When Will Arizona Get a Decent Theme Park? (Phoenix, Mesa: waterparks, insurance)

[ReadyFreddy]

Maybe it's just us but we find other parks pale in comparison to Disney. Well, the Sea World/InBev and Universal parks are ok. But the others just run sort of icky, to me. I'm sure they're a blast for teens and young adults but for older parents with littler kids... I'll stick to the big, clean parks.

[azdr0710]

very, very expensive to do a park nice enough that people would come to in droves....and, amazingly, there still aren't enough people in the Phx/Tucson area to support one.....and California, with all its variety of family offerings, is too close and easy to get to.....

you can check the "similar threads" area at the bottom of this thread for more discussion

[cignalife]

There were rumors about a Gaylord's resort coming to East Mesa about 1 yr ago... anybody have any updates on this?

EDIT:
http://www.azcentral.com/business/ar...extension.html

[NotQuiteNative]

Originally Posted by LocoAZnative

Legend City was not closed in the 60's I was born in 74 and went there as a kid. They had Wallace and Ladmo shows we would goto.

Legend City closed in the mid-1980's.

Legend City - Introduction - Closing Days

It struggled financially for years from its opening to the final conclusion. What finally did it in was the value of the land it sat upon.

Denver supports two theme parks (Elitch's and Lakeside) to varying degrees. But then as someone pointed out--Denver isn't really driving distance to LA.

I would like to see an expanded Big Surf more than a coaster park.

[azriverfan.]

At some point, we will eventually get a theme park. I understand the whole argument about proximity to California theme parks but there a lot of other smaller cities than Phoenix that are proximal to major theme parks that have their own theme parks. There are countless examples of this. OKC has Frontier City even though they are 3 hours from Six Flags. Kansas City has its own theme park. San Antonio has its own theme park. Atlanta has its own theme parks despite being close to Florida.

We are just too large of city now to not have a theme park. And as this city continues to grow and surpass the 5 million mark in 10 years, developers are going to look at this area and say they have no choice but to consider Phoenix for this endeavor. Again, we don't need a large major theme park that rivals Disney World but a smaller theme park on the size of Frontier City that serves the local population would succeed here.

There were two projects that were legitimate: Waveyard and Decades. Both projects stalled due to the poor economy. Decades was going to be built in Eloy between Phoenix and Tucson. Waveyard was going to be in Mesa near the 101/202 area.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by cignalife

There were rumors about a Gaylord's resort coming to East Mesa about 1 yr ago... anybody have any updates on this?

EDIT:
Gaylord, DMB seek 3-year extension for Mesa projects

I never saw that one coming to life. It just made no sense on several levels. Who is going to want to go all the way out east for a resort. It's far from the airport and not practical. There is nothing around that area to warrant such a project. No one goes to just a hotel and stays there the entire time, they want restaurants or something else to draw them to it like a casino.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Too hot south. Texas may hit 100 a few times a year. PHX is over 100 for five months. Also, there are shade trees in Texas so you can sit in the shade and enjoy your visit a bit. Here, nothing but blowing dust and searing sun. PHX is no place for "amusement" in summer unless you are a lizard. Maybe northern AZ but there aren't enough people there even in summer and people from PHX would rather vacation in CA or wherever "home" happens to be in summer anyway.

I do think some smaller scale thing on the order of what's in Mall of America would work if it is built indoors.

I've been to those Texas parks and it feels just as hot due to the humidity but it works because there are water rides and places for shade and you are having fun so it's not like you are wearing work clothes. You wear shirts, shorts and sneakers and a baseball hat.

We could make it work here with shaded lines and misters, shaded walkways with misters, water rides and plenty of access to free water (abundant water fountains) and air conditioned mass facilities. As long as they provide a lot of access to shade, it could work. And unlike many of those cities, we can keep our theme parks open year round with the closure of some of the water rides. I think a smaller well designed theme park in the Phoenix metropolitan area would work. Again this is 2011, we have better technology to account for heat so they could create something.

[Phxguy]

What ever happened to that wildlife park up in Williams?

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

I've been to those Texas parks and it feels just as hot due to the humidity but it works because there are water rides and places for shade and you are having fun so it's not like you are wearing work clothes. You wear shirts, shorts and sneakers and a baseball hat.

We could make it work here with shaded lines and misters, shaded walkways with misters, water rides and plenty of access to free water (abundant water fountains) and air conditioned mass facilities. As long as they provide a lot of access to shade, it could work. And unlike many of those cities, we can keep our theme parks open year round with the closure of some of the water rides. I think a smaller well designed theme park in the Phoenix metropolitan area would work. Again this is 2011, we have better technology to account for heat so they could create something.

You may be right. It could pencil out. I, for one, will be happy when these economic doldrums are behind us. This was a far more interesting place when we were full of plans and big dreams and new things happening all over the city.

[azdr0710]

Originally Posted by Phxguy

What ever happened to that wildlife park up in Williams?

I think it actually opened!....don't know if it is as originally envisioned, but here it is....

Bearizona - Drive-Thru Wildlife Park - Williams, Arizona - Home