Carwardine Parks

Carwardine Parks of Virginia, Inc., , is an amusement parks & leisure property company headquartered in, , and founded in 1980 by its longtime CEO Christopher R. Carwardine. It had been owned by from 1998 to 2007 when it was sold to, before being sold back to the Carwardine and Fawkes families in 2012.

Carwardine, aside from building its own parks such as Carwardine Colony and The World of Redwall, has been known for buying & turning around struggling theme parks. Christopher's 2016 biography reflects this, titled "Resurrecting America's Theme Parks" and featuring anecdotes and other stories regarding the company's projects and acquisitions.

History
The first park, Carwardine Colony, was planned in the mid-to-late-1970s by regional real estate mogul Christopher R. Carwardine with assistance from his wife Hiroko and their friend Marv Simpleton after Christopher bought a disused landfill known locally as the "Trash Heap from Hell". During the oil crisis, Christopher decided to add the focus of a large theme park that wasn't far away from the beaches of Virginia.

After the success of the first park, the company was founded in August of 1980, with investors including PepsiCo and CSX Corporation.

In 1985, the chain was deemed the "fastest growing leisure or recreation chain in the history of the United States" by experts.

In 1986, Carwardine began their partnership with the WWE (then the World Wrestling Federation). The partnership has resulted in appearances by WWE talent at Carwardine Parks properties, WWE-themed attractions in the parks and, most famously, an annual visit by The Undertaker to Carwardine Colony during the Halloween season.

In March of 1990, after the success of Super Mario Bros. 3 in North America, Carwardine officially announced their deal with Nintendo.

In the Fall of 1990, CSX's 20% stake in the company was sold to the Japan-based Oriental Land Company (becoming their only international property) while another 20% was sold to Richard Branson's Virgin Group as part of a cost-cutting measure in order to pay down debt. This would later come in handy for international expansion.

In 1991, Carwardine Parks went public on the stock market.

In 1992, Dept. 2 Productions was founded in order to produce more theming and queue videos/live show videos.

In 1993, due to the sale of DiC to ABC and the foundation of Dept. 2 Productions, Carwardine's near-decade long partnership with DiC ended for domestic production on queue-tapes, being replaced by Texamation, Seattle Ink & Paint, and other smaller companies. The licensing rights for the DiC characters remained, however.

In 1995, Jeffrey Katzenberg, after being fired from Disney, was made Chairman and President to reinvigorate the company. He was resigned in 2002 due to a reorganization in the company. Also in 1995, DreamWorks SKG bought a large operational stake in the company from Carwardine Colony Real Estate, Inc. Immediately, several changes were made to the staff, with several Carwardine staff members, most notably Amaya Carwardine, getting kicked out of many of their roles.

After DreamWorks' buyout, in 1996, Oriental Land Company sold their operational stakes to Hoshino Resorts, which didn't last long due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis, which led to all Japanese operations and 20% of the company being owned by Kintetsu Group Holdings.

In 1998, the company was sold from DreamWorks to The Mills Corporation, after both Chris and Wayne complained about how "corporate" the company got.

During the Mills Corporation's ownership of Carwardine Parks, they added in some parks some non-anchor stores that were normally found inside malls to some of the parks. They also made the PBS Kids Neighborhood brand the kids area of most Carwardine Parks in the United States. was appointed Multimedia Director of Dept. 2 Productions to produce CyberStar-esque videos for the new live shows.

Mobile cameras on rides without a permit from the Carwardine Video Program were banned in 2000, as CVP members (among them: Theme Park Review, The Theme Park Crew, TUBERIDES, CoasterForce, Coaster Studios, Koaster Kids, etc.) have to follow a strict set of rules (1. You must have a wrist attachment. 2. Waterproof cameras required for waterpark use. 3. Camera glasses are allowed in most cases. 4. Spy cameras are banned in most cases. 5. You must pay $10 a year for the Video Program), however, in 2011 the ban was relaxed for people with mobile phones on select attractions (Train rides, Coasters that are below 100ft and don't go upside down, slower-moving flat rides that don’t go very high up, and all floored Enterprises/Rangers (The floorless variants still ban phones, due to a lack of a cage).

In 2001, the Australian parks now became operated by Virgin Group instead of by Carwardine themselves to save money on international operations.

Carwardine Parks, alongside other Carwardine properties, sold LidRock lids throughout the mid-2000’s; from early 2003 to some point in the later mid 2000’s; most likely 2007 (it is believed that LidRock went defunct around then; if so, it might have to do with the Great Recession).

In 2004, Carwardine was starting to have financial issues, which only worsened when they purchased AstroWorld from Six Flags in 2006, leading them into a bunch of debt, looming right before the Great Recession, in 2007, Carwardine underwent Chapter 11 bankruptcy, bought Mills' shares as part of their acquisition of the company, several licenses were not renewed and forced to be replaced with ones still existing or removed entirely (most of the PBS Kids Neighborhood licenses was set to expire, and Carwardine licensed the Discovery Kids "Real Toons" lineup of shows with intentions of using them to replace most of the PBS Kids Neighborhood licenses), and several parks were split up into the Kennywood Entertainment Company.

In 2009, Simon Property Group bought the shares from Kintetsu and Virgin, although they would continue to operate the international parks in their respective countries.

On August 11, 2012, the Carwardine and Fawkes families completed a management-led buyout of the company from Simon Property Group. The company was re-incorporated in, with headquarters remaining in Newport News, Virginia. During the final half of 2012 and early 2013, the new independent Carwardine Parks of Virginia company raised $13 million in series A venture capital funding from, , Virgin Group, , and venture capital firms , and International Entertainment Investments Group.

In 2014, another character in their line of mascot characters, named Catsi (voiced by Suzi Sparks) was introduced, licensed from Calzados Sifrina's in.

In 2015, Dept. 2 Productions mostly moved from Virginia Beach into a two floor, 50,000-square-foot (4,600 m2) facility in the industrial park.

In 2016, Christopher R. Carwardine retired, and Wayne Carwardine II left to return to the company to suceed his father as CEO. That same year, Carwardine Parks of Virginia raised $30 million in series B venture capital funding from, , and venture capital firms RSE Ventures, Raland National Venture Capital Fund and Comcast Ventures. The round was led by 21st Century Fox, with additional funding from.

In 2020, Wayne Carwardine II announced a project entitled Plan 2020 to reinvigorate the company and it's properties again (with The Old Village of Providence and Mount Amazement named as two of the parks to undergo a heavy "reinvention"). This will include the creation of a spinoff real estate investment trust to invest in amusement parks, theaters, ski resorts, sports venues, and charter schools and to sub-contract some properties' operation. The company is set to move from the NYSE to NASDAQ. They currently are "YAH" on NASDAQ and formerly on the NYSE.

After the George Floyd riots, the parks policies have been updated once again, with metal detectors added at all parks to prevent rioting occurring and stronger rules regarding derogatory comments and politics.

Recently, Carwardine has notified the California governor if that their parks aren't able to reopen by January 1, 2021, all the unopened Californian parks will be written as a tax write-off and will not possibly reopen until they get enough demand.

Carwardine has since changed their plans to sue the Californian government if they don't get the parks to open in time for Christmas. They tried to sue them, but they failed.

On May 1, 2021, the mask requirement was removed for the Ohioan and Texan parks.

Starting on June 1, 2021, the mask requirement was removed for vaccinated people in states that are mask-optional.

After the ICON Park Drop Tower incident in March 2022, Carwardine temporarily closed all of their Funtime-built rides, including the Mario's Wingflyer rides that were refurbed by Funtime. They all were reopened by June, as long as operating procedures were followed.

Licenses in the Parks
See Carwardine Parks/Licenses in the Parks

Current water parks
Does not include water parks located in amusement parks.

Current fairs

 * FairCon - traveling fair.

Current venues

 * Food Lion Arena - Arena in Grafton, Virginia near Newport News, opened 2006. Home arena of the Newport News Storm of the National Hockey League. (Formerly known as Wawa Arena from its opening in 2006 until 2021, when Carwardine lost the license, with the areana briefly being named Grafton Arena afterwards; since Carwardine struck a deal with Ahold Delhaize, it has been named Food Lion Arena since late 2022)
 * Maestro Stadium - Stadium in Newport News, opened 1991. Home stadium of the Carwardine family-owned Virginia Maestros of Major League Baseball.
 * Newport News Civic Center - Arena in Newport News, opened 1995. Was the first indoor Little League venue at the time. Was the first home venue of the Newport News Storm of the National Hockey League from 2001-2003 (the team did not play during the 2004–05 NHL lockout).

Current other properties

 * Carwardine Funtown Resorts & Hotels - Chain of resorts, hotels and motels, founded in 2001.
 * Circus Playhouse &amp; Food Emporium - A family entertainment center chain, acquired in 1984.
 * Fantastic Tom's Pizza - A family entertainment center chain, founded in 1980. Initially a regional chain in and  before expanding nationwide in the 90s.
 * Jeepers! (Carwardine Parks) - A family entertainment center chain, revived in 2011.
 * Mount Tom Ski Area - Ski resort in Holyoke, Massachusetts - acquired in 2000.
 * Star Plaza - Hospitality complex in Merrillville, Indiana - acquired in 2016.
 * Tex Critter's Pizza Jamboree - A family entertainment center chain, acquired in 1984.
 * Tokens 'n Pizza - Family entertainment center in Bedford, New Hampshire, acquired in 2002.

History
Carwardine pitched partnering up with several cruise lines to use the characters they had the license to on sea, including Carnival, Royal Carribbean, Norwegian, and Cunard, the latter laughed Chris out of the deal, suggesting they make their own line of ships, Carwardine went forward and spent $15 million to build the Alpha, with the ship being built in Germany.

The cruise line was "put on hold" in 2020 due to Coronavirus concerns. Carwardine has a master plan for restarting cruise line operations once the pandemic has passed, including debuting entirely new ships called "neo *greek letter*" (ex. Carwardine neoAlpha) to accompany the existing fleet.

Fleet

 * Carwardine Alpha (built in 1990, first cruise ship under by Carwardine Parks) [spared for Carwardine Legacy Lines] {Carwardine neoAlpha, launched December 2021}
 * Carwardine Beta (built in 1991) [spared for Carwardine Legacy Lines] {Carwardine neoBeta, launched July 2022}
 * Carwardine Gamma (built in 1992) [spared for Carwardine Legacy Lines] {Carwardine neoGamma, coming December 2022}
 * Carwardine Delta (built in 1993) [spared for Carwardine Legacy Lines] {Carwardine neoDelta, coming August 2023}
 * Carwardine Epsilon (built in 1993) [spared for Carwardine Legacy Lines]
 * Carwardine Zeta (built in 1994) [spared for Carwardine Legacy Lines]
 * Carwardine Eta (built in 1994) [spared for Carwardine Legacy Lines]
 * Carwardine Theta (built in 1995) [spared for Carwardine Legacy Lines]
 * Carwardine Iota (built in 1995) [spared for Carwardine Legacy Lines]
 * Carwardine Kappa (built in 1995) [spared for Carwardine Legacy Lines]
 * Carwardine Lambda (built in 1996) [spared for Carwardine Legacy Lines]
 * Carwardine Mu (built in 1996) [spared for Carwardine Legacy Lines]
 * Carwardine Nu (built in 1996) [spared for Carwardine Legacy Lines]
 * Carwardine Xi (built in 1996) [spared for Carwardine Legacy Lines]
 * Carwardine Omicron (built in 1997) [laid up in Newport, Rhode Island, might become part of Carwardine Legacy Lines]
 * Carwardine Pi (built in 1998) [spared for Carwardine Legacy Lines]
 * Carwardine Rho (bult in 1999) [laid up in Aliağa, Turkey, might become part of Carwardine Legacy Lines]
 * Carwardine Sigma (built in 2000) [laid up in Aliağa, Turkey, might become part of Carwardine Legacy Lines]
 * Carwardine Tau (built in 2000) [laid up in Aliağa, Turkey, might become part of Carwardine Legacy Lines]
 * Carwardine Upsilon (built in 2001) [laid up in Aliağa, Turkey, might become part of Carwardine Legacy Lines]
 * Carwardine Phi (built in 2001) [laid up in Newport News, Virginia, might become part of Carwardine Legacy Lines]
 * Carwardine Chi (built in 2001) [laid up in Newport News, Virginia, might become part of Carwardine Legacy Lines]
 * Carwardine Psi (built in 2001) [laid up in Newport News, Virginia, might become part of Carwardine Legacy Lines]
 * Carwardine Omega (built in 2001) [laid up in Newport News, Virginia, might become part of Carwardine Legacy Lines]

Former theme parks

 * Adventureland (1993-2007; Carwardine held operating rights from 1993-2007 when the owners, the Gentile family and Peter Amoruso, took operations in-house)
 * Canada's Adventure (1983-1985; sold to Funtime Parks, Inc.; now owned by Cedar Fair)
 * Colorado Canyon (1985) (1985-1998; Destroyed in a landslide in 1998, replaced with a new park with the same name in 2000 after 1 and a half years of construction.)
 * Coney Island (1991-2007; spun off in 2007)
 * Holy Land Park (2008-2021; closed due to low attendance)
 * Idlewild and Soak Zone (1991-2007; spun off in 2007)
 * Kennywood (1990-2007; spun off in 2007)
 * Playland (1993-2007; Carwardine held operating rights from 1993-2007 when the owners, the Westchester County Government, took operations in-house)
 * Montana's Fantasyworld (2001-2007; spun off in 2007)

Former other properties

 * Carwardine Mills - spun off in 2007, but the name remains

Cancelled parks

 * Atlantis: The Water Kingdom (Carwardine failed to purchase the park, originally, Carwardine was going to purchase all of the slides at the park to be moved across several of their parks and then use the land for a Circus Playhouse, but that was also haulted, this time due to Hurricane Andrew, the land was later sold off in 1993.)
 * Medievale Carwardine (a cancelled park themed to the Middle ages)
 * Schuyler Lake (planned to be bought by the Mills Corporation's Carwardine Parks division in 1999, but Six Flags rejected the sale)
 * SeaCarwardine (a cancelled park in Seattle themed to marine animals)

Restaurant franchises in the parks
Most of the parks have one of these restaurant franchises. The soft drink brand who's products are served depends on the park (most Carwardine Parks serve Pepsi, others serve Coca-Cola: this is because Carwardine's soda contract is with Pepsi, however some of their acquired parks still serve Coca-Cola and run under their contract).
 * Auntie Anne’s/Cinnabon (at most locations; there were only Cinnabons at such parks before Focus Brands bought Auntie Anne’s, then starting in 2011, Auntie Anne’s locations connected to the Cinnabons began opening)
 * Bojangles (at some locations)
 * Burger King (at Geauga Lake, Opryland and Screamin' Safari)
 * NOTE: Due to exclusivity rights, the Burger King locations at Geauga Lake and Opryland are the only known locations to serve Pepsi products instead of Coca-Cola. The standard Coca-Cola Freestyle machine was at first substituted with a Pepsi Spire, then a Cornelius IDC Pro a few years later, and the only drink from other locations that is kept is ICEE.
 * Carvel Ice Cream (at Carwardine Colony and AstroWorld)
 * Chick-Fil-A (at Whalom Park and Alabama's Backyard)
 * Dairy Queen & Orange Julius (at most locations)
 * Dairy Queen Grill & Chill (at some locations)
 * Dippin’ Dots (all locations)
 * Dippin Dots/Doc Popcorn (at some locations)
 * Dunkin' Donuts & Baskin-Robbins (at some locations)
 * ICEE Mix It Up (all locations)
 * Insomnia Cookies (at some locations)
 * Jollibee (at some locations)
 * Krispy Kreme (at some locations)
 * KFC (at some locations)
 * Lee's Sandwiches (at AstroWorld and The World of Redwall)
 * Long John Silver's (at AstroWorld, Phelworth Mining Site USA and Geauga Lake)
 * McDonald's (at some locations)
 * NOTE: Due to exclusivity rights, the McDonald's branches at Carwardine Colony, Pirates World, Camp Carwardine, Freestyle Adventure City, Andy Griffith's Mayberry U.S.A. and Omaha Luna Park are among the few to serve Pepsi products instead of Coca-Cola, the others being in airports and formerly at the.
 * Mounty's (at some locations)
 * Nestlé Toll House Café (at some locations)
 * Pizza Hut (at some locations)
 * Pizza Hut Express (at most locations)
 * Popeye's (at Louisiana Jazzland)
 * Pollo Campero (at Andy Griffith's Mayberry U.S.A. and Omaha Luna Park)
 * (at Chippewa Lake Park, Boston Funplex, and Darien Lake)
 * Taco Bell (at some locations)
 * Taco Bell Express (at some locations)
 * Tim Hortons (at some locations)
 * Starbucks (at Carwardine Colony, Capital Adventure City, Rose Park, and Geauga Lake)
 * Subway (all locations)
 * Taco Bell
 * Wendy’s (at Akron Acres; serves Pepsi, unlike most other locations)

Passports

 * S-P Passport (Season Passes)
 * Q-X Passport (Fast Passes)
 * P-T Passport (Photo Passes)
 * D-N Passport (Dining Passes)
 * V-I Passport (VIP Passes)
 * L-T Passport (Lifetime Passes; only given out occasionally, once in a Nintendo Power contest in 1993, second time given to "Lasso Jockey" Louie Manson for riding Lasso at Carwardine Colony 10,000 times in 2000, the third time in 2005 for the 25th anniversary contest, the fourth time was given to Patty Rappach (formerly known as Richard Sal Rappach) in 2008 for riding Special Delivery at Omaha Luna Park 5,000 times, and the fifth time given in 2013 to Troy A. Vincent for riding Bobsled Run at Akron Acres 12,000 times)
 * M-B Passport (Membership Passes)

Trivia

 * Employees are called "Carnies", similar to Disney's "Cast Members" term.
 * This chain has an exclusivity deal with Pepsi and Dr. Pepper, this is in contrast with most chains, who are sided with Coca-Cola instead.
 * Some acquired parks still have Coca-Cola, due to the licensing deals they used to have.