Entertainment
Introduction
Ripley Entertainment, a global entertainment company, operating in ten countries, launched a new level of museum attractions in June 2007, with the opening of its biggest museum to date – an exciting, two-level, 17,000 square foot “Odditorium” on 42nd Street in the heart of New York City’s Times Square theater district.
Ripley Entertainment
Ripley Entertainment is the largest and fastest-growing international chain of museum-type tourist attractions in the world. An acknowledged trendsetter in the development of family entertainment, Ripley Entertainment Inc. owns and operates a variety of exciting attractions, including the spectacular Great Wolf Lodge Indoor Water Park Resort in Niagara Falls, Ontario, world-class aquariums, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museums, Guinness World Records Museums and Louis Tussaud’s Waxworks.
Ripley Entertainment of Orlando, Florida, delights and astounds the world with 66 exciting attractions in ten countries, best-selling books, a live-action network television series in daily syndication in over 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.
The entertainment company that the cartoon inspired is the #1 small tourist attractions company in the world and is still growing. In 2007, Ripley opened its largest Believe It or Not! museum to date, a 17,000 square foot “Odditorium” on New York City’s famous 42nd Street in the heart of Times Square. Ripley’s also had great success with two new publications: The Remarkable Revealed, and Ripley’s Search For the Shrunken Heads and Other Curiosities, and the hugely successful www.ripleys.com website continued to thrive, converting new Ripley fans daily.
In 2008, the company will open four attractions in Bangalore, India: a Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museum, a Louis Tussauds’ Waxworks, a Guinness World Records museum and our newest product line, a Ripley’s Enchanted Mirror Maze. Ripley’s Mirror Maze is a brand new concept. Designed to delight the whole family, Ripley’s launched its first Mirror Maze in Grand Prairie, Texas in 2007 and plans to rapidly expand in 2008 with future sites in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and around the world.
Also in 2008, Ripley’s will open the largest Believe It or Not! museum ever, a 30,000 foot attraction spread over four floors of the world famous Trocadero Center in Piccadilly Circus, London, England; a new Believe It or Not! museum in Vera Cruz, Mexico; and several attractions opportunities in Bahrain and Korea.
The Great Wolf Lodge Indoor Water Park Resort in Niagara Falls is the crown jewel of the Ripley chain of attractions. With 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 liters of heated water stays at a comfortable 29° C (84° F) year-round.
The company’s two aquariums, Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies, in the Tennessee resort town of Gatlinburg, and Ripley’s Aquarium in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 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 over a million visitors a year 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 unique, animated animals and interactive themed holes, Ripley’s Super Fun Zone Family Entertainment Centers, and Ripley’s Sightseeing Train rides in St. Augustine, Florida, site of the first Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museum, founded in 1950. The 30 Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museums, the cornerstone of Ripley Entertainment Inc., continue the legacy of Robert Ripley in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Denmark, England, Thailand, Malaysia, Kuwait and India. The company’s seven Guinness World Records Museums, where the famous Guinness World Records book comes to life, operate in the United States, Canada, Denmark, Japan and (opening in 2008) India.
