This is no longer Astroworld. It's Earthquest. It's a quest for fun. I'm gonna have fun and you're gonna have fun. We're all gonna have so much ****ing fun we'll need plastic surgery to remove our godamn smiles!! You'll be whistling 'Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah' out of you're assholes!!!!
"Kids where did you say you wanted to go on vacation this year?" "Hawaii" "No" "EarthQuest Adventures, dad?" "EarthQuest Adventures, dad."
As long as it has cool rides that can rival the Six Flags in Dallas it will have plenty of visitors. Does anyone know what kind of rollercoasters this thing could possibly have?
like Highway 59? I'm curious about the smaller communities back on Caney Creek , such as Roman Forest, Porter, and the newer communities in the back of Kingwood that are all connected to 494/Ford Road/1314/1485/ etc... I would imagine these backroads are going to see way more traffic in the years to come, will they be prepared?
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494 won't be affected, as it is just a business like bypass parallel to 59. I don't see those other roads being effected either. People will either come off of 242 (which would need to be expanded) from 45 or the Eastex. The only folks using Ford/1314/1485 would be locals.
I think this park could be successful if they are able to get it built. We have 5 million people in the Houston area alone, and anyone with kids will have to go at least once per year. I don't care anything about the environmental theme. But, there are a lot of people out there that have been indoctrinated from an early age to become environmentalists. So, I think the park may draw people from other regions. The park would be wise to not sell any season passes. If they do, the park just becomes a giant day care center.
Doubtful huh? Doesn't seem like you've been keeping up. The project was delayed once, and that's because the economy took a dip. They first expected a late 2011-2012 opening, but now it looks to be a Fall 2013 opening. Yeah, huge delay. Have you attended any of the seminars/fundraiser events. My guess is no.
Don't forget that US59 is going to become Interstate 69 in the near future (doesn't that sound like a bad porno movie?). Anyway, the new interstate will connect the central portion of the US (what the park developers are first targeting). This thing is huge. The theme park alone (west of 59) is larger than Over Texas, Fiesta Texas, and Sea World San Antonio combined, with plenty of room left over. This park isn't competing with the Six Flags, or even Busch Gardens, but instead the Universals and Disneys. Hell, it's being built by an ex-Disney Imagineer and someone who helped design/create the dinosaurs on Jurassic Park (Universal). It really wouldn't surprise me at all if Universal stamped their name on the project. It also wouldn't surprise me if another theme park opens up in the Houston area, because of EarthQuest. I'm just glad New Caney was able to beat out the Dallas suburb (don't know which one, but it was between them and us for this thing). We get the tourist dollars, new jobs, and some fame from this thing. Hotel and restaurant chains are already rumored to be buying up land near where the park is located. If you guys new the details of this thing (attend the next seminar), then you'd want this thing built, too. If you think they're going to preach about global warming and have an Al Gore statue, then you are seriously mistaken. That's two things they definitely AREN'T going to do, because that'll turn people away (and what was exactly said at a seminar recently).
Sorry for the triple post, but don't forget The Grand Parkway. It'll be built a little to the south of where the park is located.
Here's an article that says groundbreaking was supposed to happen in Fall 2009: http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2009/02/13/kingwood_observer/news/08realtor.txt Earth Quest Adventures drives ahead with plans, drawings By JENNIFER SUMMER Updated: 02.13.09 The plans for the much anticipated Earth Quest Adventures, slated to be constructed in East Montgomery County, are closer to reality with the fast-approaching ground breaking scheduled for the fall. Here's a blog from 2007 talking about a groundbreaking in 2008 http://www.thrillnetwork.com/boards...heme-park-houston-earth-quest-adventures.html Unfortunately, the link in that thread to the newspapert article is dead. So what was to be in 2008 was pushed to 2009 and still hasn't happened as of 2010. Now I'm not rooting against this project at all. But something of this scope is difficult to pull off when money is free and flowing....and right now it's about as tight as we've ever seen it. Consumer confidence is in the toilet, relatively speaking, as well. I have not attended a seminar...I can only speak from my own experience with deals, generally. If things continue to get pushed back...particularly in a time where money is super-tight....then I don't see them close, generally. Certainly this could be an exception. My view of this park is that their penultimate wish is for it to be a mix of Animal Kingdom and Epcot, both Disney parks. But the magic of those parks is that they're immediately surrounded by a bunch of other theme parks (including the most heavily visited theme park in the world, the Magic Kingdom) and themed resorts which, in entirety, lends itself nicely to a 5 day family vacation. There is nothing surrounding this park to lend itself to that. It's a one-day trip. Which puts it on par with a Six Flags or Sea World. Comparing this to Disney parks in terms of revenues, gate, etc is silly. By their own estimates, they're talking about drawing in 1.5 million people in a year. By comparison: EPCOT drew 11 million guests in 2009. Magic Kingdom drew in 17 million in 2009. Animal Kingdom drew in 9.5 million in 2009. Universal Studios Florida (not a Disney park) drew in 5.4 million in 2009. The projections are more in line with Six Flags over Texas, which draws ABOUT 3 million guests. The name, EarthQuest Adventures, alone, does not have the pull for global appeal the way Disney or Universal did before their parks were ever built. If the funding had been there before everything dried up, I wouldn't be so skeptical....but if they're still seeking investors at this point, then I will be surprised if this thing gets completed. If they don't break ground by the end of the year, I'd say that's a pretty bad sign.
Groundbreaking wasn't pushed until 2009. They said from 2009 until the end of 2010, and it's now going to be in 2010. Don't forget that the park plans expanding during those delays, too, so it's not like they were just sitting pat. At the seminar earlier this year, they had their own projections on how many people and money they would raise. What they got? Three times as many people showed up, bringing in three times as many donations. The fact that they are taking this slow is a good thing. We don't want another Hard Rock Park (South Carolina) here. They moved along fast (like what you're saying EarthQuest should do), and now they have no money and the park is in financial trouble. With a dose of Busch Gardens (in addition to Animal Kingdom and Epcot). With the size of this park, I'd say it's a two day deal, especially in the Summer, where you can stretch it to three (because of the WaterPark). And that's perfectly fine! A two or three day vacation to this park is good. Hopefully, another theme park opens in the area. Then, the Houston area will have two touristy areas with different looks (New Caney with the pine forests and rolling terrain to the north, and then the Bay/ocean for Galveston/NASA/Kemah). At the seminar, they said the expect 2.5 million in the first year of operation alone. They aren't going to pull in 5+ million guests the first year. The word has to get out first. I also highly doubt Six Flags Over Texas pulls in three million visitors. That doesn't sound right at all. Do you have a link for that? At three million, that's more than Fiesta Texas and Sea World San Antonio... Yeah, that's not right. Of course it doesn't have the pull yet...it's just starting out. Let the park establish itself first. And like I said, I wouldn't be surprised if Universal decides it wants a park in the central part of the country and stamps its name on the project. They are already modeling things like the "EarthWalk" after things like the "Universal CityWalk". But they haven't lost any financing either, and have only gained more. If they don't break ground by the end of this year (which I HIGHLY doubt), then yes, it would be a bad sign. I don't see it though.
