As we continue the process of cleaning out the links, today’s three-theme brings together articles related to current and former theme parks, although the term is used loosely:
- Ensuring the Votes. If you want politics to go way, the easiest way to do it is stack the votes. Disney did this with how they engineered the governance of the land that makes up the Walt Disney World resort. They designed the city and improvement district structures specifically to speed what they wanted to do, and provide the hand-picked residents with special perks to keep them voting Disney’s way. Sometimes, of course, such attempt backfires …. such as in Columbia MO, where they thought they had engineered an improvement district to have no residents… but it turns out they forgot one. Lastly, sometimes these attempts just lead to rampant corruption (as in the City of Industry). You’re probably thinking Disney could never get away with this in California; however, just look at how they got out of paying gate taxes in exchange for a promise to expand the park.
- For The Birds. Those of us who are old enough and live in the San Fernando Valley remember the days of Busch Gardens. There was recently an article exploring a relic of the Gardens that exists to this day: the bridge over the railroad tracks connected to nothing. It turns out that it once was a pedestrian walkway to a log ride known as the Ya-Hoo Flume, which entered a giant misty aviary with waterfalls and squawking parrots that flew freely. Yes, the parrots still exist as well.
- An Adult Theme Park. Back in May, the adult theme park that is Las Vegas lost an attraction when the Riviera closed down. But it turns out that the Riviera is living on in many ways. … from the people to the neon to the Crazy Girls to all the stuff that once existed in the hotel.
