Amusement theme parks

This year will see a huge boom in theme park construction that will add more dollars to the US economy

There is no doubt that one industry where America stands out worldwide is in the category of theme parks and this year, we will see a huge boost as new attractions open that will literally make people starry-eyed.

Starry-eyed as in Star Wars.

The Walt Disney Corp. is spending billions to open two new Star Wars themed parks.

Smartly, the new parks will be nearly identical. They are both called Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. They both occupy about 14-acres of land.

But the attractions promise to pack in lots of power in those spaces.

The big features will be the rides called Millenium Falcon: Smugglers Run and the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.

Visitors will also be able to check out the outer space town of Batuu, meet Chewbacca, drink blue milk in the Black Spire Outpost and train to be a Jedi.

The first Star Wars park will open at Disneyland in California this summer. The other will open

Theme parks are growing and so is attendance which provides a positive economic impact for the US

When people gather in line for the newest monster roller coaster or flock to an amusement park named after the latest superhero, few realize the enormous economic contribution theme parks make to the American economy.

It's encouraging. In this global battle for jobs, theme parks are one of this country's hot growth sectors.

And attendance is growing. In 2014, there were an estimated 300 million visitors to America's theme parks. That's a 4% increase over the prior year

This fervor for theme parks is creating a ton of economic activity. In fact, there are 17, count them, 17 new roller coasters alone that opened in the US this year.

According to the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, there are about 400 amusement parks and attractions in the US. The industry employs about 600,000 people year-round.

What's really great is that considering America's huge trade deficit