I Want to Own an Amusement Park!!!
Does anyone know of any books, magazines, web sites (books mostly) where I can find out a little bit more on the life of owning & managing an amusement park?
Not that I'm seriously thinking into it... but if anybody is fimilar with the Adirondack area, there is a little gem of land in the Village of Lake George, NY that used to be "Gaslight Village", which was a small 6 acre amusement park filled with some great classic flat rides. It's been closed down for a number of years, and was even attempted at a ressurection as "Lake George Action Park", but that never took off. As of right now, it's for sale, and a number of proposals have been made... but nothing has ever been done.
I've been fantasizing about buying that gem of a spot (with what money? Not sure yet) and turning it back into a "Gaslight Village" filled with some great flat rides (both used & new) themed to a village of the '20s or '30s. I know the land cost some 4 million... but if I got some funding & loans, I bet I could turn it profitable within a few years, especially in the heart of a tourist destination such as that. I remember that it used to be very crowded in that park when I went as a kid, and even though it's just 6 acres... a lot could be done with that land if given the proper imagination!!
It'd be nice to give The Great Escape just a little competition... despite the small size, I'd have either a "pay-one-price" or "pay-per-ride" kind of deal.
I'd love to do that someday. I probably will only be able to be a CEO or President if I set my mind to it, but it would be way to expensive to start a park.
I sorta did it when I made a rollercoaster in my back yard along with a few water slides, and homemade rides. The kids loved it but unfortunately the coaster car was very hard to build and too heavy so I called it quits. The first 2 years it worked great though. The third year I tryed to improve it but ruined it. It was a good experience though.
Ride of Steel said:I sorta did it when I made a rollercoaster in my back yard along with a few water slides, and homemade rides. The kids loved it but unfortunately the coaster car was very hard to build and too heavy so I called it quits. The first 2 years it worked great though. The third year I tryed to improve it but ruined it. It was a good experience though.
Yeah...and you are 13 years old...haha
NitroExplodes said:
Yeah...and you are 13 years old...haha
Are you making fun of me? I did and I swear on it. It was 20 feet long and went down a hill in my backyard. I had a bungee brake system. Also I can be a CEO someday if I want to and if I work hard. If I were you I wouldn't be laughing I'd be really surprised that a 10 year old (my age when I completed it) accomplished that.
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Its not attention deficit. I'm just ignoring you.
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The worst day at Cedar Point is better than the best day at work.
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My fellow Americans; Let's Roll!
Woodencoaster.com
The World of Thrills
Don't doubt Ride of Steel. I made a 3 story dog-house with a patio and a yard will real grass. It's a VERY long story but I'll just go along with the rest of the topic though.
I say go for it too. You only live once, so why live without owning an amusement park?
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Call me SpongeBobAlex.
CP ismyhome said:
Bungee Brake system, hmm, maybe you could sell that idea to B&M, or Intamin
Yeah lol it was great. See there were too bungee cords attachted to the top of the ride and the other side attached to the car along with ropes incase the bungee ever snapped. It would slowly brake the car down at the end of the track then we brought it back up again. It was really fun to ride.
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Its not attention deficit. I'm just ignoring you.
Let us coasterbuzzers know if you ever get it started. If I make my way up to NY I'll stop by and give it some of my business. I would love to open a park. I'm still trying to think of a way to make the several million dollars that I would need. That'll take a while tho. Meanwhile I say go for it. The biggest risk is not taking one (I heard that somewhere).
Hey Ride of Steel, that sounds cool with the coaster and stuff. What else did you use to build that, the waterslides, and whatever else you built.
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Six Flags, the only chain of parks that can manage to have stacking with a one train operation.
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Im the #1 Canobie Lake Park Fan!!!These are my top 3 coasters:
1. S:RoS @ SFNE 2. Yankee Cannonball 3. Cyclone/B:TDK
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Call me SpongeBobAlex.
I hope that you win the lottery dawgbite so that you can buy your park. That would be great. Do you know what kind of shape the rides are in? How many rides are there?
It would be great to own a park. Drive around in a golf cart and do all of the test rides every morning.
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The worst day at Cedar Point is better than the best day at work.
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My fellow Americans; Let's Roll!
Woodencoaster.com
The World of Thrills
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Its not attention deficit. I'm just ignoring you.
Actually, the land is limited to a toatal of 6 acres. I'm not sure if that includes the small parking lot or not, but there is a small area for parking. Otherwise, the rest of the visitors have to park along the sides of the streets.
There is no undeveloped land to the North, South, West, or East... it's all taken up, so you gotta make due with the land you got. There's no room for a rollercoaster, and I think they have a height limit of around 100 feet, so there goes the idea of having a drop tower. I figure that Huss sells a lot of good "experienced" rides among other manufactures, so that might save a few bucks.
It's not completely unrealistic if I really, really look into it. I'd just like to read more into the amusement business side of things, and was looking for books that were put out by some owners in the past. Anybody know of any (hense the main theme of this thread)?
The main problem is really just finding collateral in case it flops. I know it'd be successful for awhile, but would it be successful in the long run to replace some rides or add new ones?
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