Are indoor parks a good idea?
I was just thinking, could indoor amusement parks if owned by the major amusement industry(SF,CF,Paramount) be a great success if they opened throughout the U.S.? I know CF manages Knotts Camp Snoopy in Mall of America but do you think this idea would be successful in other parts of the country that have cold winters? Personally I think they could have these parks open on a seasonal basis, possibly from October-May.
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"DONT FIGHT IT, RIDE IT",,,,RAGING BULL
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"DONT FIGHT IT, RIDE IT",,,,RAGING BULL
Chitown: I have thought of this many times, primarily because of the loss of Old Chicago. I just dont think it would be such a good idea, at least not for the fall/winter season. I think the only time they would get business is on the weekends and around the holiday season. I remember a couple of years back, Chicago had a 'winter carnival' in Navy Pier. There were some good rides there, but the place was practically deserted (went on a weekday).
Where i think an indoor park could flourish is in the southwest; indoors cause it's just too darn hot during the day. Only thing, how would you build a CCI completely inside? =]
jeremy
Where i think an indoor park could flourish is in the southwest; indoors cause it's just too darn hot during the day. Only thing, how would you build a CCI completely inside? =]
jeremy
I think it would be such a reverse-seasonal thing unless it's up in the northern reaches of Canada. We have an indoor amusement park (fair rides) here in Cleveland every year for a few weeks at the International Expositions (IX) Center, an old tank factory building. It does pretty well, but given the abundance of parks within driving distance from Cleveland, it wouldn't do really well outside of the time span they run it.
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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
I've been to the IX before, and it's a pretty nice place to go to. It's not exactly Cedar Point or SFO, but after being on winter amusement park withdrawl, it's always a visit I look foreward to. They have a large selection of traveling rides... a wildcat type roller coaster, a log flume, and even a launched free-fall ride.
On the general topic of indoor parks, they are always open, and keep a constant temperature. Unless it was built in a remote region, it would have to compete with other outdoor amusement parks.
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Colder than 40 degrees in Florida? No way!
On the general topic of indoor parks, they are always open, and keep a constant temperature. Unless it was built in a remote region, it would have to compete with other outdoor amusement parks.
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Colder than 40 degrees in Florida? No way!
I think an indoor park in Chicago would do very good in winter. Think of this: the only major park near Chicago is Great America and that is closed in winter. I would go to the indoor park all the ime if it had some intense rides. They could put in some small shuttles like Viper at sfog and an impulse. Maybe it could be like an extension of SFGA, only for winter not summer.
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See you in 2001 for twice the fun (hint, hint) *** This post was edited by sfga2001 on 1/3/2001. ***
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See you in 2001 for twice the fun (hint, hint) *** This post was edited by sfga2001 on 1/3/2001. ***
An indoor park would run into expansion problems very quickly, and would have to be tiny...it would be hard to convince people to return. And roller coasters would have to be small and compact. I'm not sure it's particularly viable unless an indoor park were to be part of some other type of leisure oriented destination, like a shopping mall.
well not a bad idea... seeing as there's a foot and a half of snow on my doorstep right now. However I think scenery for coasters would take a serious blow in some cases.
"Oh my gosh!.... my feet almost hit the... the.... the carpet!!!!!"
lol
sorry I had to
:)
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www.angelfire.com/in3/rct
"Oh my gosh!.... my feet almost hit the... the.... the carpet!!!!!"
lol
sorry I had to
:)
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www.angelfire.com/in3/rct
Jephry said:
"What about that place in Las Vegas...Circus Circus I think"
Circus Circus has all the charm of a root canal -
To answer the original question - on the whole, I doubt something like this could be a major standalone draw, even in colder climates. I think part of the experience people are looking for in an amusement park is the wind in your hair, sun on your face kind of thing. Just my opinion.
IMO, it's very difficult to build an indoor amusement park because you really can't expand. Camp Snoopy does well because it is part of the Mall. They will always have traffic. But they don't have real thrilling rides. I don't know if it's because they can't or that it's because it's geared more towards children.
Don't get me wrong, I love Camp Snoopy because I have somewhere to go during the long winter months to ride a roller coaster. But I don't think it will ever be a truly exciting place to go.
I think an indoor park with the really good thrill rides would be extremely expensive venture and I don't know if it would do well in any part of the country. Maybe the south would still be too hot unless they didn't have skylights and used lots of air conditioning and for those of us "northerners" we want to be outside in the summer.
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Been there. Done that. Doin' it again.
Don't get me wrong, I love Camp Snoopy because I have somewhere to go during the long winter months to ride a roller coaster. But I don't think it will ever be a truly exciting place to go.
I think an indoor park with the really good thrill rides would be extremely expensive venture and I don't know if it would do well in any part of the country. Maybe the south would still be too hot unless they didn't have skylights and used lots of air conditioning and for those of us "northerners" we want to be outside in the summer.
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Been there. Done that. Doin' it again.
Adventuredome in Circus Circus is a great place. Old Chicago failed becaused because the mall lacked major tenants. They had sufficient rides. I honestly think that evry large mall with 3-4 anchor stores has enough foot traffic to support a small indoor park.....a ferris wheel, bumper cars, maybe a small coaster. Family rides, some group race games, and a playland type attraction would round it out. I think that enough birthday parties and group business could do it up just fine.
Most malls are getting a carousel, have climbing walls, arcades, some have fec's, you just need to put them together. They just need to be family oriented, malls have enough issues with teens hanging out and not spending money.
Most malls are getting a carousel, have climbing walls, arcades, some have fec's, you just need to put them together. They just need to be family oriented, malls have enough issues with teens hanging out and not spending money.
Ron Toomer's Revenge, you are right, Auto World did suck. However, I always thought that it could have been better. The two dark rides that I can remember were slow, but decent family attractions. The bumper cars, carousel, and ferris wheel were nice, and the park had a gorgeous interior atmosphere designed to look like old time Flint. Also, the IMAX theater was nice to have (I'm still disappointed that they tore down this classic theater when they tore down the rest of the building)
However, the park lacked anything exciting for people to return for. You could have one fun trip and then there was nothing more to do. If they had just put in some sort of roller coasters and thrill rides, I think that the park would have done much better. They could have fit in some spin and spews here and there and maybe a Wild Mouse coaster or something. Oh well, it is gone now, and Flint will never have the chance to try it again the right way.
However, the park lacked anything exciting for people to return for. You could have one fun trip and then there was nothing more to do. If they had just put in some sort of roller coasters and thrill rides, I think that the park would have done much better. They could have fit in some spin and spews here and there and maybe a Wild Mouse coaster or something. Oh well, it is gone now, and Flint will never have the chance to try it again the right way.
Auto World had two dark rides that I can remember. One was called "The Great Race" where you rode in antiue looking race cars looking at scenes from an ongoing race. It was a decent ride. It had a tunnel that was supposed to make you feel like you were going fast, but the effect didn't work very well. There was also another dark ride, but I can't remember it at all.
Auto World also had some decent shows and displays. It was actually pretty nice, but only for one visit, then it got boring.
The best part of the park was the walk through Old Time Flint with shops, a carousel, bumper cars, and a ferris wheel. They did some very elaborate theming in the dome section, complete with a river flowing through.
Also, the IMAX theater was nice. I'm sorry that the place was gone. I wish that they could have found a way to make it work.
Auto World also had some decent shows and displays. It was actually pretty nice, but only for one visit, then it got boring.
The best part of the park was the walk through Old Time Flint with shops, a carousel, bumper cars, and a ferris wheel. They did some very elaborate theming in the dome section, complete with a river flowing through.
Also, the IMAX theater was nice. I'm sorry that the place was gone. I wish that they could have found a way to make it work.
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