Create State Fair?

[MiamiDRGuy]

If I had $250M at least, I would love to create a brand new state fairgrounds then start built up a year around fair that will have concert building, 4H facility, race track and few buildings.

I can easy buy 30-40 used fair equipment rides and at least 50 food booth trailers then set it up. I would also build 10k parking lot with a bus stop where OSMA can come to the property and it will have taxi/uber area also.

Therefore, I would need to build a small substation for electric so it can hook it to it and I will have to install at least 1,000 solar panel farm next to it so it will help to offset the electric usage.

After all the development, where will you suggest to build this located? Out of SD? its hard because I cant find a nice flat large land to built.

What would be the admission it should be charged? I dont want to setup for failure because many other tried with crazy prices, they end up shut the doors.

Lastly, the hours would be 10am to 11pm then 1am on weekends and 9pm on sundays and closed on holidays.

 

[Peterj]

... while you're at it, buy yourself a farmacia to provide enough medication for the additional headaches...

 

[JD Jones]

If I had $250M at least, I would love to create a brand new state fairgrounds then start built up a year around fair that will have concert building, 4H facility, race track and few buildings.

I can easy buy 30-40 used fair equipment rides and at least 50 food booth trailers then set it up. I would also build 10k parking lot with a bus stop where OSMA can come to the property and it will have taxi/uber area also.

Therefore, I would need to build a small substation for electric so it can hook it to it and I will have to install at least 1,000 solar panel farm next to it so it will help to offset the electric usage.

After all the development, where will you suggest to build this located? Out of SD? its hard because I cant find a nice flat large land to built.

What would be the admission it should be charged? I dont want to setup for failure because many other tried with crazy prices, they end up shut the doors.

Lastly, the hours would be 10am to 11pm then 1am on weekends and 9pm on sundays and closed on holidays.

Hit the nail on the head with where and the cost is the big one here.

I've always thought a place for swap meets would do well here. Well organized, controlled size, ample parking.

There are some really big swap meet places in the states.

 

[Gadfly]

But we got pulgas. Pulgas !

 

[JD Jones]

But we got pulgas. Pulgas !

Poorly designed Flea markets. "Here's a big area, you can sell your stuff there"

 

[NanSanPedro]

But we got pulgas. Pulgas !

Never been to one. Sounds interesting.

 

[JD Jones]

Never been to one. Sounds interesting.

The informal format rules, which is probably why nobody has been successful at setting un a formal one.

The Big Mechanical Cities were tried for a few years, but they clearly are not big moneymakers or they'd still be coming around every year.

I'm guessing the high prices and the advent of personal communication devices may have shot those down.

 

[AlterEgo]

Poorly designed Flea markets. "Here's a big area, you can sell your stuff there"

Oh, Sunday mornings driving the malecon near Luperon…… is that still going on? We don’t make that trip Sundays since my mother-in-law died.

 

[JD Jones]

Oh, Sunday mornings driving the malecon near Luperon…… is that still going on? We don’t make that trip Sundays since my mother-in-law died.

Nope. Long gone. It's been moved out next to the new market on Autopista Duarte.

 

[CristoRey]

PM me when you have 250M to burn and we'll talk, lol.

 

[M4kintosh]

If I had $250M at least, I would love to create a brand new state fairgrounds then start built up a year around fair that will have concert building, 4H facility, race track and few buildings.

I can easy buy 30-40 used fair equipment rides and at least 50 food booth trailers then set it up. I would also build 10k parking lot with a bus stop where OSMA can come to the property and it will have taxi/uber area also.

Therefore, I would need to build a small substation for electric so it can hook it to it and I will have to install at least 1,000 solar panel farm next to it so it will help to offset the electric usage.

After all the development, where will you suggest to build this located? Out of SD? its hard because I cant find a nice flat large land to built.

What would be the admission it should be charged? I dont want to setup for failure because many other tried with crazy prices, they end up shut the doors.

Lastly, the hours would be 10am to 11pm then 1am on weekends and 9pm on sundays and closed on holidays.

Do a bit of homework:

The Ferias Mecanicas used to work during holidays and now they've been replaced by the "Villas Navidad" private/state O&O partnerships. Check what has been done over the last 5 years in cities like SDQ, STI, POP or San Francisco.

 

[NALs]

If Guatemala can have a permanent amusement park, why can’t the DR? No one is asking for another Walt Disney World. That one doesn’t depends on tourists for its survival. In case no one noticed, Guatemala is poorer than the DR and doesn’t have the tourism to the degree the DR does. I don’t even see a need for inventing a whole new park for scratch, just dopy the Guatemalan one. Most Dominicans that will visit the Dominican one will never viait the Guatemalan one and vice versa. The Dominican version can differentiate from the Guatemalan version by using many palm trees as part of its scenery. Since the focus will be Dominicans, the prices must be in “Dominican levels” and not “Gringo prices.”

 

[Peterj]

If Guatemala can have a permanent amusement park, why can’t the DR? No one is asking for another Walt Disney World. That one doesn’t depends on tourists for its survival. In case no one noticed, Guatemala is poorer than the DR and doesn’t have the tourism to the degree the DR does. I don’t even see a need for inventing a whole new park for scratch, just dopy the Guatemalan one. Most Dominicans that will visit the Dominican one will never viait the Guatemalan one and vice versa. The Dominican version can differentiate from the Guatemalan version by using many palm trees as part of its scenery. Since the focus will be Dominicans, the prices must be in “Dominican levels” and not “Gringo prices.”
IMO the main problem is maintenance and personnel.

I visited twice Plaza Juan Baron at the Malecon where they have some fairground attractions, some of the rides have not 100% functionality, lack of maintenance and are operated by persons that are more interested in the female visitors than the safety of the people on their ride.
Some of the rides have ride times of less than 90 seconds!
Then there is the payment; you are supposed to buy tikets at a central paybox but personell offers you RD$ 50 less if you pay them directly.
A fairground attraction needs a lof of (daily) maintenance by persons that are trained and are serious in what they do.
I absolutely agree that the focus should be at Dominicans and not tourists, tourists don't go to the DR for amusement parks.
Prices should be in the range of RD$ 100-RD$ 150 pp and the local electricity-company should provide the necessary electricty for free. (so no huge diesel generators at side)
Just my 2 cents.

 

[Joseph NY2STI]

Why not have Dominican AND gringo prices...Like the POP teleferico.

 

[NALs]

IMO the main problem is maintenance and personnel.

I visited twice Plaza Juan Baron at the Malecon where they have some fairground attractions, some of the rides have not 100% functionality, lack of maintenance and are operated by persons that are more interested in the female visitors than the safety of the people on their ride.
Some of the rides have ride times of less than 90 seconds!
Then there is the payment; you are supposed to buy tikets at a central paybox but personell offers you RD$ 50 less if you pay them directly.
A fairground attraction needs a lof of (daily) maintenance by persons that are trained and are serious in what they do.
I absolutely agree that the focus should be at Dominicans and not tourists, tourists don't go to the DR for amusement parks.
Prices should be in the range of RD$ 100-RD$ 150 pp and the local electricity-company should provide the necessary electricty for free. (so no huge diesel generators at side)
Just my 2 cents.

Guatemala is seen as more corrupt than the DR and they have the same attitude towards maintenance.

 

[Gadfly]

Used fair equipment rides, DR maintenance attitudes. I’ll pass on the roller coasters.

 

[MiamiDRGuy]

All the comments above are too funny, but honestly I do agree it was an interesting topic to discuss and if I had $250M, I would do it in heartbeat and do it for Dominicans not for tourists so they can have something to do since several projects had failed in the past so....

 

[NALs]

Most of those projects that failed (ie. Katmandu, Los Delfines, etc) were not priced at Dominican levels and that was their demise. Other attempts simply didn’t had great planning. An amusement park though small but well designed like the one in Guatemala has never been tried in the DR.

Guatemala is surprising in many ways. You think since it’s poorer than the DR, it will not support whatever doesn’t exist in the DR. Riiiight…. This might also be doable in the DR too. This isn’t from colonial times, rather created very recently.

 

[NALs]

Wait a minute, Guatemala has 2 amusement parks and the DR has none. Is this a joke? Lol

Mundo Petapa

 

[NALs]

If the private sector isn’t interested in creating one, maybe the government could lead the initiative with one of those public-private cooperations. I don’t know if the parks in Guatemala were crested by the Guatemalan government, the private sector or a combination of the 2, but in the USA there are amusement parks that at the very least are owned (and maybe even built) by the government and not necessarily when the USA was as developed as it is today. Take for example Playland in Rye, NY. That’s owned by the Westchester County government and it was created in the 1920’s!

In the DR things like the large botanical gardens in SD, the zoo, etc were created and are owned by the Dominican government too. If it was left for the private sector to create these places, most likely to this day the DR wouldn’t have one of each.