The Imagine Resort in Hollister

[chittlins]

Is this thing still alive?

https://attractionsmagazine.com/imagine-resorts-opening-family-waterpark-resort-near-branson-in-2023/

[shavethewhales]

Not sure. The website is still up, and I sent them a message asking about it. We'll see if I get a response.

Grand Country just announced a massive expansion, which may knock back other projects from competitors.

Probably tough to keep investors on board, but they announced the location last year in the middle of the pandemic, so you'd think they had that locked down already, but maybe making the announcement was a hail mary to keep investors on the hook.

[Bogart]

They had groundbreaking on this a month or so ago (ceremonial with pushing the button for detonating explosives). I think construction is underway on the other side of the area near Menard's.

[shavethewhales]

I don't see any news stories about the ground breaking. There's nothing on their official website about it. I looked the executives up on Linkedin and couldn't find them posting anything about it.

I will be in Branson this weekend, maybe I will go past the site to see if there are any signs or anything. Seems odd to be this quiet if construction has started.

South of Menard's is a weird place for a resort. It's a very blah area with a lot of sprawl and industrial businesses. It's not near the lake or any other attractions. I guess being on the highway makes for better access, but if it were me, there are a 100 other places I'd rather put a giant resort.

[Bogart]

Don't know if this will work for you.  This is where I saw the demolition info.

https://fb.watch/9DCAiGV7kf/

https://fb.watch/9DCHuy9uzc/

If you watch the video from October 1, the guy gives a brief speech and says its an exciting day for Imagine Resorts.

Construction currently underway just south of Menards on something and based on this video, I assume this is the waterpark.

Might seem like an unusual locations but if you go to Great Wolf lodges around the country, most are in the middle of shopping developments.

[shavethewhales]

Interesting. Very strange that a throwaway video on Branson Tri-Lakes is seemingly the only recording of this event. No press release? No media hoopla? Not even a shout out on their socials? Very odd in this day and age.

There's literally no reason for a development like this to go up quietly. You want all the publicity you can get. I wonder if they are still working out issues with the intellectual property they want to use. Maybe they can't draw attention to the resort yet because they haven't nailed down the rights to what they want to market yet.

[shavethewhales]

So there is indeed a lot of construction going on south of Menards. I will have to post my photos when I get back and can resize them m

One thing I've noticed is that every resort in town now has a small indoor water park. Most are just glorified pools with a small slide or two, but some are getting pretty large such as grand country's. Stillwater's resort where we often stay is finally about to finish their indoor water park and it looks pretty big.

[chittlins]

Menard's is a tourist attractions for those from South of there, lol. Mr. Bass Pro rebranded that La Quinta there. I assume as a place to stick promo timeshare sales pitch stays without taking up real space at Big Cedar.

[Bogart]

https://www.resortx.com/imagine-resorts-hollister/

Information from a Construction interest message board.  The detail of the location matches with the construction south of Menards.  Hasn't officially been announced but it is expected to be a Hasbro waterpark.

https://attractionsmagazine.com/imagine-resorts-opening-family-waterpark-resort-near-branson-in-2023/

[shavethewhales]

I keep remembering this project every six months and checking in to see if anything is happening. So far, it looks dead in the water, but they are still actively seeking investors. A news story last year said that the opening would be pushed back to 2024.

https://imaginehospitality.net/

The website shows renderings of a huge 11 story tower on one side, and a still-quite-large six story tower on the other. In Hollister... This resort would be ambitious if it was being right next door to SDC, but way down in Hollister? I know they have some big brand tie-ins such as Hasbro, but there isn't even a theme park component tied in with this. Just a water park has been mentioned so far.

Perhaps the scale is being pulled back from the renderings shown. I know these projects often like to show something massive to get attention and then the actual product ends up being value engineered down to something that makes sense. If they are opening next year though, it should be vertical... Anyone been by there?

[Gilligan]

I'm by there quite often, and I've seen nothing.