Jump to content

Snow Mountain Amusement Park

MidtownCoog

By MidtownCoog
in Houston Neverbuilt

Recommended Posts

Mister X

Mister X

Posted
Posted

I read some of the articles at skirebel.com about the Bear Fire Resort (the Fort Worth version of this idea) and it reads pretty much the same as the article regarding this project. Kind of mysterious, no author, some details revealed, some details missing.

I'm not saying that I believe these projects will or will not happen, but since the Bear Fire project has made an official announcement of their plans, there may be reason to think that the article regarding the Houston version of this project MIGHT have some basis in fact.

However, I wouldn't get overly excited about it until I read about "the Great Texas River Walk" from a more credible news source. BTW, thats a strange name for an Alpine themed fake ski resort that's not even in downtown San Antonio. Skirebel.com is just a blog website, not news. But, that doesn't mean that the bloggers/ski enthusiasts haven't heard some legitimate inside info from 'Unlimited Snow'.

In other words, who the hell knows if this is for real or not. Flip a coin. But if it is real, they GOTTA change the name. The name "River Walk" is taken! They might as well call it "the New Improved Alamo East".

Got anything to add Niche? Just use a different handle and no one will know it's you. :ph34r:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 152
  • Created
  • Last Reply
tamtagon

tamtagon

Posted
Posted

Place like this are going to end up in most major population centers, especially popular in the Sunbelt. Considering the void left by Astroworld, I'd say there's a better than average chance this kind of entertainment would succeed in the Houston area.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pumapayam

Pumapayam

Posted
Posted

Well, between that fake snow park and this one, I think hands down, real snow and an indoor park is a much better use of money. It may cost more, but you can ski everyday, unlike and outdoor mountain.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Vertigo58

Vertigo58

Posted
Posted

Universal_Studios_Western_Set_on_Sound_Stage_1972.jpg

Maybe Houston's new moniker could be "Houston, City of Illusion". We could make pretend mountains, a blue ocean, pump in air from Canada to cool us off and more! One huge sound stage. Well if we want freeze dried pets & botox why not?

This is a major case of "Houston, Don't be yourself". :wacko:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jt16

jt16

Posted
Posted
You are not going to get enough real snow in Houston for skiing. Besides, think how great this will be, people will no longer go to Colorado in the winter to ski, just stay home. Also, think of playing in the snow in the very long and hot summer, cool!

I'm not sure this is going to replace Colorado just yet. You can spend all the money in the world and still not recreate the true mountain experience. This needs to be affordable to work. Otherwise people will be spending their money on the real thing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
tamtagon

tamtagon

Posted
Posted
This sounds incredibly stupid...but not as stupid as the hot plastic slopes in Ft. Worth.

Yeah...I can "imagine the traffic". I imagine it'll be zero after three years. Maybe then they can open Fame City II in the vacant building.

Just wondering, do you also think a water park built near the beach is also stupid? Or that rollercoasters need to be built in an amusement park, cannot remain solvent as a stand alone attraction?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mister X

Mister X

Posted
Posted

I'm not answering for Dalparadise, but all fun is just a little stupid. That's what makes it fun. :D

I guess the true definition of stupid would be investing in these projects and they fail. On the flip side, if they succeed then the developers are brilliant for having created a new market.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
N Judah

N Judah

Posted
Posted
IIRC, indoor ski resorts have been a pretty big success in Japan for quite a few years already, not to mention indoor surfing.

I wasn't sure what they meant when they said "the indoor snow centre will be the first in the US, and of its type, worldwide" -- but maybe they were referring to specific amenities such as the "adventurous" igloo bedrooms.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Vertigo58

Vertigo58

Posted
Posted

Not exactly the same attraction, but at least it's a "theme park".

and open in 2012? Gotta have alot of patience I guess. The kids will be all grown up by then, not to mention how anxious they will be once they hear of this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
houstonmacbro

houstonmacbro

Posted
Posted
Sounds even crappier than Epcot and at $600 million and five years to open, I'd bet it either doesn't entertain its first guest, or opens to a collective yawn from the tens of people who are able to find their way there on "Interstate 59". This seems like too little money over too long a time to make a serious park, yet too much over too long a time for investors to stay on point with the project.

This is Hanna Barbera Land all over again.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanna-Barbera_Land

Is this what evolved into that water park right there on I45?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mister X

Mister X

Posted
Posted

There are so many things wrong with this discussion.

First, this thread is supposed to be about the Snow Mountain fake ski resort project called the Great Texas River Walk, NOT the Earthquest dinosaur theme park project on hwy 59.

Second, the comparison of Hanna-Barbera Land to Earthquest isn't a fair comparison at all. HBL was a 30 acre park designed for small children. When HBL opened, AstroWorld was at the top of it's game in Houston and provided more attractions to small children than HBL as well as rides for older kids and adults. AW had nightly fireworks, ski shows, highdiving shows, and song and dance revues. HBL could never compete with AstroWorld.

By comparison, Earthquest (if built) has zero competition in Houston. At 250 acres, it is at least 5 times bigger that HBL was. It will have a museum, theme park (with rides) a hotel and spa, and a waterpark. The plan is on a much grander scale that HBL or AW combined. As far as people not being able to find it because it is to be 30 miles north of downtown Houston, I want to point out that Great America is 40 miles from Chicago, Magic Mountain is 35 miles north of Los Angeles, Great Adventure is 50 miles from NYC, and Discovery Kingdom is 40 miles from San Francisco. These parks have been around for decades. Almost all major theme parks are built many miles away from the center of the metros they serve. AstroWorld was not typical. In fact, AW's centralized location ultimately worked against the park. The park was closed because the value of the land was thought to be worth more than the value of the park and the company that owned it (Six Flags) was (and is) billions of dollars in debt and needed quick cash.

As far as $600 million not being enough to build a park - check out the renderings and models to Hard Rock Park theme park. It is currently under construction on 140 acres in Myrtle Beach and is costing $400 million. If we can go by their plans to get an idea of what to expect from Earthquest, then I would say $600 million is plenty of money to start a new park from scratch. It will take at least 3 years to build a park on this scale. The articles I've read say that they want to start construction in 2008 and open in 2011, 2012 at the latest - 3 years worth of rain delays and other unforseen problems could add on another year of construction. This is not an unreasonable amount of time to build a 250 acre theme park. It probably takes at least a year just to design the park. I bet we see renderings and models before the end of the year.

Third, HBL evolved into Splashtown and not only is it still standing, it's is doing well. The owners recently said that they want to add amusement park rides to the park. Splashtown has changed owners several times and has been completely changed from a kiddy ride park into a water park, but some of the same buildings are still there from when it was HBL. So in a sense, it out lived AstroWorld.

I'm not saying that I know that Earthquest will be built for sure and that it will be a success, but it has a lot more going for it than Hanna-Barbera Land did in 1984. On top of all the other advantages that Earthquest has, there will be at least 3 million more people in the Houston metro in 2011 than there was in 1984. And unless Kemah builds a 250 acre peer over Galveston Bay or Splashtown adds a resort hotel or the Snow Mountain thing gets going soon, Earthquest will have no competition.

There is another thread at HAIF discussing Earthquest in some detail.

Now back to Snow Mountain. I haven't heard anything since that original weird article appear a few weeks ago.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
T 2 THA C

T 2 THA C

Posted
Posted

I think this would be awesome, speaking as some one who raley ever gets to see snow, and has never been skiing. I think an Entertainment district would be cool especially in the North East, but if it were in the dome I do not think that would be a bad idea either. Reliant Park containing this would be great!!! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Vertigo58

Vertigo58

Posted
Posted

Thank you for pulling back to original topic. The vortex was spinning way into another world.

Seeing is believing again.

The Bullet project is more realistic as we see it almost complete. Oops now I'm straying. mea culpa. :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
All of the HAIF
None of the ads!
HAIF+
Just
$5!


×
×
  • Create New...