larrygator

Mark - you do uphold the impression I have of Auburn fans being classier than Alabama fans. Congrats on your team's victory.

uhmm... Kentucky Kingdom Legoland California Legoland Florida Universal Orlando Wild Adventures Fiesta Texas Seaworld San Antonio Dollywood to an extent I mistakenly used the word regional instead of seasonal, I tend to use the words interchangably. Also, I should have checked my facts before posting. I should have written 20 years, not 30 as Fiesta Texas was the last successful park. Yes, Wild Adventures was also less than 30 years ago. Kentucky Kingdom - I wouldn't call a closed park successful Legoland California - Not considered regional since it is open year round Legoland Florida - grew out of Cypress Gardens, not from scratch, also not regional Universal Orlando - not regional Sea World Texas - not regional Dollywood - not from the ground up

In the end, the biggest obstacle is that a successful regional amusement park has not opened in the US in 30 years. I'm talking about one being built from the ground up.

My recommendation - their standard Margherita pizza with a bit of extra cheese. Sooooo good! And get there when they open. There's practically always a line.

Or Myrtle Beach, apparently! You mean miles away from the actual beach!

A well done amusement park can succeed just about anywhere near a decent size population base with the proper demographic make-up. As long as you don't have extenuating circumstances. i.e.: People aren't looking for amusement park thrills in Hawaii.

Unfortunately, that's how things work in New York.

I watched 9 minutes and saw no TPR footage. I have no idea what the purpose of the video is nor who the marketer expects to sit through this video for more than one minute.

Are you braving the large crowds, do you procrastinate or do you do all your shopping online? I'm a procrastinator who will still end buying most gifts online.

And why is it you don't want to share your thoughts?

You know you game too much when you start a thread like this and think it is a good idea.

I have no idea what the original poster is talking about.

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/10/new_york_wheel_and_empire_outl.html I was remiss in not posting this sooner, as the project was green lighted one month ago New York Wheel and Empire Outlets, approved by City Council, will come to Staten Island (video and photos) Ryan Lavis/Staten Island Advance on October 30, 2013 at 8:08 PM, updated October 31, 2013 at 12:46 AM CITY HALL -- It's official: The New York Wheel and Empire Outlets are coming to Staten Island. The mammoth development represents the biggest private investment -- roughly $580 million -- in the North Shore's history and the biggest investment in the entire borough since the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in the 1960s. In addition, it's projected to generate $101 million for the city. "This is the biggest thing that ever happened to the North Shore of Staten Island," City Councilwoman Debi Rose (D-North Shore), said after the Council voted its approval. "In fact, it is the biggest observation wheel in the world." Mayor Michael Bloomberg called it a "momentous day for Staten Island." "The New York Wheel and Empire Outlets will become one of the city's most popular destinations, drawing millions of visitors every year -- not just from the five boroughs and the region, but also nationwide and around the globe," Bloomberg said in a statement. Some of the drama of the Council vote was sapped by Tuesday night's accord between labor and the developers: There will be 100 percent union labor on Empire Outlets, obviating a major sticking point in negotiations. But the vote was still delayed for hours Wednesday as final details were hammered out. While Ms. Rose wanted the best project for the borough, her concerns were first and foremost about her community and Staten Island as a whole, she said. "I started this process wanting to find the win-win, benefiting Staten Island and our residents, and there was doubt expressed that these goals could be reached," Ms. Rose said. "The elusive win-win has been achieved." BENEFITS TO BOROUGH That win-win includes a whopping $51 million in city investment on Staten Island. Ms. Rose rattled off a list of some of those projects -- ranging from a traffic mitigation fund to repairs to the esplanade along Richmond Terrace. In addition to what Ms. Rose listed, about $35 million will be allocated by the DOT for Staten Island Ferry terminal design, a project already in the works. The state has previously awarded an $11.5 million grant to help fund infrastructure improvements related to the project -- and that will be matched by the city, with $8.5 million coming from the city and another $3 million coming from Borough President James Molinaro, a strong supporter of the project. "It's not every day someone comes and knocks on your door and says. 'I wanna invest half a billion dollars,'" Molinaro told the Advance. "You can't chase them away, because then nobody is going to be knocking on your door anymore." But beyond traffic and infrastructure, the debate between the Building and Construction Trades Council and BFC Partners, developers of Empire Outlets, was the highest-profile stumbling block over the last year, with organized labor holding rallies against the project as recently as this month in response to BFC's refusal to sign a project labor agreement for 100 percent union labor. PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENT Staten Island union worker talks Wheel and Outlets from City Hall So how did BFC go from agreeing to use roughly 15 percent organized labor to 100 percent? BFC Partners principal Donald Capoccia and labor representatives wouldn't answer that question after the vote. But the project labor agreement signed with the Trades Council calls for a 20 percent cost savings as compared to the union contractors' typical costs, according to a source familiar with negotiations. That likely went a long way in helping. The cost savings doesn't apply to the public works parts of the project. Another factor was an agreement from the Building Trades to hire mainly Staten Islanders. "The building trades have agreed to open their open their list, their membership, and to look at their list for local residents to be considered for these jobs," Ms. Rose said during a press conference with Speaker Christine Quinn. Ms. Rose said she has also talked to Local 32BJ and the Hotel Trades Council about using local residents to fill some of the permanent jobs. "And given the unemployment rate on Staten Island," Ms. Quinn added, "and the desire for all the unions always to have the best workers they can, Staten Island is a great place to look -- particularly the North Shore." Speaker Quinn and Ms. Rose said there had been no "quid pro quo" tax or other incentives offered by the city to grease the wheels. "That was just an agreement that was reached because it was the best thing for the project," Ms. Quinn said. "This project generates good, quality jobs from which people can support their families, and will make sure the Wheel and the mall are the best-made buildings and structures they can possibly be." REACTION POSITIVE Developers of New York Wheel and Empire Outlets react to City Council vote Following the vote, developers of both projects breathed a sigh of relief following a strenuous day of negotiations. "This has been a long road," said BFC's Capoccia. "Where we've gotten today, it opens a new era for Staten Island and we are more excited today with this project than we were when we thought this up a couple of years ago. Said Rich Marin, CEO of the New York Wheel: "I was very confident coming into today, and it took a little longer during the day to get through the process, but it's all come out where we wanted it." When pressed, neither developer would give specifics on what, if any, incentives helped make up the cost difference in using 15 percent union labor as opposed to 100 percent. "I'm just trying to get through the rest of the day," said Capoccia when asked about the cost factor, before he walked away. "This is a project that benefits everybody, so I think everybody needs to give a little bit to help the community out in satisfying its needs," said Marin. "I think everyone did what they were supposed to do." Representing organized labor, Lenore Friedlaender, Director of Build Up NYC, said they were pleased an agreement was reached -- but also didn't offer specifics on the deal. "It really took everyone working together to get an agreement that provides good jobs for Staten Islanders both on the construction side and the operations, maintenance and hotel side," she said. "I think that at the end of the day everybody realized that it really makes sense -- the economics of the projects support having good jobs." As for Ms. Rose's fellow Council members, they too were pleased. "The word from the Council delegation to those investors big and small is: The North Shore and Staten Island is open for business," Councilman James Oddo (R-Mid-Island/Brooklyn) said. "Bring your money, bring your investment, bring your job opportunities." Councilman Vincent Ignizio (R-South Shore) got to vote on the project before either of his Island colleagues, as a member of the subcommittee on zoning and franchises. "This is the renaissance of the North Shore, of the gold coast of the North Shore, and the return on the investment from the taxpayer will be huge," he said. Ignizio then went on the record with the day's most popular pun: "We are wheely, wheely, excited about this."

And also thankful that El Toro is so close to me.

I loved Dauling Dragons, but who knows how long it will stay in great running condition.

I can't imagine them not getting the funding if both stars are committed.

I'm still upset that I was only 15 miles away and never had time to meet up. Stupid job and grad school. Looks like you had a full trip.

^I'm pretty sure the evacuation system was the inspiration for the ride idea.

It's not that easy to just scrap a ride especially for a "new" park. Kentucky Kingdom will need rides to attract interest, even if the rides don't appeal to enthusiasts. The GP still love anything that goes upside down. Also, not does would it cost money to build something new, the cost for coaster removal is not cheap.

http://www.kentucky.com/2013/11/27/2957538/city-seeks-to-jump-start-stalled.html Just in case anyone is following. I don't remember hearing about the Ark being built by Amish craftsmen. I only recently heard about the Amish in Kentucky the "Amish Mafia" on TV. City seeks to jump-start stalled Ark Encounter park with $62 million 'junk' bond offering By Linda B. Blackford lblackford@herald-leader.comNovember 27, 2013 A planned amusement park in Grant County featuring a life-size Noah's Ark is two years and millions of dollars behind schedule, but now it's getting more civic help: a $62 million bond issue being offered by the city of Williamstown. The city, which has already granted the project a 75 percent break in property taxes over 30 years, won't have to repay the bonds, according to the bond-offering documents. That's good, experts say, because the bonds are not rated, which makes them speculative, or "junk" bonds, said Gene Gard of Dupree Mutual Funds in Lexington. The taxable bonds are backed by future revenues from the project, which organizers believe will attract more than 1 million visitors in the first year. The offering is not something that would be considered for purchase by a firm like Dupree, Gard said, because of the risk. "It might be people who are looking to allocate some money to a more speculative issue, or it might be people who would really like to see this project built," he said. "Or you could look at it almost as a loan to a family member and not be as concerned about being paid back." If the park can't produce enough revenue, the people who buy the bonds will lose their money, but it shouldn't have any lasting effect on Williamstown. "They're not on the hook for the bonds, so it wouldn't affect their actual credit rating," Gard said. Mayor Rick Skinner did not return repeated calls for comment about the bond issue, but in past news reports he has been an enthusiastic supporter of the project which he believes will bring as many as 400 jobs to Grant County. Other city council members referred all requests for comment to Skinner. While there appears to be little risk for Williamstown, there's more for investors. The preliminary bond offering documents for the Ark Encounter project list 39 risks for those who buy the bonds, from animals getting sick to possible lawsuits over the constitutionality of a religious project receiving federal and state money. Still, Ark Encounter officials think the bonds will be a success. "We are currently in the early days of the marketing period with respect to the bonds and are thus far pleased with the reception they have received in the market," said Mark Looy, chief communication officer for Answers in Genesis, the ministry based in Northern Kentucky that built the Creation Museum in Petersburg and is now building the Ark Encounter. Looy said the bond closing will be Dec. 19. As an added inducement, anyone who buys $100,000 or more of the bonds will receive a lifetime boarding pass to the Ark Encounter, which includes free admission to the Ark Encounter and the Creation Museum, with discounts on food and merchandise. Before the bond offer, the Ark Encounter had raised $14 million out of $73 million needed for the first phase of construction. The project's total cost has been estimated at about $150 million. Fundraising has been slow because of the recession, said Mike Zovath, who is heading up the project for Answers In Genesis. Originally, the park was scheduled to be finished by 2014. Now organizers think they'll start construction in the spring. "The recession has affected projects all over the country," Zovath said. "We've still raised close to $15 million in private donations." Zovath said site work for the project is finished and the design work is 85 percent complete. The 800-acre amusement park is supposed to feature a life-size Noah's Ark built by Amish craftsmen, a walled city, a zoo featuring Noah's animals, a Ten Plagues Ride, a Tower of Babel, a first-century village, an aviary and a children's area. An initial feasibility report, written by Britt Beemer, a friend of Answers in Genesis founder Ken Ham, predicted the Ark Encounter would attract more than 1.2 million visitors in its first year. However, the bond offering documents note that "there is no assurance that the Borrower will be able to successfully market its themed attraction ... in numbers that provide significant, consistent cash flow." Attendance at the Creation Museum has declined each year since it opened in 2007, from 394,185 that year to 236,583 in 2012, according to the bond documents. The documents also note that state economic incentives for the project could be challenged by a group concerned about the separation of church and state. The state of Kentucky has promised up to $43 million in tourism tax credits. That agreement requires the park to begin generating revenue from sales in 2014. If that doesn't happen, Answers in Genesis would have to reapply for the incentive and produce a new feasibility report. The state also agreed to an $11 million interchange upgrade at the KY-36 Williamstown exit off I-75; about $200,000 has been spent on design so far, according to Transportation Department officials. The city of Williamstown agreed to give the project a property tax discount of 75 percent over the next 30 years, and the Grant County Industrial Development Authority gave them almost $200,000 to keep the project located there, along with 100 acres of reduced-price land. Alex Luchenitser, legal counsel for Americans United for Separation of Church and State in Washington, D.C., said his group has been following the Ark Encounter project closely, but has not made any legal moves because it's not clear the project will happen. "We're not interested in filing a lawsuit where you might not need one in the first place," he said. "But we think it raises serious constitutional issues, both on the federal church-state requirement and under the Kentucky Constitution," which has language prohibiting government aid to religious institutions. That government aid troubles others as well. Dan Phelps, president of the Kentucky Paleontological Society, said he first became interested in the Ark Encounter project because he was concerned about the science that would be presented. "The government has supposedly been trying to improve Kentucky's image and education level, but at the same time they're supporting a project that says all of modern science is a big lie," he said. "They claim that Noah led dinosaurs on the Ark, but that's just nonsense, there's no other way to describe it." In a radio ad posted on YouTube titled "What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs?" Ken Ham disputes the fossil record of dinosaurs. "Evolution has used dinosaurs more than almost anything else to indoctrinate children into millions of years of evolutionary ideas," Ham says. "But the Bible gives a different history. God tells us he created all land animals the same day he created man about 6,000 years ago and what's more there were even dinosaurs on Noah's Ark because God told Noah to take pairs of every kind of land animal. You see, dinosaurs are no mystery at all if you accept the Bible's account of creation."

I didn't even think of this. I have never ridden a dark ride so many times in one day as my day at HRP. The experience of the ride was incredible and impressive on every level.

There haven't been any hints or announcements regarding MIA.

I'm thankful for Robb/Elissa and all of TPR for keeping me in the know regarding parks around the world. Although the forums are not as active nowadays we have a great community here.

I'm sure we'll a lot of photos from Japan in this thread.

All the cheesy dark ride that used to line the Jersey Shore. I remember at one time there were 5 or 6 operating at once just in Seaside Heights.