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.