A new theme park is quite the undertaking. Just this year, we’ve seen the incredible success of the opening of Epic Universe in Florida and the lawsuit-riddled (apparent) failure of America’s Heartland theme park in Oklahoma. That hasn’t dissuaded those who want to build new parks. Comedian Nate Bargatzee has his sights set on a park of his own, and now a new concept is on its way to Las Vegas.
A new theme park, called RetroEscapes, has been officially announced for the Las Vegas area. While a lot of details about the planned theme park, including its exact location, have yet to be determined, the park’s general concept may be exactly what theme park fans are looking for. Like, exactly.
RetroEscapes Is “The First Ever Nostalgia Park”
According to an Instagram post from park developer Daniel Leo, RetroEscapes will be the “world’s first ever Nostalgia park,” as the different lands of the park will each be dedicated to a different decade, starting with the 1950s and running through the 1990s. The design work is being handled by PGAV Destinations, which includes Epcot’s Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind, as well as projects at Europa Park and SeaWorld Yas Island, among its portfolio.
Specific attractions and concepts have not been announced, and the official reveal is careful to be clear that concept art is not meant to indicate future plans. Much of that is likely because some of the ideas shown would require proper licensing of IPs and likenesses, something that almost certainly hasn't happened yet.
From that art, however, we can at least get a feel for what the people behind RetroEscapes are thinking. It includes a Game Bar that is giving off straight ‘80s arcade vibes, a ‘90s era Grunge-heavy skate park and a '70s Disco, just to name a few of the ideas.
Nostalgia Is A Huge Theme Park Draw
While any new theme park has to fall into the “We’ll believe it when we see it” category, it’s hard not to see the thought process behind the concept, and it makes a lot of sense. Ever since Walt Disney anchored Disneyland with Main Street U.S.A., an area designed to make people feel nostalgic for a time that arguably never really existed as portrayed, nostalgia has been a massive part of theme park design.
By building an entire park around the concept of nostalgia, and with lands that cover decades, the potential market becomes huge. It’s a park that theoretically multiple generations could visit together, with everybody getting something different out of it. As an added benefit, that is almost certainly not accidental, as the youngest generation with a land of their own is still old enough to be adults with money, the thing that makes theme parks function.
Las Vegas is also a solid location for a theme park. It's full of new tourists every day, who might be interested in checking out a unique theme park as part of a longer vacation, so there are always potential guests. Vegas has also become a solid location for themed entertainment thanks to the popular Area 15, which includes the recently opened Universal Horror Unleashed as well as other activities like the impressive John Wick Experience and Meow Wolf's Omega Mart.
A great idea for a park doesn’t necessarily translate to a great park, or even to the park actually being built. There are plenty of reasons we may never see this, but I’ll certainly be following this one to see where it goes. If it does open, you’ll find me in the arcade.
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