WATERLOO!

I was reading this article about how there are plans in France to build a theme park that would honor French military and political leader Napoleon Bonaparte.

French politicians are backing the project and they hope construction can begin in 2014, with the gates opening sometime in 2017.

The complex is expected to include a museum, a hotel, shops and restaurants.  But, one of the bizarre attractions would be the daily recreation of the 1792 beheading of Louis XVI, who was executed following the French Revolution.

Another attraction would allow visitors to ski around the bodies of soldiers and horses frozen on the battlefield.

The park would reportedly employ 3,000 people and some believe it could actually become a rival to Disneyland Paris.  (I don't know about that... unless French tourists really like skiing around fake dead people.)

While this story is interesting and newsworthy, I really only wanted to blog about it so I could post this clip!  ENJOY!

Nashville is Heating Up!

Just a day after we interviewed David Webb about his plans for Ole South USA, a proposed theme park in Nashville, TN, Dolly Parton announced plans of her own.

Dollywood and Gaylord Entertainment will develop a 114-acre site close to the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Convention Center.

Phase I of the $50 million project will be a water and snow park that will provide a mix of water rides and slides during the summer and innovative snow activities during the winter.  The group is projecting that the first-year attendance will be around 500,000 people.

The Dollywood company will serve as the project's operating partner and will employ 450 full- and part-time employees.  Groundbreaking is anticipated late this year or in early 2013, with the park's opening slated for summer of 2014.

Plus, an additional 35 acres will be reserved for future developments.

I think this is good news for David Webb and Ole South USA.

You see, Dolly and Gaylord are building a water and snow park... but no theme park.

Once the water and snow park is successful, I think that it will show potential Ole South investors that Nashville is ready for a theme park too.

Plus, this new venture between Dollywood and Gaylord will only bring more tourists to the region... exactly the same type of people would would go to Ole South USA.

This will be interesting to watch!

CoasterRadio.com #616 - The Birth of a Theme Park

Imagine if you had a chance to sit down and talk with Walt Disney when he started to brainstorm about an idea called "Mickey Mouse Park."

What if you could go back to 1959 and have lunch with Angus Wynne Jr. to hear his ideas about a park that would eventually become "Six Flags Over Texas."

Building a theme park from scratch is no easy accomplishment.  It takes hard work, a solid business plan and most importantly... a vision.

On this week's show, we welcome a man with a unique vision of his own.

He wants to see a theme park built in his home town of Nashville, Tennessee.

This week, David Webb joins us to talk about his plans for "Ole South USA".

It would be a theme park celebrating everything that is vibrant and special about the southern region of the United States.

David gives us a "virtual tour" of the different themed lands, including descriptions of some of their innovative rides and attractions.  He also talks about the steps being taken to make this dream a reality.

Most importantly, he fills us in on the Pioneer Club, which gives 3,500 people a chance to take part in the birth of this theme park.

We also have an update on the Valentine's Day Charity Song Auction and we announce the first CoasterRadio.com Listener Meet-up of 2012.

California, HERE WE COME!


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Talk about this episode by leaving a comment here on the blog.

Speaking of Time Travel....

I was thinking about yesterday's post and wondering exactly how many theme park attractions are based around time travel.

We know of Back to the Future: The Ride and I can think of one more off the top of my head.

But are there more time travel rides? Can we make a list and get to at least five?

Let's work on it in the CoasterRadio.com Forums.

So NOW the gas prices come down!

I was scrolling through Google News this morning and I found a really interesting article.

The AP was reporting that during the summer, gas was "peaking at an unheard of $4.11 a gallon." But now, "the national average price for gasoline tumbled below $2 Friday, its lowest point in more than three years."

It made me sarcastically laugh.

Sure, this is good news for everyone...NOW. But as a theme park fan and blogger, I could have really used the $2 gas a few months ago.

I don't know about you, but I really cut back on the number of theme park trips I made during the summer of 2008. In fact, I visited two regional parks and that was it. I just couldn't see paying $100-$150 on gas on top of everything else you have to buy for a good theme park experience.

This was the first summer in recent memory where I actually consciously cut back on the number of theme park trips that I made. If you're a faithful reader of this blog, you probably noticed it too. I really didn't have much to write about because I wasn't out there experiencing anything.

It makes me wish I could have a giant gas tank in my backyard. That way, I could buy up gas at the $2 prices and save it for my roadtrips in the Summer of 2009. But I'm sure there's some type of law against that.

Talk about this in the CoasterRadio.com Forums.