Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts Resumes Operations, Welcomes Back Guests as National Parks Reopen

BUFFALO, N.Y., Oct. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts has opened all of its lodging, dining, educational, and recreational services at each national park in which it operates, including Yosemite, Shenandoah, Yellowstone, and Sequoia national parks.

Employees at these locations have been called back to accommodate and serve guests.

"We've been ready and waiting for this day, so it's great to have our reservation lines ringing off the hook with people already booking their parks vacations," said Rick Abramson, president of Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts.

"Our parks staffs have endured a lot of uncertainty and hardship over the last few weeks, and I want to thank them for their dedication. They were out there today at Yosemite, Shenandoah, Yellowstone and other locations working in the early hours of the morning to begin reopening restaurants, stores and lodges so people can once again have special experiences and enjoy the majesty of our national parks," Abramson said. 

• Most Delaware North-operated lodging and dining services at national parks opened today. This includes Yosemite National Park in California and Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, which opens in time for leaf viewing season.
• The National Park Service approved the opening of locations accessed without gate fees, including Peaks of Otter Lodge in Virginia and Kalaloch Lodge in Olympic National Park, earlier this week. General Stores located in the Grand Canyon in Arizona also reopened earlier this week when the state took over operation of the national park.
• In West Yellowstone, Mont., Holiday Inn West Yellowstone, Explorer Cabins, and Gray Wolf Inn remained open. Yellowstone General Stores, located within the park, have reopened. Yellowstone Park Hotel, which is operated seasonally, will remain closed until next spring.
• Tenaya Lodge, located just outside of Yosemite, remained open throughout the government shutdown.

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, which Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts operates for NASA, remained open during the government shutdown and will resume offering bus tours onto Kennedy Space Center to the Apollo/Saturn V Center on Friday. The bus tours had been suspended during the government shutdown because Kennedy Space Center was closed. The visitor complex, including the new Space Shuttle Atlantis attraction, Astronaut Encounter, Angry Birds Space Encounter, Shuttle Launch Experience, and U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, remained open for visitors during the shutdown. Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is not funded through appropriated or taxpayer funds.

To celebrate the reopening of its national park locations, Delaware North welcomes returning and first-time guests to call 1-877-600-4260 or visit the location websites listed below for information about planning a trip, special rates and special events at various national park locations throughout the country.

• West Yellowstone Park Gate Lodges:
  http://www.visityellowstonepark.com/rebook.aspx
• Kalaloch Lodge, Olympic National Park: http://www.thekalalochlodge.com/75for75
• Sequoia National Park: http://www.visitsequoia.com/open
• Yosemite National Park:
• http://www.yosemitepark.com/vintners-holidays.aspx,
• Shenandoah National Park: http://www.goshenandoah.com/Specials-and-Packages.aspx
• Peaks of Otter, Blue Ridge Parkway: http://www.peaksofotter.com/Specials-and-Packages.aspx
• Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite: http://www.tenayalodge.com/YosemiteOpen

About Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts
Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts is an industry leader providing Stewardship and Hospitality in Special Places ^SM, with hotel, retail, food service, recreation and transportation operations at historic and scenic properties in North America and Australia. The company operates Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and in Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Sequoia and Yosemite national parks, including The Ahwahnee and other Yosemite lodges; Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite & the Cottages at Tenaya Lodge; Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa in British Columbia; Niagara Falls State Park; The Lodge at Geneva-on-the-Lake in Ohio; Gideon Putnam Resort in Saratoga; Holiday Inn West Yellowstone, Gray Wolf Inn & Suites and Yellowstone Park Hotel. The company also owns and operates five luxury resorts in Australia: Lizard Island Resort, Heron Island Resort, Wilson Island Resort, Kings Canyon Resort and El Questro Homestead and Wilderness Park. To learn more about Delaware North Companies' hospitality management expertise, visit www.experiencednc.com.

SOURCE Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts