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IAAPA Orlando 2004 Thrills & Educates 27,556 Attendees
A productive and informative IAAPA Orlando 2004 came to a close on Saturday, completing a great four-year run for the show in Florida's theme park capital before moving on to Atlanta in November 2005 as the re-branded IAAPA Attractions Expo. Before the week was over, 27,556* expectant attendees came to the beautiful North/South building of the Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) to try out the latest and coolest amusement products and services, many on display for the first time. Attendees also benefited from the educational sessions and facility tours offered, as well as unsurpassed networking opportunities at various social gatherings throughout the November 15-20 event. "This show marks a successful conclusion to a wonderful year for me at the helm of IAAPA," said outgoing association chair Gary Story. "The parks and attractions business continues to strengthen worldwide, and you could definitely hear and see evidence of that here this week. I'm excited for the future of this show and the industry as a whole." Many of this year's exhibitors agreed with his assessment. "The traffic has been of a high quality, and we have done more business than ever before. This trade show generated immediate success for us. When we can sit down and write business during the show, it means the event was a good value for our money," said Dave Crumb of Kreative Karts.
Skee Ball president Joe Sladek was similarly pleased, "We had a very good show, with lots of interest in our new products and more buyers from international markets this year." Buyers came from 85* countries to view the products and services of 1,185* exhibitors in approximately 500,000* net square feet of exhibit space. Of those buyers, 79%* were U.S. and 21%* were international. This year's show also offered more than 100 well-attended educational sessions, including IAAPA's Attractions Management School and facility tours of Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, Universal Studios, and Disney's Typhoon Lagoon. Special ticketed events were popular as well: the General Managers and Owners breakfast, featuring Walt Disney Parks and Resorts president Jay Rasulo, on Thursday, November 18, greeted 252 guests; the International Reception on Wednesday, November 17, hosted 680 attendees; and the Thursday Night Social at SeaWorld Adventure Park welcomed a party of 1,436. The show's activities benefiting Give Kids The World (GKTW) were also extremely well received, collectively raising approximately $45,000 for the Village. These activities included 144 players in the GKTW charity golf tournament and a very active silent auction on the trade show floor.
Best new products awarded at IAAPA 2004 included Vekoma Rides' Motorbike Launch Coaster as best major theme or amusement park ride / attraction, Zamperla's Flying Tigers for best kiddie ride, Entertainment Technology Corp.'s Wild Earth for best FEC ride / attraction and Bob's Space Raders Inc.'s Capsule Craze was awarded first place in the best coin-operated arcade & redemption equipment category.
*Figure is the best available at the time of release.
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