New Theme Park in Dallas area

[Euphscott]

No - this is not another one of those Disney building in Texas rumors.

From the Orlando Business Journal:

The park has a $375 million pricetag and is slated for completion in late 2008. Construction is expected to begin in the fourth quarter. Bearfire, based in the Dallas suburb The Colony, has identified several possible sites in the Dallas area for the park and is finalizing negotiations, a spokeswoman said Monday.

The theme park will use snowflex, a new technology developed by Briton Engineering in Great Britain that uses a hydrogenated, multi-layered skiing mat that mimics qualities and conditions like those of mountain snow.

The project manager for the park will be McGillivray Consulting Group of Orlando.

Coolzone Winterplex is raising capital for the project and has reached an agreement with former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, who will assist in finding potential equity investors and will act as an adviser to the company.

Web site: www.winterplex.com


I am intrigued that a concept like this way made it's way out of Orlando. But north Texas is a terrific location for a ski park. It will be interesting to watch this one - and wonder if Disney tries to do a me-too.

 

[Gymbomom]

This is really intresting......
My husband just called me this morning, as he is in real estate development and said a bunch of "different" companies are buying sq. mile tracts of land north of Denton. And, rumor was it that it might be Disney buying it. I wonder if it is this group of people instead?
The group of investors and developers that he knows are usually in "the know" about developments in the Dallas area.

We actually looked on here this morning to see if anything was posted about it.

 

[Linzybrooke]

If I remember correctly this land is a little east of Frisco, Denton being a little west of Frisco... I don't know how I feel about it, but thats because I live in Frisco and don't like traffic!!!!

 

[Euphscott]

My understanding is that some of the design and planning is done by a company employing former Disney Imagineers. That's about as close to a Disney connection as this project can rightfully claim.

Living in Tarrant County, I'd rather the project be a little closer to home, but Frisco or Denton are much closer for a theme park fix than Orlando (Six Flags does not count!) or Anaheim and closer to Colorado for skiing.

 

[njjeppson]

The Coolzone Winterplex is part of a much larger project that will be located in North Dallas... other components will hopefully be announced soon! It won't let me post URLs but the Snowflex website has some images. Or look in the archives of CBS 11 video online for a news report.

_____________
March 27, 2006
Year-round winter sports park planned for Dallas

Thinkwell Design & Production, Baker Leisure Group and McGillivray Consulting Group are among those on board for a winter-themed entertainment venue and sports park planned to open in Dallas in late 2008.

The $375 million Coolzone Winterplex project, which organizers say will be the world's first year-round, indoor-outdoor winter sports theme park, anticipates 1.6 million-2 million visitors per year.

Coolzone Winterplex is in the process of raising capital. The Bearfire Group, formed in late 2004 as the general partner for the project, has enlisted former Congressman Dick Armey to assist in these efforts.

“This is a very exciting and innovative project and will be another economic boost to North Texas,” the former House Majority Leader said in a statement. “And besides, I can’t wait to hit the slopes in Dallas!”

The Winterplex will use Snowflex, a technology developed by Briton Engineering in Great Britain. Snowflex is in use at some Olympic training parks, and in Europe, the public is skiing outdoors year round, organizers said. Snowflex incorporates a hydrogenated, multilayered skiing mat that mimics real packed powder.

Designs call for the Winterplex to resemble an alpine skiing village with hotel accommodations, fine dining and retail. The park’s main attraction will be a 60-acre, 20-story outdoor ski and snowboard mountain complete with chairlifts and a snowboard park with competition halfpipe, toboggan and ski tubing.

The park will also feature two ice rinks, an outdoor ice trail, a winter wonderland for children with snow, an outdoor concert venue, rock climbing and rides.

Bearfire Group said it is talking with a “major motion picture studio” to use its intellectual property to theme a portion of the park.

Baker Leisure Group, responsible for such high-profile venues as Coca-Cola’s Olympic City at the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta and Al Shallal, the largest theme park in the Middle East, developed the feasibility study and business plan. It will provide operational consulting and management for the park. McGillivray will serve as project manager for this attraction.

Thinkwell’s projects include the recently announced iPort, part of Harrah’s Entertainment’s bid for the resort-casino project in Singapore. Kirk Design, which worked on Tokyo DisneySea among its many projects, is also involved with Winterplex.

 

[jlcbshaw]

I had a work colleague ask me if I knew anything about Disney buying land in Texas, reportedly between the cities of Bowie and Decatur, which is about 45 mins outside of the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. I work for a major chain department store and this announcement was made in a meeting and of course me being the Disney fanatic, I was the first one asked. So, all of that being said, I guess it is just one more source that can lead to the assumption that this could be a reality. The company I work for wouldn't be talking about it unless they figured there is a real potential for it to be true.

 

[Cool State]

This blog has alot of info on the new theme park planned for Dallas, Texas

Disney will not let me post a url but search for forum.dallasmetropolis