Park meets attendance goals for 2014

[Junior, too!]

WW opened in 1980, the first water park in the state. It was well situated then, but they are now hemmed in. Unless road upgrades were made there would be massive traffic issues on Indian Point.  Would it be b etter to move WW to the CC property and build other attractions around it? It would give everything a chance to grow and expand. What could be developed on the WW property?

[Tmboote]

WW opened in 1980, the first water park in the state. It was well situated then, but they are now hemmed in. Unless road upgrades were made there would be massive traffic issues on Indian Point.  Would it be b etter to move WW to the CC property and build other attractions around it? It would give everything a chance to grow and expand. What could be developed on the WW property?

That's a good point I didn't think of. If SDC moved WW to SDC, HFE would then have two empty properties in Branson. The current WW location wouldn't be a good place to have a big, empty lot. That location would have to be developed quickly.

[runner1960]

Getting SDC to build it's own resort+moving WW would actually be beneficial for traffic. A number of people would just stay within the resort instead of driving in and out at opening and closing time each day. White Water doesn't exactly attract huge crowds, and most of them overlap with SDC crowds anyway. They would need more parking, or even a parking garage though.

Honestly, a resort is ultimately going to be the main solution to some of their growth problems. You can't do too much to increase traffic capacity through a single intersection unless you just turn it into a highway. Having a single place people could arrive at and just stay put would make a lot of people much happier and more likely to visit routinely. Having to go into Branson itself is a drag for people many families who don't want to deal with the traffic and sprawl.

I don't know if a resort would lessen traffic it would just split it into different times of the day, making it less of a problem. You would get the people who still want to stay in Branson coming in at SDC opening and leaving at closing. Then, you would have the people staying at the resort who would be coming and going at hotel check-in and check-out times.

If they do build a resort and move White Water someday, they would definitely need to get more trams/buses to handle all the people wanting to go to SDC, then White Water, then back to the hotel. Another thing they could do if they built a resort would be to have the parks open earlier and later just for resort guests. Then more people would stay at the resort so they can be at the parks longer. They would bring in more money by having more people at the resort, and if people are at the parks longer they're more likely to buy more food, merchandise, etc.

It would take a ton of hotel rooms to affect traffic patterns either way. This aint no Disney we are talking about here. If a water park was to be built on a top tier level they would need a lot more than daily hotel stays to  keep it feasible. And then you have the possibility of another company building back in town and taking that market.

[Tmboote]

Getting SDC to build it's own resort+moving WW would actually be beneficial for traffic. A number of people would just stay within the resort instead of driving in and out at opening and closing time each day. White Water doesn't exactly attract huge crowds, and most of them overlap with SDC crowds anyway. They would need more parking, or even a parking garage though.

Honestly, a resort is ultimately going to be the main solution to some of their growth problems. You can't do too much to increase traffic capacity through a single intersection unless you just turn it into a highway. Having a single place people could arrive at and just stay put would make a lot of people much happier and more likely to visit routinely. Having to go into Branson itself is a drag for people many families who don't want to deal with the traffic and sprawl.

I don't know if a resort would lessen traffic it would just split it into different times of the day, making it less of a problem. You would get the people who still want to stay in Branson coming in at SDC opening and leaving at closing. Then, you would have the people staying at the resort who would be coming and going at hotel check-in and check-out times.

If they do build a resort and move White Water someday, they would definitely need to get more trams/buses to handle all the people wanting to go to SDC, then White Water, then back to the hotel. Another thing they could do if they built a resort would be to have the parks open earlier and later just for resort guests. Then more people would stay at the resort so they can be at the parks longer. They would bring in more money by having more people at the resort, and if people are at the parks longer they're more likely to buy more food, merchandise, etc.

It would take a ton of hotel rooms to affect traffic patterns either way. This aint no Disney we are talking about here. If a water park was to be built on a top tier level they would need a lot more than daily hotel stays to  keep it feasible. And then you have the possibility of another company building back in town and taking that market.

I get what you're saying. But, it would be stupid for a company to build another water park in the area when the current one doesn't seem to be very busy whenever I've been there in May and July.

[Hollwood]

The property that WW sits on is owned by the city, not HFE. In fact, the plot of land use to be flat. The Herschends built the hilly terrain to accomodate their original attractions the Bermuta Triangle, Typhoon Tunnel, and Hurricane Rapids.

[Tmboote]

The property that WW sits on is owned by the city, not HFE. In fact, the plot of land use to be flat. The herschends built the hilly terrain to build the Bermuta Triangle, Typhoon Tunnel, and Hurricane Rapids.

So Herschend owns the park, but not the land? Or does Branson own the park too?

[Swoosh]

HFEC leases the land but owns the park. As for the land once WW is moved, I imagine Ballparks of America would absorb it. Not too big of a stretch to consider.

[Tmboote]

HFEC leases the land but owns the park. As for the land once WW is moved, I imagine Ballparks of America would absorb it. Not too big of a stretch to consider.

Are you saying WW will be moved?

[Swoosh]

Would this be a bad time to mention the aquarium coming to the CC site in the near future or should I sit on that information awhile longer? 

[Junior, too!]

Swoosh and a few others on this site do have some inside information. However, most of us are just throwing our ideas and questions out for discussion. I am unaware of any near future plans to move WW. As a former employee with some friends still working for the company I sometimes hear some interesting behind the scenes talk, but not much has come from it. When you see a press release released about changes, you know that is true.

[Tmboote]

I fnd it funny we are having this discussion on the "Park meets attendance foals for 2014" forum.

Would this be a bad time to mention the aquarium coming to the CC site in the near future or should I sit on that information awhile longer?  

Well you just mentioned it. And are you supposed be telling us these things?

[Swoosh]

You'll soon realize that our threads rarely stay on topic past the initial page.

As far as the aquarium, the city (not that long ago) approached a certain magical company about bringing an aquarium to town.  What I heard was that HFEC caught wind of it and let the town know that they had their own plans of bringing one to town.  Now granted things change and no time frame was mentioned but there you go.

[Swoosh]

HFEC leases the land but owns the park. As for the land once WW is moved, I imagine Ballparks of America would absorb it. Not too big of a stretch to consider.

Are you saying WW will be moved?

Not in the near future, no.  It has been talked about though.  The park is horribly landlocked, but honestly most of the current attractions (with the exception of the wave pool) could be moved easily to a new site.

[Tmboote]

HFEC leases the land but owns the park. As for the land once WW is moved, I imagine Ballparks of America would absorb it. Not too big of a stretch to consider.

Are you saying WW will be moved?

Not in the near future, no.  It has been talked about though.  The park is horribly landlocked, but honestly most of the current attractions (with the exception of the wave pool) could be moved easily to a new site.

Well maybe they could get a wave pool that actually has some good waves, and ya you can't expand much when you have roads on three sides of you and parking lot on the other.

As far as the aquarium, the city (not that long ago) approached a certain magical company about bringing an aquarium to town.  What I heard was that HFEC caught wind of it and let the town know that they had their own plans of bringing one to town.  Now granted things change and no time frame was mentioned but there you go.

Well this is the seventh year there's just been a lonely roller coaster sitting there. But, are they planning on just having an aquarium? I don't think I would stop and pay just to see a bunch of fish.

[shavethewhales]

You'll soon realize that our threads rarely stay on topic past the initial page.

Eh, the topic is about what HFEC can do to make attendance numbers keep moving up in the future and how Branson in general affects that, so it's a wide topic.

As far as the aquarium, the city (not that long ago) approached a certain magical company about bringing an aquarium to town.  What I heard was that HFEC caught wind of it and let the town know that they had their own plans of bringing one to town.  Now granted things change and no time frame was mentioned but there you go.

I've also caught wind of this from a few people who would know, but there are so many rumors about HFEC looking into various things with the CC site that I'm wary of putting too much stock into any given rumor. I'm know they've seriously looked into a number of options. A few years ago I pointed out a proposal from a firm that specializes in thematic experiences to turn the place into a zoo/theme park ala' busch gardens. It was only a proposal though, used as part of the firm's portfolio, hence why it was viewable online. I'm sure they've looked into a la carte rides and putting a resort hotel on the place as well.

An aquarium wouldn't surprise me at all, but Ripley's has been poking that idea around for over a decade now already. They wanted to put one on the lakefront down near where the landing is back around 2003. I think they stopped talking about it during the downturn, but it sounds like they're back at it again. Aquariums are becoming one of their larger line of attractions (http://www.ripleys.com/attractions/). There's also now a growing aquarium out at "Wild World" next to Walmart. If HFEC wanted to barge into all of this and make their own aquarium work, it'd have to be pretty big, and have an extra hook to it (like maybe a wooden coaster on the side?). Somehow I feel like this option will ultimately be passed over as well.

The CC site is marked as a major development zone on the Spirit of 76 conceptual plan. With the local economy gearing up again and more and more pressure on Branson to get things moving or be left behind, SOMETHING will happen with the property soon, and I'm pretty sure HFEC will be the one to do it since they don't want to miss the opportunity and bring in another competitor. I'm not sold on any of the rumors yet though.