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Will the Triangle ever get an amusement park or


Tides

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Does anyone know if there are plans to build a water theme park or amusement park in the Triangle area ?

I would think that the population would support theme or water parks , it must get tiresome for residents of The Triangle to have to travel to Greensboro , Charlotte , and Virginia every time .

Tides

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My mother and father were both employed at the water park in Greensboro during its construction. It was a mish-mash of grandiose ideas, spiraling cost overruns and missed deadlines.

Yet somehow, after a couple of changes of ownership, it has survived. Water parks were kind of an 80's fad-- many have closed around the country.

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The Triangle is the only metro out of the Big 3 not to have some kind of amusement/water park....I think one would be successful here but unfortunately I see one being built more along the I-40/I-95 juncture, or even along I-95 then Wake/Durham/Orange counties. Frankly I couldn't imagine a park in Durham or Orange County, they are kind of close to Guilford County...Maybe we are all parked out. I mean there's the amusement/water park in Charlotte, water park in Greensboro... what else is there? :-p

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Thanks for bringing up the topic. For the longest time we didn't have an ice skating rink. We'd have to drive to Daniel Boone in Hillsborough. Now we have, what 3 in Wake Forest/Raleigh/Cary?? All are doing so well that little kids are getting up before the crack of dawn for their chance to play hockey. I think a water park would do well, but I definitely see the most potential of something like that going near the I-40/I-95 interchange (Benson).

I REALLY think something bigger, that would attract people from NY going to FL, would be a big hit. Imagine being from there and deciding where you are going to stay the night on the way down to FL: some amusement park (or casino) or a nondescript Holiday Inn Express. It's a no-brainer with a family with kids. South of the Border is really missing a big opportunity.

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I appreciate all the replys .

I realize that having a water and amusement park in close proximity is not important to everyone , that's cool , to each his own .

Other than the lack of the amusement and water parks locally , and the lack of nearby lakes , there is alot to love about the Triangle , in my humble opinion .

How far will the new Dollywood be from the Triangle ?

Edited to add - Since Ice skating rinks were mentioned... are roller skating rinks popular in the Triangle as well ?

cheers ,

Tides

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...

Other than the lack of the amusement and water parks locally , and the lack of nearby lakes , there is alot to love about the Triangle , in my humble opinion .

...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We have lakes. Jordan and Falls lakes are definitely in the Triangle. There are a bunch of smaller lakes scattered about with trails, particularly in Raleigh. None of them are particularly urban or in proximity to anything else noteworthy though.

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^ I'm pretty sure our population is more than the Triads...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is actually one of the biggest fallacies of people in the Triangle. The Triangle is 3rd in poplulation in the state

http://www.demographia.com/db-usmet2000.htm

Metro Size by Population Yr 2000

Number City Population

33 Charlotte 1,499,293

36 Triad 1,251, 509

40 Triangle 1,187,941

And the difference between the Triangle and the Triad use to be closer but the difference is moving in the Triads favor. I remember when they were only 5K-10K more.

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If the big country western place opens up around Roanoke Rapids that Dolly Parton's brother wants to start,, my guess is you will see all kinds of things like amusement parks open up. It is the perfect place since I-95 is such a boring drive through NC and it is halfway to FLA. Better than spending the night or a couple of days at South of the Boarder

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The Triangle is now larger than the Triad. Those are 5 year old figures. The triangle is referred to as boring all the time. We most definately need an amusement park. The greenways and neighborhood parks are fine, but they aren't exciting. Museums(for the kids), Parks(just to get out of the house),Shopping(will leave you broke). We need something exciting. A baseball team, a nascar track, something different. If you ask me the triangle is dead when it comes to raw entertainment). Who in the hell want's to go to see a symphany (yawn).

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If the big country western place opens up around Roanoke Rapids that Dolly Parton's brother wants to start,, my guess is you will see all kinds of things like amusement parks open up.  It is the perfect place since I-95 is such a boring drive through NC and it is halfway to FLA.    Better than spending the night or a couple of days at South of the Boarder

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

True enough, and, as I've said in previous posts, if the Lumbee gets tribal recognition, watch for an I-95 casino that will be halfway between NYC and Disney World. The turn-around in eastern NC"s economic situation will turn around so fast your head will spin!

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True enough, and, as I've said in previous posts, if the Lumbee gets tribal recognition, watch for an I-95 casino that will be halfway between NYC and Disney World.  The turn-around in eastern NC"s economic situation will turn around so fast your head will spin!

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The Cherokees already have a casino in NC off I-40. While it has helped the local economy greatly it really hasn't done alot to change the overall economic situation in Western NC. The problem is NC State law prevents the Tribes from running a real vegas style casino, so most of it is slot machines, and video poker and blackjack.

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Here're the metro figures from 2004 from SS's website, it still shows the Triad as being larger, which surprised me as I also believed the Triangle was bigger. I wonder if this depends on what counties you consider part of the region? Anyway, SS, you're wrong about the growth rates according to this page, the Triangle is growing much faster-

http://www.demographia.com/db-metmic2004.pdf

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I've always thought it strange that the Triad was larger then the Triangle...I mean Raleigh is so much larger then Greensboro, Durham is larger then Winston Salem, I guess our weakness is Chapel Hill being smaller then High Point....but maybe our outlying counties are less populated then the Triad's....

Anyway shame on us the thread is digressing from it's intended purpose...

:-p

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I think it will be tough for RDU to get a theme park due to unfortunate timing and location. These days, building a modern theme park is a huge undertaking and the financial return on these things is difficult given that in our area, the park is going to be closed for part of the year do to the weather. Given that, a theme park has to draw people from a much larger area than what the local population of NC metros can support. Theme parks are regional.

Now to what I said about RDU's unfortunate circumstance.

First there are several major theme parks with a few hours drive that a park in RDU would have to compete against. We have Busch Gardens in Williamsburgh, Kings Dominion in Richmond, and of course Carowinds in Charlotte. All are within about a 3 hours drive of RDU. Myrtle Beach is a bit further away, but it also should be taken into consideration.

The second is timing. These days, it is very very expensive to build a new park from scratch, so most of what you see are take overs of older parks. Charlotte lucked out on this one as Carowinds was built in 1973 by a private developer from Charlotte. It was a Carolina's park and was located on the state line so it would draw from both states. Even with that, competition from Myrtle Beach (3 hours from Charlotte) and smaller parks in the mountains (Land of Oz, Tweetsie, and Ghost Town in the Sky) put Carowinds in dire straits by the early 80s. But there was a theme park there when the finances where not as scrutinized as much as they are in these days.

It was the purchase of the park by Paramount, which also bought Kings Dominion which saved Carowinds. Charlotte was lucky to have had the original park in 1973. Without it, I doubt Paramount would have built Carowinds. It should be noted the Land of Oz is out of business and Ghost Town is closed looking for a buyer. Even 6 flags is cutting back and is looking for a buyer in ATL.

So I think the conclusion of all of this is that RDU probably wont see a new theme park anytime soon.

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I've always thought it strange that the Triad was larger th"a"n the Triangle...I mean Raleigh is so much larger then Greensboro, Durham is larger then Winston Salem, I guess our weakness is Chapel Hill being smaller th"a"n High Point....but maybe our outlying counties are less populated th"a"n the Triad's....

Anyway shame on us the thread is digressing from it's intended purpose...

:-p

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Sorry Mike, but that is one of my pet peeves.

Back to the point, yes the thread is straying. I think that the triangle would be a great location for a large theme park. It's on 95, roughly in between NY and Florida, aswell as in a very progessive and growing metro. Think about how many families are relocated every year. Raleigh's growth is these new family units, and with a theme park in the area, i can see it a very lucrative operation.

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