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US News:
---- UNITED STATES DEVELOPMENT NEWS ----
(5/16/13) Southern California will host their first Halloween convention this summer called ScareLA, taking place (MORE...)
(5/16/13) The local news reports that New Jersey’s Casino Pier is adding a new flat ride to the park this year called Super Storm. (MORE...)
(5/14/13) While the plans once in place for Dolly Parton to partner with Gaylord Entertainment to build a water/snow park in Nashville collapsed (MORE...)
(5/3/13) Alabama - I’m not sure I’d put money on this project actually happeneing, but the Hollywood Reporter claims that the Blue Collar Comedy trio (MORE...)
(4/23/13) Bad news for those looking for something new to do at Myrtle Beach… the proposed summer long carnival project planned for the old MB Pavilion site (MORE...)
 Alabama - (5/3/13) I’m not sure I’d put money on this project actually happeneing, but the Hollywood Reporter claims that the Blue Collar Comedy trio (Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy) are preparing to open their own $200 million theme park in Foley, Alabama. The overall 500 acre project is said to include hotels, an RV resort, a retail area and events center in addition to the Blue Collar Country theme park project. I’d be skeptical of the project anyway… but the Alabama location makes me really not have a lot of faith in it as the region does not have the best record when it comes to theme parks. (The downfall of Visionland / Alabama Adventures into a waterpark comes to mind, plus the whole region as a whole wasn’t exactly friendly to Jazzland either back in the pre Six Flags days…) So far the area has mostly been friendly to small waterparks, but not full scale theme parks. We’ll keep an eye on this as it develops for sure.
Arizona - (1/2/13) Park World reports a new coaster is coming to Arizona in 2013. The new coaster will be an 800 foot long Chance Big Dipper kiddie coaster and open in the Wildlife World and Aquarium attraction where it will travel through an animal exhibit. The attraction has also installed a CP Huntington train ride not too long ago as well.
California - (5/16/13) Southern California will host their first Halloween convention this summer called ScareLA, taking place on August 10-11 at LAMart in downtown Los Angeles. The event hopes to bring together the local haunt community, professionals, artists and enthusiasts. Participants from local area attractions will include: Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights overlord John Murdy, Brooke Walters (Knott’s Scary Farm haunt designer), and other players from Blackout Haunted House, Reign of Terror, Haunted Play Delusions, Chambers of the Mausoleum, The House at Haunted Hill, LA Haunted Hayride, The Great Horror Campout, Blumhouse of Horrors and many more. For more information on how you can buy tickets to attend, visit the official ScareLA website.
(4/12/13) Remember the old Movieland Wax Museum in Buena Park? I do… just under a mile down the street from Knott’s Berry Farm, not far from Medieval Times? This was the world’s premier Hollywood style wax museum and a staple Southern California attraction for many years. Ever since it closed in 2005 the massive building has sat empty, but no more!
Two thirds of the building has now been leased out (for 21 months) and will become home to two new attractions starting this summer, Bodies – The Exhibition and Titanic – The Experience.
(4/5/13) The first episode of “The Lost Parks of Northern California” can now be found online, or just watch it below.
(3/22/13) Growing up in Southern California I remember seeing crazy commercials on TV as a kid for an odd waterpark creation out in the Mojave Desert called Lake Dolores back in the mid ‘70’s to 80’s. Well before the modern fiberglass waterslides of today were created, this desert campground resort had built their own creations out of steel that would run straight down a hillside and into a spring fed lake. This was the waterpark of the “extreme”, long before the modern extreme movement of today. I remember the ads showed off a particularly weird “V” shaped slide that you rode down STANDING UP, ending several feet up in the air above the lake’s surface, catapulting riders into the air for a moment of flight before plunging them into the water below. They also had a zipline slide that went down to the lake, but ended with the riders being dropped from a height of about 20 feet, as well as a waterfront trapeze setup to perform flips and tricks before tossing yourself into the drink. With the campground popular amongst the early California desert riding motocross fans, I guess it was no wonder that Lake Dolores offered such extreme and unique thrills. (I found a couple of ‘80s commericals for the park you might enjoy and embedded them below.)
While Lake Dolores closed sometime in the late 80’s, it was reborn as a modern style waterpark with a 50’s theme and brightly colored waterslides called Rock-A-Hoola in 1998. Anyone who made the long drive through the desert on I-15 from SoCal to Las Vegas was certain to have seen it from the freeway... it was hard to miss. It was only open for about three years before they filed Bankrupcy and closed it once again. It was later sold to another group who attempted to run it under the name Discovery Waterpark between 2002 and 2004, but once again it failed and has been closed ever since.
Since then many of the park’s slides were sold off to other attractions and the remains of the once colorful park have been taking a beating from the sands and harsh desert sun. The bland wasteland of a park was given a little extra color recently when a New York based grafitti group called TrustoCorp decided to pay old Lake Dolores a little visit and turn Rock-A-Hoola into TrustoLand while accomparied by a camera crew to document it all. Check out the last view below to see their work and see what’s left of Rock-A-Hoola.
(2/22/13) The local news reports that city leaders in Manteca, CA will be heading out to see the Great Wolf Lodge in Great Mound, WA to see if they can keep a proposal to build one alive and the best way to financed it.
(12/14/12) The local news reports that ground has been broken at the former Wild Animal Park (now: San Diego Zoo Safari Park…) on a new 5-acre Sumatran tiger exhibit. The new exhbit will be named the “Tull Family Tiger Trail” in honor of Thomas Tull, CEO of Legendary Entertainment and his family who have donated a significant amount to the project it seems. The exhibit will be a forested habitat with close-up viewing areas of the tigers with rocks for climbing and swimming pods and more. Look for this to be complete by Spring 2014.
(11/26/12) Construction work is now said to be under way for something new at Golfland SunSplash in Roseville, CA. You can see the current progress photos posted to ThemeParkOverload.
(10/17/12) The San Diego Zoo is once again looking to solve their parking woes by reviving a previously approved plan to build a parking garage for a cost of about $200 million. The downside would be that guests to the Zoo and nearby Balboa Park would have to pay to park there, as opposed to the free lots that are in use now. But when the zoo’s current flat lot of 2,500 spaces gets full on at least 100 days each year, it seems clear that there is a need to add additional parking somehow.
Florida - (3/27/13) The clock is counting down quickly for the Dania Beach Hurricane, as the owners have confirmed the May 28th demolition date. Right now they are willing to even donate the ride to anyone who has the ability to haul it away, but so far no one has made a commitment. The article does mention that a group in France are still crunching the numbers to see if it is worth the effort to transport and rebuild the coaster overseas. Any ideas who this may be?
(3/25/13) I’ve been told that demolition will begin on the closed Dania Beach Hurricane coaster starting on May 28th. Tick Tock… Tick Tock… such a shame, it wasn’t a bad woodie at all.
(1/25/13) The state of Florida has agreed to take Palace Entertainment up on their offer and will let them out of their lease on Silver Springs on October 1st, 2013, thus allowing the property to become part of the state parks system. Previously the lease was not set to expire until the end of 2029.
(1/18/13) Palace Entertainment has offered to pay $4 million to terminate their lease on Silver Springs before the end of the year. If the state approves the deal, the Department of Environmental Protection would assume control of the 242 acre park starting October 1st. The “amusement” style aspects of the park would then be stripped away and Silver Springs would reopen as part of the nearby Silver River State Park. So if you want to get a last look at Silver Springs as it is today, you’ve got until September 30th to do so.
(12/31/12) Miami seems to be ready to transform the area around the Miami Metro Zoo into their own mini version of Orlando’s International Drive, and is seeking developers from the private and public sectors to pitch a variety of concepts for a new 400-acre “entertainment area” that will run between the Zoo and the Gold Coast Railroad Museum. Proposals are due by April 19th. Click here for details.
Georgia - (4/2/13) Remember that mini waterpark attraction coming to the Malibu Grand Prix outside Atlanta I mentioned last month? According to this news report, this is just phase 1 of 3 in a multi-year plan. So I’d expect to see more waterpark style fun added here between now and 2015.
(3/22/13) A new mini waterpark is coming to the greater Atlanta area at the Malibu Grand Prix in Norcross. The fun center has closed the classic Grand Prix track that it was named for and is quickly replacing it with a small waterpark complex called Buccaneer Cove. According to the concept art, this will mainly be a large five-story water fortress structure and surrounding splash zone, with several waterslides built in. The surrounding area will also offer private cabanas for rent. (Sounds like Palace Entertainment is taking a page out of the Cowabunga Bay playbook if you ask me.)
(10/5/12) Got a spare million bucks and the desire to own your very own replica of Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion? This unique creation in the greater Atlanta, GA area is now up for sale. Check it out… it’s simply amazing, including the custom special effects built into the first floor bathroom!
(10/1/12) I haven’t heard any solid details about this, but it appears a Minneapolis based development group is looking to turn a site along I-95 in Georgia, about 40 miles north of Jacksonville, FL, into a new theme park and entertainment resort attraction called Kingsland Entertainment and Adventure Resort. Anyone know any more details about this plan, which is claiming they could open their first phase by late 2014.
Indiana - (9/11/12) I’m told that the SkyQuest project is indeed still alive at the Indianapolis Zoo, it was just delayed a bit longer than expected for budget / funding reasons with the rest of the International Orangutan Center project. I’m happy to report that the project just broke ground last week with a timeline to be open by May 2014. SkyQuest has since been renamed as “The Skyline” and new concept art can be seen here.
(9/10/12) Anyone know what ever happened to the SkyQuest attraction that should have opened at the Indianapolis Zoo this year? I haven’t heard even a single peep about this project since it was announced at IAAPA in 2010. Did it die or was it delayed?
(11/17/10) US Thrillrides has announced the sale of a SkyQuest attraction to the Indianapolis Zoo for the 20 12 season at the IAAPA show. SkyQuest is the new concept from Bill Kitchen, which will be the “crown” of the zoo’s new Orangutan habitat, giving each rider a very up close experience and birds eye view of the animals. The 15-20 minute long adventure will load four passengers into gondolas, similar to a hot-air balloon basket, and move a mild 1mph through the attraction. The artwork sent out was a little raw, but it reminds me of a mini Skyride style system. You can see some other odd artwork for the ride system at the official US Thrillrides website, where they show off a more thrilling version that has riders strapped into a Skycoaster style harness, as well as options to hook up promotional “banners” to make their way around the track as well.
Kentucky - (11/21/12) We’ve heard on and off about Kentucky’s planned Ark Encounter biblical park proposed for a site about 40 miles south of Cincinatti, but now as the $50 million project gets closer to actually being built, the local news takes a look at the project, some models built showing off the layout, and talks with the people about just how they plan on building a 550 foot long, 85 foot wide, 51 foot tall Ark. They’ve even got a scale mockup of one of the Ark’s 144 storage bays.
Massachusetts - (2/25/13) Pictures of the new waterslide pieces on site at Water Wizz have been posted to SFNE Online this week.
(2/21/13) A reader who passed near Water Wizz, a small waterpark in East Wareham, MASS reported seeing blue and orange new slide pieces on site. Looks like a new slide is on the way.
New Jersey - (5/16/13) The local news reports that New Jersey’s Casino Pier is adding a new flat ride to the park this year called Super Storm. The portable ride has arrived on site and is said to be a Technical Park pendulum ride where riders are seating in a circle, facing inwards and spun while swinging back and forth, eventually going upside-down.
(4/23/13) A video showing off the demolition of the Ferris Wheel at Funtown Pier has been posted to CoasterFusion. Essentially they ran a cable from one of the supports to a bulldozer and pulled until the support bent out to the point where the wheel couldn’t stand and collapsed upon the beach, smacking into what looked like an S&S tower on the way down as well.
(4/19/13) The Ferris Wheel left standing at Funtown Pier was demolished on Thursday afternoon. You can see some before and after pictures at CoasterFusion who was not aware at the time if it fell or was taken down, but other sources on Twitter have confirmed that it was demolished on purpose.
(3/23/13) Another sad days for the Keansburg amusement park, as noticed in the previous update, they are removing their Wildcat roller coaster after it suffered half a million in damages due to the storm. They have since sold it to a state fair who will also pay to have it restored and repaired. Keansburg will then replace it with a Pinfari looping coaster, smaller and not quite as long as the Wildcat. (and if it holds true to other Pinfari I’ve been on, the restraints might bash you upside the head. Ouch! Sorry, but Pinfari is not known for their smooth rides.)
(3/22/13) Bad news for Keansburg Park in New Jersey. According to this article, the park’s vintage Spook House attraction was completely destroyed by Hurricane Sandy.
(2/22/13) This is your last chance to see the Star Jet coaster surrounded by the ocean waves as the iconic image of Hurricane Sandy will soon be removed. The owners of Casino Pier have signed a deal with a marine salvage company to begin work in about 10 days to remove the coaster with the aid of a water-borne crane.
(2/11/13) While I posted a link to an article talking about all the damage done to the Seaside Heights area, where many attractions will still be making numerous repairs during the 2013 season, it is also worth mentioning that most of the attractions in Wildwood, Atlantic City and Ocean City should not only reopen in 2013, but feature new capital improvements.
While we’re on the subject, CoasterFusion took a private tour of Casino Pier in Seaside Heights this week where they do hope to rebuild and reopen in sections when they can. I’ve heard that Funtown Pier is still unsure if they will rebuild and reopen or not.
(2/7/13) A good article about what you can expect from the Jersey shore as far as amusement attractions go in 2013. Many attractions are in the process of repairing and rebuilding, so in general you can expect to find fewer rides running this year. Click here to read the whole article.
(1/9/13) I figured it was only a matter of time until someone did what we were all thinking… and paddled themselves out to the remains of the Star Jet coaster sitting in the ocean waves off the shore of New Jersey. It finally happened… and police were called out to arrest a 38-year old who paddled out in a canoe to the coaster, complete with about 2-3 days worth of supplies. He climbed to the top of the lift hill and hung an American flag before being taken into custody for trespassing.
(1/7/13) According to an anonymous source, the Wild Mouse from Casino Pier was undamaged from the story, but is being removed from the remains of the pier to allow any and all repairs to be made. If Casino Pier reopens, the coaster can also reopen, though they may also opt to sell the coaster and replace it with something new when the time is right.
(1/4/13) The latest updates from the Jersey Shore have been posted to CoasterFusion this week. Workers have begun clean up and removal work at Casino and Funtown Pier. Meanwhile the pieces of the Wild Mouse than survived the storm is also being removed, but the pieces just laid out in an empty lot. Not sure if they are planning on saving the ride or scrapping it.
(12/20/12) CoasterFusion posted an update a week ago about the status of Casino Pier in the weeks that followed Hurricane Sandy, showing off some before and after pictures, and more current pictures as they have removed almost all the rides from the pier in order to determine the stability of the existing structure.
Next we head off to the FunTown Pier which sustained even worse damage, wrecking the entire structure and leaving them with an estimated $3 million pricetag just to clear it all up. Note that the $3 million was just the clean up and remove all the wreckage… and not rebuild any of it. No telling yet what will replace these attractions as they hope to rebuild the Jersey Shore for the future.
(12/7/12) A new coaster is coming to New Jersey... this time to Funplex in Mount Laurel, who can be seen adding a wild mouse style coaster in the photo posted here. According to RCDB, they will call it the FunCoaster when it opens in 2013. I’m really not sure who is making this one however, anyone know more?
(11/28/12) The local news reports that it has been decided that the remains of the submerged coaster WILL be removed. Seaside Heights Mayor admits that his idea about keeping it as a tourist attraction “was not the brightest comment.” Construction on a new boardwalk is expected to begin in January and hopefully finished in time for Memorial Day.
New York - (3/4/13) The local news reports that ground breaking has begun for the new Staten Island Ferris Wheel project, which hopes to be the biggest giant wheel in the world (625 feet) when it opens in 2015. Full scale construction wont start for awhile as the crews are currently starting with soil tests to determine the placement and style of foundation needed for the huge wheel.
(9/28/12) New York Mayor Bloomberg appeared at an announcement with the heads of New York Wheel LLC to announce the plans for the New York Wheel, a new giant wheel which promises to be the world’s biggest when it opens. The New York Wheel will be built on the north-eastern side of Staten Island and stand 625 feet tall. It will have 36 capsules, each able to hold 40 passengers, and take 38-minutes to make a complete trip. You can find the official website for the project at NewYorkWheel.com.
I have two thoughts about this project. For starters, it seems odd that they would try to build this, when I thought there was still a plan in place to build a giant wheel at the American Dream Meadowlands project (aka: Xanadu). Second… why call it the New York Wheel? Why not just paint it red and call it The Big Apple?
(8/6/12) The people behind WonderWorks, famous for their interactive attractions housed inside giant themed buildings make to look like they were flipped upside-down in Orlando, Pigeon Forge, Panama City and Myrtle Beach will be opening a fifth location later this year in Syracuse, NY. Unfortunately this new location will be located indoors, on the third floor of the Destiny USA mall, so they wont have the same iconic exterior that they are know for. But, in order to provide the same experience, all guests entering this WonderWorks will do so through an upside-down themed room, followed by a trip through “the inversion tunnel” to properly align everyone for the adventure’s inside. Look for this latest attraction to open in November 2012.
North Carolina - (3/15/13) Construction on the new 30,000 sqft. Sea Life Aquarium opening at the Concord Mills mall just outside Charlotte, NC will begin in July with the goal of opening up by Spring 2014. Click here to read more.
(2/9/13) Just as predicted when the mall announced plans to build a SeaLife Aquarium on their site, NASCAR SpeedPark at Concord Mills in North Carolina announced on their website that they were now closed for good. The switch from a pay as you go FEC style system to adding gates and turnstyles and a Pay-One-Price system seems to have failed PARC Management’s run. I don’t expect that the three others sites (Pigeon Forge, Myrtle Beach or St. Louis) will fair much better unless changes are made.
(1/25/13) According to this news article, Concord Mills (just outside Charlotte, NC near the Great Wolf Lodge and Charlotte Motor Speedway) is signing a deal with Merlin to build what seems to be a $10 million SeaLife Aquarium attraction that will be attached to the mega mall. This was part of a deal that would provide Simon, the mall owner, with a 85% property tax discount for the expansion project that Simon will build and Merlin will operate. The article also mentions that the new aqurarium will take over the current site of the existing NASCAR SpeedPark attraction and open as early as Spring 2014.
What is really interesting however is that when I tweeted about this development earlier today (follow @SCREAMSCAPE on Twitter for the latest!) NASCAR Speedpark’s Twitter account responded with the following message, “We have not rvd a formal notice & are seeking adt'l info related to this. We'll continue our normal hours of operation. Thanks!” Curious to see where this goes, though I bet the phone call that must have transpired today between NASCAR Speedpark and Simon was an interesting one for sure.
On a side note… if Merlin is coming to Concord Mills… I do have to wonder how much longer it will be until they decide to install a Lego Discovery Center attraction at the mall as well. We know Merlin loves to group their smaller attractions close together when possible.
(11/9/12) The local news reports that a possible plan to build an indoor waterpark attraction could be coming to the Blowing Rock, NC area, in between Mystery Hill and Tweetsie. They have named the project Middle Fork Falls Resort, which has been described as including a 50,000 sqft indoor waterpark amongst other amenities.
(9/14/12) Cherokee, North Carolina, home of the famous Harrah’s casino on the Indian Tribe owned land, is talking about building a new year-round attraction that will cater to families and those not old enough for the casino. The project was described as an “adventure park” with a hotel and a goal to be open year-round, so some attractions may be indoors. Possible attractions around the 302-room hotel include restaurants, shops, arcade, water slides, pools, rock climbing, zip lines, splash pads and more. If the tribe approves it, they hope to break ground in Spring 2013 and open by June 2014.
Ohio - (1/18/13) Geauga Lake closed down forever in the fall of 2007, with Cedar Fair hoping to quickly sell the property to developers. Over five years later the former Geauga Lake park site sits empty, overgrown and abandoned and the local neighbors are starting to complain about the eyesore. Such a shame to see that the former home to both Geauga Lake and SeaWorld Ohio, two very successful theme parks around for decades, now looks more like a post-apocalyptic movie set.
(11/1/12) The Columbus Zoo has broken ground on a new $30.4 million attraction called Safari Africa that will open in May 2014. The huge new project will cover 43 acres and simulate the sights, smells and sounds of the African savannah as well as including a new marketplace, restaurant and more. New animal encounters are planned, as well as a Zip Line across the savannah, as part of a new master plan project for the zoo from PGAV Destinations, well known for their work designing beautiful environmental attraction for the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens parks over the years.
Rhode Island - (12/31/12) Laff In The Dark has posted a new featured article this week documenting the Old Mills, fun houses and dark rides of the former Crescent Park that was once located in East Providence, RI from 1886 – 1977. The park featured a one-of-a-kind dark ride experience from Bill Tracy.
South Carolina - (4/23/13) Bad news for those looking for something new to do at Myrtle Beach… the proposed summer long carnival project planned for the old MB Pavilion site has backed out. According to the news report, Strates opted to back out of the project after hearing that there was some opposition to their plan. They have a number of attractions in their inventory that are sent out to the various traveling shows, and needed to know right away what they needed to reserve for Myrtle Beach and what was going to be sent out on the road. If the Myrtle Beach project was going to be a struggle to get in place due to city opposition, it just made better sense to put those assets to use in other venues instead where they had a sure thing. Hopefully they’ll try again in the future, because Burroughs and Chapin certainly don’t seem to be in any rush to put something meaningful down on the property.
(4/12/13) The former site of the Myrtle Beach Pavilion could become home to rides and midway games once again. A Florida carnival company, Strates Shows, has applied to the committee for permission to put on a summer-long event on the site that would feature rides, games and concessions from June 8th through to Sept. 6th, located on a 4-acre site next to the Adrenaline Adventures Zip Line that opened last year. If approved, the plan is to run the summer-long carnival from 10am to Midnight on most days.
While the old Pavilion amusement park is long gone, and Hard Rock Park sits quite and idle down the road, I thin this is a fantastic use of the property and it would be so great to see soaring rides and bright lights running on the site across from the ocean once again.
(12/4/12) The local news reports that Ripley’s Aquarium in Myrtle Beach’s Broadway at the Beach center will be expanded in the near future. Not a lot can be said just yet, but construction will begin after Labor Day in September 2013 in time to be finished by Summer 2014. They mention that Ripley’s will spent a bit more money in the Myrtle Beach area as they plan to refresh and overhaul their other attractions along Ocean Blvd, with a focus on the Believe It or Not Museum. Ripley’s Moving Theater attraction received an update earlier in 2012 however.
(9/7/12) The local news reports that there are no longer any plans to build a small waterpark in the Hilton Head area. Looks like they backed out of the deal to purchase the property.
Tennessee - (5/14/13) While the plans once in place for Dolly Parton to partner with Gaylord Entertainment to build a water/snow park in Nashville collapsed when Gaylord sold off their resort properties to Marriott, Dolly Parton did mention to the local news this past week that she still had hopes to eventually open some kind of attraction in Nashville someday.
(12/3/12) In an interesting twist, Dolly Parton reported to the local news in Nashville that she would still like to build something special in the Nashville area, after the old water park deal with Gaylord fell apart. I suppose it is entirely possible that Dolly and her partners at Herschend could find a new site to move ahead with their water/snow park plans, or perhaps try to build something else entirely. We’ll have to wait and see.
Texas - (3/27/13) EarthQuest is still hitting the occasional headline, where this week they confirmed they still don’t have the funding they need, but they are still out there seeking a lead investor to back them and willing to drop half a billion on the project.
(3/18/13) While the Houston, Texas area still lacks a large theme park, the greater area around Houston seems to be flourishing with new ideas for smaller park projects. Back in December we first heard the early rumors of a possible 25-acre mini-park planned to be near the Tanger Outlet Mall near Texas City that would have a tie to the old Playland Park.
Today a little more information has come out as the city “has confirmed an area physician’s interest in building the park on 25 acres near the Tanger outlet mall, but no plans have been submitted.” However, a new Facebook page for “Playland Park” has gone live and does outline the details a little more, calling it “Playland Park – Texas City”. They have named the new park project in honor of Houston’s first real amusement park, Playland Park, and hope to open it by Summer 2015.
The park will have a retro-Americana theme to it, and will feature locomotive rides on the refurbished trains that formerly served at the Houston Zoo, but will now make runs around this new 25 acre attraction. The park will also have a Grand Carousel, an Eyerly Monster, Antique Car ride, Tea Cups and a Tilt-a-Whirl to celebrate the classic rides of the past. They will also offer new style attractions such as a “unique roller coaster zip line, an Xtra-ice 'ice' skating rink, and fast though eco-friendly Indy-type electric go-karts.” There will also be green spaces, a large picnic area, an outdoor amphitheater for concerts and an indoor pavilion to be rented out for corporate events or private functions.
Good luck to them, I hope this one happens… but it wouldn’t be Playland Park without also offering a wooden coaster as well. Lets hope they include this in the final plans too.
(1/31/13) A Screamsc
ape reader sent in a few images of the new 500 ft observation tower that has gone up at the State Fair Park in Texas. It’s said that the tower is expected to be operational by the start of April.
(1/8/13) Not only have the plans for the EarthQuest Adventure park project in the Houston area dried up into nothing, but the local news reports that there is now a Federal criminal investigation into the project regarding the use of $10 million in taxpayer money to fund the development of this park that went nowhere.
(12/18/12) While they don’t say exactly what they will do with it, the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo board will buy 48-acres of the former 92-acre Astroworld theme park site which will include the bridge across the freeway to the parking lot. The deal will allow the HLSR more room for growth as well as flexibility as they move forward for years to come. The total purchase price is said to be just shy of $43 million.
For those not local to the area, the innocent sounding event is actually said to be a major force in Houston. They occupy space at the Reliant Stadium and surrounding area for about a month, and the event itself is an odd mixture of a major event show, a rodeo, a convention and Houston’s version of a State Fair all in one, featuring headline concerts almost every night, a large assortment of quality carnival rides (via Ray Cammick Shows), fair style livestock events and much more. From what I’m told they’ve been eyeballing the property for quite some time.
(12/7/12) A small update about the new small amusement park project in the Houston area by the Tanger Outlets has been posted by the local news. They say that 25 acres have been purchased by a man with “ties” to Houston’s old Playland Park which was open from the mid 1940’s to 1960’s. Could we see the return of a new Playland Park in Houston?
(12/3/12) According to this article, land has been purchased near the newly opened Texas Tanger Outlet center in the Galveston/Houston area, with the intention of building “an amusement park”. As we have heard nothing about this before hand, I do have to wonder if they are confusion an Amusement Park with something smaller, like a Family Entertainment Center style attraction instead. Anyone else have any insight into what may be planned for the area?
Vermont - (11/1/12) According to this news story an anonymous “generous benefactor” stepped in just in time to cancel the liquidation auction at Santa’s Land in Vermont, which will now be able to open for the 2012 Christmas holiday season. There has been no ownership change, but beyond the Christmas 2012 season, the future of the park is still undecided.
Virginia - (3/11/13) Could a new indoor waterpark be on the way to Virginia? According to this news piece the old Omni Hotel site in Newport News, now rebranded as a Magnuson Hotel, is looking into a possible expansion plan that could see an indoor waterpark added.
(2/5/13) A large new entertainment complex is being planned for Virginia Beach just two blocks from the beach on the site of the former convention and concert hall. The plans include a Broadway style theater, ice rink, movie theaters, 185 ft Ferris Wheel, clubs, bowling alley and children’s attractions. Click here to read more.
Washington - (4/22/13) The former Typhoon coaster that once ran at Santa’s Village AZoosment Park from 1998 to 2006 and then moved to the LA County Fairgrounds for 2011 and 2012 has found a new home in Washington at Puyallup where it will premier at the Washington State Fair running from Sept. 6 - 22. A contest to pick a new name the coaster is currently under way.
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