the industry. A few things were obvious from the beginning. As this had once been a creative writing ensemble, some of the too-creative bits would have to be reworked to be more information-based. I also wanted to move around some of the interactive elements and other graphics, as well as add to the existing sections. Related to that, I immediately updated the first section to include a paragraph on the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway, as well as new photos of LaMarcus Thompson's patents.

I also wanted to see about adding a couple of new sections. Those will likely focus on Coney Island and the impact of the Racer at Kings Island, but I will have to do a bit more research first. I spent the rest of my time gathering books and other information to use as sources, and making touch-ups and minor edits throughout the book. After that, it was off to my appointments - I'll be back at it again tomorrow, however, so stay tuned for more!

See you soon,
-Wynn

Days 5 & 6: Home Sweet Home

After two long days at Cedar Point, I had the luxury of spending the next few days right here in Toledo. As much fun as it was to be at Cedar Point, I would not miss the hour-long drives in the early morning!

That said, I've spent most of my time doing a lot of reading. I've been scouring each branch of the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library for books on amusement parks and roller coasters. The GateKeeper messenger bag that was gifted to me by the Cedar Point marketing interns is now stocked with no less than 11 books and 3 DVD's that I am steadily making my way through.

Most of this research is for the iBook that I'm planning to publish, which focuses on the evolution of the American amusement park. Currently, I have the book broken down into several chapters starting from the earliest Russian ice slides and going all the way to the present. The original book was actually a school project I completed a couple of years ago. However, that product is by no means worthy of publishing. So, I've been doing some heavy research and revising what I have, as well as expanding some chapters and adding new sections altogether.

In my research, I've come across a lot of great Disneyland history as well. Disneyland is a major force in the amusement industry and the park itself is widely credited as the first "theme park." Disneyland truly was a turning point for the industry, and I've greatly enjoyed reading about its development process, all the way from Walt Disney's original idea until its opening in 1955. For anyone who's interested, I would highly recommend checking out Disneyland: Inside Story by Randy Bright (with a great foreword by former Disney CEO Michael Eisner). It's full of great information and anecdotes from Disneyland's creation, as well as hundreds of fascinating photos. You can find it here on Amazon or at the Toledo Library (as soon as I return it!). However, because this is an iBook - meaning it's built specifically for all of your iDevices - I can add cool things like photos, interactive flyouts, and videos. Which lead me to find these great old commercials from Kennywood, a historic little park in Pittsburgh. Even if you haven't been out to Kennywood, the vintage commercials are cute - at least I think so!




Anyway, I'm continuing to work on this iBook but I'll be at Cedar Point again tomorrow (Tuesday). I'll have a lot more to share in the next few days, so stick around!

-Wynn

Darth Vader Goes to Disneyland

I just saw this great promo for Star Tours. Really funny, actually. Watch it now!



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