US Army theme Park?

Do you agree with a US Army Theme Park?

  • yes

    Votes: 10 37.0%

  • no

    Votes: 8 29.6%

  • maybe

    Votes: 5 18.5%

  • don't care

    Votes: 4 14.8%
  • Total voters
    27
Duty Honor Country

Duty Honor Country

Active member
It seems the Army is considering building a military theme park on or near Ft. Belvoir, VA. I'm not too sure if I agree with this idea. Maybe the Army needs to stick to fighting wars and not theme parks.

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 C'mon kids, let's go to Army World!

FORT BELVOIR, Virginia (AP) -- The Army is considering a proposal to allow a private developer to build a military-themed park that would include Cobra Gunship rides and bars including a "1st Division Lounge."

Military officials said a massive entertainment and hotel complex built next to a national Army museum could draw more than 1 million people a year. But authorities in Fairfax County are objecting because of already traffic-clogged roads surrounding the proposed site.


Universal City Property Management III, of Orlando, Florida, submitted the unsolicited proposal for the theme park last year.


"You can command the latest M-1 tank, feel the rush of a paratrooper freefall, fly a Cobra Gunship or defend your B-17 as a waist gunner," according to the proposal, which was obtained by The Washington Post.


County officials have no authority over the Army's decision because the site is federal property. County Supervisor T. Dana Kauffman said he thought the entertainment concept died last year and said he had no interest in turning a military museum into "Disney on Rolling Road."


But the Army notified the county last week it is planning to move the military museum from Fort Belvoir to a site a few miles away that would be large enough for the entertainment complex.



cnn.com
 
Very interesting since I am at Ft. Belvoir. I can ask around about this one.

Ft. Belvoir is going to grow big time because of BRAC. We are getting somewhere in the neighborhood of thousands of additional soldiers.

Theme park.... HAHAHA.. that would be interesting...


Any ideas for rides from the Forum Members?
 
I'm not sure I agree with the whole concept of the Army running one giant recruting tool, but some of the stuff in the article sounds kinda fun.
 
Army Considers Military Theme Park
Associated Press | August 08, 2006

FORT BELVOIR, Va. - The Army is considering a proposal to allow a private developer to build a military theme park that would include "4D" rides and bars including a "1st Division Lounge," local officials said.


The massive entertainment and hotel complex next to a national Army museum could draw more than 1 million people a year but Fairfax County authorities are objecting because of already traffic-clogged roads surrounding the proposed site.

Universal City Property Management III, of Orlando, Fla., submitted the unsolicited proposal for the theme park last year.

"You can command the latest M-1 tank, feel the rush of a paratrooper freefall, fly a Cobra Gunship or defend your B-17 as a waist gunner," according to the proposal, which was obtained by The Washington Post.
County officials have no authority over the Army's decision because the site is federal property. County Supervisor T. Dana Kauffman said he thought the entertainment concept died last year and said he had no interest in turning a military museum into "Disney on Rolling Road."

But the Army notified the county last week it is planning to move the military museum from Fort Belvoir to a site a few miles away that would be large enough for the entertainment complex.

The Army is studying "a visitor destination concept" for the museum, a spokesman said, but provided no details and would not comment on the Universal City proposal.

http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,109203,00.html
 
To be honest I can't see the Army getting approval to spend government money like that.

For a theme park they would have to be wholly privately funded which would take away the possibility of putting it on a government site.

Maybe we could come up with an all services theme park that could incorporate all aspects of military life. You could pay to enter the park and for the next 9 weeks be trained with the service of your choice. When you finish with those 9 weeks you could be shipped off to the "camp ground" near Baghdad.

It does sound like fun eh?
 
recruiting is not that bad for a volunteer force, but as always during a protracted conflict, the more recruits the better.

Seriously though, what would you do in a theme park based on a military organization? If you can go on go-kart humvees then that would be pretty cool. But aside from theming it as military based, i don't know realisitically what can be done.
 
It looks like the Army has canned the idea. Its for the better in my opinion.

Army shoots down plan for military theme park

McLEAN, Va. (AP) — The Army shot down a developer's proposal Tuesday to build a military theme park on a Virginia Army base that would feature rides that allow visitors to "command the latest M-1 tank" and "feel the rush of a paratrooper freefall."


A Florida developer wanted to erect the theme park at Fort Belvoir, a few miles from the nation's capital, in conjunction with plans for a new National Museum of the United States Army scheduled to be built at the base by 2011.


"That proposal ... was dead on arrival, and will be dead on arrival if resubmitted," said Keith Eastin, the Army's assistant secretary for installations and environment.


Eastin said the Army is willing to consider some type of "visitor destination concept" to go with the museum, but it would have to be done "in a tasteful and appropriate manner."


The proposal drew sharp criticism from local officials who worried not only about the traffic in a region already on the verge of gridlock, but also that a theme park would make a mockery of the Army experience.


"How do you handle war? You don't trivialize it. It's the most serious engagement," said Fairfax County Supervisor Gerald Hyland, a retired Air Force colonel whose district includes most of Fort Belvoir. "I kind of hold my breath that you could do that and have it appeal from an entertainment perspective and at the same time respect the history of the Army."


Orlando-based developer Universal City Property Management, which is unaffiliated with Universal Studios, drew up a 14-page proposal back in 2004 for a museum complex that would "put you in an interactive world where you'll feel firsthand what it's like to defend American freedom." Visitors would be able to "live the greatest battles of all time in a multi-sensory 4-D presentation."


The developer did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday.
In the 1990s, Disney proposed a history-theme amusement park in neighboring Prince William County. That plan also ran into strong opposition from historians and environmentalists, and Disney backed down.



usatoday.com
 
Err....Since I can't join US military....I think US Army theme park would be fun. I like to try the military thing out....eh.
 
WarMachine said:
Seriously though, what would you do in a theme park based on a military organization? If you can go on go-kart humvees then that would be pretty cool. But aside from theming it as military based, i don't know realisitically what can be done.
Click to expand...

Some would say it's a Mickey Mouse Organization already. :)
 
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