VALDOSTA — Wild Adventures has a new captain sailing its ship under a new flag, and the stormy seas that have plagued the park during the recent legal proceedings should turn to calmer waters in 2008 as a result.

New General Manager Bob Montgomery, a Canadian who left his post as chief operating officer of Ride The Ducks in Branson, Mo. to take the wheel at Wild Adventures, explained how new park owners Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation are righting the ship that was mired in the financial woes of its recent past.

“The people of this area want us to maintain the family aspects of the park and they want to know if they can trust us,” Montgomery said. “If they buy annual passes, will they be open?”

The answer is a resounding yes, Montgomery said.

Herschend is investing $3 million in capital in the park in 2008, including the addition of a new ride, a greatly enhanced Kidzpalooza festival in the summer, 300 new animals and additional concerts. That $3 million doesn’t include the thousands of dollars Herschend has spent on repairs and other work to bring the park up to company standards, Montgomery said.

When Herschend moved in two months ago, 20 of the 54 rides were down for repairs. Now there are four rides down, awaiting parts from Europe. It may take several weeks to repair the popular Cheetah roller coaster. The coaster and one other ride are the only two that won’t be repaired by the end of the year, Montgomery said.

“We are not buying this park and intending to flip it or dump the assets,” he said. “We keep our properties that we acquire, reinvest in them and build that business up and continue to operate it.”

Other plans include the addition of more trees for shade in the park, vastly improved food concessions and the addition of other amenities that will take the park beyond its original condition.

“You are going to love what you see happen out here,” Montgomery said.

He has a track record of achievement in the field. Prior to his stint with Ride The Ducks, Montgomery was vice president of Branson Attractions, which Herschend owns, and managed Lego theme parks in England and California. Montgomery has three children, the youngest a high school senior. The wife and kids will relocate to Valdosta soon.

“We’re waiting on our daughter to graduate high school before they move here,” he said. “We’re almost at the stage of being empty nesters.”

Besides Wild Adventures, Herschend owns several other attractions in Branson, and operates Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. as well as Stone Mountain Park in Atlanta, and has just acquired two aquariums, one in Camden, N.J. and the other in Kentucky.

Montgomery promised that Herschend has big plans for a much brighter future at the park which draws an estimated 1 million visitors to the Valdosta area, provides local hotels with 20 percent or more of their room business and adds millions of dollars in positive impacts to the local economy.

“Valdosta is a growing area that has a strong family base that mimics the markets we have been in the past, including Dollywood in Pigeon Forge and Branson,” Montgomery said. “Those have very similar demographics to this area, so Valdosta was a perfect fit for us.”

The company moved into Wild Adventures in September after buying it at auction. As the property was under bankruptcy proceedings, Herschend officials were only able to gain a minor assessment of the park’s condition. That prohibited the buyers from setting a budget for the upgrades and repairs that would be needed up front, Montgomery said.

“We were here numerous times over August and September and looked at things the best we could,” Montgomery said. “We felt comfortable that we understood the overall market because we did a lot of research and felt comfortable that what we do will work here well. When you buy a property from bankruptcy, there will be a few surprises. But we knew that coming in. There wasn’t any existing research for the key elements of the park. But we have been able to at least capture the basics.”

He described the company’s first 8 weeks running the park as “hectic,” and announced that the park will close for six weeks so that repairs and upgrades can be completed with the least impairment to park guests.

The park will be closed from January 1 to February 15 and will re-open February 16 with new features and an all-star concert featuring Dierks Bentley and Luke Bryan.

Herschend is family owned, but is managed in concert with an independent, seven-member board of directors who can approve or deny family requests.

Coincidentally, Valdostan Rusty Griffin serves on Herschend’s board and has been a member for 15 years. Griffin’s presence at an invitation-only tour of the park by Valdosta and Lowndes County elected officials a week after the company took over drew some confused looks, Montgomery said.

“They all looked at Rusty like, why are you here?” Montgomery said with a chuckle. “They didn’t realize he sits on the company’s board.”

Two of the board members are from the Herschend family, and the other five are not. I’s independent oversight has helped to keep the Herschend company on a solid financial track, Montgomery said.

“The quality of people who sit on that board has really made a difference,” he said. “The family doesn’t control that board at all. It operates like a board from any other company. The family may want to do something, but if the board doesn’t believe it’s a good financial move or one that will go over with the public, the board will and has said no. There is a great level of accountability. ”

Montgomery summarized Herschend’s activities and plans to improve Wild Adventures since its arrival:

• Employee wages: Starting employees received an automatic 20 percent pay hike, from their previous rate of $6 per hour to $7.25 an hour. Salaries across the board were increased at varying degrees, Montgomery said. The park employs 110 full time workers and numerous part timers. “One of the things I realized was we were well below the market in most of the positions we have,” he said. “(The wage increases) will attract better people and lift our service standards quite a bit.”

Herschend re-located a total of five employees to Wild Adventures after the purchase, Montgomery said.

• A new ride: The Rattler, a thrill ride that swings 240 degrees in motion and spins at the same time, will be operational in the park’s Wild West area hopefully by the February 16, 2008 kickoff.

• Food: “Food is not at the level we like to see it,” Montgomery said. “We’re trying to improve that a lot. Research says food here did not score well. At our other parks, food is exceptional. There’s a lot we can do. At our other parks, the strategy is to make food so good, it’s something to talk about.”

• Concerts: “I’d like to book James Taylor,” Montgomery said half-jokingly, half-seriously. “Or the Moody Blues.”

Concerts, Montgomery acknowledged, are one of the most important factors in attracting sales of the park’s annual passes. “We know that clearly is important. Our idea is to keep the same number of concerts, but also try to bring in bigger name acts when we can. We have several bids out right now. We’ll announce those as they come to fruition.”

Meanwhile, Herschend has added Sugerland, the top duo at this year’s Country Music Awards, to the 2008 lineup (March 8), as well as Charlie Daniels, .38 Special and Scooter Jennings (May 8) and top Christian artists Jeremy Camp, tobyMac (sic) and Matthew West (March 15). To see the most up-to-date concert listings, go to www.wildadventures.net.

• Shade: “We’re going to add some elements — more shade, more landscaping, more trees,” Montgomery said. “We’re doing this now.” (He points at an open paved walkway near the Bug’s Alley). “This won’t even look the same when we’re done. It’ll be much nicer, much more pleasant. This is a ‘hot’ park and we’re going to try to do things to cool it down. More trees and less pavement with smaller pathways will really help make this a more intimate, enjoyable park. We can’t do it overnight but we will evolve to that. Closing for six weeks will help us get a lot of this done.”

• Festivals: “We can do a lot more with the festivals here. Festivals are one of Herschend’s strong points at other parks so we’ll definitely be looking at what we can do to offer more at Wild Adventures,” Montgomery said.

For starters, Veggie Tales is coming to Wild Adventures, debuting March 22 with “Silly Sing-A-Longs,” a collection of laugh-out-loud lyrics and music that allows the audience to join in.

More fun follows with the Kidzpalooza Festival, which will be greatly enhanced when it begins June 6. The fun runs through August 3. This year, kids can enjoy “Ocean Adventures,” which includes a comedic sea lion show, a shark encounter and a hands-on petting experience with live stingrays. Also, “Art Adventures” offers a crafty scavenger hunt full of all new projects and activities.

• Admission rates: Daily admission and season pass prices for 2008 will be kept at 2007 rates. Regular admission is $45 for ages 10-54 and $40 for ages 3-9 and 55 and over. Both prices include the Second Day Free discount offer.

Passport 2008 is $70. It offers unlimited admissions through Dec. 31, 2008, including Splash Island Water Park, rides, animals, shows and concerts, Kidzpalooza, Haunted Adventure Nights and Christmas Wonderland. Regardless of when purchased, the Passport is good only until Dec. 31, 2008. (If purchased in March 2008, it’s good until Dec. 31, 2008, etc.)

Gold Passport 2008 has been reduced to $90. It offers the same benefits of Passport, but adds in free parking and is good for a year from the month of purchase. (If purchased in March 2008, it’s good until March 2009, etc.)

Both passes can be purchased at $5 discounts if bought by December 31. Also, pass holders will enjoy 10 percent off season concert reserve seats and 50 percent admission discounts when visiting other Herschend Family Entertainment properties.

• Park growth: Wild Adventures uses 150 acres of land under current operations, but if attendance grew in years to come, Herschend owns an additional 120 acres “that we haven’t even touched yet,” Montgomery said. “We’ve got a lot of space to grow here.” The park serves a customer base that has a 300-mile radius.

As more and more attractions are added, that 1 million annual attendance rate is anticipated to grow as well, Montgomery said. “We think the market can be grown significantly. It may be a few years down the road. Right now we’re just concentrating on serving our existing market in a new and exciting way.”

• Four-laning Cylattville Road’s two lanes for the four-mile stretch from I-75 to the park entrance: New park owners haven’t had time to talk to Georgia Department of Transportation officials yet, but Lowndes County officials may be addressing the issue again soon. “Our evaluation of the property shows we need more parking spaces in order to manage the attendance we generate here, so we’re concentrating on that right now,” Montgomery said. “As more development comes down that road, it will surely require widening. We’d love to have it.”

Montgomery said Wild Adventures’ beginnings as a small petting zoo parallels the start of Herschend’s first property — Silver Dollar City in Branson. Silver Dollar City started out as Marvel Cave, a small cave tour operation. In its first days, visitors went down into the cave on ladders.

“It’s a natural cave that is still part of Silver Dollar City,” Montgomery said. “It is really spectacular. There’s waterfalls. We do concerts down there. As the cave became more popular, they added rides and shops, and it became Silver Dollar City.” (see www.silverdollarcity.com)

All in all, Montgomery says he’s excited about the vast potential that Wild Adventures offers.

“Our number one goal is to bring quality family entertainment to south Georgia and north Florida,” he said. “But the potential is there to serve an even larger market and bring more and more people to the Valdosta area.”