Posted Friday, June 13, 2003 5:01 AM | Contributed by Jeff
Wild Escape is the name developers announced Thursday for the $70 million indoor-outdoor amusement park they propose to open next spring on Council Bluffs' south side, along the South Omaha Bridge Road near South 24th Street. The developers hope to open the park in 2004.
The local news channel mentioned 4-5 roller coasters, along with a flumeride, river rapids type ride, and a "drop tower" that they compared to Space Shot at Adventureland.
------------------ College World Series June 13-23 Omaha Nebraska
Sweet. It's getting closer and closer to coming true. I sure hope they get some good wood! ------------------ -Matt in Iowa 195 coasters ridden -- Faves: Shivering Timbers, Ghostrider, Twister, Hershey Wildcat, Lightning Racer
I can't say I would count on that, but hey it possible. Originally it sounded like a coaster similar to Gemini at CP, but that would be a welcome adition in my opinion.
Wow. I live in eastern Iowa (Quad-Cities), so it'd be a trek for me. But I wonder how all this will come out. I hope Adventure Land won't go out of business.
It shouldn't have too much of an effect on Adventure Land from what they were saying. Although It wouldn't suprise me if a few less families from the Omaha Metro Area don't visit the park as much as they used to.
Maybe Adventureland will get some motivation. I wouldn't mind having a Gemini close by either. But I'm hoping for more of a Lightning Racer (a guy can dream, right?). One side could be the Huskers and the other the Cyclones. Or better yet, keep it all Iowa and make it Cyclones vs. Hawkeyes. ------------------ -Matt in Iowa 195 coasters ridden -- Faves: Shivering Timbers, Ghostrider, Twister, Hershey Wildcat, Lightning Racer
If this was in Florida I could see Six flags branding in the Future, I think Six Flags Wild Escape.... Florida, sounds great. Anyways I don't see a SF in Omaha anytime soon, Hopefully it will be a nice park with some good coasters
----------------- X...I still can't believe it wasn't a dream
Is it just me, or does 70 Million seem a bit slim for an entirely new park? When you consider the purchase of land, and all of the park infastructure and rides, that just doesn't seem like a lot of money.
------------------ The Trip: CP, SFWoA, PKI, KW, HW, IB, SFGAm, MiA and LeSourdsville too. 8 Days- 10 parks. May 2003
Wasn't Jazzland originally built for $90 million? And this is going to be smaller so it doesn't seem all too small of an amount...
Anyway, I am very excited about this and hope everything goes according to plan. Who knows, maybe that "X-coaster" that they were talking about a year ago may happen with the opening delayed a whole year. *Prays!* How much would anyone guess Octophobia or Quantum(sp?) would cost? ;)
Then you will play UT and it wont matter anymore. :p
Anyway, this sounds like a good park, but they have their work cut out for them. They still havent purchased land, and alot has to be done once that has been purchased. But as long as a new park opens, I can live with delays. Hopefully they wont end up like Jazzland..but they'll be fine as long as they dont add a Boomerang.
$70 million is an excellent start for an amusement park. Celebration City cost $40 million and while it may not be loaded with an extensive ride line-up, it was enough to start a very descent amusement park. All-in-all, if you spend your money wisely, possibly purchasing used rides (not all of the rides at Celebration City are new) that's a pretty comfortable amount of cash. However, don't expect a B&M/Intamin filled park to pop up, it'll probably be a long road before a B&M or Intamin is commonplace at this park.
------------------ Warning: I do not think like the average person. My remarks have plenty of thought behind them. Take it for what it's worth, if you disagree, please, feel free to express it, but don't put me down because of it.