“It’s seven years in the making, but Las Vegas is getting a brand new theme park,” announces Daniel Leo Wittenkeller Jr., a minor TikTok influencer (379K followers) who dubbed himself the “CEO of Las Vegas.”
“It’s going to be the first ever nostalgia park,” Wittenkeller, 28, continues in his Sept. 30 video, gesticulating wildly in a fenced off vacant lot with the Las Vegas Strip behind him, suggesting that he has already secured the land on which to build his dream. (He hasn’t.)
Wittenkeller — who is partnering with his real-estate developer father, another individual with no experience planning or running a theme park — promises their theme park will be “the only place on Earth where you can live in America’s most iconic decades just as they were.”
Those decades would be the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. And each is said to feature rides, dining and shows with corresponding themes a la Disneyland. (Speaking of which, a “Tomorrow Zone” is also planned.)
“We’ve all got that itch to escape the now and blast back to when life felt simpler — or at least sounded cooler,” Wittenkeller posted.
Envisioned for 50 off-Strip acres near the Las Vegas Convention Center, RetroEscapes promises to be anchored by a fountain of youth, which will celebrate the icons of the aforementioned decades, including Marilyn Monroe and Michael Jackson, via a nightly fireworks and light show.
The projected budget for all this is estimated at $500–$600 million
Legit Interest?
Wittenkeller Jr. claims to have hired PGAV Destinations, a legit amusement attraction company, to design this fantasyland.
PGAV designed the Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind coaster for Epcot with Walt Disney Imagineering, the Manta thrill ride at SeaWorld Orlando and Cheetah Hunt at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay — as well as the entire Aquatica and Discovery Cove parks in Orlando and SeaWorld Abu Dhabi.
There are renderings — of ’50s car/boat hybrids floating past malt shops and such — but they’re all A.I.-generated.
There are also social media posts. Neither cost any money to produce.
If you’re getting the sense that none of this is ever going to happen, it’s because All Net Arena has more of a chance of still happening.
As of October 15, no land for RetroEscapes has been purchased, no building permits have been filed, no environmental studies have been conducted and, most importantly, no funding has been disclosed.
To our knowledge, no project that ever ended up happening in the history of Las Vegas has ever turned to the public to drum up support before securing a single one of these things.
The Wittenkellers haven’t even lined up the designer they said they did.
When Casino.org contacted PGAV, a spokesperson for the St. Louis-based company told us it has “engaged in conversations” with the Wittenkellers but has yet to ink a contract, though they “look forward to the opportunity to collaborate as the project develops.”
“We’re pleased to see the excitement surrounding RetroEscapes and appreciate the recent media coverage the project has received,” the spokesperson also said.
That’s a reference to Attractions Magazine, a legitimate quarterly magazine and website that dedicated this October 7 news story to RetroEscapes, in which Wittenkeller Jr.’s plans were presented without editorial scrutiny.
Tellingly, though, the magazine’s tagline for the piece read as follows, and we strongly advise all of you to take the same advice…
“We do not endorse every attraction we write about. Even with the best of intentions, many announced projects end up not happening. Be sure to check the return policy and the legitimacy of the organizers before giving them any financial information.”
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