Which city/region needs a theme park?
- Thread starter Jarrett
- Start date
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steel
Mega Poster
The climate in the parts of Alaska where people live is actually not really exceptional at all. Not including Fairbanks. But Anchorage winters are similar to Minneapolis winters (potentially even a little milder) and Minneapolis has two parks - granted one is inside. Juneau is comparable to Vancouver and the Pacific Northwest, ie. mild year-round. So climate isn't a gigantic issue. They could always opt for an indoor park. The bigger problem is population. Anchorage doesn't even have 400k people in a 100 mi radius. Juneau and Fairbanks don't even break 100k by the same metric.
For comparison (I'm using this so take it with a grain of salt, but the numbers seem generally accurate to me):
Wonderland (Amarillo): 550k
Joyland: 700k
Silverwood: 850k
Arnolds Park: 1.2 million
Adventureland (Des Moines): 1.7 million
Holiday World: 3.3 million
Michigan's Adventure: 3.5ish million
(For even starker comparison: Cedar Point's figure is close to 12 million)
If we were to see a park in Alaska, it would definitely serve Anchorage. Obviously there's a big tourism industry there, but it thrives in nature, not urban amenities - who would go all the way to Alaska to ride roller coasters? So I doubt it would benefit all that much from tourist activity. So at best, we're looking at a park like Wonderland in Amarillo. Could happen, I guess, but probably wouldn't be anything to write home about. The customer base just isn't there. Maybe a small indoor park at a resort? Maybe.. I don't know.
For comparison (I'm using this so take it with a grain of salt, but the numbers seem generally accurate to me):
Wonderland (Amarillo): 550k
Joyland: 700k
Silverwood: 850k
Arnolds Park: 1.2 million
Adventureland (Des Moines): 1.7 million
Holiday World: 3.3 million
Michigan's Adventure: 3.5ish million
(For even starker comparison: Cedar Point's figure is close to 12 million)
If we were to see a park in Alaska, it would definitely serve Anchorage. Obviously there's a big tourism industry there, but it thrives in nature, not urban amenities - who would go all the way to Alaska to ride roller coasters? So I doubt it would benefit all that much from tourist activity. So at best, we're looking at a park like Wonderland in Amarillo. Could happen, I guess, but probably wouldn't be anything to write home about. The customer base just isn't there. Maybe a small indoor park at a resort? Maybe.. I don't know.
