Storyville Gardens

[donNdonelson2]

I was misled by the use of the term theme park in the story I read, thinking it was a more sizable attraction. The more appropriate, and accurate, term used in the portion quoted above, is “immersive show.” If it is a quality development it will be a welcome addition to the multitude of offerings in that region. And I agree that it shouldn’t hamper the chances of Storyville Gardens. (Although I continue to have doubts about the prospects of that proposal. I hope I’m wrong.)

[Luvemtall]

Just wondering if anyone has heard anything on this project? Smeags, does the magic 8 ball have even a hint?

[smeagolsfree]

All I know is they are down to two sites and not three.  I think I remember hearing a mid-year announcement, but do not quote me on that. I will not say where I heard it, but it was a good source. That was the same for the 2 sites as well.

[titanhog]

9 minutes ago, smeagolsfree said:

All I know is they are down to two sites and not three.  I think I remember hearing a mid-year announcement, but do not quote me on that. I will not say where I heard it, but it was a good source. That was the same for the 2 sites as well.

Do either of the sites excite you?

[Luvemtall]

Last we all heard was Hendersonville and Lebanon. Not sure if that’s still correct, if so I’m thinking it’s now all about who’s giving the best incentives.

[smeagolsfree]

3 hours ago, titanhog said:

Do either of the sites excite you?

Not really. The one in Lebanon is OK I guess, but they are land locked. If they are looking at Sumner County, I am like ho hum and always will be about that area up there. 

I never really liked the area as it is always a pain to get to if V Veterans parkway sneezes wrong or has the hiccups.

If it is off of the Parkway, and closer to Nashville, it may work better than we think. There is still a lot of land off that road.

My hope is they expand the road which is needed anyway due to traffic.

[Natti_amusements]

On 5/18/2022 at 8:07 AM, smeagolsfree said:

Not really. The one in Lebanon is OK I guess, but they are land locked. If they are looking at Sumner County, I am like ho hum and always will be about that area up there. 

I never really liked the area as it is always a pain to get to if V Veterans parkway sneezes wrong or has the hiccups.

If it is off of the Parkway, and closer to Nashville, it may work better than we think. There is still a lot of land off that road.

My hope is they expand the road which is needed anyway due to traffic.

Considering the Lebanon site is land locked and they go with that area, do you think we will have a ‘Universal studios Singapore situation’ on our hands? If it does get built, of which I’m very hopeful, I’d hate for them to not be able to expand after the first few years or so.

[Luvemtall]

I guess it all matters on exactly what their vision for this park is. It’s been said that it’s more of a immersive experience then say a six flags , lots of rides type park. Maybe expansion is not really a concern. Busch Gardens - Tampa is right in the city and is land locked , but manages just fine

[jmtunafish]

4 hours ago, Luvemtall said:

I guess it all matters on exactly what their vision for this park is. It’s been said that it’s more of a immersive experience then say a six flags , lots of rides type park. Maybe expansion is not really a concern. Busch Gardens - Tampa is right in the city and is land locked , but manages just fine

Busch Gardens Tampa is 335 acres, nearly triple the size of the plat in Lebanon that's under consideration.

[Luvemtall]

11 minutes ago, jmtunafish said:

Busch Gardens Tampa is 335 acres, nearly triple the size of the plat in Lebanon that's under consideration.

Yep I know that , lived right by there for 19 years. They also have over 150 acres of wildlife safaris. And Disneyland in California is 101 total acres, so I see no reason why Storyville Gardens can’t trive on the acreage in Lebanon if they so choose that location.

[Luvemtall]

By the way , the available acreage in Lebanon is 132 with Cumberland Center , plus there’s other adjoining parcels available for a total of 160 -180 acres total. So Busch Gardens is not triple the size

[jmtunafish]

2 minutes ago, Luvemtall said:

Yep I know that , lived right by there for 19 years. They also have over 150 acres of wildlife safaris. And Disneyland in California is 101 total acres, so I see no reason why Storyville Gardens can’t trive on the acreage in Lebanon if they so choose that location.

And Walt Disney regretted not having more land for Disneyland, hence Disney World in Florida.

If Storyville builds at that small plat in Lebanon, it will one day regret it, assuming it's successful.  Opryland regretted not having more space for expansion and look what happened.  Then again, maybe they'll be happy being a small, insignificant park that will cater largely to local crowds.  If so, then the Lebanon location will do just fine.  I still wish they'd looked a little further south along 840 where they'd have a lot more space.  But it's not my money.

[Luvemtall]

I think what’s at issue here , is the misunderstanding of what the intentions of this park are. It’s meant to be a experience into the world of reading and learning. From what I’ve read , it’s really not about rides per say. Yes there’s going to be some rides, but not on the scale of what most people perceive. Giving that , no matter what location they choose , I’m not thinking they will need much room for expansion. Plus,  let’s think about how successful Dollywood is and that park totals 150 acres and they still haven’t built upon all of it. 

[jmtunafish]

5 hours ago, Luvemtall said:

I think what’s at issue here , is the misunderstanding of what the intentions of this park are. It’s meant to be a experience into the world of reading and learning. From what I’ve read , it’s really not about rides per say. Yes there’s going to be some rides, but not on the scale of what most people perceive. Giving that , no matter what location they choose , I’m not thinking they will need much room for expansion. Plus,  let’s think about how successful Dollywood is and that park totals 150 acres and they still haven’t built upon all of it. 

Dollywood has lots of fun rides, over 50 in all.  Storyville Gardens, as currently proposed, has hardly any rides, as you mentioned earlier.  Just as Opryland realized it couldn't add more rides without more land, I fear that Storyville Gardens (if it's ever actually built) will eventually meet with the same fate.  Even Busch Gardens has a zoo component (I'm originally from Tampa, too, by the way) to keep it interesting.  I just don't think Storyville Gardens will have enough to keep it interesting and viable unless it has more thrill rides, and for that it'll need more space.  I still think Wilson County is the ideal location, but a little further out where it can have more elbow room.

[titanhog]

18 minutes ago, jmtunafish said:

Dollywood has lots of fun rides, over 50 in all.  Storyville Gardens, as currently proposed, has hardly any rides, as you mentioned earlier.  Just as Opryland realized it couldn't add more rides without more land, I fear that Storyville Gardens (if it's ever actually built) will eventually meet with the same fate.  Even Busch Gardens has a zoo component (I'm originally from Tampa, too, by the way) to keep it interesting.  I just don't think Storyville Gardens will have enough to keep it interesting and viable unless it has more thrill rides, and for that it'll need more space.  I still think Wilson County is the ideal location, but a little further out where it can have more elbow room.

I agree.  Somewhere near 840/40 near Gladeville is best, IMO.  Flat land…easy to get to…close to Nashville / Mboro and the most populous region of Middle TN.

[Luvemtall]

24 minutes ago, titanhog said:

I agree.  Somewhere near 840/40 near Gladeville is best, IMO.  Flat land…easy to get to…close to Nashville / Mboro and the most populous region of Middle TN.

Yeah, there’s plenty of land . But I believe that services like water, sewer etc are only available in certain areas. Lebanon has annexed most of the property all the way to the Rutherford line, but only along the Interstate in about 1/2 mile( except where the racetrack and industrial park are that’s annexed into Lebanon services. So that could be a issue to service this development and all the hotels/ restaurants etc that would come along with it. Plus I still believe that the site supposedly in the running in Lebanon has the Hugh benefit of having a station for the WEGO STAR already in the works.

[Luvemtall]

I found a old image of the previous proposal for Cumberland Center. It show how a Depot and Spur line of the Star can potentially be incorporated into this property. I really believe this is a huge benefit and opportunity for this project. Imagine being able to take a train from Nashville( and stops along the way) right to the park. 

[donNdonelson2]

56 minutes ago, Luvemtall said:

I found a old image of the previous proposal for Cumberland Center. It show how a Depot and Spur line of the Star can potentially be incorporated into this property. I really believe this is a huge benefit and opportunity for this project. Imagine being able to take a train from Nashville( and stops along the way) right to the park. 

Something to consider-the train currently runs on a very limited schedule. In order to substantially expand the schedule there are multiple required upgrades to the safety systems. If these upgrades are to be done, AND the tracks extended, AND a depot/station built for the benefit of Storyville Gardens, who pays for all this? (I’d love to see expanded train service, but there are lots of questions to be answered.)

[jmtunafish]

1 hour ago, donNdonelson2 said:

Something to consider-the train currently runs on a very limited schedule. In order to substantially expand the schedule there are multiple required upgrades to the safety systems. If these upgrades are to be done, AND the tracks extended, AND a depot/station built for the benefit of Storyville Gardens, who pays for all this? (I’d love to see expanded train service, but there are lots of questions to be answered.)

Yup.  And who's going to ride a train from Nashville to Lebanon for a storybook garden with only about 5 rides?  This isn't Disneyland.  Not even Dollywood or Six Flags.  It will cost a fortune to improve that train line, something I'm sure the theme park developers aren't going to pay for.

[smeagolsfree]

1 hour ago, jmtunafish said:

Yup.  And who's going to ride a train from Nashville to Lebanon for a storybook garden with only about 5 rides?  This isn't Disneyland.  Not even Dollywood or Six Flags.  It will cost a fortune to improve that train line, something I'm sure the theme park developers aren't going to pay for.

I agree, I do not think this is going to be a ride heavy park. That is what a lot of people want and go to theme parks for. I would not go for a bedtime story.

[markhollin]

More info & renderings at ThemeParkInsider here:

https://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/202106/8321/
 

[titanhog]

To me, without a connection to a large movie studio and access to their characters, this definitely seems like just a local, regional-at-best, offering.  Hoping I’m wrong.

[smeagolsfree]

1 hour ago, markhollin said:

More info & renderings at ThemeParkInsider here:

https://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/202106/8321/
 

This article was from last year too.

[Baronakim]

More tacky than I imagined.  Loser.

 

[tragenvol]

1 hour ago, markhollin said:

 

Perhaps this Ren Faire will have booze.