An Amusing
New Projects:
by
Michael Getlan

New York-New York has received a steady stream of plaudits since opening early last month - and deservedly so. Joint owners MGM Grand, Inc., appear to have gotten maximum bank for their 460 million bucks, creating a project that has generated so much interest that a steady stream of visitors for the rest of the year seems assured.

Success, therefore, will hinge on the level of satisfaction that these first-time visitors experience. It will be interesting, from an industry perspective, to see what role New York-New York's substantial amusement component, in the form of its 32,000-square-foot Coney Island Emporium, plays in all of this. If initial impressions mean anything, New York-New York looks to be the project that finally got the gaming-amusement mix right. The second-floor arcade area, the brainchild of Amusement Consultants, Ltd., a New Rochelle, NY - based firm, is an excellent complement to the entire project, dovetailing nicely with its overall theme and serving as an ideal link between the gaming space downstairs and the upstairs entrance to New York-New York's "Coney Island - style" roller coaster.

Learning from past mistakes.

Not so long ago MGM was reportedly losing up to $1 million a month on its now deceased theme park across the street from New York-New York. Such experiences make the average company leery of ever wading in similar waters again. The original plans for New York-New York called for the second-floor area to be a catering hall, according to Michael Getlan, director of operations with Amusement Consultants. Those plans were immediately shelved when Getlan's company presented New York-New York Hotel & Casino with the Coney Island Emporium scheme, a sure sign, among other things, that MGM was able to take some positive lessons away from its bruising theme park experience.

Chief among these is to give customers a unique experience not readily available elsewhere in Las Vegas and, indeed, the world of leisure entertainment at large. As MGM discovered in its pre-City of Entertainment days, "Disneyland-Lite" just doesn't cut it with the theme-park savvy crowd that tends to visit Las Vegas these days. Amusements must be sufficiently new and varied to merit a repeat visit. Coney Island Emporium achieves this with the help of some 22 midway game stands - or "traditional skill games themed to a Coney Island motif," as Getlan put it - some 150 coin-operated games, a "Gridlock Alert" bumper car ride, a 3,000-square-foot laser tag area with a 1940s New York theme, the world's first virtual reality Pac Man game from Virtuality Entertainment and several first-ever products from Sega Enterprises.

This formidable array of amusements should help New York-New York satisfy some of the fundamental requirements of modern mega-resort success. One is to maximize the amount of time customers spend under your roof. Another is to demonstrate value. The skill games are a perfect way for gamblers and non-gamblers alike to blow off some steam in an entertaining low-stakes setting where players feel they have some control over the outcome. Factor in the project's high-quality food and entertainment offer - that Vice dude is amazing - and the image of value is secure. It's an ideal way to balance out the effect of the high average room rates and the high-ticket retail shops that figure to deliver buckets of cash to New York-New York's bottom line.

Editor, February 1997
© 1997 Amusement Consultants, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.