The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 2018–2024
Evermore Park built a fantasy village with no rides — and no repeat business
DigiCert founder Ken Bretschneider's fantasy park opened in Utah in 2018 and was evicted in 2024 when its model outran its revenue.
Evermore Enterprises, LLC · 2024-04
What happened
Evermore Park opened on 29 September 2018 in Pleasant Grove, Utah: a year-round, immersive fantasy adventure park with no traditional rides, where guests roleplayed with trained actors in a medieval and Victorian-style village. It was the project of Ken Bretschneider, founder of the cybersecurity company DigiCert, who poured money into building a living story-world that critics compared to a fancier renaissance fair.
The model never made money. The park faced financial trouble from the start — contractors had sued by June 2020 over unpaid construction work, actors were laid off in 2021, and buildings were left unfinished. In 2021 the land and buildings were sold to Brandon Fugal, reportedly just to let the operators break even. A daily cast of actors, year-round running costs and a small, niche audience hollowed out revenue, and COVID made a scene built on packed crowds harder still.
On 8 April 2024 the landlord announced the operators had defaulted and been evicted, and the park shut permanently. A plan to sell the property and relaunch it as 'The Realm Town' collapsed in January 2025 amid lawsuits.
Why it happened
- It was a daily-theatre company priced like a theme park: dozens of actors a day and a year-round payroll, yet a visitor who had seen the story once had no reason to return.
- The ambition outran the audience: a niche, word-of-mouth experience in suburban Utah could not fill enough days to cover a permanent cast and a whole village to maintain.
- The money came from a founder's fortune, not from a business that could stand alone — when the founder's funding ran out and COVID cut the crowds, the park had no revenue base to fall back on.
The lesson
Evermore believed people would pay to live in a story, and for an afternoon they would — but a story is a one-time visit. A park with no reason to return and a daily cast is a theatre with a tax bill.
Aftermath
Landlord Brandon Fugal said the tenants had defaulted and been evicted, and began repositioning the 12.75-acre property for a new attraction. A 2024 sale to relaunch the park as 'The Realm Town' was cancelled in January 2025 amid lawsuits.
Sources
- Wikipedia — Evermore Park (opened 29 September 2018 in Pleasant Grove, Utah as an immersive fantasy adventure park with no traditional rides; built by DigiCert founder Ken Bretschneider; contractors sued by June 2020 over unpaid work; actors laid off in 2021; land and buildings sold to Brandon Fugal in 2021, reportedly to break even; tenants defaulted and were evicted, announced 8 April 2024; planned relaunch as 'The Realm Town' cancelled in January 2025 amid lawsuits)
- KSL.com, April 2024 — Evermore Park evicted, property returned to landlord (the immersive theme park in Pleasant Grove was evicted in April 2024 after the operators defaulted; owner Brandon Fugal — who had bought the land and buildings in 2021, partly to let the park break even — said he would reposition the 12.75-acre, 27-structure property for a new attraction; announced on 8 April 2024)
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