danny622 Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 ^Hard Rock/Freestyle Music Park wasn't that far from the beach either. This is the last time I will go over this with you, I told you I would be willing to answer your questions. I did not say I would put up with abuse. I am open to your ideas and yes some criticism as I know I am not perfect, however I will remind all of you that I am the one doing the work (my company) taking the risks and spending our money to try and save the park. So please again be civil. There is no intention for this thread to be "abusive." I have serious doubts about your "work", so I am merely trying to fill in the gaps. One thing that still baffles me is how your "investor" was afraid to put up the $500,000 refundable deposit (held in escrow) at that October meeting, and then somehow the very next month (exactly one day before the next board meeting in which you could have gone for final approval of the bond) you are claiming to have $12.5 million to buy the property outright? With $12.5 million available to you, it seems to me like the logical thing to do would have been to put down the money to get the bond so your efforts could really take off? I would also like to know who the "best minds in the industry" working for you are what experience you and your team have in the industry. Lastly, you should be ashamed of yourself for dodging Robb's question! I have spent a lot of time thinking about your questions, for the most part it seems to me that no matter what I answer you will always think you know better, I will however answer your questions. The truth is investors do what they feel is the right thing to do, Its there money after all! The investor in question made the offer in writing to the city, the city (the mayor)turned them down, the investor walked away! (That's public record) You know it may come as a shock but investors do that from time to time. As to the money for the bonds you have already been given the answer, but again it was my call to pull back and wait for the paper work to be sure we would get the bonds. There was no need to tie up the money until we were ready (again investor call on placing the money in escrow) why tie up working funds with no interest being returned on investment is my best guess. As to the best minds in the industry well now if you think for one minute that a company like MTVN (Nickelodeon) would ever get involved with a bunch of country bumpkins then you really need to stop smoking what ever it is your smoking. The names of our employees and contractors are not public record as we are not a publicly held company. We also have NDA's in place that keep me from going into detail. I am not ashamed of one thing I have ever done, and I did answer the soap question just for the fun of it (had to look it up, LOL.) If you don't think the park will ever work that's fine you have the right to your opinion. As for me I am going to keep working on it. Thanks' Danny SSAI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdman76 Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 I don't understand why when someone tries to help out a ride or a park, people on this site bash them like they are dirt. So he's not the one you wanted and you don't think he can do it. He is trying. That's more than I can say for you all. I used to love this site but now it seems like it is full of hybrid drivers who smell their own farts. I can understand actions like this from a 14 y/o, but most of you are grown men. Those of you from around the Big Easy should be asking if you can help, not bashing. I do not know alot about this deal or this park. Is there even enough population left there to sustain an amusement park? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny622 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Sorry about the double posting, just trying to keep my answers in context of who asked what, LOL As to my project you may be right but one must try. I am looking at other parks we are just not talking about them having our hands full with New Orleans and not needing another PR nightmare to go alone with this one. It may well be that New Orleans can not be saved but no one can say I did not try. The only reason for posting is to help get support for the project, you will always have people who want to stone you, that's life and I have grown used to putting up with some of them. I must say at first it was hard to take the slings and arrows of others but I remember what Walt Disney once said about his project in California so long ago. "Following your dream will always be the hardest road you will ever travel" I have been on this earth longer then most of you who post and have come up through the school of hard knocks starting as a Carny (Carnival worker) at age 10 working all summer long to earn money for school in the coming winter. I served my country in Vietnam and returned home to be called a baby killer to my face. I worked for Walt Disney and that was the best time of my life. I have been in this industry for so long I cant remember parts of it now but would not change a thing as I have indeed traveled that road that Walt described so long ago. So no nothing you can say will stop me from giving it all I have as I feel it is the right thing to do. Thanks Danny SSAI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdman76 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 ^ I am only 34 and had to work from a young age too. I just thought that was life in the south. I bet most of these prep kids did not have to work for anything. You can tell in there attitude. Mommy and Daddy bought them a nice education. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 ^ I am only 34 and had to work from a young age too. I just thought that was life in the south. I bet most of these prep kids did not have to work for anything. You can tell in there attitude. Mommy and Daddy bought them a nice education. Please restrict your comments to the SFNO/Southern Star and refrain from any vague personal attacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chadster Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 I'll give Danny this much, at least he's trying to help those of us (myself included) who don't think there's much hope, understand, his side of the story. Still, I would pick up my ball and take it somewhere that embraced me with open arms and bent over backwards trying to do whatever possible to get me to bring my money, investors, etc to their city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 I don't understand why when someone tries to help out a ride or a park, people on this site bash them like they are dirt. That is not true at all. Do you see us bashing the Zippin Pippin effort? No. Did we support the Blue Streak effort? Yes! Stop putting words in our mouth. I have always said this, and I stick to it. I am 100% behind any project that makes sense, has a solid plan, and has the necessary backers behind the project to make it a reality. So far, like the Big Dipper project, I have not seen any of this for this project. - Show me how it makes sense. Where is the data that says the current population and culture of New Orleans can sustain a park? - Present a solid plan of action to get the park going, and how you plan to make it a success over a long period of time. - Who is helping you? Where is the money coming from? Who do you have lined up that has the experience to make this project a success? Keep in mind, I have been a project manager all of my adult life in the entertainment business. I've worked "on the lot" at two different film studios. Worked with many different licensed properties. Sometimes even working on theme park related projects. I've been responsible for projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Don't discount something I'm saying as just being negative. It comes from more than 20 years of my professional experience. --Robb "I've seen more projects fail than be a success due to the exact reasons I posted above." Alvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 (edited) ^^Except it's all talk and no evidence to support his statements. starting as a Carny (Carnival worker) at age 10 working all summer long to earn money for school in the coming winter. I served my country in Vietnam and returned home to be called a baby killer to my face. I worked for Walt Disney and that was the best time of my life. I have been in this industry for so long I cant remember parts of it now but would not change a thing as I have indeed traveled that road that Walt described so long ago. So no nothing you can say will stop me from giving it all I have as I feel it is the right thing to do. While I applaud your service to our country...saying "I was a carny and worked for Walt Disney and been in this industry for so long..." hardly inspires ANY confidence. What exactly did you do? Have any proof or references? I have spent a lot of time thinking about your questions, for the most part it seems to me that no matter what I answer you will always think you know better, I will however answer your questions. Prove me wrong. The truth is investors do what they feel is the right thing to do, Its there money after all! The investor in question made the offer in writing to the city, the city (the mayor)turned them down, the investor walked away! (That's public record) If that's the case, I imagine you have a copy of this letter you can scan for us. And again, explain to me how you couldn't convince an investor to hand over a $500,000 no risk investment (he either gets his money back, or you get $100 million dollars and the park allowing him to see a return on his investment), but a few months later made a public statement that you had $12.5 million ready to hand over?????? You don't have to have "years of industry experience" to be able to figure out that you could have used $500,000 of that money you allegedly had to make the good faith payment. Which of course would mean you could then go back to the city and say "I got $112 million dollars to work with now. Lets make this happen ASAP." If you really had it of course. As to the best minds in the industry well now if you think for one minute that a company like MTVN (Nickelodeon) would ever get involved with a bunch of country bumpkins then you really need to stop smoking what ever it is your smoking. I am going to guess they would get involved with anyone who theoretically should have received a $100 million dollar bond to pay their licensing fees. Naturally they backed out when it became obvious you wouldn't have any money to give them. The names of our employees and contractors are not public record as we are not a publicly held company. We also have NDA's in place that keep me from going into detail. Perhaps because they don't exist? Seems strange to me that contractors for Disney and Universal (you know, those major theme park companies who actually have trade secrets to protect) can proudly display their work, yet your top-secret NDA's prevent you from saying anything? I am not even going to bother to respond to the "publicly held company" comment, because there are thousands of major privately held companies that have no problem letting the world know who their executives are... Edited January 31, 2011 by Jew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny622 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 I am not doing this for the rich, people like that can go where ever they wish. I'm not doing this to get rich I am getting way to old to worry about that now. I am doing this for the people who need the jobs, the young folks who want there first summer job and cant find one. I am doing this for the families who will never be able to go to Disneyland or Universal but may be able to go to a park together to have some fun as a family. I am doing this for all the people in the south that do not have a Major Amusement park and for a city and area that have suffered through one disaster after another. The fact that the Government is making it hard is just one more problem to be solved in due course. As some one once said "Nothing worth doing is ever easy" Yes I could pick up my ball and go some where else, but here is where the need is, here is where the people really need to be up lifted, so here is where I will make my stand. I hope you can understand that and I hope I can indeed make that difference. Jazzland may never be the biggest park in the country but I'm willing to bet that the people will support it and keep it alive, if for no other reason then to prove to the rest of the world that our spirit cant be broken, by storm, BP, or Government this park belongs to the people. Thanks Danny SSAI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny622 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Jew, I once had an argument with some one like you, and after awhile I figured out that if I told him it was sunny he would counter that it was night on the other side of the world. You have made your points, and I have tried to make mine. So the best way for me to handle this is to not bother arguing with you. Danny SSAI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedimaster1227 Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 Again Danny, we appreciate you posting here, but I'm going to have to give you one final warning--if you want to reply, do it all in one post. You are double posting again and that is not allowed. Also, your posting style is in violation of our Terms of Service due to a lack of proper spelling and punctuation. 9. Spelling and Grammar - bad spelling and grammar will NOT be tolerated! Theme Park Review's forum includes a spell checker and there is a great one available with Google's Toolbar. If we have to edit too many of your posts, you may be suspended from the forum. Text Message shorthand or "l77t" speak is not allowed. A typo here and there is acceptable, but illegible posts are not. I don't mean to be a nag, but these are the same rules that all other members of our forum abide by, so if you could please adjust your posts, and remember not to double post, it would be much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 ^^Quite frankly, I think that says all you need to know about the project. When confronted with legitimate concerns, all you can do is respectfully back down. It is not the least bit surprising that the city of New Orleans would not want to do business with you if you handled their concerns in the same manner you are handling mine. I am not trying to argue. I just want answers. If you could give us ANY reason to believe this project was legitimate, we would all be celebrating the revival of the park. But you can't tell us who is helping you develop the project, you can't tell us what experience you have in the industry, and you can't get your story straight about any financing you may have had. I would like nothing more than for you to prove me wrong and for SFNO to be reopened (so I can get the credits AND get drunk in New Orleans!)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Alex Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 As a New Orleans native, I can confidently tell you all that this city will probably NEVER be able to support a theme park (or entertainment venue of any kind) in that location. The area surrounding the park lacks infrastructure and still hasn't been revitalized since the 3005 Hurricane. The park is falling apart. Google some images or videos and judge for yourself. Danny has not changed since 2007/2008. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat-G Posted January 31, 2011 Share Posted January 31, 2011 The area surrounding the park lacks infrastructure and still hasn't been revitalized since the 3005 Hurricane. Well at least this means we'll live past 2012! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danny622 Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 My idea was to let you all know that we were still working on this project, and to ask for your support. I have done my best to explain the how and the why, so now its up to you as to if you will support the idea or not. For now I will post when and if I have an up date and thanks for the feed back! Regards Danny SSAI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdubtu Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Screamscape posted a link to a pdf file with the redevelopment plans: www.screamscape.com/html/us_news.htm#Louisiana Here is the direct link to the pdf file: http://www.southernstaramusement.com/files/NORedevelopmentPlan.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astroworldfan1 Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Did anyone catch Six Flags New Orleans in the preview for tonight's episode of "Sons of Guns" on Discovery Channel? From the millisecond I saw, it looked like they were by Jester. I'll be sure to record it tonight. It comes on at 9 PM EST, by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatle11 Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Screamscape posted a link to a pdf file with the redevelopment plans:www.screamscape.com/html/us_news.htm#Louisiana Here is the direct link to the pdf file: http://www.southernstaramusement.com/files/NORedevelopmentPlan.pdf That's a very rough overview but at least it's something. That's more than other recent "plans" for theme parks/roller coasters. It's definitely smart to make this public. He can drum up more support that way. Worst that can happen is the city says no, which they have been for a while now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillerman1 Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 ^^ I saw the episode last night. Did they announce what movie is being filmed at SFNO? Zombieland 2? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedarpointfangirl Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 ^ Yeah I just caught the episode. I didn't find the whole episode online, but there was a small piece with a few decent shots of the park. There are I think two videos.. The Prop Gun Jam video has the most..LOL, I love the Boob graffiti on one of the buildings. http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/sons-of-guns-movie-gun-videos/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IStillPlayRCT2 Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 As much as I'd love for something to happen to SFNO, I do enjoy looking at abandoned theme parks. Here's some fairly recent pictures from March 2011. http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisdame/sets/72157626275625323/with/5577070263/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xmichellex Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Wow... amazing pictures! Very haunting... great place to shoot a horror movie. The picture of the SF sign that said "Closed for storm" was kind of sad, sort of says a lot without too much to it. How were you able to get into the park? Is it pretty easy (obviously people have gotten in to vandalize) or do you know people who worked there? Thanks for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IStillPlayRCT2 Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I didn't take these pictures. To answer your question on how someone would get in, it is fairly easy. The city isn't really doing much to keep people out. There's actually wild animals due to the overgrowth and the fact that its just undeveloped land next to it. I have friends who went at night and were chased by something, possibly a wild boar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.A.B Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I think this is sad to see an park abandoned. Also like they had an unquie Vekoma I think and other good rides that just sitting there rotting. I kinda think it funny though that wild boars are in the park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xmichellex Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 ^ Oh, sorry, thought you took 'em That's crazy that they're not doing a whole to keep people out... seems like a there's a lot of ways for something to go wrong or to get hurt in there. BUT understandably, there are probably things higher up on the list of priorities for New Orleans to handle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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