Last week Universal Orlando laid off approximately 70 employees, as it joins the ranks of parks cutting back on staff due to the economy.

The cuts amount to less than 1 percent of Universal’s 13,000 employees, and most of the jobs were management-level.

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Wednesday it was announced that Walt Disney Co. has offered voluntary buyout packages to about 600 executives in its domestic theme park and resort divisions, as the company looks to cut costs in a worsening economy.

Executives have until Feb. 6 to decide whether to take the voluntary severance packages.   The company said that it did not get enough volunteers it would implement involuntary layoffs with "a lesser severance package."

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Sit down and fasten your seat belt, for this summer you will be able to be the pilot of your own plane. Tivoli’s new attraction in 2009 is the closest you can get to simulating a real aircraft without renting your own plane. It will be the wildest and fastest interactive ride in Northern Europe, and at speeds of 100 km/h and with 360 degree turns the flight will appeal to the full range of your emotions, making you both shudder and laugh.

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JANUARY 2009 – Get ready for smokin’ hot food and fired-up music during SeaWorld and Busch Gardens’ Bud & BBQ. Each weekend Feb. 7 through March 1, the parks present a zesty line up of live performances by award-winning country and classic rock artists paired with blazing barbeque and ice-cold Budweiser.

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Cedar Fair (NYSE:FUN) , a leader in regional amusement parks, water parks and active entertainment, announced that attendance in 2008 at its eighteen locations totaled 22.7 million guests, up 3% from the Company’s total attendance of 22.1 million in 2007.

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In December 2008 Morey’s Piers in Wildwood, NJ announced that the Golden Nugget mine ride attraction on Hunt’s Pier would be removed in 2009. 

On January 31, 2009 there will be a public farewell ceremony held for the classic ride that has stood dormant on the former Hunt’s Pier. For years the Morey family has wrestled with the realms of nostaglia and innovation. The company sought various solutions from refurbishing the ride to even moving the attraction to one of the other nearby operating amusement piers of the Morey’s Complex.

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As companies make changes due to the economic downturn, Dollywood is no different.

The park will have a shorter operating schedule this year as well as make some staffing changes to help with company costs.

Pete Owens, Dollywood’s Public Relations Manager, stated that the executive leadership team is taking a voluntary five percent pay cut, while other full-time salaried employees will not receive a pay raise for 2009.

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Oregon’s Enchanted Forest theme park sustained heavy story damages last month and workers are quickly working to repair the park that opened its doors in 1971.

Park owner and creator Roger Tofte, who recently celebrated his 79th birthday estimates that more than 100 trees have fallen on the 200-acre property over the past two weeks.

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Via Press Release: As Disney Parks ask "What Will You Celebrate?" and invite guests to turn their personal milestones into magical family vacations in 2009, America’s military personnel will have one more reason to celebrate: Free multi-day admission to Disney’s U.S. theme parks. (more…)

With the purchase of Anheuser-Busch by InBev, enthusiasts knew that changes would probably come to their beloved parks.

The first sign of things to come came today when Busch Entertainment Corp. told employees that free samples of Busch’s products would no longer be provided to park patrons.  Also, employees of legal drinking age will no longer get two free cases of beer a month.

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