Wild Escape Theme Park announced for Wheeling, WV

Posted | Contributed by PerrysburgGuy

The Wild Escape Theme Park plans to have more than 40 acres of the park completed by next summer, and employ 1000 people, 400 year round. The plan includes shops, restaurants, rides, and indoor entertainment. The company also plans on building two hotels, an indoor water park and an outdoor water park. One third of the park will be open year round.

Read more from WTOV/Steubenville-Wheeling and The Intelligencer.

More
1 of 2
2

I am a reporter in the Wheeling area covering this story and something doesn't seem right to me. The only thing I can find out about the developer, Crystal Mountain LLC, is that they proposed the exact same park in Omaha, Nebraska -- and it never happened. Now I understand they have even submitted the same artist's renderings for this "Wild Escape" as the Omaha one. Plus, officials here are calling this a done deal, with the first phase of the park set to open next year. If anyone has any inside info about this company or its history -- or its plans for West Virginia, would you please share it? Thanks.

Here's the link to the "Port Nebraska" Wild Escape. I guess this was suppose to be the first Papa Park.

http://www.portnebraska.com/index_files/Page350.htm

Well, the final nail in Conneauts future is driven. I hope not but it is in that market.

Still, clearly visable in the park renderings is a wooden coaster as well as some type steel coaster Ziere or rollerskater from the renedering, A giant wheel, a observation or drop tower.

I hope they get TGG, Indications from my little bird is that TTG has enough projects to keep em busy for some time to come.

They have a website too.

http://www.wildescape.com/

Pretty much the same concept as Port Nebraska.

No, some of the renderings are EXACTLY THE SAME as Port Nebraska

Somefins fishy or one project didn't get the green light and the other did.

I'll hold my breath.

Here's a blog I found about this park:
http://wildescapenews.blogspot.com/

This smells like the Springfield Monorail to me.

Hey everyone, I live in Omaha Nebraska. This company is bogus from what I believe. In 2002 they said they were going to build a park in Council Bluffs Iowa which is about a 5 minute drive from Omaha. It never happened. Then last year they said they were going to build this "Port Nebraska". They also told us to that most of the park would be open in a year, which means the park should have opened this year. The ground never even broke. I would not believe anything this company said. All the news stations here said it was a done deal and everything was supposed to happen. The artist renderings and name of the park are exactly the same. People in the area please do not get your hopes up as this park will probably never be built. If it is congrats on the new park, but from being duped by this company twice I would not believe a word they say.

I would say that Conneaut should be more concerned about Waldameer. CLPs one advantage over the Erie park is that they have a major wooden coaster. Waldameer only has a junior woody. The real test for Connneaut will come when Ravine Flyer II opens in 2008.

I don't believe that the WV park will get very far if it gets built at all. KW and GL have so much to offer and these parks are both likely to get even better in the future.

I do believe that a waterpark could go over well near Wheeling, however. I also believe that it would be a good idea if one of the FECs north of Pittsburgh like Wildwood Highlands or Fun Fore All would add a waterpark. *** This post was edited by Arthur Bahl 7/28/2006 2:09:09 PM ***

I wonder how much they want for the snake oil concession in the park.

I am not holding my breath either.

Imagine a place where you can be transported from reality to a place where your wildest dreams come true.

... so they're going to have free strippers and beer, then?...

I say, new coasters at KW and new family attractions at GL are worth holding your breath for. The competition between these parks is heating up and hopefully this will mean more attractions and more attendance at both of these parks.

Don't count the smaller parks out either. Waldameer and DelGrossos have some works in progress and I can see bigger things for Idlewild in the future as well.