Region's theme parks ready to ride.

The battle for the entertainment dollar is a matter of Chaos vs. Popeye's Seaport vs. Whitewater Bay.

With school out for summer, the amusement park business hits full stride. For the next two months, parks will promote themselves endlessly to fun-goers everywhere.

Four local parks - Darien Lake Theme Park in Genesee Country, Martin's Fantasy Island in Grand Island, Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ont., and Paramount Canada's Wonderland in suburban Toronto - have started their seasonal blitz. And this year a new player has entered the picture: Cedar Point Theme Park in Sandusky, not far from Cleveland.

Also competing for entertainment and money are summer movies, local museums, zoos and sporting events, like Buffalo Bisons baseball games.

"It really isn't so much a matter of discretionary income as it is discretionary time," said Linda Taylor, Darien Lake director of marketing. "People have less time to spend together, …