Bell's Developments

[chittlins]

 I posted what I post because of the little area in Ft. Smith with the carousel and ferris wheel, a diner in a train car and a snack stand in a double decker red bus. Dollar a ride. Rides in the outfield, along with splash pads, playgrounds and even little fields for whiffle ball are a growing trend in minor league sports heck Detriot's stadium has 50 ft ferris wheel with baseball gondolas along with a carousel featuring Tigers.

[cowboy]

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[chittlins]

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I was in Tulsa a couple weekends ago with my Mom from Memphis. It was her first trip to T Town. We went to Jenks and hit the antique shops and then I took her downtown to show her BOK and the new Ballpark, the landmark buildings like Cain's and so on and the ballfield was packed. It was a nice day so that's very understandable.

[History Buff]

A Ferris Wheel and carousel like these would make a nice addition to Branson Landing.

[chittlins]

A Ferris Wheel and carousel like these would make a nice addition to Branson Landing.

Another great ideal  HB.

[shavethewhales]

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Well put. It took me a long time after the fairboard debacle to really objectively understand how terrible Bell and co. are at business. I still think the fairboard sucked in so many ways, but if Bell's had any lick of sense they would still be there today. I keep rooting for them because I really just want something ride-oriented to work out in the Tulsa area. Seems we either get stupid proposals or nothing.

You and I think a lot alike chittlins. I'm always thinking about how to turn places around with place-making attractions. I think there are dozens of places around the country that could really be bettered with some interesting mixed attractions. A few rides, a movie theatre, etc. in one nice urban setting. It seems like most entrepreneurs in this industry want to go big or go home, and that simply doesn't work in most cases. We also get a lot of idiot developers like the Wild West World guy and the Turkey Mountain guy in Tulsa who give the whole concept of ride-based attractions a bad name.

[History Buff]

I agree.  A couple of permanent, classy, even romantic, attractions can enhance a destination.

[cowboy]

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[shavethewhales]

The tilt and coaster both look like they were put together up to a point, but now they don't know what to do to finish construction. I'm an optimistic person, so I'll give Robby and crew the benefit of the doubt, but it's going to take a lot of work, and a lot of time.

That seems to be the case more and more these days. Progress has pretty much halted. They're always so close yet so far. They simply need at least a couple of people to be able to work full time on this, and they need working equipment. They have been just scraping by, but they simply don't have enough assets to be profitable. They have a plan to get there - they had announced on facebook their intentions to open the kiddie coaster and tilt by now with the carousel, mini-golf, and a snack stand following. That might get them to profitability, but they can't get there at this pace.

[shavethewhales]

Went by again today. There's a new wooden fence up about half the way around the kiddie coaster. I think that's basically all that has changed since the last time I drove by at least two weeks ago. Maybe they'll get it open by Christmas.

[shavethewhales]

Progress was agonizingly slow all July. I stopped by yesterday and virtually nothing has changed over the last month besides a little more progress on the fence. I was starting to get worried, but then I spotted Robby and someone else working on painting more fence pieces in the back lot. So they're still going at it, but at this rate it'll be Christmas before they get even the fence completely up.

I don't know what's going on with the tilt, but it looks like all their focus at the moment is on getting the fence done around the little dipper. The little dipper still seems to have a couple of random pieces missing, and no motor or chain. I haven't seen the cars in awhile, but they needed to be completely redone. I'm just wondering when they'll focus on that, or if they even have the ability to handle those aspects...

The good news is that they still had a number of kids coming out to ride stuff, even in the oppressive heat. They also had a pony ride this weekend. I think it's a separate person operating that, but it's a nice little addition to this crazy, eclectic place.

[cowboy]

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[shavethewhales]

Nice, only a month or two after they said they sent them out... and what, a year since the kickstarter? Hey, like always, they get stuff done, you just have to be willing to wait 100x longer than usual.

I've still been checking the place out every weekend for the heck of it. Last weekend it looked like they had most of the fence finished, but I was only driving by. Hopefully they'll get the station done by next spring.

The flea market occasionally has some cool stuff though. A couple weeks ago I almost bought a new (but opened) cordless drill set for $75 with a few other tools included.

I'm starting to wish that they would just come out and be frank with us about their situation. I just want an actual timetable to follow, even if it is disappointingly draw out. It was a major fail to announce that the coaster and tilt would be open with more on the way in JUNE and then be no closer to opening them in August with nothing to say about it. At least they're still doing something...

[DeweyBald]

Where is it located?

[DeweyBald]

Bump!

Where is this new Bells located?  I'm in one of those areas where I'm closer to Tulsa, but I have Oklahoma City television channels so I'm out of the loop with what going on in Tulsa.  I've spent many an hour walking around the old Bells at the fairgrounds.  Was the Zingo moved as well?