Wild Waves announces final season

hambone:

Mattel Park in Arizona (with others planned?)

I’ve heard some serious doubt about the viability of these projects and at this point I’m not sure either ride-based park will open. Mattel is a strong brand, Epic resorts is not.

They’re pretty far along in Arizona. So maybe they’ll stick it out for a year like Hard Rock Park or that wild west park in Kansas.

It’s a weird concept, kind of a ‘roided up FEC, and it feels like the target market for Mattel + loops is maybe boys 10-12? A pretty small niche.

I left out Cotaland, which is another weird concept, and as a native of Columbus where public transit authority is COTA, I’m picturing endlessly riding slow, broken down buses.

We had a Mattel thing pop up near us for a while, like an FEC, it had Thomas & Friends, Bob the Builder, and Fireman Sam. Hot Wheels feels pretty flexible and enduring and Barbie would have a lot of appeal, you would think.

I think that list is more like a bunch of glorified FEC's than anything. And yes, Epic is a legit addition, though I'm not sure if I would even count that since it's just another gate in an established resort.

Yes, I acknowledged that about three different ways. You know what else started out as a glorified FEC?

Wild Waves Theme & Water Park is an amusement park and water park in Federal Way, Washington. Opened in 1977 as The Enchanted Village….

The Enchanted Village theme park was first opened on May 28, 1977, by Byron Betts…. The initial 12-acre park site held only a half-dozen rides and included a playground, wading pool, and petting zoo.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wi...Theme_Park

As far as the Mattel parks go, it doesn't sound like a big deal. I've wanted an immersive Masters of the Universe themed park area for as long as I can remember, and looks like I'll finally get my wish in a MotU themed laser tag experience.

Can you imagine a bunch of fifty-year-olds scooting their feet around in the dark, shooting at each other within a Castle Grayskull backdrop? LOL

He-Man was always kind of a second-rate cartoon. I didn't see the Kevin Smith reboot though, maybe that was better?

Lost Island is also a relatively new addition.

Kevin Smith's reboot was made for fans of the old cartoon. It was pretty good- a lot less childish.

Mattel has been working hard on the upcoming Masters of the Universe movie, out in June. They are going to market is as hard as they did the Barbie movie, and very early test screenings are saying a lot of positive things about it. Like usual, they want to find a new audience for the franchise.

A new animated show is coming also. And new toys. And there has been a new MotU comic from Dark Horse that is really good, so far.

I doubt that will make my dreams of a roller coaster traveling through Snake Mountain, or a trackless dark ride deep inside Castle Grayskull, ever come true. These Mattel parks are going to be more like an FEC than a full-fledged theme park.

...But I once said the same thing about a Mario. I designed a Nintendo park in RCT2 decades ago.

And probably a near future closure … which is why the path to new parks these days begins with an FEC, not with a fully built out attraction with four coasters.

(Partly because most of the places that can support a fully built out park already have one, and partly because the time it takes to build awareness, word-of-mouth business, etc. is substantial, and the capital to build and sustain a full park de novo is enormous.)

Having a successful water park in their ownership down the street from Lost Island should give them a boost but they seem be in an odd situation whereby the water park can be packed to the rafters and there can be (literally) 200 people in the theme park.

Starting a new park is hard ...

Starting a new park is hard ...

Europe and China and obv the Middle East is where its at.

Universal UK just got its planning permission passed today, by having London tech supersede the local planning process. Im curious what this does to the flailing Merlin.

Puy Du Fou also announced their plans for a 2 park in the UK and much like the French version but UK history centric.

But the UK lost a good number of small parks as well, much like the US.

Meanwhile Efteling and Europa and Parc Astrix keep building like Universal.

Completely agree that Universal UK is going to be interesting, Merlin is really struggling and have been trying to occupy a similar space to Universal. I.e. dominated by IPs in resort properties.

Puy Du Fou will be an interesting addition to our market, I am not convinced it'll be a great fit. The original works because it's so different, curious how it will work out. Although it fits in the same (loose) theme park bucket, I am not convinced people go to Puy Du Fou instead of riding roller coasters. I guess I say that who has always done it in addition to a wider trip.