Barbie leads charge as Arizona makes play as destination
Glendale, Arizona, has been enjoying the national spotlight as the host of the NCAA Division I men’s basketball Final Four this week. But the Phoenix suburb aspires to become a destination for more than just sports teams and their fans. And it is counting upon a theme park to help.
Located just south of State Farm Stadium, which hosted the Final Four, is VAI Resort, a new entertainment destination under construction that will include a Mattel-themed indoor park that is scheduled to open this year. VAI Resort also features an innovative amphitheater built up against a hotel tower, allowing hotel guests to watch a concert from their rooms.
VAI Resort and the new Mattel Adventure Park will be the latest additions to a growing list of attractions in Glendale, where Camelback Ranch has been the Dodgers’ spring training home since 2009. State Farm Stadium is the home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals in addition to this year’s Final Four, plus has hosted two Super Bowls and the kickoff of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. North of the stadium lies the Westgate Entertainment District, which is home to Desert Diamond Arena, the former home of the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes.
That’s a fascinating story, as the city basically decided its arena was better off financially without the NHL team, which is now playing in a tiny college arena in Tempe. Since the breakup, Desert Diamond Arena has booked a variety of concerts and other shows, with an arena football team soon to move in. The arena’s naming sponsor, Desert Diamond Casinos, also operates a casino in Glendale, adding to the city’s attraction lineup.
But with a new theme park and its surrounding resort, local officials are hoping to draw even more new tourists to the city. Last month, I got to walk the VAI Resort construction site and see what developers have planned.
In addition to the amphitheater, VAI Resort will offer 1,100 rooms, convention facilities, shopping, a 1-mile white-sand beach and pool, a 130-foot-tall rotating sky bar and a tethered hot air balloon ride. Mattel Adventure Park will offer two Hot Wheels-themed roller coasters, a Thomas the Tank Engine land and a “Masters of the Universe”themed laser tag arena, among other attractions. The park’s biggest draw, however, is likely to come from what might be the hottest entertainment property in the world over the past year — Barbie.
The new park will include a Barbie Beach House attraction that has been announced to include a rooftop bar, Barbiethemed Flying Theater ride and a Barbie Dream Closet experience.
Other U.S. cities offer sports stadiums, concert halls and the sundry attractions Glendale now has, including a Tiger Woods miniature golf attraction and a pickleball-themed bar and restaurant concept. Theme parks can take a destination to a new level of popularity, however, especially when they are based on franchises as popular as Mattel’s, led by Barbie.
Only when the Mattel Adventure Park opens will we see if its attractions can challenge established industry leaders such as Disneyland and Legoland to lure potential visitors from Southern California. As a fan, though, I love seeing more communities and companies step up to compete for our business.