Snoopy is quickly becoming the Top Dog in the world of theme park mascots. The new Planet Snoopy children's areas in former Paramount Parks (Kings Island, Kings Dominion, Carowinds, California's Great America, and Canada's Wonderland) prove that this old dog still knows a few tricks---not bad for a character introduced in 1950!
Snoopy became the mascot for California's Knott's Berry Farm theme park in 1983. He got his own land, with rides aimed at kids, called Camp Snoopy (I loved the "Camp Snoopy" glass collection McDonald's sold in 1983---not sure if this was directly related to Knott's).
In 1997, Knott's Berry Farm was purchased by Cedar Fair, an Ohio-based company (with parks across the nation, including the very popular Cedar Point, in Sandusky, Ohio). The Peanuts gang was adopted by the Cedar Fair-owned parks. In 2006, Cedar Fair bought the former Paramount Parks, and now Snoopy and the gang greet small thrill-seekers all across the United States.
I really think that Cedar Fair should consider giving their Boo Blasters rides (the ghost blaster rides that were originally themed to Scooby Doo) a Great Pumpkin theme! It seems like it would be really easy to do. They could enlarge stills from the TV special or pictures from the books and use them as backgrounds or scenery (Planet Snoopy uses Peanuts comic strips to decorate areas around the rides). Instead of "shooting" you could shine a "flashlight" or something. You could relive Charlie Brown getting all those rocks in his Trick-or-Treat bag, see Snoopy kiss Lucy, and visit Linus and Sally waiting in the pumpkin patch.
Snoopy can also be found at Snoopy Studios in Universal Studios Japan, hosting rides and attractions that are exclusive to that park.
HA! Could you imagine going around the corner and seeing Charlie Brown in a ghost costume with a couple hundred eye holes? LOL! They could even sell souvenir "Rock" candy in Halloween bags! Okay.. you've got my day dreamin' now! Heh Heh.
ReplyDeleteDarrin, hopefully someone will notice that we are very creative and hire us to develop cool projects.
ReplyDeleteYeah, why isn't there a Peanuts dark ride? Universal's Islands of Adventure has a Cat In The Hat dark ride that's pretty cool. Knott's could put one in the old Berry Tales/Dinosaurs ride space!
ReplyDeleteYes, it seems like a no-brainer to me! I think Universal Studios Japan has something close to a dark ride/attraction---not quite, but close.
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