Storyville Gardens

[donNdonelson2]

Universal Studios has announced they will build a park in Frisco, TX (north of Dallas). They currently own 97 acres, and word is the Texas park will be smaller than the California or Florida parks.

[donNdonelson2]

I’ve seen a update to the Universal Texas story. The park will be “Universal Kids.” 

[Winter Panda]

Quote

14 hours ago, VSRJ said:

If there's a will, there's a way when it comes to cramming rides into a land-locked space. See Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen and Blackpool Pleasure Beach in England:

 

According to this video from August of 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmT3TUCXje0 the zoo expansion is 40 acres. I would imagine that most of it would be for the safari experience. According to this video that Natti_amusements posted some time ago, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCPnSwi6fJs&t=672s Storyville Gardens in total is 165 acres. Of that, the park itself is only around 40 acres with “a lot of parking, three hotels, and quite a bit of retail, dining, and entertainment surrounding the park.” Forty acres doesn’t seem like a ton of space, but as you point out, Tivoli Gardens (20 acres) and Blackpool Pleasure Beach (42 acres) are able to do a lot with a little. The relevant portion of the Storyville video begins at 8:32.

Edited January 12, 2023 by Winter Panda

[VSRJ]

4 hours ago, donNdonelson2 said:

Universal Studios has announced they will build a park in Frisco, TX (north of Dallas). They currently own 97 acres, and word is the Texas park will be smaller than the California or Florida parks.

I like this concept so much more than Storyville. 

[Natti_amusements]

On 1/12/2023 at 3:51 PM, VSRJ said:

I like this concept so much more than Storyville. 

I definitely do too, but I think part of that has to do with the Universal brand name,  which is synonymous w high quality & reliability. We already know what they can do, and with it being in such a big metro area (Dallas/Fort Worth) compared to the size of the actual park, I can already imagine this new project being build in the next half decade and potentially being the best park for families in the US pretty soon. 
As for Storyville, it’s developers are “optimistic” at best,  and a park based around books isn’t going to appeal to kids as much as stepping into your favourite universal/ dream works properties. It’s quality might be there but we don’t know that yet, and it’s doesn’t seem to be getting enough momentum for us to find out.

[Luvemtall]

With it being a Universal Park, there’s really no chance of failure. So would it be if it was a Disney or Legoland or Busch Gardens, they have the name and reputation to back them. As for Storyville, they are starting from scratch. But hey, at one point there wasn’t any Theme Parks, a man named Walt changed that! So you have to start somewhere. I just seen a small article in some construction magazine from about two months ago , that talked about Storyville and it stated that they now have cost at (1) one billion dollars! And they are posting on their  social media outlets more frequently and even are responding to the comments left. They say they are actively working on all the details and word will be coming soon. I know we have all heard that before, but as mentioned before the passing of Pat Emery had to definitely set them back. It also stated that they now have a GC and construction is set to begin in June ‘23

[bigeasy]

Below is a picture that Universal released of the Frisco park. Pretty exciting to see something pop up in Texas.  Universal has been leading the way recently with development, so not a surprise they would be announcing another park. Disney has a lot of issues right now; and this park is a targeted directly towards their market. Kinda funny that Universal announces a completely new park the day after Disney does this big media push announcing the open date for the Tron ride and then some reservation changes. 

Edited January 13, 2023 by bigeasy

[smeagolsfree]

This would be a great place for Cedar Fair to open a park. Closest one is Cincinnati and then Charlotte, I guess.

[Natti_amusements]

14 hours ago, Luvemtall said:

I just seen a small article in some construction magazine from about two months ago , that talked about Storyville and it stated that they now have cost at (1) one billion dollars!

Could you put a link to that article, or at least where you can find it?  I couldn’t find anything myself and curious to have a read if possible 

[Luvemtall]

11 hours ago, Natti_amusements said:

Could you put a link to that article, or at least where you can find it?  I couldn’t find anything myself and curious to have a read if possible 

I will look into it, can’t remember exactly where it was that I seen it. I read a lot and watch a bunch of documentaries , but it wasn’t to long ago so there’s hope !

[Blazenmp]

https://corporate.universalparks.com/universal-parks-resorts-plans-to-bring-new-concept-for-families-with-young-children-to-frisco-texas/

@Natti_amusements

Edited March 7, 2023 by Blazenmp

[PillowTalk4]

This is an article in the Construction Journal from November of 2022.

Storyville Gardens - Phase 1 from ConstructionJournal.com

I also noticed that the Storyville Gardens website has been redone.  Granted I had not visited it in a while, so I don't know when it was redone.

Storyville Gardens

[smeagolsfree]

 I still say they are putting the cart in front of the horse, literally by doing presales before the location has yet to be determined or any earth has been moved. If I were a potential customer there is no way I would be putting money up front. BTW, I am not a potential customer in any way shape or form. This does not appeal to me. I was somewhat excited to see this happen at first but now, I can't say this will be anything special. 

There are still no details, and they are still too secretive with their plans, investors, location, etc. It makes me believe as others do this project is in deep doo doo.

[Luvemtall]

1 hour ago, smeagolsfree said:

There are still no details, and they are still too secretive with their plans, investors, location, etc. It makes me believe as others do this project is in deep doo doo.

I really think this project is on life support at best. And I agree, they are to secretive to be taking seriously. I did hear rumors that there’s something else possible in the works , not Storyville. And I found something on the Lebanon City website that might follow along on that line. Look at the forth item down on this page from city economic development report. Working on a large scale tourist development. 

[Natti_amusements]

Ik it’s been a long time since someone last posted on here but Delisa Guerrier, founder of storyville gardens,  just posted on Instagram with the caption “the types of meeting that change regions”. StoryLand Studios, the people they hired to design the park, are tagged in the post but what is interesting is that two other companies called “PizaGolf” & “Forrecdesigns” are also tagged. One looks to be a golf design firm and the other a themed entertainment design companie similar to StoryLand. Maybe they’ve got more people on board and there rlly has been progress.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cs5BhQzooxv/?igshid=MmJiY2I4NDBkZg==

Edited May 31, 2023 by Natti_amusements

[smeagolsfree]

I have heard the location is in Lebanon and is still supposedly moving forward ever so slowly. It has not been officially announced but this is from an investor.

[Luvemtall]

Forrec is based in Toronto, and they have an amazing portfolio, Many International achievements.  and Piza Golf is well known and acclaimed throughout the Globe. Some big name players, with a lot of high profile investors. The thing is that the rumored spot in Lebanon wouldn’t be big enough for the Theme Park and a Golf experience. A recent podcast that Mel McGowan from Storyland Studios was on, he mentioned a recent meeting with Realtors on property for a Theme Park that was based on storytelling in Tennessee. Could it be the same rumored location or a possibility of a larger property? I know of a couple high profile properties along I-40 in Lebanon that are 250-300+ acres that would be a better fit. Hopefully this is all positive news and something actually comes from it. 

[PillowTalk4]

While I understand the skepticism, I think we all need to consider this is not a Disney, or Universal Studios, or a Six Flags size company that is trying to open a new theme park.  It's a very small entity that at the very least seems to be committed to to their vision.  They clearly will rely on several investors to make their vision into a reality so, it's not surprising that things are moving slow.  I'm actually surprised that they are making any announcements right now considering the economy.  But, Americans seem to be spending a lot on entertainment and travel.  And, restaurants are packed because no one cooks anymore... LOL!!!  So maybe investors see this as a bona fide opportunity.  Especially with Nashville's tourism still being as hot as it is.  Adding a theme park into the mix will help attract more families and increase tourism even more. 

While Storyville won't be a huge theme park, one could argue that it doesn't have to be in order for it to be successful.  There are small amusement parks all over this country that most people never hear about until they visit an area.  I don't think that's the intent for the creators of Storyville, but I say that to simply point out that not every amusement park has to be a Disney World to be successful.  So, I'm still supportive of Storyville.  I hope it does come to fruition with room to grow their concept.  It would be nice if it was actually in Davidson County, but given the amount land needed and the cost of land being more expensive, that's probably not going to happen.

[satalac]

The average size of an 18 hole golf course is 110-190 acres, with a 9 hole being roughly half that. That's a lot of space that would eat into the planned theme park, so I'm thinking that the spot in Lebanon right off I-40 would be out of the running. I'm not sure why Piza would be involved unless there was at least a 9 hole course. Could be promising for this project, and may be the reason not much has been heard if they are needing to expand their land search to accomodate for this. 

[Luvemtall]

I’m going to be totally honest right up front, what I’m about to post is just speculation on my part. 
but I was just looking around at some real estate sites and stumbled upon something that makes me wonder. A few months back a listing from JLL commercial real estate posted , that was referred to as the Nashville Megasite . It’s 1500 acres all along State Route 452 between I-840 and State Route 231 , both in Wilson and Rutherford counties surrounding the SuperSpeedway . 
Now above in a post it mentions DeLisa Guerrier say “Type of meeting that change regions “ and two Internationally known entertainment and golf developers entered the picture. Then Mel McGowan for Storyland Studios says on a podcast that they just meet with realtors about a piece of property. Well a week later the Megasite is now under contract, is this just coincidence? Or is something big evolving that might be more then we have been thinking. Like I said above , this is just speculation on my part, but I have a feeling that something is brewing. Could it be connected to Storyville Gardens, not sure but it’s some food for thought . 

[jmtunafish]

27 minutes ago, Luvemtall said:

I’m going to be totally honest right up front, what I’m about to post is just speculation on my part. 
but I was just looking around at some real estate sites and stumbled upon something that makes me wonder. A few months back a listing from JLL commercial real estate posted , that was referred to as the Nashville Megasite . It’s 1500 acres all along State Route 452 between I-840 and State Route 231 , both in Wilson and Rutherford counties surrounding the SuperSpeedway . 
Now above in a post it mentions DeLisa Guerrier say “Type of meeting that change regions “ and two Internationally known entertainment and golf developers entered the picture. Then Mel McGowan for Storyland Studios says on a podcast that they just meet with realtors about a piece of property. Well a week later the Megasite is now under contract, is this just coincidence? Or is something big evolving that might be more then we have been thinking. Like I said above , this is just speculation on my part, but I have a feeling that something is brewing. Could it be connected to Storyville Gardens, not sure but it’s some food for thought . 

I've always said that the old superspeedway site would be the ideal location for a new theme park.  The infrastructure is already there, including a large exit on I-840 originally designed for the superspeedway traffic, and it's within easy access to thousands of potential summer employees in Rutherford and Wilson counties.  It's nice and flat, too, and has (apparently) lots of available land.  1500 acres seems a bit excessive, but who knows.  If the people behind Storyland are serious, then this does seem like a logical location to me.

[smeagolsfree]

9 hours ago, jmtunafish said:

I've always said that the old superspeedway site would be the ideal location for a new theme park.  The infrastructure is already there, including a large exit on I-840 originally designed for the superspeedway traffic, and it's within easy access to thousands of potential summer employees in Rutherford and Wilson counties.  It's nice and flat, too, and has (apparently) lots of available land.  1500 acres seems a bit excessive, but who knows.  If the people behind Storyland are serious, then this does seem like a logical location to me.

If they bought is and used the rest to sell off to pay for the theme park it would make more sense. If you control what is around you, you have a higher chance of success. Other resort type operations are more likely to set up operations around you and if you control the land, you in effect control the keys to the kingdom. You are able to sell it for what you want for it.

[Luvemtall]

Also the ability to control the needed support services, such as Hotels, Restaurants, retailers etc. it could play out very well, and create an entertainment environment similar to the Parkway in Pigeon Forge. Again this is just speculation, I really would like it , if they could be more transparent about what’s happening. 

[nashville born]

On 6/13/2023 at 8:52 AM, Luvemtall said:

Also the ability to control the needed support services, such as Hotels, Restaurants, retailers etc. it could play out very well, and create an entertainment environment similar to the Parkway in Pigeon Forge. Again this is just speculation, I really would like it , if they could be more transparent about what’s happening. 

Unfortunately for enthusiasts like us, the more transparent developers are, the more susceptible they are to purposeful monkey wrenching (City Lights) and/or price gouging.

[Natti_amusements]

Yeah being too transparent before things are locked in can lead to a development failing.  Currently Storyville gardens are stating no delays for the project, and that a 2025 opening date is still the goal, as of Facebook comments 2 or so days ago. Not sure if 2025 will happen depending if the project has evolved to become bigger than expected, but good to see them at least answering some questions.

https://www.facebook.com/storyvillegardens