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Old 03-04-2017, 11:26 AM
 
Location: Greensboro, NC USA
6,152 posts, read 7,173,851 times
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A man who designed attractions for Disney parks wants to build a 20 acre theme park with about 25 rides in Alamance County. It will have tree house hotels and there would ultimately be a 10 year master plan making it a bigger destination.

Disney Designer Wants To Create 'Whirligig Woods' Theme Park In Alamance Co. | WFMYNEWS2.com

Last edited by gsoboi78; 03-04-2017 at 12:12 PM..
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Old 03-04-2017, 12:17 PM
 
Location: Chapelboro
12,798 posts, read 16,250,934 times
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Folks I know who live nearby are pretty upset about it. Comments I have seen from Saxapahawlics are running about 30-4 against it.

It's going to be relatively small for an amusement park (Carowinds is 400 acres, Tweetsie is 200 acres, the Museum of Life & Science in Durham is 84 acres, Wet & Wild Emerald Pointe in Gboro is 40 acres), but this seems like a really bad place to put it. Most folks in the community do not want it from what I can tell (my kid goes to school down the road) and it's too far away from major population centers to draw that many people to a small little Celebration Station/Frankie's Fun Park type thing, unlike a big park like Carowinds which draws from a large region.

I think he would have a much better business plan with his idea for a pirate theme park near the coast.
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Old 03-04-2017, 12:32 PM
 
Location: Greensboro, NC USA
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Initially it will be small. He wants the whole theme park complex to have three theme parks much like Disney World with the Magic Kingdom and Epcot. It's going to have thrill rides like Carowinds but the rides will be more theme oriented like Disney.. The location is in the Triad near Burlington but it would draw people from the Triangle as well. Its almost centrally located between Greensboro and Durham. Its about 10 miles off the interstate south of Burlington and some would say it's kind of in the middle if no where. But I can think if other big theme parks that are even more isolated and further away from big population centers. Kings Dominion is an example. If and I say if this becomes a big attraction, hwy 87 between I-85 and the park would almost need to built to Interstate standards.

Last edited by gsoboi78; 03-04-2017 at 12:42 PM..
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Old 03-04-2017, 02:53 PM
 
Location: Chapelboro
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It's not that close to Burlington. If it was close to Burlington, like in Haw River, that would be much much better. I know exactly where it is (just outside Saxapahaw at the corner of 87 and Stockard Rd) and folks in the community there are mostly very opposed to it, but he's already got the land. They're pretty upset from what I have seen.

In my opinion it's a HORRIBLE idea and VERY BAD place to put something like this. Just really poor business planning. Saxapahaw is all about hippie eco-tourism, etc, not theme parks. There are plenty of other places in NC that something like this could work, but this has to be one of the worst places in the state for it. Do the pirate thing at the beach —*fine, that would be fun. I'm not opposed to theme parks, but not in Saxapahaw. Seriously, did they do no research? Saxapahaw is all about farm-to-table, eat local/buy local, farm stays, kayaking the Haw River. Not a theme park.

It also seems like he's ripping off the idea of Wilson's wonderful "Whirligig Park", the legacy of famed NC outsider artist Vollis Simpson. Vollis Simpson's work is internationally recognized and there are pieces in many museums. To make a fake plastic version just seems wrong to me.

And they DEFINITELY will not need to widen 87 for this. This is going to fail. It's a bad location, unwanted by the community, and not in keeping with community ideals, AND it's going to be podunk. Nobody is going to drive from Greensboro to go to this thing. It's going to be only slightly bigger than Celebration Station. Its not going to be a new Carowinds or anything. People who want to go to a theme park are going to drive the extra 45 minutes and go to Carowinds and really have fun for the day.
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Old 03-04-2017, 03:16 PM
 
Location: Greensboro, NC USA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by poppydog View Post
It's not that close to Burlington. If it was close to Burlington, like in Haw River, that would be much much better. I know exactly where it is (just outside Saxapahaw at the corner of 87 and Stockard Rd) and folks in the community there are mostly very opposed to it, but he's already got the land. They're pretty upset from what I have seen.

In my opinion it's a HORRIBLE idea and VERY BAD place to put something like this. Just really poor business planning. Saxapahaw is all about hippie eco-tourism, etc, not theme parks. There are plenty of other places in NC that something like this could work, but this has to be one of the worst places in the state for it. Do the pirate thing at the beach —*fine, that would be fun. I'm not opposed to theme parks, but not in Saxapahaw. Seriously, did they do no research? Saxapahaw is all about farm-to-table, eat local/buy local, farm stays, kayaking the Haw River. Not a theme park.

It also seems like he's ripping off the idea of Wilson's wonderful "Whirligig Park", the legacy of famed NC outsider artist Vollis Simpson. Vollis Simpson's work is internationally recognized and there are pieces in many museums. To make a fake plastic version just seems wrong to me.

And they DEFINITELY will not need to widen 87 for this. This is going to fail. It's a bad location, unwanted by the community, and not in keeping with community ideals, AND it's going to be podunk. Nobody is going to drive from Greensboro to go to this thing. It's going to be only slightly bigger than Celebration Station. Its not going to be a new Carowinds or anything. People who want to go to a theme park are going to drive the extra 45 minutes and go to Carowinds and really have fun for the day.
Its going to be much bigger than Celebration Station we are talking 20 acres here. Celebration Station is barely an acre. But the first phase would be half the sjze of Wet n Wild Emerald Pointe in Greensboro. 20 acres is very small for a theme park which on average is about 100 acres. The first park would be 1/5th the size of Carowinds. I agree that its not in the best location. At the very least it should be on the I-85/40 corridor in Burlington. This would be a better location because there is direct access to Greensboro/Winston-Salem to the west and Raleigh/Durham to the east. However this location only makes sense if its a major theme park on par with Carowinds. The proposal is unusual though because we dont see too many amusement/theme parks being built across the country. Theme Park construction hit its peak between the mid 70s and mid 80s. If this theme park is to survive, its going to have to have thrill rides such as roller coasters. These rides are really the big draw to theme parks these days. But I agree the park will be a loser if it has a podunk farm theme. I'd have to see more details on the plans

Last edited by gsoboi78; 03-04-2017 at 03:38 PM..
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Old 03-04-2017, 03:32 PM
 
241 posts, read 336,584 times
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My BFF's son has Boy Scout meetings near that area. They live in Graham. That is a hippie dippie Chapel Hill esque area. The folks there don't seem like they'd want all that extra traffic. It's also not really convenient to major highways, either. I agree with y'all. This would've worked better near the beach.
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Old 03-04-2017, 03:43 PM
 
Location: Greensboro, NC USA
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The problem I have with the coast is that it doesn't pull in enough tourism like in places such as Myrtle Beach for a theme park. Even the Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach failed. In order for major theme parks to succeed, they have to be in either a major tourist area or near one or two big urban centers. This guy got the right county, just the wrong location. Alamance County does make a whole lot of sense for a major theme park. The Burlington area is quickly becoming a retail magnet and a major theme park would draw from the Triad and Triangle urban centers. My only real issue with this proposed park is the theme. If it comes off as podunk or more of a side road rural attraction its not going to appeal to sophisticated young people, yuppies and families from the primary cities of the Triad and Triangle. Like poppy dog said it will fail.
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Old 03-04-2017, 03:48 PM
 
Location: The City of Medicine
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I'd love for a theme park closer to the Triangle than Carowinds or Kings Dominion.
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Old 03-04-2017, 04:09 PM
 
Location: Greensboro, NC USA
6,152 posts, read 7,173,851 times
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Greensboro came close to getting a theme park twice. Busch considered building a brewery and theme park on the current site of the Grandover Resort just a mile south of Wet n Wild Water Park. The land deal went sour and Busch chose Williamsburg, Va instead. It would have been Busch Gardens Greensboro. Ironically Wet n Wild Emerald Pointe Waterpark opened under the name Aqua "Gardens". The second chance for the Greensboro area came when the region was being considered for a major league baseball team in the late 90s. If the Triad had landed a team a Six Flags theme park would have been built near the Guilford County/Forsyth County line on the Guilford side near the stadium.
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Old 03-04-2017, 05:06 PM
 
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I'm already thinking about what happened to Hard Rock park in Myrtle Beach.
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