Good economy, pricey gas to give local parks strong ride.

A relatively strong economy will likely make this summer a good tourist season, and San Fernando Valley attractions, particularly theme parks, are unveiling new and improved tides and other features hoping to bring those visitors through their front gates.

Destinations such as Universal Studios Hollywood and Six Flags Magic Mountain are banking on a weak dollar and rising gas prices to attract both international travelers and tourists from the local area who, with gas prices predicted to rise to $4 a gallon, may prefer to stay closer to home.

Both theme parks are set to unveil new attractions as well as promotional programs as the big summer tourist season approaches.

In March, the Travel Industry Association of America reported that 81 percent of Americans planning to take a vacation during the summer have already started thinking about their longest trip, and one in three is starting the planning process earlier than normal.

"But, despite the shift back to earlier planning and booking patterns evident in our survey and also reported by many travel companies, the majority of would-be travelers this summer have not yet selected their destination or booked transportation or lodging," wrote Dr. Suzanne Cooke, senior vice president of research at TIA, which commissioned a survey of over 1,500 U.S. adults earlier this year. "Significant opportunities remain for the travel industry to influence Americans' travel choices for this summer."

Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation, said that a number of concurrent promotions could help draw more travelers' attention to the Valley.

"Universal has some new attractions, and Six Flags Magic Mountain does as well, and you have people who like those types of things." said Kyser. "What you have to do is say, 'Okay, Disneyland is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and they're doing a huge amount of promotion, you still have people coming into Southern California for it. They may be talking about going to Disneyland, but it's very easy to jump over to Universal and Six Flags."

At Six Flags Magic Mountain, a new CEO has focused on developing more activities that will appeal to entire families, with parades every day and featuring more of the superhero characters it's known for throughout the park. It's also going to offer story readings for children.

Six Flags park officials did not return phone calls, but the company has said that later this spring it will unveil a new roller coaster, Tatsu, that it is billing as the tallest and fastest coaster in the world.

Universal Studios Hollywood is also improving its Studio Tour with some of the most dramatic improvements on its Studio Tour in more than 10 years, park officials said. It's launching a new tram feature called "Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" which uses robotics and cutting-edge computer generated images to simulate street racing.

The park's new "King Kong" feature will replicate the scene in which a steamboat approaches Skull Island, home of the famous primate, in addition to its roundup of other attractions including the original sets of "War of the Worlds," "Jurassic Park: The Lost World," and several others.

Universal spokesman Eliot Sekuler said the park will offer a major cross promotion with the Los Angeles Dodgers starting in May.

The fact that the dollar is likely to decline in strength against major currencies like the Japanese Yen and the Euro will make it more attractive for international visitors to come to the Los Angeles area.

However, the basic market for attractions like Six Flags or Universal remains drive-market visitors, Kyser said. Most of the tourists who visit Los Angeles come from San Diego and the San Francisco areas, and even with higher gas prices this summer Kyser expects that local tourism could increase throughout the region.

Steve Scheck, general manager of the Sportsmen's Lodge Hotel in Studio City, agreed with Kyser.

"I think that because gas prices are through the roof, people may not have as much disposable income to pay the bills so they're going to stick closer to home, but they're still going to take a vacation," Scheck said.

Scheck said the hotel's sales staff has been following the news at Los Angeles's biggest attractions. Between LA Inc, which sends out newsletters on the newest attractions, and the marketing efforts of company's like Universal and Disney, it's easy for the sales staff to pitch group tour leaders on the latest happenings in the city.

That doesn't mean that attractions aren't pumping up their own local advertising and cross-promotional efforts, however.

Six Flags Magic Mountain will be offering a year-long Play Pass, which will allow guests free admission through the end of 2006 for $59.99, the price of one day's admission, without any blackout dates.