Please, please, please make the snowbirds leave. (Phoenix: credit, buying a home)

[twiggy]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

I already am. But I am an Arizona old fart - a grumpy one at that - and I would like to have at least a couple nice weeks when I don't have to look at the balding heads and choke on the cheap perfume of other old farts from far away places.

This has got me rolling off the couch Ponderosa! I live by Sun City and know exactly what you are talking about. Sometimes there is no reason but the obvious. lol

[twiggy]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

1. Orlando is also too hot for theme parks based on the heat index

2. There are 4.5 million people stuck here looking for something to do

3. Southern California is not Orlando. Their theme parks are spread apart. The two Disney parks are in Anaheim. Magic Mountain is in Valencia and Legoland is in San Diego. Phoenix has the opportunity to build several theme parks in close proximity to each other which WOULD lure tourists.

4. Adding a theme parks adds jobs and enhances the city by offering yet another attraction and makes the city more attractive in general.

No, a theme park is not a "spectacularly dumb idea"

Good read tonight AZ, eye opening for me. It's high time we do a little turn around. Look at the state we are in now! We need to do something thats for sure!

[Arizona Mike]

Originally Posted by pbenjamin

It IS too hot here for theme parks. Castles N' Coasters is chock full of people who are already stuck here and looking for something to do in the heat. Nobody is going to travel here to go to a theme park in the summer. Even if they would like it if they tried, they aren't going to try, particularly given the proximity to Southern California, where there all the theme parks one would care to attend. A theme park in Phoenix is a spectacularly dumb idea.

Phoenix used to have a wonderful theme park, Legend City, which was on the border between Phoenix and Tempe (where the SRP complex is now). Arizonans of a certain age have very fond memories of it. It was great to go anytime, but in the summer months most of us went at night. Anyone who ever went there misses it. It was a safe place to take the kids for a day, way more fun than Disneyland, and was certainly more convenient.

To see what it was like in its heyday, check out this website: www.legend-city.com (It was privately capitalized, BTW - I stil have a stock certificate from it!)

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

1. Orlando is also too hot for theme parks based on the heat index

2. There are 4.5 million people stuck here looking for something to do

3. Southern California is not Orlando. Their theme parks are spread apart. The two Disney parks are in Anaheim. Magic Mountain is in Valencia and Legoland is in San Diego. Phoenix has the opportunity to build several theme parks in close proximity to each other which WOULD lure tourists.

4. Adding a theme parks adds jobs and enhances the city by offering yet another attraction and makes the city more attractive in general.

No, a theme park is not a "spectacularly dumb idea"

Excellent post! It's very refreshing to read thoughtful, in depth viewpoints from someone who looks at the big picture for a change.
()

I might have mentioned previously that Las Vegas is a year round destination, and the reason for that is the entire Vegas strip (Las Vegas Blvd.) is basically one huge theme park. Las Vegas can be just as hot as Phoenix during most of the summer, so the excuse that Phoenix is too hot to have theme parks is quite lame, and holds no logic.

What really irritates me is when people brag about Phoenix being a great place to live because "we're only six hours from the California theme parks & beaches". That is such a STUPID reason to live here! If they like being this close to California, why not go a step better and move to California??? Why not make Phoenix a destination for attractions that people actually want to see? To this date, I haven't heard a single valid reason why such attractions can't exist here ... other than "it's too hot", which isn't a valid reason!

[buckeyenative01]

I'm not saying any of you who think having a theme park in Arizona is a bad idea, but I look at it this way:

Arizona is better known for its natural beauty. People come here to see landmarks like the Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert, Petrified Forest, Monument Valley, Saguaro National Park, etc. The tourism, especially in the summer, stems from people who fly to Phoenix (or drive through) and then trek four hours north to see the natural landmarks.

Since Southern California already has an abundance of theme parks, it seems a little odd, to me at least, to try and compete with that, especially in the summer time. Hour-long flights from Phoenix to LA/SD are somewhat cheap as it is. Yeah it gets hot (and relatively humid) in Southern California, but the beach is only a half-hours drive from Disneyland, Knotts and other parks. Phoenix doesn't offer that kind of escape from the oppressive summertime heat unless you're willing to risk dehydration/heat stroke or cool down at random intervals in air conditioning throughout the day.

[mwwwin]

You want the snowbirds to leave?!...if it weren't for them, AZ would economically be a fraction of what it is today...they're great for our economy and generally nice aged folk - like we'll all be one day!

[pbenjamin]

On top of that, this was being suggested as a way to make the Valley a year-round tourist destination. Where you might (I doubt it though) have some level of success catering to the locals with a theme park, getting somebody from Kansas or Alberta to come here in the summer instead of Southern California just isn't going to happen.

[ihatetucson]

Want to see the snowbirds really leave, watch when the daytime temp goes from 80 degrees to 110 degrees, then you will see lots of them head for cooler ground

[buckeyenative01]

Originally Posted by pbenjamin

On top of that, this was being suggested as a way to make the Valley a year-round tourist destination. Where you might (I doubt it though) have some level of success catering to the locals with a theme park, getting somebody from Kansas or Alberta to come here in the summer instead of Southern California just isn't going to happen.

Bingo.

"I'm at a theme park in Arizona, but you say we're only a six hour drive/one hour flight away from Disneyland!? Why am I here?"

[shiphead]

All this talk about theme parks makes me depressed about the water park that wasn't built on the mesa-tempe border. The drawings and ideas behind it was awesome.