Creditors accuse Freestyle Music Park owners of fraud

As more and more news items like this are released, I can't help but wonder--assuming the park does go completely under and gets liquidated--has there been a more colossal failure in the amusement park industry than this? Wild West World comes to mind, but how did that compare in cost to build with HRP?

Yes, there were several back in the beginning of the "theme park era". There was the original Magic Mountain in Colorado, and of course the most spectacular failure was Freedomland. It was the first new park emulating the Disney formula, built by a C.V. Wood, a former Disney employee. It lasted four seasons. Then there was the conversion of the old Ocean Park in Venice CA to Pacific Ocean Park. Wild West World was built utilzing catalog rides, but still thats not pocket change either.It has to be in the running for the shortest life of a park built since WWII.

You wonder why the economic times that we are in, how these parks can show enough of a promising business plan/feasablity study to convince folks to drop money into these new parks. I really do wonder how long it will be before a brand new park can truly succeed in this ecomony.

Maybe if that ADVERTISING company that's part of the suit actually ADVERTISED the park, they wouldn't be in the situation they're in now.

Michael W. Moss said:
I really do wonder how long it will be before a brand new park can truly succeed in this ecomony.

Hopefuly not to long

http://florida.legoland.com/

I know it's not ground up. But it's pretty close.

RatherGoodBear said:
Maybe if that ADVERTISING company that's part of the suit actually ADVERTISED the park, they wouldn't be in the situation they're in now.

Yeah that is a very good point. I haven't been over in that area since before even The Pavillion Closed but I heard that billboard advertising and such was next to nonexistant for either of these park's entities. Word of mouth doesn't always get the folks in the door until you have thousands of people who already found out and attended the park on a regular basis.

Jason Hammond said:

Michael W. Moss said:
I really do wonder how long it will be before a brand new park can truly succeed in this ecomony.

Hopefuly not to long

http://florida.legoland.com/

I know it's not ground up. But it's pretty close.

Yeah that park does have the advantage of the long history of the park that was already there for so long. It will also allow the chain to do more targeted marketing and I think personally is a great fit for that location and even more so to bring families in especially with very young children/grandchildren.

Michael W. Moss said:
I haven't been over in that area since before even The Pavillion Closed but I heard that billboard advertising and such was next to nonexistant for either of these park's entities.

The billboards were seemingly every quarter mile once you hit 501. The problem is that once you're on 501, you're pretty much going to Myrtle Beach anyway and would be driving right past the park in the process.

Exactly. As an example of intelligent marketing, there's a Busch Gardens Williamsburg billboard on the Southbound side of I-95 a few miles North of Kings Dominion.

And there's that billboard across the street from Kentucky Kingdom advertising Holiday World ;).

Lord Gonchar said:

Michael W. Moss said:
I haven't been over in that area since before even The Pavillion Closed but I heard that billboard advertising and such was next to nonexistant for either of these park's entities.

The billboards were seemingly every quarter mile once you hit 501. The problem is that once you're on 501, you're pretty much going to Myrtle Beach anyway and would be driving right past the park in the process.

Yep long distance billboard advertising is always something that parks need to do. Even in Indianapolis I have seen Billboard advertising for Kings Island, Six Flags St Louis, KK,Holiday World,And Cedar Point. Just North of Indy, I have been Billboard ads for Six Flags Great America.

Yeah, but this wasn't long distance advertising. This was heavy advertising along a road that pretty much went nowhere except past the park.

If you were seeing the billboards, you're were 90% likely to pass the park anyway.

I get this is speculative, but is it possible that the board members all (but one) resigned because they also believe the foreclosure suit was fraudulent? It's interesting.