Phoenix Haters

[JimmineyGrl]

A friend of mine emailed me this inflamitory article about Phoenix posted on a Philadelphia website. It was written due to the fact that we make take their place as the fifth largest city in the nation.

http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/6262456.htm

Any thoughts?

[writelots]

Legend city was awesome. Of course, I think it was so uber-cool because it was the limit of my experience in amusement parks for my early decade. I remember being heartbroken when it closed down, thinking nothing cool would ever come to Phoenix again. I was right.

My greatest regret of my whole childhood was that I never got my own Ladmo Bag. I was in the audience 3 times, and never got lucky. Sigh. Maybe that's what's waiting for me in the afterlife...

[joebartels]

Does anybody know if it significantly lost attendance or if the land was just too valuable?

For being the 5th? largest city Phoenix seems really behind on kid attractions. Castles-n-Coasters, Waterworld? & Golfland? are older than friggen dirt.

[te_wa]

its too hot. market research has been done by Lego and Six Flags - the summer season is the highest attendance and nobody is going to walk around Six Flags in 108° temps.
that's ok, a good excuse to drive to the always pleasant Sandy Ego

[dysfunction]

Perhaps that is because all the Six Flags locations I've been to have had miserable weather in the winter? (six flags Gurnee, IL comes to mind )

Phoenix/ Tucson really are lacking for cool kids stuff.

[joebartels]

In response to te-wa: For the most part that makes sense but all the more means for the worlds largest water park!
Big Surf is a little outdated(celebrating it's 40th anniversary this year), though apparently enough of a hold to shun off other investors.

Probably wouldn't go over very well with locals and water conservationist either.

Perhaps with the shorter summers (as year-round school has swept the country) theme parks will consider Phoenix's six months of pure-heaven-weather a bonus.

[te_wa]

so what ever came of that worlds-largest-indoor wave park theme?
some guy from VA was a surfer growing up turned investor/contractor and wanted to build it in Mesa, if i recall.

here's the teaser home page: http://www.waveyard.com/

[joebartels]

hmmm...

Waveyard expands, looks for site in Dubai

by Gary Nelson - Jul. 18, 2008 07:34 AM
The Arizona Republic

A massive adventure resort in Mesa may become the fountainhead of a global entertainment empire, with negotiations under way to build a similar project in the Middle Eastern emirate of Dubai.

Richard Mladick and Jerry Hug, founders and partners of Scottsdale-based Waveyard Development LLC, told The Republic Thursday they will travel to the United Arab Emirates in a few weeks to pursue a project much like the one they aim to build in Mesa.

"The project is exactly what they (Dubai's rulers) are looking for," said Dominique Terral, a Dubai-based managing partner with Swiss Private Capital Group, which Terral said is helping finance the Mesa and Dubai ventures.

"We do not anticipate any problem whatsoever" with the Dubai project, Terral said. "Waveyard is something that does not exist any place on the world. People are always after something different and something new."

Terral said two other countries also may be interested in Waveyard-style resorts.

But Hug and Mladick promised the Mesa venue would be the first in the world.

"We do not envision a scenario where we would open in the Middle East ahead of Mesa," Mladick said.

Terral said the Dubai project likely would cost more than $1 billion.

Meanwhile, the price tag on Waveyard's Mesa development has tripled from the initial estimate and now stands at $750 million.

While part of the increase sprang from higher construction costs, Mladick said it's mostly because "several of the components in the project have gotten larger."

That, he said, is a direct result of a feasibility study conducted after Mesa voters approved the project last fall. A public vote was necessary because the city will sell Riverview Golf Course and four softball fields to accommodate the project near the intersection of Loops 101 and 202.

Thursday's interview with The Republic was the first major update offered by Hug and Mladick since the election. They kept a low profile, they said, because of the complexity of planning and financing the innovative project.

Two events over the next few months will propel Waveyard toward reality, Mladick and Hug said.


• A mammoth site plan will be filed with the city detailing everything from drainage to the design of the whitewater rafting river, deep scuba lagoon, a surfing pool and other upscale amenities expected to draw visitors from an entertainment-starved Valley and around the world.


• By about the turn of the year, Waveyard and its financial backers will meet with Mesa officials to prove that financing is in place. Only when Mesa is satisfied that the backing is solid will Waveyard take possession of the property and begin turning dirt.

"We're in a fortunate position" with regard to financing, Hug said, "in that we have a project . . . that has been able to attract large-scale financial sponsors."

"We are in the latter stages of a process that began about four months ago to go out and get this project financed," he said.

Mesa Mayor Scott Smith, who has a business and accounting background, said financing is the key factor.

"There's no telling whether something like this will fly," Smith said. "We're in interesting times, especially as it relates to financing real estate and other projects."

Mladick said while he and Hug were confident they had a good plan before last year's election, the feasibility study said they had been aiming too low.

"We were actually under-sized and under-programmed on some of the amenities," he said.

So now, the planned four-star resort hotel has grown from 400 to 600rooms, with 400 rooms for families and 200 for business travelers. A conference center will cover 50,000 square feet instead of 30,000, and an indoor water park will be 138,000 square feet instead of 80,000.

Further, instead of 200,000 feet of boutique retail space, there will be 300,000. There will be a 3,000-seat amphitheatre for top-flight live entertainment, and surface parking will be replaced by parking structures.

Smith said those enhancements may bolster Waveyard's chances of success in rocky financial times.

"It seems that they have actually expanded and enhanced the project overall, . . . the feeling being that to make it more special hopefully makes it easier to finance," Smith said. "Rather than paring it down they seem to be using a strategy in hopes that will make it more special and more unique."

One element that has been downsized is housing. Only about 100 units are now planned, instead of the several hundred initially proposed, because of the depressed market.

But another economic downer - energy prices - may actually work in Waveyard's favor, Hug and Mladick said, because the Valley's 4 million residents may be more likely to stay close to home for their fun.

Since the November election, Hug and Mladick have stitched together a design and advisory team that includes experts on theme park design, the hotel industry, civil engineering, finance and construction. Matt Salmon, a former U.S. representative from Arizona and gubernatorial candidate in 2002, remains on the advisory board.

The company's engineers have 15 patents pending for wave-generation and other water-oriented technology, Mladick said. A newly created Waveyard subsidiary, Liquid Evolution, will sell some of those systems to smaller amusement parks around the world.

Mladick and Hug have briefed Smith, City Council members and top key city staffers over the past few days.

Councilman Dave Richins, in whose district Waveyard would be built, said, "I'm glad they're exceeding expectations and they're exceeding what they originally planned. I just hope they build it."

Councilman Dennis Kavanaugh said he was leery of Waveyard before last year's election but after meeting with Hug and Mladick, "My skepticism has waned substantially."

[te_wa]

i can hear the Dick Dale music now...
and if this thing opens, sign me up for an annual pass!

[Al_HikesAZ]

i can hear the Dick Dale music now...

Dick Dale ???? That is so analog. VIVA LOS STRAITJACKETS

and if this thing opens, sign me up for an annual pass!

Me too yo tambien

[big_load]

Is it almost finished?

[JimmyLyding]

Too bad for the Philly folks, but the best cheesesteaks in the country are served @ Frankie's South Philly in beautiful Tucson, Arizona. NO JOKE!

[azbackpackr]

Getting back to the title of this thread, I used to hate Phoenix (or more properly, the Valley of the Sun) but I no longer do. I never even went there the first 10 years I lived in AZ, except to pass through it on the way to the Grand Canyon or Flagstaff from Tucson, where I used to live.

Tucsonans love to hate Phoenix.

Since then I have taken a more relaxed view of the place. I go there to visit my son, who lives in Mesa, and we have fun. I see that it isn't so horrible there if you have a nice place to live and nice friends, it is like anywhere else. The heat is only a little worse than Tucson's. I think I still prefer Tucson, though, because I love the Catalinas so much.

All that being said, I don't prefer city life. I don't go out much, so night life isn't important to me. I don't like shopping, and I can find my backpacking gear online just as easily. I'm adaptable and can live in the city but I prefer a small town or being out in the boonies.

[azdesertfather]

I had NO IDEA about "Legend City"! Does anyone know where it was exactly in town, or what they've done with the land now?

ALSO, has anyone tried out Wet 'n' Wild Phoenix (Previously Known as Waterworld Safari)? An Australian company purchased Waterworld Safari from its previous owners, Golfland, after the 2008 season. They reopened for the 2009 season under new management and with the new name. I'm wondering how much better it is...based on it's daily admission pricetag, it better be pretty good!...
http://phoenix.mywetnwild.com/

[joebartels]

Does anyone know where it was exactly in town, or what they've done with the land now?

56th & Washington
http://hikearizona.com/location_g.php?L ... =16&M=5&G=

That's why I wonder if this thing fizzled out or was the land to valuable?

[azdesertfather]

That's why I wonder if this thing fizzled out or was the land to valuable?

Yes, EXACTLY. I just found this...

[joebartels]

Just seems odd with all that open land around there that they had to have that spot. Perhaps SRP bought a large parcel? It seems "once popular" fizzled out.

[writelots]

I was just a kid, but I remember there being talk of financial troubles and corruption. Who knows - but I think that the park went belly-up and was empty a long time before they tore it all down and built on the site (because I remember driving by the sign more than a few times when we were going out to the zoo).

And, for the record, quite a few of us Tucsonans who hate Phoenix are refugees from that miserable place. Each time I go back I am reminded of why I escaped, and how lucky I am to be dealing with the problems in the Old Pueblo!

[joebartels]

I was just a kid, but I remember there being talk of financial troubles and corruption. Who knows - but I think that the park went belly-up and was empty a long time before they tore it all down and built on the site (because I remember driving by the sign more than a few times when we were going out to the zoo).

Sounds like either total lack of interest(outdated) or poor management.

[te_wa]

or Ladmo's death from cancer

[joebartels]

11 years later?