The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Financial decision · 2007
Wild West World spent $30M to open a Kansas theme park — it lasted two months
Kansas' first theme park opened in May 2007 and filed for Chapter 11 in July 2007, $24M in debt, after a washout spring and a business model that never held up.
Wild West World LLC · Etheredge Entertainment LLC · 2007-07
What happened
Wild West World opened on 5 May 2007 in Park City, Kansas, near Wichita, billed as the state's first theme park. Developer Thomas Etheredge and his companies spent about $30 million on the 130-acre site, dressing up off-the-shelf carnival rides in a western facade and projecting roughly half a million visitors in the first year.
The opening weeks were a washout. The media debut was rainy and the region was hit by storms; the park blamed 50 days of rain, storms and overcast skies between May and July for the empty car parks, and attendance never came close to the estimate. On 9 July 2007, barely two months after the grand opening, the park closed and Wild West World, LLC filed for Chapter 11 with about $24 million in debt — $14.96 million secured, $8.16 million unsecured, and about $801,000 in unpaid taxes.
Theme-park experts blamed the $30 million failure less on the weather and more on the concept: a thin business plan and cheap, repackaged carnival rides could not carry a park. The founders were forced to sell their other venue, the Prairie Rose Chuck Wagon. Etheredge was later charged with securities fraud over how the project was financed, and in 2010 was convicted on seven counts and sentenced to five years in prison.
Why it happened
- The park was a dressed-up version of cheap carnival rides, not a destination: guests could see everything in a couple of hours, so there was no reason to pay for the drive and the admission.
- The whole business was built on borrowed money and a first-year attendance projection — when the rain emptied the car park, there was no revenue cushion, only $24M of debt.
- Financing and construction were mixed with investor money in ways that eventually landed the owner in prison, so the failure was not just business but fraud.
The lesson
Wild West World wasn't killed by the rain but by being a small park with big expectations: a theme park lives on repeat visits, and when the whole visit fits in an afternoon, the weather decides it.
Aftermath
The park sat unsold; its rides, fixtures and equipment were auctioned, and in November 2010 the remaining buildings and landscaping were auctioned so the site could be bulldozed. Owner Thomas Etheredge was convicted of securities fraud over the park's financing and sentenced to five years in prison.
Sources
- Wikipedia — Wild West World (opened 5 May 2007 in Park City, Kansas, billed as the state's first theme park; about $30 million spent; Chapter 11 filed 9 July 2007 with ~$24 million debts — $14.96 million secured, $8.16 million unsecured, about $801,000 in unpaid taxes; blamed 50 days of rain, storms and overcast skies between May and July; projected ~500,000 first-year visitors; Etheredge convicted of securities fraud in 2010, sentenced to five years in prison; site auctioned and bulldozed in November 2010)
- Ultimate Rollercoaster, 2007 — Wild West World closes, files bankruptcy (park closed 9 July 2007 after barely two months; about $30 million in cost; Chapter 11 filing with about $24 million in debt; construction costs ran higher than expected; the operation was financed in part by selling fractional interests in the theme park to investors)
- The Wichita Eagle, 2010 — Etheredge convicted of defrauding investors in Wild West World project (a Sedgwick County jury convicted Thomas Etheredge of misleading investors who put money into the Wild West World theme park; the project, which opened in May 2007 near Wichita, closed two months later and the developer filed for bankruptcy)
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