HOT TIMES IN THE SUMMERTIME

Universal Studios’ King Kong isn’t the only new beast in town.

Six Flags Magic Mountain has already opened “Shock Wave,” a loopy, standup roller coaster for hard-core thrill-seekers. At the Queen Mary/Spruce Goose the new “Time Voyager” is taking tourists on trips through time and at Sea World a new variety show, “City Streets,” puts the audience right in the middle of all the action.

The long-awaited “Captain EO,” Disneyland’s 3-D film starring Michael Jackson, won’t open until mid-September, but all of Southern California’s nine major theme parks are planning special shows, music weekends and fireworks this summer.

A major question is whether the parks can cash in on the increase in domestic travel this summer. The threats of terrorism and the weakened dollar abroad, plus lower gasoline prices and domestic air fares are expected to help boost attendance. If so, the parks will be able to continue the strong numbers they posted for summer 1985.

Disneyland, ranked second in attendance nationally (after Disney World in Florida), expects to improve on last summer’s 5 million tourists, according to Bob Ross, manager of publicity. Stuart Zanville of Knott’s Berry Farm said that the park will probably surpass its 1985 summer attendance of 3.4 million, which ranked it third. “The people who want to travel will stay in this country,” he said, “and California will get a large number of them.” He said he hoped that visitors to Vancouver’s Expo ’86 would come down the coast and wind up in Buena Park.

There are 101 days between Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends this year, which means families could visit one of the parks every 11 days. Good luck. Here’s a survey of what’s doing at the theme parks this summer.

Disneyland

The Magic Kingdom plunges into its summer season Saturday, but already has begun its pre-summer schedule with fireworks and parades.

New for summer will be “Big Thunder Ranch” opening July 28. In Frontierland, the turn-of-the-century “Thunder Ranch” will feature blacksmith and harness-making shops, a horse pasture and a petting barnyard with baby animals. A barbecue picnic area, with chuck wagons and open-air grills, will be finished later. It’s the first addition to the backwoods section since the “Big Thunder Mountain” roller coaster opened in September 1979.

Another new-since-January attraction is the “Country Bear Vacation Hoedown,” featuring an audio-animatronic cast from the “Country Bear Jamboree.”

Disneyland’s “Captain EO,” the space adventure with a 12-minute 3-D film that stars Michael Jackson, is scheduled to open on Sept. 19--though it originally was anticipated to premiere in April. Park officials are tight-lipped about details of the “Captain EO” film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by film maker George Lucas. It will be shown in the 750-seat Magic Eye Theater (Tomorrowland’s converted Space Stage).

Disneyland marketing officials believed “Captain EO” should be postponed until after the peak summer visitor season to “help bring people in during the slow months,” according to a spokesman for the Anaheim park. He said that the addition of more special effects to the Magic Eye Theater in Tomorrowland--where “Captain EO” will been shown--also contributed to the delay. The Lucas “Star Wars” ride, simulating a space flight, is scheduled to open late this year.

Disneyland’s summer season runs Saturday to Sept. 6. Sunday through Friday, 9 a.m. to midnight; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 a.m.

The “Totally Minnie Parade,” which debuted in April, will make two trips down Main Street at 1:30 and 5 p.m. daily. In it, Minnie is a hip ‘80s mouse who is chosen to star in a music video directed by Donald Duck. Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Alice (in Wonderland) are her back-up singers. A park spokesman said that Minnie wears current fashions in the parade. “The things a young person might wear,” he said, “but not like Madonna.”

“The Main Street Electrical Parade” will be seen at 8:50 and 11 nightly. “Fantasy in the Sky Fireworks” follow the parade’s first run at 9:30 p.m.

Videopolis, the 1-year-old, neon-gilded dance palace now open only Saturday nights, will rock nightly beginning Saturday. The park’s “Gift Giver Extraordinaire Machine” will continue to dispense prizes for everything from a coupon for popcorn to a new car to every person who buys a ticket until Sept. 6.

Admission: adults, $17.95; children (3-12), $12.95; younger than 3 is free. Information: (213) 626-8605, Ext. 4565; (714) 999-4565.

Knott’s Berry Farm

One of the oldest theme parks in the country has added a million-dollar “cement pond” for two new water shows to go with scheduled performances by four former Olympic ice skating champions.

Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner, 1976 bronze medalists, will kick off “Knott’s Superstar Ice Spectacular” in the newly christened “Toyota Good Time Theater” with performances through June 27 and Aug. 26 through Sept. 1.

Robin Cousins, 1980 Gold Medalist, will continue Knott’s ice show July 8-27. Peggy Fleming, 1968 gold medalist, will take to the ice the first three weekends in August. Knott’s company of 18 skaters will be included in the three daily (except Mondays) 40-minute shows.

The Pacific Pavilion, a 250,000-gallon marine stadium seating 1,200, opened three weeks ago but will have a grand opening on Tuesday. Located in the “Roaring ‘20s” section, it’s the site for “Splashdance ‘86,” performed by dolphins and sea lions, and “Snoopy’s Diving Doggies,” starring six canines that do high dives to Top 40 beach music.

“Splashdance” is performed five times daily. Ditto, the Snoopy show. Mr. Schultz’s famous dog also will star in “Snoopy’s Animal Friends” with 10 “tamed” wild animals--including a timber wolf, a hawk and a deer--at the Camp Snoopy Theatre.

Admission: adults, $14.95; children (3-11), $10.95; younger than 3 is free. Information: (714) 220-5200.

Marineland

The Rancho Palos Verdes aquatic park unveils an “Ocean in Jazz,” a jazz-scored slide show of marine life, in early July. The 15-minute show will be presented in the 150-seat Cliffside Theater several times daily. About 480 pictures of marine life--pelicans, otters, dolphins, gray whales, plus man’s experience with wind surfing and scuba diving, all taken within 10 miles of the coast--will be screened to recorded tunes by New Age jazz groups.

Marineland’s Bubbles, a 24-year-old pilot whale, celebrates 20 years on stage this summer by getting a new stage set and a new script. There will of course also be the other usual whale, dolphin, sea otter and seal shows and the Baja Reef attraction, where any would-be Cousteau who weighs at least 70 pounds and measures 4-feet tall can swim in an 85-yard long horseshoe-shaped aquarium.

Marineland and four local radio stations will co-sponsor a series of musically themed weekends during the summer at the new Sky Tower Stage. Bands are scheduled to play three sets a day--1:30, 3:30 and 5:30 p.m.

KRLA-FM sponsors a ‘50s music weekend series with the Shirelles, July 4-6; the Coasters, July 12-13 and Little Anthony, July 19-20. Papa Do Ran Ran will ride a wave of ‘60s beach music July 26-27, courtesy of K-BEST. KKGO-FM will sponsor four weekends of contemporary jazz music in August and KLAC-AM will sponsor a country music show on Labor Day weekend.

Marineland is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the summer.

Admission: adults, $10.95, children (3-11) $7.95; younger than 3 is free. Information: (213) 541-5663.

Queen Mary/Spruce Goose Entertainment Center

The big news at the Long Beach berth of the stately Queen Mary and the laminated-wood Spruce Goose is “Time Voyager,” a new $2.5-million attraction being billed as “the ultimate time-travel experience.”

Already opened in the Spruce Goose Dome, “Time Voyager” is a carrousel-type module that “transports” as many as 100 tourists into the future and back during a 20-minute audio/video special-effects ride in which adventurers dodge meteors and face ion storms backtracking to such events as the only flight of Howard Hughes’ gigantic Spruce Goose in 1947.

Meanwhile, the Queen Mary will be observing its 50th anniversary with “Salute to America,” a 20-minute fireworks show, nightly at 9 p.m., July 5 to Sept. 1. “Here’s to the Lady,” a 40-minute musical revue, salutes the ship’s golden anniversary weekends until July 4, after which it will be performed daily. Shows are at 12:30, 2 and 3:30 p.m.

The entertainment complex, which includes the Queen Mary, Spruce Goose and the Londontowne shopping area, is open from 10 a.m to 6 p.m. But from July 1 to Labor Day the center’s hours will be from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Admission: Adults, $11.95; children (5-12), $7.95; younger than 5 is free. After Thursday, July 4: adults $13.95, juniors (13-17), $9.95; children and younger than 5 are the same prices.

Information: (213) 435-3511.

Raging Waters

The San Dimas park swims in familiar waters this summer--no new attractions have been added to the 44-acre aqualand. But the familiar 10 slides, picnic areas and several swimming holes are open daily through the summer.

Visitors can plummet down “Drop Out,” a seven-story slide that meets the ground at a 78 degree incline, or body surf in the “Wave Cove,” a two-acre “swimming pool” that reproduces 4-foot waves with white caps. There’s also “Raging Rivers,” one of the largest man-made, white-water raft rides in the country.

For youngsters, there’s “Li’l Raging Waters,” a group of small water slides. The park also has areas for sunbathing, volleyball and other activities. Upcoming: rock station KMET-FM will sponsor a night for local rock bands June 28.

Raging Waters is open weekdays, 10 a.m.-8 p.m., and through 9 p.m. weekends and holidays. Admission: 48 inches and taller, $10.95; from 42 to 48 inches tall, $8.95; prices increase $1 on Saturdays and Sundays. Anyone shorter than 42 inches or younger than 5 is admitted free.

Information: (714) 592-6453.

San Diego Wild Animal Park

The sprawling park, located north of San Diego in Escondido, will be open longer hours and offer an eclectic group of musical performers. Woody Herman and the Thundering Herd, Jan and Dean and the Surfaris and the Smothers Brothers are among the 15 acts scheduled to perform weekends through Sept. 1. Shows will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the outdoor Mahala Amphitheater.

The park, which opened in 1972, is home to 220 species--giraffes, lions, buffalo, elephants and four different types of rhino. Visitors can walk around freely or they can take a guided 50-minute tour on a monorail that departs about every 15 minutes.

Daily educational animal shows--designed to teach conservation methods and to show off the natural skills of animals--star elephants, household pets and birds such as Pancho the Parrot, who regularly sings on the late night talk show circuit.

Park hours are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends.

Admission: (with monorail ticket) adults $10.70; children (3-15), $6.20; (without monorail) adults, $7.95; children, $3.95. Children younger than 3 are free.

Information: (619) 480-0100.

Sea World

The aquatic park in San Diego’s Mission Bay debuts an environmental theater show called “City Streets” this summer. The home of Shamu and other dolphins also plans to repeat last year’s nightly program of music, dancing and fireworks, in addition to the regular 20-minute sea-life shows--killer whale (including Shamu), dolphin and sea lion/otter--several times a day.

“City Streets” is a 30-minute, constantly changing musical variety show set on an urban square populated by 28 shop owners, residents and workers. The audience observes it from a central vantage point as the residents--singers, dancers and specialty performers--perform variety acts and dramatic vignettes on all sides. It’s performed nightly at 7:15 and 9:15, as well as during the day.

Other programs this summer: Deejays from San Diego rock station 91X will host two one-hour shows at 8 and 10 p.m. on the “City Streets” set on Fridays.

Elsewhere, the San Diego Chamber Orchestra will perform the first of 10 Saturday concerts June 28 in the 4,800-seat Nautilus Bowl. Concert themes will range from animals to the Wild West to liberty for the Fourth of July weekend. “Space Fantasy,” the concert scheduled for July 26, will feature a laser show and music from “2001,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Star Wars.”

Admission: adults, $14.95; children (3-11), $10.95; seniors (55 and over), $11.95; younger than 3 is free. Information: (619) 224-3562.

Six Flags Magic Mountain

Officials at the home of the “white knucklers” are confident their latest roller coaster, “Shock Wave”--the first stand-up coaster in the West--will sew up this summer’s teen-age market.

“Shock Wave,” a half-mile track with loops, drops and “3 1/2 positive gees” opened May 16. The 2-minute ride averages about 55 m.p.h. after the initial 90-foot drop. Passengers then enter a vertical loop that tops out at 66 feet and enters a horizontal loop--all this while standing. “It’s terrifying,” a spokeswoman for the Valencia park said.

The coaster, which took several years to develop and five months to construct, seats 24. Riders will be locked into place with a shoulder and torso strap and positioned on an adjustable bicycle-type seat.

For the more sedate visitor, Magic Mountain has contracted the Chungqing Acrobatic Troupe from China’s Sichuan province to perform four 25-minute shows daily (except Fridays), Saturday through Sept. 1. “Water Ski Spectacular,” debuting June 28, is a 25-minute show on the park’s four-acre, man-made Mystic Lake.

The park celebrates the 50th anniversary of its Looney Tune mascots, and the first anniversary of the park’s Bugs Bunny World, with a program called “Firespell Fireworks.” The 15-minute show runs Saturdays and Sundays (daily after June 28) at 9 p.m.

Music and dance from the 1940s to present is saluted in “Music America,” a 25-minute revue, scheduled to run several times daily through the summer except Thursdays.

Magic Mountain opens daily at 10 a.m. and stays open at least until 10 p.m. (depending on the day). Admission: anyone taller than 48 inches, $15.95; under 48 inches, $7.95; seniors (age 55 and older), $8.50; younger than 2 is free. Information: (818) 992-0884 or (805) 255-4100.

Universal Studios Tour

A 30-foot replica of King Kong takes residence on Friday in what tour officials claim is one of the largest sound stages in Hollywood. Kong will be one of the largest figures in an animated display anywhere, according to a Universal spokeswoman. For his performance during the tram ride studio tour, the computer-programmed ape will devastate the Brooklyn Bridge, destroy a news helicopter, threaten the tourists and create general havoc. (See article on Page 36.)

In terms of money spent and size, Kong is the most ambitious addition ever created for the 2 1/2-hour escorted tour. The $6.5-million addition joins Jaws, the Parting of the Red Sea and eight other behind-the-scene vignettes sprawled over the 420-acre back lot off the Hollywood Freeway.

If you want to be like Tom Petty, you’ll get your chance--for a fee. Beginning Saturday, as part of the unescorted portion of the tour, visitors will be able to cut a record or make a video at a new specialty shop called “Soundtracks.” Your results will be ready within 15 minutes, according to a park spokeswoman.

As in previous years, the studio tour also offers live performances: “The A-Team Live Action Show,” “The Western Stunt Show,” “The Screen Test Comedy Theatre,” “The Adventures of Conan” and “The Animal Actors Stage.”

Admission: adults, $14.95; seniors, $11; children (3-11), $10.95; younger than 3 is free. Information: (818) 508-9600.