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Child Item

Theme park for Bunratty.

source

US investors want to finance Disney-style theme park for west

By Gordon Deegan

Wednesday March 21 2012

A DISNEY-STYLE adventure park for the west of Ireland is one of the options being considered by US investors.

Yesterday, Shannon Development's chief executive insisted he is confident there will be interest in developing a multi-million euro park adjacent to Bunratty Castle and Folk Park.

Dr Vincent Cunnane recently returned from the US where he met prospective parties on developing the Co Clare theme park.

He said that on the trip "we were getting a good bit of traction and we are hopeful that something very significant will happen at Bunratty".

Dr Cunnane said: "I'm confident that we will receive several expressions of interest."

Some options put forward to potential investors include:

- A family-themed adventure park

- A diaspora visitor centre and genealogy centre

- An outdoor adventure centre

Dr Cunnane said the development of the themed park on a 120-acre land bank at Bunratty "represents a unique opportunity beside an existing tourism attraction visited by 400,000 people per annum, adjacent to Shannon airport and two hours by motorway from Dublin".

The regional development agency said the new attraction would complement Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, which is less than a third in size of the proposed new tourist attraction.

Impressed

Shannon Development had placed an end of March deadline for expressions of interest, but this has been extended to the end of May, because additional time was required due to the nature of the project.

In its tender documentation, Shannon Development states that there exists gaps in the market for a themed adventure park aimed at the family market.

Dr Cunnane said: "We are asked 'how can you go to the market at this time?' but I would say that it is probably the best time to go.

"Whilst the money may not be in Ireland, there is money elsewhere and the best value can be had at this point in time."

Dr Cunnane said that prospective parties in the US had said that they were impressed that this was a "State-backed opportunity".

Another proposal for the land bank put forward by the agency is an Ireland Through the Ages History and Cultural Centre incorporating a diaspora visitor centre and genealogy centre.

The agency has undertaken research on the issue and it has indicated that that there may be an opportunity to develop a "one-stop-shop" for visitors to learn as much as possible about Ireland's history and culture in one location.

A third approach for the land-bank are innovative proposals relating to activity, outdoor adventure and soft-adventure tourism.

- Gordon Deegan

More wishful thinking or is this thing actually starting to catch on?

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Mc Love

I hope they go for the adventure park option! Ireland really needs a proper theme park!

Gurgle

Uh-huh.
This one pops up every 5 years or so, last time it was the biggest indoor water park in europe, to be built near Balbriggan IIRC.

I'll believe it when I see it.
-edit- Drogheda actually
-edit- Here's another

bazz26

April 1st is approaching.

Judgement Day

Slow news day. What's wrong with the existing folk park?

bazz26

If tourists want to see Mickey Mouse then a tour of City Hall is recommended.

Clareman

Bunratty is in Clare

Itsdacraic

Clareman wrote: »

Bunratty is in Clare

For now........

source

Clareman wrote: »

Bunratty is in Clare

Yeah, but a proper theme park in that location would have a huge economic impact on Limerick, it being the closest city to Bunratty.

Clareman

It's have a huge impact on everywhere, not only Limerick but all the other areas around it, it would be a great thing for the region/country.

Shapey Fiend

Sounds a bit risky for whoever's investing. Maybe it'll work but are there enough people flying into Shannon to convince? Disneyland Paris is a draw but then they've one of the largest brands in the world behind them, and even that struggled the first few years it was open. I don't know that something in Bunratty would be enough to draw people from abroad to visit.

source

Shapey Fiend wrote: »

Sounds a bit risky for whoever's investing. Maybe it'll work but are there enough people flying into Shannon to convince? Disneyland Paris is a draw but then they've one of the largest brands in the world behind them, and even that struggled the first few years it was open. I don't know that something in Bunratty would be enough to draw people from abroad to visit.

What you'll find is, if there's something like this theme park in the area, the airlines will be willing to have more flights into Shannon. As there will be more people wanting to travel into the area.........That is of course presuming the park would be of world class design, and not the usual half ar5ed job that's the hallmark of these types of projects in Ireland.

One major issue, is the whole chicken and egg argument that comes up when projects like this are put forward. For example; should the project be shelved when the local infrastructure is underutilised/ not up to scratch, or should the project be pushed forward in an effort to help the general area with the result that the local infrastructure will benefit from the higher investment in the area.

CptSternn

Does anyone really think they are going to build a theme park in a place where it rains 75% or more of the year?

How much money would they have to take in during the 3-6 weeks of good weather? By good I mean kinda dry and slightly overcast?

Who wants to stand in the rain for an hour waiting in a queue? With their jacket on? Then get on a wet seat and freeze to death as yer whipped around on a thrill ride in the rain?

Whoever these investors are they obviously haven't thought this one through, unless they plan on investing in a big roof to cover the entire park.

Shapey Fiend

The question I have is do people fly into the UK to go to Alton Towers, Thorpe Park and Chesington World of Adventure? The fact I had to do a google search to remember the names of two of those goes to show building up awareness of these places internationally can be tricky.

If the casino in Tipp was still on the cards I'd be more enthusiastic about this. That said maybe since there are 5 or 6 of these places in the UK it's about time Ireland had something on a larger scale than Funderland.

Explosions in the Sky

Hope it goes ahead, it's a great place already but I heard and American call it an "overpriced Theme park without any rides"

This would be awesome

cynder

Hope it's better than tayto park. Always wanted an Alton towers or Thorpe park style theme park in Ireland.

Took my daughter to Alton towers for her birthday flew Shannon to Birmingham but now those flights are gone.
Planning on doing a ferry trip to the UK later in the year and yep going back to Alton towers.

nineoutof10

There's still flights, Shannon to Birmingham, via Aer Lingus however, but back to the theme park. It's meant to be Angry Birds themed,

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/angry-birds-aim-for-happy-people-with-theme-parks-plan-187959.html

It'll be interesting if it does come true but as a Shannon resident I would love to see anything that brings more business to this region. That airport is depressing these days!

Doe Tiden

I know this a bit of a resurrection of a thread but anyone know what ever happened with this?

TheWonderLlama

Nothing, as usual.

If they want to see what can be done on a historical theme park, they could do worse than go here:

https://www.puydufou.com/en

Went with teh family a couple of years ago and it was fantastic. Really well put together and well-organised.

Shapey Fiend

I went to Tayto Park for the first time last year and I must say I was quite impressed. It lacks the imagineer walk around spectacle of a Disney park, but the actual rides are really good. The tickets and food prices are also very reasonable.

fryup

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117821294#Comment_117821294

more importantly what's the roller coaster like?

Shapey Fiend

I'd a 6 year old with me couldn't convince him to go on the wooden coaster unfortunately. Viking Voyage (their Splash Mountain equivalent) has a good edge to it though throws you down steep stuff backwards and such. They've two new steel coasters going up at the moment so should be more on offer for teens/adults soon.