Dixie Stampede NO MORE!

[caa1000]

Dixie Stampede has been shut down this afternoon!

http://www.local6.com/news/14996308/detail.html

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede Dinner Attraction in Orlando ceased all operations on Monday after selling its property, and some employees found out about the decision when they showed up for work.

The closing became official at 3 p.m. when the attraction's 13 acres, located along Interstate 4 near Walt Disney World, were purchased by an undisclosed owner, attraction officials told Local 6 News.

Some employees of Dixie Stampede were informed of the decision when they arrived for work on Monday, and officials said they were attempting to notify other workers by phone.

 

[Figment22]

Holy Cow! That's a shock for sure. Thanks for sharing the local info.

 

[BroadwayGirl]

I have to say, neither the closing nor the way they notified their staff is surprising. They have an excellent product but their boneheaded corporate director of marketing (who doesn't even have a degree in marketing) refused to acknowledge that Dixie Stampede would ever be anything more than a tertiary attraction in Orlando behind Disney and Universal/Sea World which lead to many problems in their 5 years in Orlando. Their presence in Orlando did serve to up the quality of some of the other dinner shows, most notably Arabian Nights.

They say they are looking for a new location/facility - it would be great but I won't hold my breath. Their best bet would be to align themselves with one of the theme parks where they could draw more closely from the theme park guests. I wish Dixie Stampede's Orlando employees all the best, especially those who were with them from the beginning. Dixie has said that they will be giving them 60 days severance and I hope they are all able to find new jobs in a timely manner.

 

[caa1000]

I have to say, neither the closing nor the way they notified their staff is surprising. They have an excellent product but their boneheaded corporate director of marketing (who doesn't even have a degree in marketing) refused to acknowledge that Dixie Stampede would ever be anything more than a tertiary attraction in Orlando behind Disney and Universal/Sea World which lead to many problems in their 5 years in Orlando. Their presence in Orlando did serve to up the quality of some of the other dinner shows, most notably Arabian Nights.

They say they are looking for a new location/facility - it would be great but I won't hold my breath. Their best bet would be to align themselves with one of the theme parks where they could draw more closely from the theme park guests. I wish Dixie Stampede's Orlando employees all the best, especially those who were with them from the beginning. Dixie has said that they will be giving them 60 days severance and I hope they are all able to find new jobs in a timely manner.

What went wrong with Dixie Stampede? I thought they where doing well and that their annual Christmas Dinner show was having lots of visitors. Was the inconvenience they where not well located, a factor to sell out all of the sudden? Or that I-4 riders could not figure out where it was in the terms the drivers would have to get off at State Road 528, then go south on I-Drive or exit at State Road 535 or the Gaylord Palms exit? What about the people that made reservations in advance for the show? I would assume they will be reimburse, but what a nice thinking of Dolly Parton to sell out the property all of the sudden, after 5 years of support in Central Florida.

 

[DOOM1001]

I read that they got an offer that they could not refuse for that location which is very visible from I-4,I wonder what's gonna go there???It also says they're looking for another location to set up shop in Orlando.

 

[DaddyDon]

Wow ....I was just there on the 28th for the Christmas show and it was packed!We have enjoyed the venue more than once...It has to be a blow to all the staff.I hope they all find another job my thoughts and prayers are with all of them.

 

[MickeyMouseMomofSix]

Wow! My husband and I were just on their website a few days ago and were thinking of seeing that show instead of Medieval Times on our upcoming trip. Guess we're not now! How sad for those workers.

 

[Brian Noble]

That's a shame. I've seen the show in Gatlinburg; it was very good.

 

[jgavorni]

I feel sad for the workers. It is bad to tell them that they are laid off when they come to work! They were given NO notice, which tells me that the company does not care about their employees at all!!!

It is also a bad time to try to find a new job. There are not a lot of jobs available.

I guess I will be taking my business to Medival Times. Which has a good diner show.

 

[spiceycat]

boy that is just not right.

You tell your workers then you sell it.

I though the location was pretty good - it is next to Orlando Premium outlets and those shops have no problem bringing in the people.

 

[momof3disneyholics]

The 2 months pay they are giving their workers is nothing. I was listening to the radio this morning and several workers were calling in and said that they were servers which made 3.00 an hour plus tips. Well, the 3.00 an hour is all they are giving them as severance.
I called a couple of days ago to make a reservation for a guest and they told me they were closed till the 13th for renovations. I guess that was when they were negotiating then.

 

[DeeCeeSW]

Maybe DS was bought up by the same people who bought Race Rock, another great place that we were shocked to hear had closed down!

 

[diznygirl]

My theory is that the outlets bought it to expand. I hope that Dixie does rebuild - we love the show.

 

[jeff968]

I read that they got an offer that they could not refuse for that location which is very visible from I-4,I wonder what's gonna go there???It also says they're looking for another location to set up shop in Orlando.

The same thing happened with Race Rock. Also a very I-4 visable location.

 

[PolyGuy]

The same thing happened with Race Rock. Also a very I-4 visable location.

Wow...I didn't know that about Race Rock. I checked their website and it said after 11 years, they have closed. We had dinner there last year Super Bowl Sunday. It was dead.

 

[DeeCeeSW]

The same thing happened with Race Rock. Also a very I-4 visable location.

Wow, I must be invisible.....

 

[DeeCeeSW]

:0(

 

[DeeCeeSW]

 

[DOOM1001]

The Race Rock thing was also the same situation,they said they got an offer to good to refuse.Supposedly they are making a more upscale restaurant on that location with the buyers the former owners of the former dinner attraction called King Henry's feast,they said it made better financial sense to have a nicer restaurant rather than a burger place.

What someone said about the outlets being the ones who bought the Dixie Stampede location got me thinking that I had read maybe less than a month ago that they were planning on an expansion,I probably thought about where they were going to expand for a few seconds but now it makes a lot of sense.I'm going to try and find where I read that.I hope Dixie Stampede finds another place to open up.

 

[DOOM1001]

Found it!! Scroll down and you'll see them have an projected opening date of Nov.2008

http://www.simon.com/about_simon/development/redevelopment.aspx

I looked at the area around the outlets on Local Live to see if there was any other area that they could be expanding and while there is some empty spaces none are pretty much next to the original outlet like the DS site.I give the probability that the outlets bought out DS at 90%.