Is A Beer-Themed Amusement Park Really Coming To Napa?
The Napa Valley region of California is well-known around the world for its many great wineries, but why stop at wine when you can draw in tourists with a beer-themed amusement park as well? That's the plan that was recently announced by the Colorado based New Belgium Brewing Company when they showed off a graphic illustration of their proposed 136-acre Voodoo Ranger IPA Action Park. The initial plans include a beer-powered Xtreme Brew Flume ride, a 130,000 gallon wave pool of the brand's Hazy IPA beer, a roller coaster made out of reclaimed beer barrels, and a concert stage, not to mention what appears to be a massive beer fountain in the center of it all.
Strangely enough, this actually wouldn't be the world's first beer-themed amusement park. Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida began as a hospitality center for Anheuser-Busch's nearby brewery (via BGWFans). There's also Kuchlbauers Bierwelt, with a Bavarian beer theme, located north of Munich in Germany. So, is Napa Valley going to be the home of the next amusement park, this one with an IPA-inspired motif?
Voodoo Ranger hasn't taken any official steps to launch their park
The Voodoo Ranger media team seems to be making a strong case for their action park, but, according to Food & Wine, it seems unlikely that it will actually come to fruition. Per the report, there have been no official permit applications for the project submitted by New Belgium Brewing or their Voodoo Ranger brand. KTVU also notes that it seems highly unlikely that a beer-themed amusement park would be a sustainable project in such a drought-stricken region.
Despite this, local residents have been taking the proposal very seriously. The Not in Napa website and Facebook page were quickly launched by enraged protestors who assembled downtown with chants of "Voo-don't." Voodoo Ranger also created a video that was allegedly filmed at a Napa Valley Community Meeting in which residents voiced their distaste for the plans. Voodoo Ranger appears to be using the video to stir up support for the park, tweeting "The buzzkills of Whine Country want to stop our IPA Action Park. Help us make it happen. Like and share to save the park."
It seems that there are just as many residents of the region that are ready to write the park off as a promotional campaign. A recent Reddit thread in the r/napa subreddit is full of folks who are intrigued, but they're far from convinced and they aren't buying Voodoo Ranger's messaging.