Why no SF Florida Parks?

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wahoo skipper said:

South Florida should be the place to be for a major amusement park company. The problem is available land at an acceptable cost. There have been lots of "almost". Wayne Huzienga, former owner of the Marlins once owned (actually started) Blockbuster Video. He built a small Blockbuster F.E.C. that was a concept he had intended to expand throughout the country.

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Hey, I even remember going to that FEC, probably over a dozen years ago now. Miniature golf, batting cages, huge arcade, etc. At THAT time, it was *pretty far out* towards the Everglades...."the times, they are a changin'"...;). Hey, at least the old go-cart place....Grand Prix Race-O-Rama....turned into something "thrilling"....how I love the DBH!

Yes, I agree that the Hurricane is a great woodie and, unfortunately, not may coaster enthusiasts will ride her. They have more room over there for a nice steel coaster too!

wahoo...did you happen to notice Paula *mentioned* another used S&S Double Shot (80') tower just hanging out in FL somewhere....hmmm, those don't take up too much space, and the height wouldn't even be a challenge with the airport next door....:)

I don't ride those much but I am sure it would be a good fit at Boomer's. Of course, they have that crazy swing thing that is pretty tall, with seats on each end. You couldn't pay me enough to get on that thing.

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Alantis104 said:
Bill I dont think I could of put it much better. But I do wish there was a park in South Florida I'm getting sick of the drive every other weekend.

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Joey Ciborek, Florida Coaster Club, Member
"WE RIDE ALL YEAR!!!" www.FloridaCoasterClub.com , www.CoasterJoe.com
"It's like an addiction" Me, The Discovery Channel, Ultimate Guide: Roller Coasters 5/27/02

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I wish for the same, but being a South Florida resident myself, it doesn't seem likely. I mean, look how well Boomers is doing (sarcastically)! We can't even sell sports tickects here, Oh well, at least we have the fair (dade county)

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Here's my two cents:

Florida is a tourist state. Many people who live there are retirees and probably have no interest in thrill rides. Those who visit most likely visit for one of two reasons: 1) Disneyworld and related parks, or 2) the beaches. I think the Florida competition is far, far greater than the California competition considering these factors.

Now, I realize CA also has Disney and beaches, but IMO the Florida parks have a much stronger stranglehold on local tourists, and the FL beaches, let's face it, are just better than the CA ones. That Pacific is just too darn cold... ;)

As far as south Florida goes, aside from the extreme east coast, does anyone live down there? Isn't it mostly swamp? A park near Miami/Ft. Lauderdale/Hollywood would certainly have the necessary population base, but that area probably has enough to do already...

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A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

*** This post was edited by Den on 11/18/2002. ***

Here is a tidbit of info. SF owns land in Florida, somewhere in between Jacksonville and Daytona Beach off of I-95. Some SF executives were in Jacksonville back in April for a week. Hopefully they are looking to go ahead and start construction soon.

SF defines itself as a "regional" theme park operator, even though one or two parks such as SFMM may have grown beyond the "regional" classification. The big business in Florida is the massive "destination" park, The area has not been kind to smaller parks. you probably need to get more than 2 hours from the giants to compete. That leaves only Miami as an attractive location, but even it would be scary.

Remember that SF is also limited on cash. A competitive central Florida park would probably cost at least $200-400,000,000. Remember that IOA cost $ 1 billion.

Even a grass roots park around Miami would probably be $ 100,000,000.

I used to live in Miami and I still go down there a lot to visit family (I'll be there next week 4 TG!) If they were to put a park in they would have to do it fast, and Six Flags would not make it @ ALL, so they might as well not even try. Fort Latida, however, could hold an SF park. If they bought out Boomers and the Dania Beach Hurricane (I rode it nine times once and got a HUGE headache - don't ride it 9 times in a day) they would have to buy a poop-load more land to actually fit more coasters. All they have there is a skycoaster, Putt-Putt, some flat rides, an arcade, and a rollie coaster. Across the street they have go-karts and a ferris wheel. Six Flags Dania Beach would probably not make it that far either, because they'll @ least one customer (me!)

I still think SF could make it work in the Orlando area if they stuck to thrills and value. Of course, value and Six Flags don't always go together. A mid sized park, like Wild Adventures, with camping and value priced lodging could make it an affordable destination. Add free transportation to the other parks, and you've got something the others don't, without robbing your customers.

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"She said to me oh I love it when you're mean,
don't you know it's boring when it's quiet and serene.
I said to her no way baby, life ain't what it seems,
Well don't you know baby that life is a scream!" - Gordon Gano

*** This post was edited by CoasterDad64 on 11/18/2002. ***

wahoo, SP...that THING is a GravityWorks Skyscraper...awesome rides!

...and while the Hurricane itself may not get as many riders as it *should* consdiering what a great ride it is...it draws people down to Boomers "in droves"...don't EVEN try to get near their DDRs, the arcade is PACKED on weekends....the Coaster ticket sales may not pay off the ride, but I'll wabger the ride has already paid for itself, a quarter at a time...;)

I didn't know they even had DDR there; then again I had no idea what DDR was and still wouldn't if it hadn't been for Jeff Putz. Anyway, the Hurricane is a pretty good ride, but then again, it's also the only one closest to Miami. Do you think that they will get another coaster: ie steal?

RubberDucky said:
SF can compete with any park. It is all a matter of location.

well, here in Ohio, with SFWoA and CP being only an hour to an hour and a half away, SFWoA can't compete with CP. CP's attendance was up this year while SFWoA was down. Who we should be looking out for in the next 10 or so years is Cedar Fair, Inc. They are growing like mad crazy.

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If your not having fun, what are you having?

*** This post was edited by franklyn on 11/18/2002. ***

SFI formerly Premier Parks, started life in the land speculation game. While i am not an expert on this topic i can assume that the company probably still dabbles in this field. I would imagine that the company owns quite a bit of land all over the country.

Furthermore, the Six Flags brand name can compete with anyone in the amusement park name game. It is quite recognizable. But in areas like Cleveland the concept of the park is kind of fuzzy. They claim to be a theme park but have put no effort into it. They talk about how big and how close it is and it turns off a lot of people. In an area like Cleveland the brand of Six Flags has gained a dubious sort of reputation. Clearly the company would have to take their current levels of competition in the themeing realm to new levels in order to run in Fla. Or they can take the route of CP and drop the whole charade and just be an amusement park.

SeederPoint, I can't lie, I'd love to see that lot across the street house a Talon clone, S:UF, or an Intamin Impulse.....but think it's MUCH more likely that they'd go more into a "kiddie land" sort of thing. So if it's a steelie you're looking for, I can picture a Dragon Coaster or something like that, at least in the near future....

edit: gotta wonder who bought *MY* WildCat.....argh, lol....I'm happy for whoever got it, but would like to know who it is so I can go ride it, feel like I'd become kinda *attached* to it.

*** This post was edited by rollergator on 11/19/2002. ***

Just heard a little more of South Florida history on the radio last night. The proposed "Blockbuster Park" for Miramar was going to be built as a sister to a new baseball park that Huzienga wanted to build. Huzienga figured the amusement park could offset the costs of running the baseball stadium.

Of course, Huzienga sold off Blockbuster to Viacom and trashed the Marlins so it never happened.

Dania Beach does not have near enough land to hold a park. The coaster, by the way, is not owned by Boomer's but by a couple of individuals who wanted to build it. I think Boomer's leased the land to the guys but they are definitely benefitting from the location of the ride. Those who don't know, it sits about 50 feet of I-95.

There is a mall down in Miami (the Dolphin Mall) that was supposed to build a second phases that would include amusement park rides. I spoke to the owner while the mall was being built a couple of times and they were looking for an established operator to come in and run it.

There are signs at the mall still that says the "park" is coming but I wouldn't hold your breath.