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Houston's Next Theme Park Amusement Park

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jbmurrah

jbmurrah

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My bad it's not theme park but it is interesting.

http://www.newschannel5.tv/News/Other/4575...r-Texas-in-2008

http://www.tracyleerealty.com/

Heres the text of the article from the second link.

East Montgomery County has been selected as the site for the largest dinosaur park in the world.

Frank McCrady, president and CEO of the East Montgomery County Improvement District, announced on Oct. 31 that Dinosaur City, a $50 million educational park and live-animal facility, will be built in New Caney by 2010.

The facility will feature a 110,000-square-foot exhibit hall and dinosaur display, an IMAX theater, a water recreation park, hotel and convention center. Leading theme park designers, one of Germany's leading zoo directors, robotics and special effects experts are all involved in the planning for the facility. "It's going to be a nice project," said McCrady. "It can truly define our area in the future as far as travel and tourism."

The park is expected to attract more than a million visitors each year.

The facility is the concept of the dinosaur expert known as "Dino" Don Lessem, an author of 47 books on dinosaurs and advisor to Universal Studios' Jurassic Park, Walt Disney Company and Animal Kingdom dinosaur attractions.

"It will have the largest dinosaur educational facility in the world," said Lessem. "I dug up the biggest dinosaurs and they need a place to live."

Construction of the facility will be a five-year project, according to McCrady. The first phase is a $200,000 site study paid for by the improvement district to analyze the property, which is located north of Caney Creek on the west side of U.S. Highway 59 North.

"We'll partner with the state for additional financial needs," said McCrady. "It's a regional attraction not just a state attraction. A lot of people will come from out of state. It's a win for our area and a win for Texas, as well."

The park is expected to create 500 to 1,000 jobs, according to McCrady.

New Caney beat Dallas as the final location for the facility, according to Lessem.

"I liked the look of the community," he said. "The land was completely undeveloped. We want to celebrate nature. This is not a theme park. This is something that hasn't been done before. We want to keep it as pristine as we can."

Lessem wants the facility to have allied programs with the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the Houston Zoo and have mobile exhibits. Live exotic animals will also be included at the park. Other projects at the facility will include educational outreach tours and field trips.

Lessem also hopes to create a university affiliation with one of the Texas universities and create a nonprofit foundation to help generate revenue to fund dinosaur research.

"We want to steer a bit of revenue towards education," he said.

Lessem explained that the dinosaur park is one way to get children interested in science.

"You can teach them all about science when they are interested in dinosaurs," he said.

Brian

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SoonerFanInHouston

SoonerFanInHouston

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One good point about someone building in Houston would be that they could become THE tourist attraction here, since we do not really have anything that curently stands out like that. We have other things that many other cities have, but a Disney could be a major draw. Someone like Disney might want that. People coming into town would have to go to disney and Houston could market itself around a Disney park.

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Guest Plastic

Guest Plastic

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However said kids today wouldn't like rollercoasters are dead wrong. The thing with all things, toys, music, and rides kids now deal with are either electronic,complex, or extreme.

Rollercoasters are no doubt extreme. That's why they've taken off in California. Parks like Majic Mountain cater to the Ztreme,surfer,skateboarder typed people in California. INfact they names one of their coasters C. Seems company's like to put the Generation X everywhere.

Some more sophisticated,electronic types might like virtual reality. But a large majority are gonna want the big rollercoasters. The reason Astroworld went out is cause their rides were verry sorry. The Texas Cyclone and Taz's Tornado were the only one's worth northerners coming and seeing. That combined withthe park looking old and crumby drove down attendence. We need something like Majic Mountain or Cedar Point. That and thugs kids hung out and they took away tthe tram.

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elecpharm

elecpharm

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Dinosaurs? Here? It's a possibility. The article states that 64 locations were possibilities for the project, yet East Montgomery County was chosen. I'd like to see the list of the other locations.

Imagine riding roller coasters and water slides while learning about prehistoric animals.

That is the basic theme of the new dinosaur park that is slated to be built in East Montgomery County. At this time, the latest name given to the park is Earth Quest Adventures.

Dinosaur Park

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lockmat

lockmat

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1217856601...p_us_whats_news

Six Flags posted a profit, but the amusement-park operator is still under serious financial strain. It's weighed down by $2.4 billion of debt and faces a $288 million payment to preferred stockholders. Luring more customers is essential to its turnaround effort, but it's a terrible time to pry more income out of beleaguered consumers

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TexasVines

TexasVines

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there are so many things to do in and around Houston besides an amusement park like going to the beach or lake or to the rivers in central Texas or some other activity that I don't think people around Houston are really starving for an amusement park

Amusement parks are one of two things......a huge mega attraction that draws people in from all over the country and charges a rate that keeps the trash and losers out or it is a small place for young kids that older trash and losers don't want to be caught dead at

Astroworld was stuck in the middle.....it was a place for 17-22 yo loser males to go and try and hit on trashy 13-17 yo females walking around in public half dressed.....no one in their right mind would let their kids especially their daughters under the age of 18 go there with out parents and if you raised your daughter right after the age of 18 she would have no interest in going there and getting leered at by total losers and your son would have no interest in the trashy girls around it looking for a future baby daddy

most decent parents would be more interested in taking their kids to something more educational or going on a trip to a place with much more to offer than what Astroworld was able to offer with much less freaks and geeks.....to say Houston is not progressive and is passive is a joke.....if that was true Astroworld would still be standing looking like hell and filled with losers and people waiting on their next chance to riot.....Houston progressed right past that to other things

Astroworld was great in its time, but its time passed.....just like the Dome was great in its time, but its time passed.......there are other things that can be done with the Dome.....not so much a worn tired amusement park.....so away it went

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Disastro

Disastro

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Amusement parks are one of two things......a huge mega attraction that draws people in from all over the country and charges a rate that keeps the trash and losers out or it is a small place for young kids that older trash and losers don't want to be caught dead at

Astroworld was stuck in the middle.....it was a place for 17-22 yo loser males to go and try and hit on trashy 13-17 yo females walking around in public half dressed.....no one in their right mind would let their kids especially their daughters under the age of 18 go there with out parents and if you raised your daughter right after the age of 18 she would have no interest in going there and getting leered at by total losers and your son would have no interest in the trashy girls around it looking for a future baby daddy

most decent parents would be more interested in taking their kids to something more educational or going on a trip to a place with much more to offer than what Astroworld was able to offer with much less freaks and geeks.....to say Houston is not progressive and is passive is a joke.....if that was true Astroworld would still be standing looking like hell and filled with losers and people waiting on their next chance to riot.....Houston progressed right past that to other things

Astroworld was great in its time, but its time passed.....just like the Dome was great in its time, but its time passed.......there are other things that can be done with the Dome.....not so much a worn tired amusement park.....so away it went

You obviously never went to Astroworld during its heyday. Guys have always noticed good looking girls (didn't notice many "trashy" ones, BTW) -- unless the guys are gay of course. But, back when Astroworld was truly great -- it was a family place to go that was clean, safe, and FUN.

This was certainly the case during the 70's when I used to go there with my friends and family.

How does it make one a "loser" to want to have a good time? Explain that one to me...

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TexasVines

TexasVines

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You obviously never went to Astroworld during its heyday. Guys have always noticed good looking girls (didn't notice many "trashy" ones, BTW) -- unless the guys are gay of course. But, back when Astroworld was truly great -- it was a family place to go that was clean, safe, and FUN.

This was certainly the case during the 70's when I used to go there with my friends and family.

How does it make one a "loser" to want to have a good time? Explain that one to me...

yes I was there during its heyday......and that time was a LONG time ago.....you had obviously not been there recently

simple explanation the 70s is over 30 years ago

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Marcus Allen

Marcus Allen

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Ok, sorry it's late, and I am musing , yet again. Please, someone tell me why Houston doesn't have a viable theme park. Is it because Kima and Galveston attractions are relatively close? Is it poor planning? Is it because Houston is like, moo, we have the rodeo and Ren. Fest.? I love architecture and urban developments but am a complete novice regarding knowledge about theme parks. Is there even a market for this? Thoughts?

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ToryGattis

ToryGattis

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Here's the story in a nutshell:

 

1. Astroworld's land got too valuable with the light rail line and Six Flags sold it off to raise cash to pay down their debt

 

2. Kemah and Galveston (including Moody Gardens, Schlitterbahn, and the Pleasure Pier), not to mention theme parks in San Antonio and DFW, have diluted the appeal/need

 

3. Now Grand Texas is being built to the northeast along 59

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august948

august948

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Houston doesn't have a lot of appeal as a tourist destination so any theme park here is going to have to rely heavily on locals to keep it in business.  That's a limiting factor on what we get and, with so much else to do in town, is going to keep a lid on things until/unless we become a place people from all over want to visit during their vacations.  Not holding my breath on that one.

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