Wild West World Craps Out

[Made in the USA]

Wild West World in Wichita filed for bankruptcy this morning after only being open for two months. The owners blame the weather of the last 60 days for its failure. Gee, might be a good spot for a casino and a new arena!

[Detector]

Have you seen that guy on TV doing the Dell adds for Wild West World? Ya, my guess is it a DANDY of a place. The guy looks and acts like a gay Howdy Doody.

[notyoubob]

Originally Posted by Detector

Have you seen that guy on TV doing the Dell adds for Wild West World? Ya, my guess is it a DANDY of a place. The guy looks and acts like a gay Howdy Doody.

Maybe he really wanted to be Princess Summerfall Winterspring.

[Qwert]

I grew up in Dodge & now live in Wichita and watch these boards, because I see what Dodge has become. This closure should not be a surprise.

Like many other attempts to bring tourism and money to Kansas, this theme park was done half hearted and with a worn out theme... the old west. There were a lot of things that could have kept this park going. However Mr. Etheridge the owner would not take advice from those who have amusement park experience & they ended up taking jobs at bigger parks about a month ago. This was not covered on TV, but in the Wichita Eagle in June.

I only bring this up, because (knowing this will spark a debate) Dodge City needs to move away from the old west frame of thought. If your city leaders really think the old west is the key to helping bring a workable casino to Dodge, they are wrong. Hollywood has lost it's love affair with westerns. Gunsmoke has not been on TV in years. If you ask most kids what Gunsmoke was, they would not know.

This was one reason why WWW failed. Mr. Etheridge thought that people still care for the old west. If that is the case, then why is Cowtown here in Wichita having a hard time surviving? Likewise, when I drive home and see Front Street, the crowds are not there like they were when I was a gunfighter some 20 years ago.

My apologies if I am rambling, but my point is this. If Dodge City wants tourism, they need to look at one thing they want to focus on and do it right. They need to do the following:

1. Consult casino owners such as Harrah's and Argosy(sp?) in Kansas City who have made it big and find out what they need to do to survive. Maybe even get their names behind them.

2. Focus on bringing those with true money in. You already have illegal's Horse Racing, are you going to allow the illegal's to take over your casino also?

Here is my prediction; Dodge will end up with an Old West Themed casino built in a Morton Building similar to what they have an hour south of Wichita in Newkirk, OK. Although people go there, they do not have the crowds that Harrah's or any other N.E. Kansas Casinos have. And it will end up being a success just like your race track south of town, All 4 Fun, Boot Hill etc.

Originally Posted by Made in the USA

Wild West World in Wichita filed for bankruptcy this morning after only being open for two months. The owners blame the weather of the last 60 days for its failure. Gee, might be a good spot for a casino and a new arena!

[sunny beach]

While I agree with quite a bit of what you said about the western theme not being a big tourist attraction. I don't think you have seen the advances that are being made with the DCRP or All4Fun. DCRP recently hosted the World of Outlaws for 2 nights on a Friday and Saturday, and had the biggest attendance ever in the history of it, and it was also broadcast on ESPN 2 the following Sunday morning at 11:30am. All4Fun has had very good attendance all summer since the City has opened it back up. I have seen it quite full on evenings and weekends.

PS. Welcome to Dodgeboard and thanks for registering and not just posting as an unregistered user.

[Tom11975]

they should of planed on bad weather when u own a park it will rain and that and u wont get the people

[Qwert]

Originally Posted by sunny beach

While I agree with quite a bit of what you said about the western theme not being a big tourist attraction. I don't think you have seen the advances that are being made with the DCRP or All4Fun. DCRP recently hosted the World of Outlaws for 2 nights on a Friday and Saturday, and had the biggest attendance ever in the history of it, and it was also broadcast on ESPN 2 the following Sunday morning at 11:30am. All4Fun has had very good attendance all summer since the City has opened it back up. I have seen it quite full on evenings and weekends.

PS. Welcome to Dodgeboard and thanks for registering and not just posting as an unregistered user.

I will back what you said. I have not seen All4fun as I have not been out for a couple of months, but that is great to hear if they are getting people to come.

Thanks for reminding me, I had forgotten the track was doing the outlaws. I think the Outlaw racing is what Dodge should have focused on to begin with. I remember Saturday nights when I was a kid, Wright Park was the place to be. But originally this track was another example of oh yeah, we will bring lots of $$$ into town, it was not researched, built well etc. and it went back to finally what the people were asking for years ago. Now it is starting to work because it has what the PEOPLE want, not a select few with voices.

[Flying Dutchman]

Western themes work, just not cheesy Howdy Doody western. People still like the western theme (outlaws, rough lawmen, horses, etc..) they just do not like G rated Hop Along Gaycity.

[gunnar1073]

Yeah, I have to disagree Qwert, the theme didn't destroy WWW, its savings account did. You can ask anyone and they will agree that a western themed casino in Dodge City would be a goldmine. Now ask those same people if a western themed amusement park would work in Wichita and I think you would get a different response.

[Detector]

They got it 1/2 right. They did realize the potential for a western theme park but they didn't realize the importance of location. While the Corvette is a heck of a car I'll bet they don't sell well in Alaska and you won't find many dealers there. Just as a revolutionary war park could do well in Jamestown, it wouldn't work in Wichita.

Again I say you can not compare ANY other city to Dodge City when it comes to western theme potential. Dodge City IS the real McCoy. Anything else is just a knock off.

Also, it was Dodge City that made Gunsmoke famous.

I can't remember seeing any advertisements for WWW but the Dell commercial was a very bad marketing goof. First off, a commercial about high-tech computing for a western themed park? Not a good idea. And I don't who that guy is doing the representing of WWW but they couldn't have picked a worse spokesman. I can only assume he is the owner because no marketing agency would be so stupid as to purposely use this guy. When I see that commercial I picture WWW with a merry go round of wagons.

Using a powderpuff cowboy wannabe isn't good marketing I don't care if he is the owner.

Clint Eastwood or Kurt Russell would have been a much better choice.