I would like to thank the academy for ….

Okay, so it wasn’t a movie award Fun Spot received last week, but we are still greatly honored. Fun Spot Orlando was named the “Best Outdoor/Indoor Family Entertainment Center in the US”. Tourist Attractions & Parks Magazine polled 8,000 of their readers and handed out plaques last week in Las Vegas to honor the best in the field of Family Entertainment Center, which is the industry name for Fun Parks, Action Parks, and arcades with rides and attractions. There was Best bowling in Rockwall, Texas; Best Roller Skating in Quincy, IL; Best Birthday Parties in Toledo, Ohio, and for best Outdoor and Indoor F.E.C. the winner is Fun Spot! The magazine issued a Press Release on 3/28/12 and will post the list of 11 Winners on their website - http://tapmag.com/ .

Generally the rule is that once you add roller coasters, a park is no longer a Family Entertainment Center but becomes an amusement park. So with the addition of our 2 new roller coasters, Fun Spot Orlando will not be eligible for this award in the future. We are honored to be so named while we are still an FEC.

Hospitality Employee of the Month....

On Wednesday, March 28, The Kissimmee/Osceola Chamber of Commerce honored Fun Spot USA employee Gilbert Rodriguez as the first Hospitality Employee of the Month. This is the first of a monthly program the Chamber will do to recognize the Hospitality workers in the important industry of Tourism in Osceola County. Kissimmee CVB Director Shelley Maccini, Robin Wells of the Kissimmee Chamber and of the Osceola Resort Area Council, and John Arie Jr, our COO and TV spokesperson presented Gilbert with a plaque and award of Gift Cards. Gil started in the maintenance department but was focused more on customer service, so he became a track attendant, a Ride Lead and then a Track Manager. He first came to Fun Spot as a customer bringing his wife and kids. He told his wife, “Fun Spot is the kind of place I want to work at”. And are we glad he does. So congratulations to Gilbert, and thanks for representing Fun Spot so well to our guests and in the community.

Did you see Fun Spot on TV this week? And I am not talking about our commercials.

Channel 9 did an interview last week on our expansion. Here is a link - http://www.wftv.com/videos/news/wftv-gets-first-look-at-fun-spot-expansion/vGFYG/. We were interviewed on Fox 35 on Monday about Tourism in Osceola County. Then on Monday night at 11, Channel 6 did an interview about our expansion plans. Here is a link to see that interview - Click Orlando. Then on Tuesday, Channel 2 wanted to do a follow-up story on Osceola Tourism plan, but the story got bumped. A little thing called Super Tuesday and the Presidential elections were deemed more important. Oh well.

But stories about our expansion continued to flourish from a story in the L.A. Times newspaper, to Orlando Attraction Magazine, to numerous blogs, and to an internet radio station about tourism – www.orlandoskyradio.com. If you read or hear or see a story about Fun Spot Attractions, can you let us know? Email us through our Facebook page or at marketing@fun-spot.com. Sometimes things are said and reported out there and we are the last to hear about it. So will you be our eyes and ears for us? Thanks. Our next blog will tell of a new kids ride at the Orlando Park. Talk to you then.

Cameras are rolling

Once again Fun Spot has had the cameras rolling. We have had two Photo Shoots here this week, plus some others earlier this month. First up is a photo shoot for channel 18 – WKCF here in Orlando. They do a Saturday night movie presentation with a hostess named Justine. This year, as we have done for the past two, John Jr will be joining her as co-host for a few months. They taped the intro to the movies, some trivia, and those “We’ll be back in a moment” break announcements. They taped intros for the following four movies, Dancing at Lughnasa, Stir Crazy, Rush hour 2, and a Few Good Men. Here are a couple of photos of them working. 

Then John Sr got into the action when he was interviewed for a documentary called “The History Of International Drive – Part 3”. You can catch Part 1 and 2 on Orange TV, or through the I-Drive Chamber website, or the I-ride Trolley website. Each is 30 minutes long and filled with great info on this famous street we call home. Here are a couple of photos of Senior being interviewed. 

In the past month we have had a number of interesting photo shoots at the two parks. The Youth Group from a local Baptist Church did a comedy video in our Orlando Park. We had cheerleaders do a fashion show for some still photos. We had women doing photos for a calendar, and at our Kissimmee Park, the government of Finland set up a shoot for their national lottery. How is that for diversity in projects?  So don’t be surprised if you come for a visit and we have cameras rolling for some film project. We always knew we had pretty parks, now it is nice that others see those pretty, vibrant and dynamic colors and images for their video.