How do Amusement Parks start???

Where does the money come from to build new amusement parks?...Sponsors? Loans?

 

I recently drew an Amusement Park over a 3 month period on 12 sheets of graph paper. It has everything! The park itself, waterpark, resort hotels, and parking lot. And it has 16 rollercoasters! Of course I have drawn it in different phases-each sheet of paper is a different phase and themed to different things. It has almost every kind of ride that you can think of. It has shows, shops, games, restrooms, food stands, restaurants, pay attractions, etc...It isn't exactly drawn to scale, but i will redraw it to scale one day.

One day I hope to bring it to life! But I do not even know where to start!! I know it takes years just to plan it, and then at least 2 or more years to build, but of course I would not want to build it all at once, but in phases like I have drawn it.

Any help at all would be much appreciated!

Thank you SOO much!

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Dorney Junkie
TALON rocks! Peace out!

You start out with a lot of money and then you borrow more.

Lots of the older parks start out long ago as picknic groves at the end of the train or trolley line.  They gradually added rides and grew.  For a slightly more recent variation of this pattern look at the history on Holiday World's site.

At the other extreme, Universal put a billion in cash on the barrel head when they built IOA.

I don't know where you would get the money, but if ever won millions of dollors in a powerball or something I'd start my own amusment park, FOR REAL! Did you ever have an essay about what you would do if you won 1, 10, or 50 million dollars, what would you do? I always write about starting my own amusment park. I always ask myself the same question though, Where would I start??? I think big time companys buy/start amusment parks. Look at that new one in I think Germany. Warner Bros. is making that.
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My SFGAdv Website:
www.geocties.com/dannyrc2001

If you won 50, 10 and 1 million dollars together, you'd still have a hard time building a decent park from scratch, I would say.  You want two top-of-the-line coasters, that's $20 million plus right there.  I bet landscaping alone would cost millions.  Then there's hundreds of buildings, electricity, plumbing, flat rides and installation, hundreds or thousands of employees and other monthly bills, and soooo much more. 

If I won millions, I'd start a more modest business.... say, a putt-putt course, music store or arcade. 

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You can't spell "dishonorable" without "honorable."

I would think a pretty decent park with only a few (3 or 5) coasters would run you in the hundreds of millions at least.

You can do the [original] Six Flags approach:  get a bunch of wealthy people together and take their money.  Build a park.  You run the place, but they become the park's investors (owners) who you will forever owe money to!  Ha ha ha ha!

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Den said:
 If I won millions, I'd start a more modest business.... say, a putt-putt course, music store or arcade. 

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I'd do a slight variation on that. I'd start with a go-kart park, and add a few CCIs. That seems to work great for a certain guy who has Big Chief on his license plate... of course then I'd start removing the go-karts and replace them with flat rides, because go-kart fumes make me nauseas (sp?).

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I have no signature.

You begin by putting the CD in the drive, and starting up the program. Soon you are given the option of starting from scratch or taking over an existing nightmare. Either way, you have lots to do to keep your guests happy. Clean up the puke, don't accidentally drown a chartacter, and keep Cotton Candy prices low!

Oh geesh...sorry. Another RCT flashback.
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Don't.....look.....back! The Headless Horseman awaits you in 2002!
Model coasters and rides

Actually I had always thought that buying an existing park, especially one that is on the endangered list, would be a slightly "cheaper" way of having your own amusement park.

The plusses:

People are already familiar with the park and have already established themeselves in the area they are in. You won't have to spend thousands trying to advertise a new property.

Most "endangered" parks have a few classics not found in the mega themers today, especially if they have a great wooden coaster.

All a park would need is gradual upgrades and new ride additions and the park could survive.

Minuses:

You would have to work around what is already there (i.e. current infrastructure). Of course this could be remedied by replacing outdated utilities and such but that would still cost less than putting utilities in a new park.

Competition - one of the big reasons these park's are close to being "endangered" - the big theme parks and their multi-million dollar thrill rides are huge magnets for people. But again, with the right vision and a decent amount of money, these parks can bring in some of the dough spent at other parks.

X Factor

You can also start a park the easier way.

Sure, you MAY need millions to start it (that's what banks are for, as long as you have collateral)...

...however, I'd whore myself out to the greedy corporate bastards and have them slap their name wherever I could.

Pizza Hut, Subway, Taco Bell, Colgate, Poland Springs, Stridex, Tampex, Glade.... you name it....

...if you got them to help sponsor you in your park (with the exchange, obviously, having their product being advertised somewhere, somehow at your park)... you would at the very least get more than half the money you need.

Also, if you start a park from scratch, you really just need to start it off with 2 coasters (1 wood, 1 steel), some flat rides, and decent entertainment/diversions. Start small, and plan for the future (more sponsors!).

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...It's here, it's here, it's here!!! Whooptie-freakin' doo!!
Ok, what's new for 2003?? I can't wait!!...

Look at Disneyland.  While Walt and Roy had some money, the majority of the financing came from ABC television.  Walt, in turn, produced television shows for ABC including "Disneyland".

Many of the big parks we see today started out as small picnic pavillions.  Cedar Point was basically a boat ride over to sit on the beach.  Geauga Lake aka SFWoA was at the end of a trolley line.  (It was also a hangout during prohibition.)

The original concept for Busch Gardens started out as a place for the employees to recreate.  (As did Disneyland as a matter of fact).

I don't expect to see many brand new parks starting from the ground up here in the US.  The market is pretty well established across the country. 

Here is my insight on how parks get started...

Typically, someone decides that they want to build a park.  Most of the times they have no money, but know it is a great idea.  The more serious people already have investors interested in the concept, or the person has a lot of money available.  The first task is to determine the location the park will be built.  (or a couple of locations).  Study the market.  Can the park be supported?  How do you know?  A feasibility analysis needs to be completed.  This can be costly, but in the grand scheme of things, is a minor expense whe you are talking about spending millions on a park.  This analysis will tell you how much the market can support...the attendance...revenues...expenses...investment level, etc.  With the exception of Disney & Universal's newest parks, a typical park built today could range from $50 to $300 million.  Look at Jazzland: $110 million, Hopi Hari in Brazil, $200 - $250 million, Visionland $50 million, Kings Island sold to Paramount for $250 million, but would cost so much more to build today. 

Now the bad news for those wanting to build a major theme park in the US...there are very few areas that could support a major park.  Maybe the northwest, but look at the size of the population.  Smaller parks such as Visionand would be more typical today.  And could keep a steady revenue stream.  Internationally, there are many untapped markets, but there are greater risks involved. 

I've consulted on new parks all over the world and have seen first hand how the process works.  It's long, time consuming and things don't always go as planned.  I've seen many ideas come and go, studies completed and parks never built.  You would be amazed at the number of people that want to build a park. 

Questions/comments are welcome.