Entertainment

contact information www.ripleys.com

Introduction

2010 marks two memorable anniversaries for Ripley’s: the 60th year of operation of its first museum, which opened in St. Augustine, FL, in December 1950, and Ripley’s 25th anniversary as part of The Jim Pattison Group. In the past 25 years, the company has grown from 12 attractions in four countries to 85 attractions in eleven countries.

2010 promises to be one of the company’s busiest years ever, with a brand new Believe It or Not! Museum in Surfer’s Paradise, Australia, that opened in January 2010. It offers over 400 exhibits, including the world smallest car and singing animatronic Believe It or Not! personalities. Believe It or Not! attractions in San Francisco and Hollywood underwent major renovation, as well as significant lobby renovations in three other locations: Myrtle Beach, SC, Gatlinburg, TN, and Niagara Falls, ON. In addition, a brand new concept is under development for the Guinness World Records museum chain, a new Ripley’s Marvelous Mirror Maze attraction in Ocean City, MD, and Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies will open a brand new multi-million dollar penguin exhibit, named Ripley's Penguin Playhouse.

Ripley Entertainment of Orlando, FL, delights and astounds visitors around the world, with 85 exciting attractions in eleven countries, along with best-selling books, a live-action network television series in daily syndication in more than 70 countries, and the longest continuously published newspaper comic in the world: the classic Believe It or Not! cartoon. Cartoonist and adventurer Robert Ripley started it all in 1918 when he began drawing his syndicated daily feature, which now appears in 17 languages in 42 countries around the world. Ripley’s largest museum, with over 500 exhibits in 25,000 square feet of display space on five floors, is located in the heart of London’s famous Piccadilly Circus.

The entertainment company that the cartoon inspired is the number one small tourist attractions company in the world, and is still growing. In 2009, Ripley opened a Believe It or Not! Museum in Veracruz, its third Mexico-based museum, as well as a new Louis Tussaud’s Wax Museum in Pattaya, Thailand. Ripley’s museums in Mexico City and Guadalajara both had record years in 2009 and have been mainstays of the company for 18 and 10 years, respectively. Ripley’s also had great success with the opening of its newest product line, Ripley’s Impossible LaseRace, an interactive hi-tech adventure race through a cross-fire of laser beams in Panama City Beach, FL, Williamsburg, VA, Grand Prairie, TX and New York City (top left).

More Fun in More Places

The latest Ripley Books publication, Seeing is Believing, scored high on Best Seller’s lists and helped open the path for two new exciting book lines for 2010: Ripley Twists, which are fun, educational books with a Ripley twist of the odd and the unusual, and Ripley’s Bureau of Investigation (RBI) fiction series for young adults.

The highly successful Ripleys.com website continues to thrive, expanding into the diverse world of social networking and even introducing a regular on-line, downloadable radio show – Ripley’s Believe It or Not! “Oddcasts” – which is also available on iTunes.

The Great Wolf Lodge Indoor Water Park Resort in Niagara Falls is the crown jewel of the Ripley chain of attractions and, in 2009, was recognized as one of Canada’s best hotels by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC). The resort includes 406 suites and a 103,000 square foot indoor water park featuring 13 slides, four pools, three whirlpools, a gigantic wave pool, a lazy river ride and a four-story tall interactive water fort playground. The park’s 2.5 million litres of heated water stays at a comfortable 29° C (84° F) year-round.

The company’s two world-class aquariums – Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies, in the Tennessee resort town of Gatlinburg, and Ripley’s Aquarium in Myrtle Beach, SC – are celebrations of the world’s rarest, most beautiful and awesome sea life. In each location, an underwater acrylic tunnel takes visitors through a million gallons of water on a 320-foot moving glide-path to view moray eels, sawfish, stingrays and giant sharks. Both locations boast more than a million visitors a year, are consistently ranked in the top 10 list of aquariums in North America by TripAdvisor.com, and are repeat winners of prestigious local and state awards.

Ripley’s other attractions include Haunted Adventures, 4-D Moving Theater simulator thrill rides, Ripley’s Mini-Golf courses with animated animals and interactive themed holes, Ripley’s Super Fun Zone Family Entertainment Centers, and Ripley’s Sightseeing & Ghost Train rides in St. Augustine, FL.

The 31 Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museums, the cornerstone of Ripley Entertainment, Inc., continue the legacy of Robert Ripley in Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, India, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Thailand and the United States.