r/Utah • u/sstrawberrie • 16h ago
News Best-selling Utah author Brandon Sanderson purchasing Evermore, but it won't remain a theme park
https://www.abc4.com/news/wasatch-front/brandon-sanderson-purchasing-evermore/141
u/poopinion 15h ago
Evermore was the most delusional idea I've ever heard as a business that actually got funding and built. The amount of customers they would need on a daily basis to justify the cost and keep the doors open was outrageous. For 99.9% of the population it was an interesting thing to do once and never think about again. Maybe. maybe, MAYBE if it was near disney and you could count on a consistent stream of tourists. But no in PG.
54
u/Unboxious 14h ago
The amount of customers they would need on a daily basis to justify the cost and keep the doors open was outrageous
Not only that, but a business model where staff interactions are one of the primary attractions fundamentally doesn't scale. I don't understand how they ever planned to make money.
43
u/poopinion 14h ago
I guess they were planning on 50,000 regulars paying to do cosplay after work every single day for the rest of forever. A bold strategy.
18
u/Kerensky97 14h ago
Well there is always a wealth of fresh highschool drama kids to tap into, but you can't keep them long term when they leave for college, and the turnover wrecked havoc with the Evermore storylines.
Not to mention how poorly treated and paid the acting staff was.
6
u/Unboxious 13h ago
Yeah but if you need to hire tons more staff every time you get more customers you just wiped out any profits you may have had!
29
u/Kerensky97 14h ago
If nobody has seen Jenny Nicholson's breakdown of the Evermore history I highly reccomend it.
2
15
u/lesbox01 11h ago
The place was full every time I went, the problem was poor structuring. They needed a cheap open walk policy for like mon-thur with food to buy and like structured walks with limited people, a tourney of kings style dinner (not the tourney but the shoe aspect) and an actual bar for a premium fri-sun I would have paid 100 a person to have a 1 hour show with meal and a 1 hour walk through for that night, or 20 a person to wander around. They kinda missed both.
4
u/AngloWaxson 10h ago
I agree with everything you said. It should of just been a restaurant. The food and drinks were honestly amazing. Focus on the restaurant everything else is needless overhead. Me and the wife still talk about the crab stuffed bacon wrapped shrimp. The mashed potatoes were the best i ever had. Never once took me or the kids anywhere other than the restaurant
5
u/e37d93eeb23335dc 14h ago
Knowing nothing about it, what was the story with this place?
26
u/Kerensky97 14h ago
An uber rich guy known for making an awesome Halloween haunted house in his garage wanted to make a fantasy theme park. Spent all kinds of money on authentic ruins and statuary from Europe. But no rides or real plan on what to do.
So it became Thanksgiving Point gardens with some actors wandering around in character, and expensive ticket prices.
Lots of dreams that look good on paper without understanding what it really takes to make a successful theme park.
12
u/Unboxious 9h ago
And also buildings that weren't finished because he blew the budget on importing authentic statues from Europe instead of paying his contractors.
1
u/e37d93eeb23335dc 13h ago
What’s Thanksgiving point?
25
u/DeadSeaGulls 13h ago
a long standing non-profit indoor/outdoor farm, garden, museum complex in Lehi at the "point of the mountain' between SL county and Utah county.
I'm answering in case you're brand new to the state... but sorta sounds like you don't live in utah and are oddly choosing to spend your time inquiring about local business failings lol
17
u/e37d93eeb23335dc 12h ago
Actually, I didn't realize this was r/Utah. I guess this post made it to Popular and I've read some of Brandon Sanderson's books, so I came into the post without realizing what sub it was in. I don't live anywhere close to Utah.
4
u/DeadSeaGulls 12h ago
Pretty low vote count for /r/all, but if yer active on any LDS subs, reddit's algo will throw utah based content at ya. might be that.
1
•
u/ArgusBlack21 34m ago
this thread shows up top of google just from googling evermore theme park, anyone who has no clue what evermore was and just follows brandon sanderson will find this thread if they are curious what it was since he is talking about it on his youtube video. So i wouldn't say its oddly choosing to spend your time inquiring about a local business failings for most as it is just trying to figure out what it even was since he was talking about it.
9
u/shosuko 10h ago
ppl wanna downplay it like it was just a bad business model.
The business model was bad, but this was a passion project. I went to a few events there and people, not just investors and the rich guy bankrolling it but all of the character actors in there, and lots of the guests where all very enthusiastic to make it work.
I went 4 times. Twice for Halloween and twice for fantasy events. Each one was very different from the others, they involved maps and quests and such - it was really fun.
One of my fav memories was when 2 character actors where playing pixie bards and we had a whole gaggle of us trapsing about singing songs and playing harmless pranks (actual harmless pranks, the character actors kept us in line but let us be a mischievous band of pixies) it was great.
Thing is, as others have said - it just doesn't scale. So much depends on character actors maintaining the plot, and ticket prices just couldn't cover the pay needed for such intensive work.
If you know what LARPing is and like it, this was basically a dream town. (if you don't know what LARPing is, its basically role playing in live action, so you just say and do what your character would.)
17
u/poopinion 14h ago
Someone built a giant playground, hoping adults would pay $30 a pop to go pretend you are living in a medieval fantasy world staffed by actors and a few fun buildings.
6
u/Westofdanab 13h ago
Throw in some LARP foam swords included with admission and they might have been onto something.
6
u/shosuko 10h ago
They did the foam swords during some events. One I attended they had a knights guild and a queen that ran duels and tournaments. The tournaments were team vs team foam battles.
They had quests too - like the Ranger guild had a thing where they'd have to attach a clothes pin onto any other character actor without them noticing.
Really it was cool, just economical? $30 a pop doesn't cover it.
2
u/Westofdanab 10h ago
That makes sense. Still, it’s an interesting design challenge. There must be some version of the concept that would work at a smaller scale.
4
1
u/TheDruidsKeeper 6h ago
Ken (the founder) built it as a passion project. He started trying to build it earlier, but couldn't get proper funding - so the team he had put together pivoted and created The VOID (VR experiences). Once that took off he was able to get the momentum for Evermore, but it wasn't a great business. He also created The Grid right next door, fun go cart racing.
1
u/laughs_maniacally 5h ago
I think it could have worked with a better business model & practices.
I went once and it was impossible to know where to be, when to be there, and what to be doing. The signs for shows all had the wrong times, and actors would tell us about mini events and we'd show up early only to find out they were already over or in completely different locations, etc. It also just wasn't very accessible to younger kids which felt like a wild choice for that kind of park in Utah.
We left thinking a second visit would be way more fun, but very frustrated that our first was so expensive and wasted figuring out how it worked worked.
28
u/Candymom 15h ago
Man, I wish the Evermore people had actually been able to bring it to fruition. It’s so sad to see the shitty state it’s in all the time, I’m glad he bought it.
2
u/AtlasMundi 7h ago
They just had a very backwards experience to what the general public wanted to do there and what they wanted to do there. I went to their offices many times in the early days and every time I was left thinking “holy crap this is not going to last” and “truly, what are they thinking?”
32
u/theclumsyninja 15h ago
Maybe he can reopen the restaurant that was attached to it. Place was pretty cool.
But I can only imagine the horde of superfans who will come to get married if Sando builds a Cosmere themed event center.
6
u/Kerensky97 14h ago
It specifically states that they can't, it's deteriorated too much.
1
u/theclumsyninja 14h ago
Yeah, the park itself deteriorated too much. The sets and decorations were left exposed to the elements. The restaurant (Vander's Keep) is prob still in very good condition.
7
u/RebelKeithy 14h ago
In his update video he talks about trying to use Vander's Keep, but even that was too degraded to make work.
2
u/theclumsyninja 13h ago
Yeah, I just got to that part in the video. Can't keep the existing structure, but maybe he could build a new one. Idk. We'll see.
29
u/SomeGuySittingDown 15h ago
Please create a fantasy style Inn and pub where we can come together, hang out, have an ale (responsbily and if you're into that kind of thing), and have some themed evening interaction. Bring Friday Night Magic back, Brandon!
15
2
2
u/chillin1066 12h ago
They have something like that in the Provo Mall called “We Geek Together”. It’s set up like a combo shop/tavern. I think you can’t get actual alcohol, just fancier sodas, but it is a fun atmosphere.
I heard they either had or were expanding to other locations, but the Provo Mall would still be my closest location anyways.
6
u/Majestic-capybara 14h ago
I’m sure the Mormon will totally open a bar.
4
3
6
2
2
2
u/AfterSpencer 5h ago
Alcohol was available at The Worldhopper Ball at last year's Nexus.
Perhaps not a bar, bar, but I could see a themed restaurant with beer and cocktails.
1
11
u/PhoenixBee32 14h ago
I went to Evermore maybe three times total. I’m not into cosplaying or live-action roleplaying or any of that, but I do love themed spaces. Their Halloween events were actually fun and worthwhile, but the idea was never going to work. And it felt very half-cooked as is. Still sad to see something unique go away, even if it never reached a sliver of its potential.
4
u/King_Folly Utahn in Hawai'i 12h ago
I guess it's going on the list of places that live on in our memories - maybe even more fondly than when they still existed - like The Mayan restaurant and the 49th Street Galleria.
5
u/whydoyouneedanamenow 14h ago
While I’m sad to see evermore gone for good. I am happy that it will live on in some form going forward and won’t be turned into more condos.
2
u/Kerensky97 14h ago
It says it's being turned bulldozed into offices and a warehouse. No buildings can be saved.
18
u/BlaineMundane 15h ago edited 15h ago
Whaaat? I had no idea he lived here. I'm like 2 minutes from Evermore.
Edit: I live 8 minutes from him. Wild.
10
12
u/Queezy_0110 16h ago
Sounds like he’s turning it into his office…….
22
u/KaladinarLighteyes 15h ago
Office, book store, and event venue. More details to come at Nexus.
1
1
u/Kerbidiah 13h ago
Considering the amount of fluff he writes into his books he probably needs it
1
u/PaulFThumpkins 11h ago
I like Brandon personally and even like much of his work, but damn if he doesn't seem to have this Ed Wood mentality to his writing. First draft, get in, get out, next scene. Was that clunky? Could it be done better? No time, next scene, next book. Pair him up with a wonderful prose writer who will put more thought into the medium of telling the story, and they'd be unstoppable.
2
u/Kerbidiah 11h ago
The main issue is his old editor retired, and now all his new books just drag on and revisit old paths constantly.
Like his must born series and up to the second stormlight book was fantastic, but after that things started to drag and get derivative
2
u/PaulFThumpkins 11h ago
Yeah I genuinely think he's capable of doing better, but he just gets so much out of the initial writing process and so little out of refinement that he'd rather just keep moving full steam ahead. Especially with his audience rewarding that, why change? Maybe he just has his audience and that's not a problem.
2
1
u/Tired-Nectarine-384 5h ago
I've read some of his books and thought they were odd. So many of my co-workers love his content and eagerly await the next offering. To each their own.
3
u/Downvotesseafood 13h ago
He should surprise everyone and just live there and not open it to the public.
3
u/DizzyIzzy801 7h ago
Although visitors enjoyed the experience, it appeared that Evermore had financial issues for years. They were involved in a lawsuit with Taylor Swift over her album “Evermore.” The park had started GoFundMe campaigns and taken out loans to keep the park afloat even before the lawsuit.
Brandon Fugal, the landowner, said that the park eventually defaulted and had to close at the end of 2023.
Hahaha! Wait. This story is going to get even more Utah, any second now. We need a billboard, a pyramid with a whale on top, and ....
0
2
u/Soft-Sherbert-2586 14h ago
Oh, he actually did it? I heard he was planning a project out there a few years ago, back when I was still active on the fan sites.
2
u/strongholdbk_78 5h ago
I went probably 6 - 8 times. It was a great place to take out of state friends and relatives, fun around events. It was really awesome when it opened and kinda just slowly died.
There was enough passion to keep the place going but the staff were treated poorly and it killed their spirits, ultimately killing the vibe and ruining what made it great in the first place.
3
3
u/Twitch791 13h ago
How are building that opened in 2018 so degraded they are unsafe to enter less than a decade later?
1
u/solrossac 13h ago
Wasn't this area planned for his museum/ office that he already announced? Or was that planned elsewhere?
3
u/ramskick 10h ago
That's going to be in the space he bought initially, which is right next to where Evermore is now.
1
1
u/WombatAnnihilator 5h ago
I really liked evermore the two times i went. I guess the moral of the story is, you know, Maybe… put money in your park and don’t try to sue Taylor Swift?
-4
u/Melon_Lord1311 15h ago
Oof. I'm not stoked for this, and I'm saying this as a Brando Sando fan. I've got this feeling it's not going to go well.
Obviously this is coming from an armchair Redditor so maybe he's got a great plan for it. But I hope he just keeps writing his books!
13
u/Triasmus 15h ago edited 13h ago
Bookstore, consolidated offices (it seems like Dragonsteel is working out of two or three locations right now), their own warehouse instead of a rental, event space.
There's no reason for it to go poorly as long as the event space is used throughout the year to generate income
instead of only being used for Nexis(edit: it's event space, not convention space).4
u/Melon_Lord1311 14h ago
alright that makes sense. I probs should have read the article before commenting. glad hes got a plan for it
3
-4
-6
133
u/grumpy_snack 16h ago
Disappointing that Evermore is gone forever, but I am curious what Brando Sando will do with the space