Author Topic: HFEC and Elitch Gardens? this just in.  (Read 2787 times)

sanddunerider

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HFEC and Elitch Gardens? this just in.
« on: January 19, 2011, 03:13:35 PM »
"""Park News - (1/19/11) Previously I had reported that Herschend was rumored to be seriously interested in running Darien Lake for CNL, but now my sources report that Herschend bigwigs are rumored to be headed out to Elitch Gardens later this week to look into that property as well. If true, don’t expect these to be a buyout deal, as CNL isn’t looking to sell, but rather a management contract to run the park(s). """


http://screamscape.com/html/elitch_gardens.htm

shavethewhales

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Re: HFEC and Elitch Gardens? this just in.
« Reply #1 on: January 19, 2011, 04:09:02 PM »
Meh, I dunno what they would want with that place. It's in a bad situation land-wise, and though I've never been there it always sounded lackluster all around. The new Mister Twister is rarely even acknowledged in enthusiast circles, which is a shame as the original was so much of a legend that Knoebels actually built an exact replica.

I don't know anything about the actual figures, but it sounded to me like the park has a fairly bad rap with the locals, being mostly supported by unsupervised teen patrons. It is in a great area, but I don't see them being able to transform it into a major family destination unless they can greatly expand/rebuild.

The park is fairly small and jammed together already, so the only way to expand would be to build into a small parking area to the side of the park, and even that doesn't offer much more room. HFEC may not be the one's investing in expansions though, it seems kind of unclear what sort of relationship CNL is offering here. Would HFEC provide management expertise and consultancy, or would they actually have a contract allowing them to run the park as one of their own? I'd kind of hope for the first in this case - I don't want to see HFEC become too bogged down in old Six Flags properties.

I'd still like to see them take a stab at FC though, there's a bit more opportunity there I think.

sanddunerider

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Re: HFEC and Elitch Gardens? this just in.
« Reply #2 on: January 19, 2011, 04:13:47 PM »
I agree with you, i think FC would be agreat challenge for them..