by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Workspace: Adventure Landing on Beach Boulevard
If you live at the Beach, it’s hard to believe Adventure Landing in Jacksonville Beach has been open for 15 years. It’s even harder to remember what was at the site before the family entertainment center opened.
The answer is not much, but that’s not true today.
As of this weekend, Adventure Landing will be open seven days a week through the end of September. That means thousands of people will enjoy everything from a nearly vertical water half-pipe to a state-of-the-art arcade to go-karts to miniature golf.
Don’t forget to play laser tag, enjoy the waves in the wave pool, float the lazy river, feed the alligators or have lunch. At the family entertainment center, there’s something for everyone, and it’s Julie Dion’s job to market the 20-acre park that opened June 10, 1995.
But the Beach Boulevard park isn’t Dion’s only “client.” Her office is across the street at Beach Marine, from which she markets the Orange Park and St. Augustine Adventure Landings.
“We have 10 locations across the country,” she said. “One in Dallas, three in North Carolina, three in New York and three in Florida.”
Dion explained that each park is similar, but they do vary regionally. Also, Adventure Landing is two parks within one. The water park requires a one-time entry fee (there are season passes) while the rest of the park is “pay-as-you-play.”
Dion said about 150,000 people a year visit the water park. However, because it’s difficult to determine how many patronize the pay-as-you-play side, it’s hard to determine the park’s annual attendance.
During the summer, Dion said the park employs about 350 people, many of whom are part-time or seasonal.
“We are real pleased with our staff,” said Dion, who has been employed by Adventure Landing since 1997, with the exception of a few years in which she and her husband opened and operated Six Burner, a restaurant in Atlantic Beach that’s now the home of Culhane’s Irish Pub.
The original owner of the park, Hank Woodburn, had sold the park, but eventually bought it back. Dion said Woodburn called and asked if she wanted her job back. At the time, she had two small children, was pregnant and owned a restaurant. She took the job and has been there since. Her kids are stoked about that.
“They always want to come here,” she said.
In addition to general admission, the park hosts birthday parties, reunions, company picnics, church and school groups, morale boosting outings and corporate events. Dion said Adventure Landing is a great complement to the area’s golf courses, beaches, museums and other attractions.
“The diversity Jacksonville offers is a nice package,” she said. “It shows the collective effort that drives tourism.”
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