The hotel...

[Bud Parsley]

So we all know the on-property hotel is going to be built soon. Silverwood is not keeping this one a secret, or even trying to. RCA even had it in the interview with Nancy that the idea was a person could stay at the hotel and they would keep main street open late for those people who stayed there. Must be to watch garfield movies and eat, I suppose, though I think Main Street would have to add more first.

Anyway, what are your thoughts on the new hotel? Here are some ideas to toss around and discuss:

Is Silverwood big enough to pull this off?
Do you think they could/should keep the hotel open all year or just during the time of year when the park is open?
Where would you think the hotel should be located?
Would you be willing to pay a premium over other hotels in CdA to stay on site - say like $200 or more per night?
Do you think Main Street has enough to keep people entertained during extra hours? If not, what would they need to add?
What would you like to see inside the hotel? Restaurants? Bowling? Mini-Golf? Theater?

[voodoobones]

I think the hotel should be located on the same side as parking. They could add shows that continued into the evening to keep people interested.

The hotel should offer good competitive rates because it is a bit of a drive to the nearest big town. Then later on as things grow and the park gets more popular they could entertain increasing their rates. At first however, keep it affordable.

Main Street would need to be spiced up a bit to keep people interested. Right now it is mostly a meeting place in case you get lost. During the holidays they could host special events that would draw off season crowds such as a Halloween haunt or a Christmas village.

[wolfblood]

The way I see things, the more both parks expand...the Hotel becomes a better idea.

Plain and simple, when it takes more then one day to experience the parks. The more people want to stay overnight, right now I'd say Silverwood is a Two-Day park if you want to go to both BB and the main park. So I'd say both parks can use more expansion to help make the Hotel work better.

If they build the Hotel pretty soon, then I would say keep the rates affordable. But make sure to have little "Hotel Guest" perks like early entry or extra hours into the park.

That and having a resturant or two would be a nice idea as well.
As for other things, a pool would be nice as well. Maybe even a little indoor waterpark if they have it open year round. (Which I kinda doubt.)

Now when the parks start expanding even larger, then it would be ok to raise up to premium rates. (Especially when they start doing special events like Halloween and Christmas.)

[skinnyguy]

I'd stay in a hotel that was on the property just to avoid driving through CdA to get to the park each morning and to go back to the hotel each night - that's always been one of my pet peeves about going to Silverwood. It feels sometimes like there are 500 traffic lights to go through - especially when you hit every single one of them red.

Personally, I think they should put the hotel inside the park near main street, but they would HAVE to add more things to main street before doing that. More stores, more restaurants, etc. There just isn't anything really interesting on main street at all. I usually don't even bother looking at anything when I'm at the park. Contrast that to Disneyland, where I usually enjoy looking around main street or Downtown Disney for an hour or two in the evening before going back to the hotel. Grab some ice cream, look around at the stores, etc.

I know that Disneyland doesn't exactly compare to Silverwood, but my point is that Silverwood's main street really needs some sprucing up before it would be worth leaving open later at night for guests to walk around at.

I think they could pull off having a hotel right now, but they'd only be able to keep it open during the operating season. Until the park grows and expands (especially main street), there'd be little reason to stay there in the winter. But there aren't any (well, may be one) hotels that are right by the park, and that means they wouldn't have to compete with anyone else. Offer a decent rate - maybe a little more than CdA, and it would vastly pay off. Think of how many people would be willing to pay a little extra per night to be right there at the park when it opens in the morning...