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Disneyland In Katy

HtownKid

By HtownKid
in Katy and Points West

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mrfootball

mrfootball

Posted
Posted

There really ought to be a major themepark like Disney in Texas. We're smack dab in the middle of the country and naturally get a lot of people from the midwestern states coming down for travel....not to mention the mexicans.

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TheNiche

TheNiche

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There really ought to be a major themepark like Disney in Texas. We're smack dab in the middle of the country and naturally get a lot of people from the midwestern states coming down for travel....not to mention the mexicans.

You bring up a good point. An ungodly number of Disney World's customers come internationally, with a fair number from Latin America. Houston is already recognized in the Mexican interior as 'the' place to shop. We compete with Las Vegas, too, and McAllen because McAllen is closer to the customer, but we're already very well-positioned to capture the wealthy Mexican demographic. We're also near, but not on the coast, like with Florida and California, and we keep relatively warm year-round, unlike populous northern areas. We may not be a big vacation destination, but neither was Orlando before Disney World was built. What's more, the State of Texas would probably build half of the park for them, just as an economic development ploy...then it'd build direct-access freeways and connections to the airports. Depending on where it was built, it'd probably also touch off a spurt of commuter/light/mono(?) rail construction connecting the whole region, most likely with some kind of a direct connection between the park and Galveston.

That said, I do wonder whether it'd be Katy. Its hard to put together more than about 3,000 acres for a housing project, much less a theme park, and I don't know how much they'd need or want, but I know it'd be a lot. It wouldn't surprise me if they went way out into the boonies, as suggested.

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MiDTOWNeR

MiDTOWNeR

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:lol: fOR LAS VEGAS That they don't have their own home national teams

like NFL, NBA or MBL. :rolleyes:

Are you serious? No way?! What a shame. Guess no one will ever take Las Vegas seriously. Well, it's a good thing the 4th largest city in the country does not have this lack of sports franchises.

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Fierce Pancake

Fierce Pancake

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Wow, these rumors persist and persist. Just because Six Flags bungled the Houston market doesn't mean anyone has any plans to open another park here in the immediate future. It takes years to plan, and the closure of Astroworld came as a bit of a surprise to everyone.

For that matter, I really don't expect it to be Disney. They're concentrating on expanding, but in Asia. With major destinations on the east and west coast already, they rather believe they have the USA well covered.

Texas has a large population, but just looking at Six Flags figures, the attendance for the parks in San Antonio and Arlington absolutely pale in comparison to what Six Flags was able to pull in on the east and west coast. Disney could not hope to achieve attendance in Texas of the same magnitude as they get in Southern California, and they've struggled with their newest park out there. It really doesn't make sense for them at this time.

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TheNiche

TheNiche

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Wow, these rumors persist and persist. Just because Six Flags bungled the Houston market doesn't mean anyone has any plans to open another park here in the immediate future. It takes years to plan, and the closure of Astroworld came as a bit of a surprise to everyone.

For that matter, I really don't expect it to be Disney. They're concentrating on expanding, but in Asia. With major destinations on the east and west coast already, they rather believe they have the USA well covered.

Texas has a large population, but just looking at Six Flags figures, the attendance for the parks in San Antonio and Arlington absolutely pale in comparison to what Six Flags was able to pull in on the east and west coast. Disney could not hope to achieve attendance in Texas of the same magnitude as they get in Southern California, and they've struggled with their newest park out there. It really doesn't make sense for them at this time.

Just to clarify, I actually agree with you about there not being a sufficient market in the western hemisphere. But if one was to temporarily suspend disbelief, then Houston is absolutely a top market opportunity in the U.S.

But by the way, Six Flags didn't bungle the Houston market, as you put it. It was extremely profitable right up until the end, but the value of the land being sold at present outweighed the stream of income that could be expected into perpetuity. A theme park can always be rebuilt somewhere (many of the rides went to SplashTown on Houston's north side), but 100 acres of land so close to the TMC is unique.

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Fierce Pancake

Fierce Pancake

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But by the way, Six Flags didn't bungle the Houston market, as you put it. It was extremely profitable right up until the end,

The new management of Six Flags seems to realize what a huge mistake the former top guys made when they chose to dismantle Astroworld. It's a slight justice that the guys who turned on Houston (Kieran Burke, James Dannhauser, etc) where all kicked out of office a couple months later.

But yeah, they really did bungle the market. Lack of investment in the property over the last half decade saw considerable decline in attendance and profitability in Houston, not to mention public image. It was still profitable, true, but not impressively so. The place definitely could have, and should have, been turned around. But Six Flags has some serious debt holding them back.

Even with the new guys in charge, the debt issue really constrains them from re-investing heavily in the Houston market so soon. They've got to turn around a failing company before they can do right by Houston again.

This naturally leaves a window of opportunity for some other operator to do something in our region. With Houston, New Orleans, Memphis, and Panama City Beach parks all suddenly defunct in 2005 - that's a lot of area. It seems significant that a small fry operation like Dixie Landing in Baton Rouge's now the largest thing left in a 300 mile radius. I just don't think it will be Disney picking up the reigns. More likely it'll be an independant, much like how Astroworld was built in the first place.

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bcnet

bcnet

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Didn't I hear that Sealy has just been awarded Houston's NEXT international airport ?

The new South Waller County airport isn't too far from Sealy (Between Brookshire & Katy), but it is just a small, general aviation airport which is privately funded.

South Waller Airport

The "West Houston Airport" has been rumored for years. With the recent expansion of IAH, I don't see a new, publically funded airport coming any time soon.

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NewMND

NewMND

Posted
Posted
Didn't Disney participate in the building of the Space Center in Houston?

I think they did. Space Center should add rides or something, it's not exactly exciting as is. Epcot has that Mission to Space ride, they should recreat something like that at Space Center, along with other stuff.

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BayouCityGirl

BayouCityGirl

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Space Center Houston is kinda weird about its promotions. My friends tried to get a Star Trek convention happening at Space Center Houston and they (Space Center Houston) declined it or turned it down as a venue. Thinking this is the space city that would be an awesome place to hold a "sci fi" event. (if course my biggest pet peeve is there IS NOT a sci fi convention EVER happening in this city)

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TheNiche

TheNiche

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Posted
With the recent expansion of IAH, I don't see a new, publically funded airport coming any time soon.

Houston Jetport West, as I understand it will be named, has obtained FAA approval and will be privately funded. Looks like it will be near Igloo Rd., north of I-10.

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Fierce Pancake

Fierce Pancake

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I just ran across this website:

DisneySealey.com

From that site:

I sent letters to James A. Rasulo, Al Weiss, and Lee Cockerell specifically asking if the rumors that Disney would build in Sealy or any other city in Texas were true, and here's what Nick Franklin, Senior Vice President of International Development, wrote back to me in a letter dated 6/24/2005:

"Thank you for your letter to James Rasulo Dated dated June 16, 2005 regarding a potential theme park site in Sealy, Texas.

While we appreciate your consideration of Disney, this opportunity is unfortunately not in keeping with our current investment or development strategy. Nonetheless, thank you for bringing it to our attention and best of luck in your efforts.

Very Truly Yours,

Nick Franklin"

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VicMan

VicMan

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Posted

Actually, I think it starts that.

Why not create a committee that could promote a new theme park in the Houston area? The "Sun Belt" is growing and a third Disney Theme Park could be feasible in the Houston area. The theme park would serve not only the Southern U.S. but also Latin America; Disney could even have it as a bilingual park.

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  • 10 months later...
Ethanra

Ethanra

Posted
Posted

Heard today some interesting info. from someone who knows and is involved with many of the Houston areas doings. They were saying that the Disney corp. has been buying up land in the Katy area under different names. Doing this keeps other investors from buying land and sitting on it for a profit knowing that the Disney Corp has a high demand for the same land. A first phase of Disney Houston (if this is true) is scheduled to open in 2015.

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katy since '82

katy since '82

Posted
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What I heard was something about a "disney" animal farm something or other. yada yada yada.....

I've tried to find it, but there was a web site totally dedicated to this series of rumors. As my user name shows, I've lived in Katy for a good long while and this rumor pops up about every 2 or 3 years. I remember reading that the Texas/Disney connection came from a discussion that Michale Eisner had once where he was giving a press conference regarding the failed Disney America plan (Disney America was to be build in Virginia and themed to all things patriotic) When it was determined that they could not build in VA because some of the more wealthy folks there said they'd tie up the build in the courts for years, the idea was put on the far back burner. He said in this interview that they hadn't killed the idea entirely, but it would not be something they would address for the next 10 to 15 years and when asked where else he thought Disney might look to build, he said something to the effect that "we have both coasts covered, so somewhere in the middle would be advantageous, maybe something like Texas". The speculation is that this little mention is where all the Disney in Texas rumors came from. I know one of the now "dead" websites that detailed all of this was www.disneyinsealy.com . Just thought y'all might find this interesting.

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