Report: Developer exits Mattel theme park project in Arizona
Remember the Mattel Adventure Park project?
That's the indoor amusement park that has been under construction in Glendale, Ariz. There are also plans for a second installation in the Kansas City area. But the initial Mattel Adventure Park has missed multiple expected openings since its announcement, and the entire resort project surrounding it has become, well, a topic of conversation in the Phoenix metropolitan area.
Now we have some news about that project. According to local reports, the developer behind the Mattel Adventure Park has exited the project. As a result, the developer of the surrounding VAI Resort has taken over the theme park.
Epic Resort Destinations had been developing the park, which is set to include two Hot Wheels-themed Chance Rides roller coasters as well as a Barbie Beach House with a rooftop bar, Barbie Flying Theater, and Barbie Dream Closet experience. However, now VAI Resorts will own and operate the park when it is complete.
When that is remains the subject of conjecture.
I visited the construction site in early 2024, when Epic insisted that the park would be soft-opened by the end of that year, even as VAI Resorts was estimating that its hotels and concert stage would not be ready until 2025. Now it's 2026, and nothing is open at the site.
The Phoenix-area news report said that Epic remains attached to the proposed Mattel Adventure Park in Bonner Springs. Kan. However, that project faces a deadline next year to start vertical construction and a 2031 deadline to open if it is to receive more than $100 million in government financing. That park initially was announced to open this year.
Further complicating all this, the Kansas City Chiefs are planning to build their new football stadium near the park's Destination KCK development, which might result in design changes.
Personally, I have decided to remove the Mattel Adventure Parks from Theme Park Insider's What's Under Construction page, as I don't want to string along readers by listing a project that has become this uncertain. When we get a definitive opening date, I will return the project to that page.
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Replies (6)
The themed entertainment industry is a tough business, especially with a sagging economy and reduced international tourism to US destinations.
Can something be shovelware and vaporware at the same time?
If you follow the story link, they document a long list of never-finished projects that this specific executive has been associated with over the years.
Yes, it's a tough moment in a tough industry. But that just illustrates the importance of working with the right people on the right concept in the right place.
I'm definitely changing this one from a "when" to an "if" on my future theme park projects radar. Seems they got 1/2 to 3/4 of the way done, then everything froze and there hasn't been any progress in a couple years. I hope it opens as the concept does sound cool, but at this point we're four years behind schedule and counting.
I had assumed this project was already dead.
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I did put park opens as my floor…. Maybe I was optimistic.