This was a well kept secret! (Lake City Amusement Park) (Guntersville: RV park, how much)

[Justin Scott]

How do you all feel Lake City will do? Succeed or fail? Succeed as in being able to sustain itself, etc.
Lake City Amusement Park Guntersville, Alabama

[padmaster]

Looks like they have just purchased a bunch of over inventory carnival rides. Might do OK for a while....until the new wears off and people get tired of paying for overpriced concessions and impossible-to-win games, then it will die a slow death.

[dijkstra]

Not much of a secret, at least not around where I live. It has been in the paper a number of times and on the news.

First, it is actually in a very good location. Guntersville Lake draws a surprising number of people from all across the country for the fishing and lake activities. Adding something for the kids to do while Dad is out throwing a hook in the water all day just makes sense. On a side note, if someone would open a Red Lobster in Guntersville on the lake or a Back Porch, etc. it would be so busy you wouldn't be able to get in the doors.

Anyway, once the main park is done I believe they are supposed to add a roller coaster and are going to start a water park section and also add a RV Park. You have to start somewhere and that is really all you could call this.....a start. It is what they do with it that will determine whether it succeeds.

If they want to survive they will have to immediately start reinvesting in the park and adding real attractions such as roller coasters, a log flume type of ride and maybe some sort of indoor floating ride (think monster mansion at six flags/its a small world at Magic Kingdom). If they do that, it has a chance. If it stays cheap carnival crap, it will be lucky to survive 5 years.

[Dirt Grinder]

I hope it is a viable venture. However, the limited season in this rainy winter area could have an impact on how much profit is available for maintenance and growth.

[padmaster]

A coworker of mine has a family member that lives adjacent to the property. Needless to say, they are not at all happy about this.

[JakeWilliams]

Originally Posted by Dirt Grinder

I hope it is a viable venture. However, the limited season in this rainy winter area could have an impact on how much profit is available for maintenance and growth.

Short seasons don't matter if the park is good. There is a park called story land in the white mountains of New Hampshire that does great business every summer and has been around for over 50 years. Hopefully this one will go slowly and keep the prices adjusted for the size of the park.

[Dirt Grinder]

Originally Posted by JakeWilliams

...There is a park called story land in the white mountains of New Hampshire that does great business every summer and has been around for over 50 years...

But that's a theme park. This is an amusement park.

[dijkstra]

Originally Posted by padmaster

A coworker of mine has a family member that lives adjacent to the property. Needless to say, they are not at all happy about this.

It doesn't matter what you build or where you build it these days, somebody is going to complain. Guntersville city has made it clear that this is happening regardless. I can see why they would not like it because of the traffic, noise, etc but it is a miracle that area has made it this long without development. Unfortunately, this is what happens with growth and progress.

Originally Posted by Dirt Grinder

I hope it is a viable venture. However, the limited season in this rainy winter area could have an impact on how much profit is available for maintenance and growth.

Originally Posted by Dirt Grinder

But that's a theme park. This is an amusement park.

Lake Winnie is the same concept and has been open since 1925. It has also grown throughout the years including a water park that just opened a couple of years ago.

[TUMF]

I'm 56, and I took my wife and my two grandkids - 5 year old granddaughter and 4 year old grand son, to this park on Memorial Day. It cost more than $80 for admission - the food choices were slim, and expensive as expected. The staff were VERY polite and professional and very family friendly.

On the plus side, as someone with a bad knee and bad ankles, I was pleased to see they offer scooters to ride around in. They rented it for $28.00 but it was worth every dime as I would have been very restricted getting around without it.

All of the rides reminded me of the kind of rides you see in the parking lot of a large store. There was no music of any kind other than the songs that came from one of the rides (that I used to ride when I was a kid 40+ years ago)... The Himalaya.

This was a great get away for the grandkids - they enjoyed it a lot, but they enjoy running down the isles at Dollar General, so they're very easy to please... (and I don't really let them do that - it was simply an example)...

To me, it was a cheesy over priced amusement park that I won't be returning to until the water park opens next year.
I will, however, return to that area as that was the first time I'd been to the lake and it is BEAUTIFUL...

[Reactionary]

Tumf - here's another BEAUTIFUL site near Guntersville:



High Falls Park