I feel like the evermore park decision makers (ceo and whoever else) would have really benefitted from like.... sitting down and having a long chat with ren faire companies.
If you've been around ren faire long enough, you'll know this is 100% par for the course. Every issue they've had is standard ren faire drama. Most faires don't survive 5 years. The ren faire circuit is littered with the corpses of dozens of faires that died just like this one. The big profitable ones are ruled by tight fisted capitalists that would put scrooge to shame.
To be fair, it does absolutely destroy their SEO. Especially with Google being as terrible as it is. Search "Evermore" and you'll get 30,000 shitty articles about Taylor Swift that no one should actually read I don't believe in copyright at all and think it should be abolished though.
I'm only four minutes in and this is already so wild. Shutting down a forum to prevent rumors is such a 2000s message board move. "Maybe people won't notice our park is shutting down if we don't let them talk about it."
they wanted the park to be haunted so they spent tens of thousands on real gravestones. when they first started building the park ken was throwing money around like it had no value, and then he got surprised pikachu when it was all gone
I'm the guy re-creating it in Planet Coaster. I guess it means a lot more now. Thanks for letting me use your videos as reference and on our Twitch stream! Sad I just started getting interested in it as it was in it's last few months of existing.
I started recreating Evermore in Disney Infinity last summer. I haven't gotten very far with it, and frankly, not sure about whether or not I'll complete it now. Perhaps I'll wait and see what becomes of the park and work on that later...
I don't think anyone has to LET YOU use their videos for reference lol. Just a weird way to phrase that Very cool and helpful to have documented it all in videos though!
@@Xvladin your thought process is the interesting thing here honestly, lots of schools just use their gym for the prom. do you think the prom goers are forced to play basketball in those cases?
@viiviviviiv Yeah, but is there a basketball game going on during the prom? That's my sort of my metaphor lol Just as a venue, it would be great, no doubt. But, assuming there's LARP stuff going on at the Evermore prom (which I imagine is at least part of the point), I can see people not interested in that part feeling like it's distracting from the prom itself.
@HaxStudio I feel like it could be a bit more involved than just some general theme (though, I'm assuming since it didn't actually happen). Something more common, like a general 80s theme, seems less potentially distracting than people going around the prom pretending to be these different fantasy characters.
I honestly feel like the property owner taking back the land and restructuring the area/finishing the buildings is the best thing that could have happened. The helicopter footage from overhead just shows how much of the land was unused, and is still unfinished to this day. And honestly, it seems like he has passion at least for the buildings that are there, even if he just makes it a themed shopping center you'll still have the cool buildings to visit and cosplayers could still meet there for pictures. It sucks the dream is dead and so many people lost their jobs despite putting so much work into the park, but i think this is better then it totally fizzling out with Ken sitting on the property, just for it to become an abandoned theme park until ultimately being torn down. I might be time for an unofficial-official LARP group to form!
My husband McKay played Ben the snake oil salesman turned ghost from 2019?-2021. “The park itself doesn't say anything, so the only choice you have is to listen to what other people say. And I don’t know what it is about this community, but half the time someone at some point just made it up.” Never a truer statement. When trying to find old videos of him in character recently I stumbled upon comments asking if he was the cast member who committed suicide, and there was a discussion around the idea that he had, all while he’s sitting next to me as we are reading these things. Simply fantastic just making up very untrue things likely a result of the strange air that exists around the park. The lack of communication between the workers and the owners or managers was almost nonexistent from what he told me, and that the entire operation was so messy. Both of us are sad but also not surprised and a bit relieved to see them close their doors simply because we believe it’s a beautiful idea that deserves better.
good grief really? I know people on the internet like to just lie about things for fun, but "speculating on a stranger's suicide" seems like one of those things where basic human dignity should prevail.
I'm not the first one to make this point, but I still don't know why they didn't put out billboards or even signs along the road or something. I've been driving right by it on my work commute for the better part of a decade and had no idea it even existed until the Jenny Nicholson video.
It has to be one of the biggest marketing fails in modern Utah history, I mean someone could actually write a book or film a doc on that aspect alone. Word of mouth is great but it's not a marketing strategy, folks. Even relying on "viral" marketing requires, like, effort..
@@brianlacy8725Sadly, I am actually skeptical that Evermore would have been ready to accommodate significantly more guests even if they did have good advertising. Did they have the infrastructure to provide proper amenities and entertainment for many more people? Did they ever think through plans for how the roleplaying concept could work with more people than they had at their peak days? It's a tough part of starting up businesses that you often have to make a capital investment to accommodate more customers than you will initially get. Otherwise, growth will be a struggle.
@@Vantastic789yeah it seems like he thought "ive got a lot of money, surely i can make the most fun themepark ever just burst out of the ground within a matter of years" and when that didn't happen he just immediately gave up and let it slowly die of neglect
So honored my picture of the moving truck made it in! I actually saw the yellow trucks there on 2 separate days. I think that further proves he didnt have to break into the park as he was able to access it that easily. And for about a week before the back doors were constantly open.
I've had a lot of laughs about Evermore but I am truly sorry for you and others for losing something that clearly meant so much to you. I hope they are able to make something amazing in its place, and I'm excited to hear any further announcements! Though whatever comes next, I hope you and the other actors/fans find something new that brings you as much joy as Evermore did while also showing you the respect you deserve.
yeah, it was a real gravestone for a real person, and apparently cost tens of thousands of dollars. (which again, could have gone ANYWHERE ELSE INSTEAD.)
From what I heard, it was more of a rescue investment than just getting something authentic. Those stones were going to be ground to cement (though now they may be fated to that).
Despite only living around 10 minutes away from Evermore Park, I had never even heard of it until Jenny released her video on the subject. Funny enough, I had participated in a few markets hosted by The Nerdy Wolf, so I knew people connected to Evermore without knowing of the park itself for a while. They seriously did a horrible job of advertising and trying to bring in locals. Even though I hear it wasn't run well by upper management, I would have enjoyed participating in quests and meeting local actors and artisans. Hopefully the new property owner can bring it to life in a way that actually uplifts creatives and isn't all about the bottom line (which Ken wasn't good at anyways).
The sad thing is Ken wasn't even in this for making the money out of it. Like yeah, turn a profit, that's just how entrepreneurs are, but I'm pretty sure he wanted this grandiose (successful) theme park full of spectacle and bells n whistles upon bells n whistles so he can show all his buddies around it and impress them with how successful an avant-garde visionary he is.
@@TheNickhisyeah from my perspective this was definitely pride, not greed. first of all no one looking just to make money thinks building a theme park is the best avenue for that, esp not someone who already made bank in tech. second of all if it was about money it wouldve definitely closed a while ago i assume, theres no way he hasn't personally lost some money on this. seems like he was too prideful to just admit he'd failed and cut his losses.
@@vlad5042from Jenny’s video, I got two impressions: one, that the CEO is incompetent. And two, that he lost interest in the project a long time ago, and stopped really putting any effort into it. One thing someone pointed out in the comments of that video was that a lot of times, tech entrepreneurs really just come up with a proof of concept for an idea and sell the company before they ever have to follow through. And it seems like that’s probably the case for Ken Bretschneider: he loves coming up with ideas like evermore, but has absolutely no ability to follow through. Just seems like an absolute disaster of a CEO.
I'm not sure why UA-cam suggested me this video about a theme park closing half the planet away, it's so random. But very informative and well produced! Congrats on video blowing up, I guess, and good luck, man
A large UA-camr Jenny Nicholson made a video or two about Evermore, so the park closing is interesting to her audience who got hooked on the strange history of the park. The algorithm is probably pushing this video around to new people once Jenny's audience found it.
Thanks Bob! I truly appreciate all of your videos about Evermore. You've done so much to archive the history of Evermore. It was a pleasure to meet you in the park and to chat with you in the discord and to watch your videos. Wishing you all the best, and keeping an eye on the channel. In case something wild happens.
As an actor who works in the entertainment industry- this is truly heartbreaking. I wanted to go to evermore ever since I was about 15 and I think it was what kickstarted me doing character acting. Rest in peace Evermore- sucks you died in a strange and unusual way.
Dang I’m even more mad now about those graves they took from Europe. At least they were presumably maintaining them before. Now these pieces of family heritage are just being left to degrade and the descendants of these dead will never be able to find them. I feel for the genealogists.
Tasteless as the purchase for scenery in a theme park might be, in European countries it is not uncommon at all for gravestones over a few hundred years old to be removed and destroyed to clear space for modern grave plots. Up to you whether or not the gravestone getting bought by Evermore was a better or worse fate than simply having it destroyed.
@@Smathalgoth Knowing their obsession with England though I’m guessing the stones are from the UK, which does not have a policy of destroying old stones. But since they must have purchased the stones somewhere I suppose they had already been taken out of their graveyards. I honestly don’t know what I think, whether it’s better to have the stones destroyed or to see them treated with disrespect and degrading anyway on a foreign continent. Neither option is amazing.
People were saying these graves were to be ground for concrete. I don't know if I'd believe that. Who'd buy concrete made from graves? @@cedoniapeterson9239
I just stumbled upon this today after visiting the park a year ago. Two of the workers back then were kind enough to give me a tour of the park after hours when I was passing through and couldn’t stay until the weekend for the regular hours. There was a private event going on that evening and I managed to get in an unmanned entrance (actually all of them seemed unguarded) as the event was drawing down. I bring this up because the workers that guided me gave me background on a lot of the historical objects there including a statue that was one of only I think 7 in the world. If I remember correctly, it was a saint of dentistry or something. Got the most surreal vibes coming off that statue that evening. Now it’s probably packed up in those storage containers or left in place to rot
I used to work at evermore, between 2020 and 2022. I was a member of the concessions team and spent a lot of time working in either the tavern or the candy shop, and quite frankly it was such a fun job to work. Even though I wasn't officially an actor I did my best to dress up and make people feel immersed in the experience, and I know a lot of my coworkers in Concessions, Operations, and Acting did the same, putting all of their effort into making the place feel welcoming for guests. I left because of management issues, although I won't go into much detail here in your comments. But even through those issues I still loved working at the park, interacting with folks and feeling as immersed in the world working there as I hoped the people visiting did as well. Quite frankly ever since I left I wanted to visit the park, but life circumstances always stood in the way, and now that it's gone I'm going to miss it immensely. From the friends I made that I'll probably never run into again, to an excuse to dress up in fancy costumes that I spent my own money on. Damn was it fun while it lasted.
If you who I think you are, I really enjoyed talking with you in the tavern. In many ways you were another character for me to interact with. Thank you for the good times.
Evermore is just one more example that rich people are not responsible for things being made. I hope all of the actors who worked at Evermore realize they are what made it great and do SOMETHING to keep the spirit living on for people interested in this type of thing. They surely are capable of creating valuable experiences for people without an out of touch millionaire with more money than sense.
Whats sad is me and some friends were making plans to attend evermore right before the Dead Wars (Worlds largest D&D game happening on may 4th) They were gonna bring costume supplies and stuff on their flight in. See, that's the kind of magic this place held for people that went. At least we see the vendors like Drawn to Dragons, Nerdy Wolf, and Geek Together were able to find stability in the provo mall before this hit. Here's to the memories. Cheers.
Found you because of Jenny and I have really enjoyed your videos! Genuinely excited to see what is next - I would love to see you talk about other theme parks
Evermore gave me something I will never forget. To all you actors who helped bring us the magic, I sincerely thank you. You all mean so much to me, not just your characters, but the fact that you would go so out of your way sometimes to brighten up the days of those who came. Technicalities and all that aside, you are what made the park experiences so special for many of us. And while we've all moved on to future endeavors, I will always hold a part of the memories and experiences with me. Thank you for making my life just a little bit better -L
My friend and I traveled all the way from Virginia to come to Evermore in 2022. Despite the horrible management behind the scenes, our experience was magical and unforgettable, and we absolutely planned on going back one day once it was “finished”. It could have been a rousing success of a park but it was fumbled beyond belief.
After researching Magi-Quest, the failures of Evermore are so much more glaring. Like having the interactive animatronic or electrical elements meant you could still offer a fun experience when the actors needed breaks or had a shifting narrative. Relying on the actors 100% to carry the experience meant the quality of your park fluctuated with the skill, enthusiasm and availability of real life humans, who tend to, ya know, need to take breaks or deal with outside issues.
As someone who has been to both Evermore and Magi-Quest I completely agree. While the few times I went to Evermore were awesome, I was never really paying attention to the story or actors because I’m a bit too shy for that. At Magi-Quest the story still might have a couple of people you need to talk to, but it’s mostly carried by electronics and so it feels more like playing a video game in a public place than LARPing, which is more up my alley
@@yubcreepin4099 I feel like a combination of the two concepts would have been perfect. Utilizing static repeatable elements would take pressure off the actors, and using dynamic preformers would have supplemented the static elements by making each visit unique!
Thank you for all of your coverage. I was only able to visit Evermore once (at the pre-opening party) but I enjoyed following along vicariously through your channel.
Utah local here... Never heard about evermore park until that frivolous lawsuit against Taylor Swift haha. You were right about lack of advertising for sure. The only times I heard about the park were through word of mouth and they were usually negative sentiments. Some local groups wanted to do meetups there but I never really ended up getting a chance to visit. What a shame :/
I’ve never heard of this park before, nor have I ever watched your channel, but I am absolutely invested and enthralled and have watched this whole video lmao good work man, I’m sorry about the closure
damn, this park lives in my head rent free cos jennys video autoplay at least once every two weeks so this is still sad to hear. as someone who larps and crews for immersive experiences I had slim hope they'd maybe turn it around.
I hope whatever happens to this place you will keep covering it, you're our main or only source for evermore info and I am very grateful for al your efforts.
@@BobAtEvermore Of Course. That song “The Great War” is all about her secret obsession and the very dramatic nothing actually happened legal battle. And that blonde Ghengis Khan has been expanding the empire. Evermore was always doomed to fail unfortunately. Just a matter of time. A waiting game to pick up the park in the bargain bin.
No joke, there was one point where concessions management tried to reduce how much candy was being sold in the candy shop building. Like, trying to take away options and only have the building sell one thing (fancy mixed sodas).
I lived in Utah, near Pleasant Grove from 2021-2022, and one of the best parts of living there was going to Evermore park. Sad to hear it's closed down. Seeing the pictures of the place made me feel so nostalgic. (Can it be nostalgic if it only happened 2 years ago? XD)
the fact that this park had 4.4 stars was insane considering the mis-management and awful operations. Having personally been there on multiple occasions, that many stars is due to super fans and us local nerds trying to milk every drop of enjoyment out of it possible. it deserved 0 stars for the operations, 2 stars for the physical grounds, & the cast and front line staff deserved 5 stars always.
This is crazy! My husband and I live here in Florida and had plans on visiting Evermore here in the next couple of years. However, I guess not now that it is closed. Maybe they should talk to Universal here in Orlando about bringing something like Evermore to Florida!
I think a good point of comparison is Meow Wolf. They built their Denver location under the same circumstances, during the same time, and with the same goals. Despite some recent layoffs, they are continuing to expand and the place is always packed. Plus, from everything I have heard, they treat their employees well (a shocking concept,) and when they did make layoffs, they didn’t make excuses. It was a tough decision they made to keep the business moving in the direction they wanted, not some inevitable issue caused by outside influences. For anyone who loves stuff like this, and can get to either Santa Fe, Las Vegas, or Denver (Denver is my favorite by far) I can highly recommend it. Also, as a wheelchair user, it is one of the most accessible entertainment experiences of my life.
It is sad to see something so many people worked so hard for, just to fall out a few years later. However. Duh? I mean im sorry but no shit it went under, i was honestly surprised it took this long. May the people who lost their jobs find at least equally fulfilling work at a place thatll pay them.
Honestly at this point after all the false closures and reboots I felt like it was a 50/50 chance that the shambling corpse of evermore park would shuffle on forever somehow. Lol
I hope whoever takes over doesn’t tear it down, I hope they finish it and make it better for yall, I’m still mind boggled such a good idea could’ve been such a huge failure. There’s so many fans of this type of D&D aesthetic who would love to visit (a finished) park like this, crazy. Wishing you the best dude!!
Go to a renaissance faire! If your local ones haven’t been good but if you were willing to travel to this hot mess you should look into nearby out of state faires for a lot of the best with a lot less of the negatives
to any comments section lurkers wondering what brandon fugal is alluding to when he mentioned his previous real estate projects? unfortunately, its skinwalker ranch. im a little worried ngl EDITED TO ADD: I'd like to acknowledge that I initially made this comment without having done adequate research into the topic, which means I was unintentionally acting in bad faith. Fugal acquired SR from its previous owner, Robert Bigelow, who actively mismanaged the property and essentially turned it into a tourist trap. But FUGAL actually shut that down and cut off public access to the property when he acquired it. I'm glad I actually looked into it because my perception has evolved from "this guy buys failing entertainment ventures and turns them into tourist traps" to "this guy buys failing tourist traps and is trying to make them into something that isn't a tourist trap, actually"
it's a spot in utah that allegedly has a lot of ufo activity that there's a series about on the history channel. brandon bought it in 2016 for half a mil.
I’m so sad about this… I always wanted to visit. The videos I saw of it always seemed so cool, like you said, entirely because of the people there. I hope it’s revived as something awesome.
I’m sorry to see Evermore closed. I really enjoyed it when I visited in 2021 and looked forward to another visit. I also told people they should visit when they are in the area. Thanks for this video. I follow on IG but had not seen the announcement. I really hope the property owners will revitalize and keep this park going it truly is a special and unique experience. Has the new owner created an IG or FB account for updates? Thanks to all of the performers and staff who made it possible. I really hope it will continue.
Thanks for the update. As you mentioned in your video from a few months ago, Brandon Sanderson has already purchased the surrounding land. Doesn’t it make sense that Dragonsteel would be the most likely new tenant/developer?
see, it's hard to say. it's POSSIBLE. but i feel like if i were to actually expect it, it might just be wishful thinking. power for half of this park is just run off of a singular extension cord. i feel like brandon sanderson is a really smart guy and he might see the state of the property and recognize that it's not worth it? also, from the evermore general manager's ama last week, brandon only reached out to the park once several years ago and then they never heard from him again, so it doesn't seem like his interest in evermore itself was that involved or consistent. whoever the new group is, they seem to be doing a decent job keeping it under wraps. i've heard dozens of groups named in speculation, but none with any more frequency/confidence than another.
I see what you mean. It looks like it would take a lot of overhauling to make the infrastructure work. But I’m trying to think of anyone who has extremely deep pockets, a plan for a fantasy HQ and a giant, dedicated fanbase. And also owns all the property surrounding the park. I think it’s quite possible that Dragonsteel is keeping everything on the down low. Back when Disney was building Disneyland, local property values shot up as soon as everyone heard who the new owner was. It ended up limiting Disney’s ability to buy up the surrounding property. Also, Sanderson has been leaving cryptic messages in his videos about a number ‘631’ lately, leading to lots of speculation among his fans about a major project in the works. Could it be a revamp of Evermore?
Brandon has stated that the 631 in his videos was purely planting a mystery so that the kinds of fans who know exactly what he’s up to and when would watch his Crowdfunding Launch video (instead of skipping it since they already knew what was up) so that they wouldn’t miss the announcement of his latest secret project. Not saying that he can’t have purchased it, just that the 631 isn’t hinting at it.
This was a dream of mine to see since the very first announcement and discussion. I was never in a position to travel to the park, but it was always a thought that returned every few months. I'm honestly and genuinely saddened by all of this. I hope that whoever takes over continues to run a park of similar nature.
It always felt halfhazard to me. I never went but I wanted to before it opened. After it opened it was too expensive to take my kids to and I wasn’t sure what we would do there. I contacted them and presented the idea that they needed to promote their characters by publishing kindle books. I wasn’t even hoping to make money off of it but I would have been interested in helping and signing away rights. After that,it seems like they didn’t have an appropriate operating budget…ever.
I really really hope that Brandon Sanderson will make it to be what it was supposed to be. He seems like the one who knows how to make it great with such rich fantasy stories already fleshed out from his books! And honestly, changing the name might be for the best as Jenny stated since the first thing you look at is the failed lawsuit on google. I do wish they can keep the characters tho, that would be cool
Anyone that's been to a renfaire would know that a park like this could succeed on a trash budget. Seems like they just dumped money in all the wrong directions.
Imagine dying in 1798 of typhoid fever in England only for a Yankee millionaire 200 years later to buy your gravestone, put it in their shady theme park, and then toss your gravestone in a pile in a parking lot. My ghost would haunt The Grid for all eternity.
Heartbroken this never took off. I remember the huge scale models and disolays they brought to the original Salt Lake Comic Con and i still have some of the coins and all of the postcards they gave out then. I still jave so much hope that the spirit of Evermore, woth better management, will come back. I also think it would be an EXCELLENT venue for a permanent Renfaire! I hope for the best for this place, and most of all hope it wont become more unaffordable luxury apartments 😔
my biggest worry is they’re just going to finish the old buildings then construct condos or other “luxury accommodations” just like every other real estate developer
what a fascinating journey this has been. i've only really learned about evermore from jenny's vid i watch not a month ago, and hearing about its official closure gave me a little heartbreak. i hope something comes of the promises made by the landowner. it surely can't be worse then how badly ken & co did.
There's still a space imho for a project like this in Utah... On a much smaller scale real estate wise, supported with donations and a modest entry fee. A strong focus on scheduled event reservations also wouldn't hurt. This always struck me as more of a venue than a park (though the park aspects were fun, if inconsistent).
I'm amazed just by how many times this park was given a hand to be pulled up and the founder just kept on fucking it up. Even the LANDLORD was trying to pull their ass out of the fire by the end, but the CEO still managed to drop the ball. It's astounding, dude could work for WB with this level of incompetence.
All of my visits to evermore have been a blast, despite the negative online reputation. Extremely sad to see it go, but I hope something better-managed comes out of this. The actors were the heart and soul of the park, and I hope whatever comes next pays them well.
Having worked at the park from its opening to the start of 2021, all I can say is that this was a long time coming. While I enjoyed the characters and my fellow cast mates, this was 100% managements fault, and was inevitable from the very start. It only partially succeeded because of those who gave everything and were spat back out.
Can't say I'm surprised it didn't make it, but I am a little sad. As someone who was there opening night and seeing the potential I really hoped they would reach it. But they never did. And I was never able to justify the decent drive to go again. I regret that, but hopefully something neat will be done with the property and I can go back. If not, that first night was magical, though that probably had more to do with it being my first date with my wife. As a side note, the fact that there is a space center a few miles up the road that is basically a sci fi version of Evermore that has been going strong for 30 years is proof the area can support that sort of thing.
CZ is outhere trying to give free algorithm hacking advice. Also you know Bloodworth is death and death is bored and orchestrating the events of the final destination series because death is stuck in a boring eternity of having no choice or agency only being able to act on the instructions of others. So he accidentally on purposes messes up so he gets to have a little fun by exploiting a loophole. That's why Bloodworth/Death gives hints on how to escape the loops, because nothing excites him more than the idea of someone escaping the loops. It also explains why someone dying then being resuscitated escapes the loop he was supposed to deliver them "1 (one)" time, he did his job. It's clear from the subtext, plus it makes the movies far better than they are.
I’m sorry for the actors and patrons who truly loved this and dedicated so much only to lose it because of an idiot. It seemed like it had so much more potential 😢
I really feel bad for all who invested so much, as obviously this was a "passion project" for many. I'm not in the LARPing community, so take anything I say with a huge helping of salt, but it seems the location also makes it a bit tough. Maybe there are enough people locally to support such a place, I mean, while still actually paying a living wage. BTW, In and Out has long been known to be ahead of the curve on pay scale. Anyway, it seems to me, if you want enough people to show up, it probably needs to be at more of a crossroads of the country. Or at least near enough to a large enough population center, that you have a chance at bringing in the part of the population who would be interested in this sort of place. I really don't know what kind of research was done, to determine the viability, maybe that's been covered by others. But at any rate, I wonder if any sort of polling was done in the region to measure how many people were actively taking part in events before Evermore started. With the population of Salt Lake City at just over 200k, unless the type of people who like this are over-represented, it might be pretty tough. That said, I do think there are things in the area that make it distinct that might indicate such a high number of potential customers. The other thing that stuck out is the sense of the mismatch between the local climate etc. and what was attempted to replicated, IE, Medieval England and maybe Germany? This is more of a nitpick, but it would be pretty cool if there was actually a chain of these places, each with specific setups that align well with the area being modeled and the natural terrain. No need to drain one's lake or aquifer to try to represent a lush climate in a desert. Finally, based on this video, it sounds like one of the most typical Achilles Heals in corporations was here as well. Leadership that doesn't listen to frontline workers about what is actually going on. Larger companies can generally get away with it because their size (and lobbying) have heavily tipped thing in their favor. But when a place this small operates this way, you end up with a major disconnect that means leadership is making decisions on bad information or, worse, bad presuppositions. And at that size, the margin for error is razor-thin. PS: There is an alternative to the corporate structure that I don't think we make nearly good enough use of here in the States. Co-ops. The people who work there, people deeply invested in the idea, literally become the owners. Obviously that takes capital, but, get enough people, and you can shoestring your way to profitability if the model is solid and the market is of sufficient size to maintain it. For something like this, where there is already a strong community that exists around this sort of experience, you might be able to draw enough people to make it work. Just a thought.
Please it's so funny you were there at the same exact time the news helicopter shots were being taken
Jenny love seeing you here
I was hoping to see his dot walking around.
Glad ur up to date Jenny
Hi Jenny. Big fan!
Jenny!!!
Evermore died the same way it lived, weird and sus.
And without any real explanation for anything from management lol
*closes park*
*refuses to elaborate*
I feel like the evermore park decision makers (ceo and whoever else) would have really benefitted from like.... sitting down and having a long chat with ren faire companies.
Underrated take. It's like they wanted to reinvent the wheel.
If you've been around ren faire long enough, you'll know this is 100% par for the course. Every issue they've had is standard ren faire drama. Most faires don't survive 5 years. The ren faire circuit is littered with the corpses of dozens of faires that died just like this one. The big profitable ones are ruled by tight fisted capitalists that would put scrooge to shame.
@@koboldcatgirl Without ever looking at how wheel-makers work.
and then acting as if their square wheel is god’s gift to earth.
They should maybe look at how theme parks get run, too, since you’re pretty much combining aspects of Ren Faires and of theme parks for this
"dear god they removed the exposed wires!" Bob 💀💀
Comedic gold!
Copper is copper!
6:16
buzzy-tier HAHA
I'm sure "reduced consumer spending" was the problem in 2021, definitely nothing to do with history's dumbest copyright lawsuit
To be fair, it does absolutely destroy their SEO. Especially with Google being as terrible as it is. Search "Evermore" and you'll get 30,000 shitty articles about Taylor Swift that no one should actually read
I don't believe in copyright at all and think it should be abolished though.
Suing America's sweetheart
@@joshs.5384Eh calm down now, there’s no ethical billionaires.
@asmrtpop2676 It was a quote from Jenny's video.
@@asmrtpop2676I think it’s less about the ethics of Taylor swift and more the stupidity of filing a frivolous lawsuit against her lmao
I'm only four minutes in and this is already so wild. Shutting down a forum to prevent rumors is such a 2000s message board move. "Maybe people won't notice our park is shutting down if we don't let them talk about it."
holy shit i did not expect to see you here lol. hello tumblr user from my phone 🫡
seeing a gravestone left out in the open…like weren't they super proud of how their gravestones were completely real
wait is that true?? if so what the hell. I assumed it was like, one of their characters' gravestones
@@fluorescentalien5204No, they paid premium prices for real graves
WHAT
they wanted the park to be haunted so they spent tens of thousands on real gravestones. when they first started building the park ken was throwing money around like it had no value, and then he got surprised pikachu when it was all gone
@@BobAtEvermore that’s insane holy shit
Now its time for defunctland to step in and cover the post mortem. Lol great video!
this is the best thing abt the closure lmao
Will he be a dragon again?
God I hope it's a full length documentary episode or spread over a whole season. This was a wild ride to follow.
Dude. I'm so freaking ready for that video now
jenny nicholson has a great video about evermore from when it was still open if you’re interested 😎
I'm the guy re-creating it in Planet Coaster. I guess it means a lot more now. Thanks for letting me use your videos as reference and on our Twitch stream! Sad I just started getting interested in it as it was in it's last few months of existing.
yeah, that's rough timing, but thank you for preserving the only surviving version of the park digitally! ❤️
I started recreating Evermore in Disney Infinity last summer. I haven't gotten very far with it, and frankly, not sure about whether or not I'll complete it now. Perhaps I'll wait and see what becomes of the park and work on that later...
This is how I felt when I found out about Dickens World in the UK and the subsequently found out it closed a few years prior. Heartbreaking lol
I don't think anyone has to LET YOU use their videos for reference lol. Just a weird way to phrase that
Very cool and helpful to have documented it all in videos though!
@@Xvladincrediting the material you use is just normal sweetie.
I only know about Evermore from your and Jenny’s videos, but I’m obsessed with the idea of having prom there.
It's very interesting, but also a little weird. Not everyone wants to LARP at prom lol, but for the ones who do its very cool
@@Xvladin your thought process is the interesting thing here honestly, lots of schools just use their gym for the prom. do you think the prom goers are forced to play basketball in those cases?
@viiviviviiv Yeah, but is there a basketball game going on during the prom? That's my sort of my metaphor lol
Just as a venue, it would be great, no doubt. But, assuming there's LARP stuff going on at the Evermore prom (which I imagine is at least part of the point), I can see people not interested in that part feeling like it's distracting from the prom itself.
@@XvladinLots of dances can have themes, I don’t see why that’s much different.
@HaxStudio I feel like it could be a bit more involved than just some general theme (though, I'm assuming since it didn't actually happen).
Something more common, like a general 80s theme, seems less potentially distracting than people going around the prom pretending to be these different fantasy characters.
I honestly feel like the property owner taking back the land and restructuring the area/finishing the buildings is the best thing that could have happened. The helicopter footage from overhead just shows how much of the land was unused, and is still unfinished to this day. And honestly, it seems like he has passion at least for the buildings that are there, even if he just makes it a themed shopping center you'll still have the cool buildings to visit and cosplayers could still meet there for pictures.
It sucks the dream is dead and so many people lost their jobs despite putting so much work into the park, but i think this is better then it totally fizzling out with Ken sitting on the property, just for it to become an abandoned theme park until ultimately being torn down.
I might be time for an unofficial-official LARP group to form!
My husband McKay played Ben the snake oil salesman turned ghost from 2019?-2021. “The park itself doesn't say anything, so the only choice you have is to listen to what other people say. And I don’t know what it is about this community, but half the time someone at some point just made it up.” Never a truer statement. When trying to find old videos of him in character recently I stumbled upon comments asking if he was the cast member who committed suicide, and there was a discussion around the idea that he had, all while he’s sitting next to me as we are reading these things. Simply fantastic just making up very untrue things likely a result of the strange air that exists around the park. The lack of communication between the workers and the owners or managers was almost nonexistent from what he told me, and that the entire operation was so messy. Both of us are sad but also not surprised and a bit relieved to see them close their doors simply because we believe it’s a beautiful idea that deserves better.
good grief really? I know people on the internet like to just lie about things for fun, but "speculating on a stranger's suicide" seems like one of those things where basic human dignity should prevail.
I'm not the first one to make this point, but I still don't know why they didn't put out billboards or even signs along the road or something. I've been driving right by it on my work commute for the better part of a decade and had no idea it even existed until the Jenny Nicholson video.
It has to be one of the biggest marketing fails in modern Utah history, I mean someone could actually write a book or film a doc on that aspect alone.
Word of mouth is great but it's not a marketing strategy, folks. Even relying on "viral" marketing requires, like, effort..
Maybe marketing companies are less tolerant of companies that skip our on their bills.
There was at least on for a while at the Pleasant Grove exit IIRC. But that might be long since
@@brianlacy8725Sadly, I am actually skeptical that Evermore would have been ready to accommodate significantly more guests even if they did have good advertising.
Did they have the infrastructure to provide proper amenities and entertainment for many more people? Did they ever think through plans for how the roleplaying concept could work with more people than they had at their peak days?
It's a tough part of starting up businesses that you often have to make a capital investment to accommodate more customers than you will initially get. Otherwise, growth will be a struggle.
Brandon seems more enthused about the park than its own freaking creator
From what I've seen, seems like he got bored of it once he realized it wasn't gonna be as easy as he thought it was.
@@Vantastic789yeah it seems like he thought "ive got a lot of money, surely i can make the most fun themepark ever just burst out of the ground within a matter of years" and when that didn't happen he just immediately gave up and let it slowly die of neglect
Realizing that the guy who owns skinwalker ranch is now the owner of Evermore was the craziest thing I found out about this whole situation
“Evermore faced challenges from its beginning,” bud, YOU were the challenge it faced 😭
But knowing that would require SELF-AWARENESS
I kept expecting him to throw shade at Jenny as one of the challenges 😂
I just hope the new thing has opportunity to attend a zoom meeting you did not prepare for in a crypt.
i would wait over thirty minutes for something like that!
I ain’t going if they don’t have a water wheel that can’t spin.
"its always hard doing something new" my guy y'all literally just made a higher budget renaissance festival 😭
Higher budget but somehow ending with a project much cheaper feeling than any ren faire I've been to.
A lesser man might have hesitated to employ “the friends we made along the way” but it’s seldom been so appropriate.
I literally said out loud at that part “never before has that been so true”
So honored my picture of the moving truck made it in! I actually saw the yellow trucks there on 2 separate days. I think that further proves he didnt have to break into the park as he was able to access it that easily. And for about a week before the back doors were constantly open.
I've had a lot of laughs about Evermore but I am truly sorry for you and others for losing something that clearly meant so much to you. I hope they are able to make something amazing in its place, and I'm excited to hear any further announcements! Though whatever comes next, I hope you and the other actors/fans find something new that brings you as much joy as Evermore did while also showing you the respect you deserve.
Wasn’t that gravestone real? If so, it’s really sad to see the state it’s in.
yeah, it was a real gravestone for a real person, and apparently cost tens of thousands of dollars. (which again, could have gone ANYWHERE ELSE INSTEAD.)
@BobAtEvermore he literally could have had someone make custom gravestones with names/dates/places that made sense in the story but go off Ken
Yeah that gravestone was the most grim part of this whole thing for me. It’s like several layers of wrong.
dystopian levels of greed
From what I heard, it was more of a rescue investment than just getting something authentic. Those stones were going to be ground to cement (though now they may be fated to that).
LOOKING FOR PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY 👏👏
Hope Taylor Swift doesn't sue over their "end of an era" post.
omg my brain didn't even make that connection, that's hilarious
Why would she sue them?
@@Meow-io3dhThey tried to sue her for 2 million dollars because she called one of her albums “Evermore”.
And she’s having or just had her “Eras” tour
@@alexanderespinoza That evil woman is at it again, picking on defenceless theme parks. For shame, for shame.
Despite only living around 10 minutes away from Evermore Park, I had never even heard of it until Jenny released her video on the subject. Funny enough, I had participated in a few markets hosted by The Nerdy Wolf, so I knew people connected to Evermore without knowing of the park itself for a while. They seriously did a horrible job of advertising and trying to bring in locals. Even though I hear it wasn't run well by upper management, I would have enjoyed participating in quests and meeting local actors and artisans. Hopefully the new property owner can bring it to life in a way that actually uplifts creatives and isn't all about the bottom line (which Ken wasn't good at anyways).
The sad thing is Ken wasn't even in this for making the money out of it. Like yeah, turn a profit, that's just how entrepreneurs are, but I'm pretty sure he wanted this grandiose (successful) theme park full of spectacle and bells n whistles upon bells n whistles so he can show all his buddies around it and impress them with how successful an avant-garde visionary he is.
@@TheNickhisyeah from my perspective this was definitely pride, not greed. first of all no one looking just to make money thinks building a theme park is the best avenue for that, esp not someone who already made bank in tech. second of all if it was about money it wouldve definitely closed a while ago i assume, theres no way he hasn't personally lost some money on this. seems like he was too prideful to just admit he'd failed and cut his losses.
@@vlad5042from Jenny’s video, I got two impressions: one, that the CEO is incompetent. And two, that he lost interest in the project a long time ago, and stopped really putting any effort into it.
One thing someone pointed out in the comments of that video was that a lot of times, tech entrepreneurs really just come up with a proof of concept for an idea and sell the company before they ever have to follow through. And it seems like that’s probably the case for Ken Bretschneider: he loves coming up with ideas like evermore, but has absolutely no ability to follow through. Just seems like an absolute disaster of a CEO.
I'm not sure why UA-cam suggested me this video about a theme park closing half the planet away, it's so random. But very informative and well produced! Congrats on video blowing up, I guess, and good luck, man
A large UA-camr Jenny Nicholson made a video or two about Evermore, so the park closing is interesting to her audience who got hooked on the strange history of the park. The algorithm is probably pushing this video around to new people once Jenny's audience found it.
I recommend Jenny Nicholson video Evermore. It goes into park history etc. and it is how most people found the Park
@@IamAlmostRealWitch yes, I really like that video. It's 4 hours long but it's worth it.
Thanks Bob! I truly appreciate all of your videos about Evermore. You've done so much to archive the history of Evermore. It was a pleasure to meet you in the park and to chat with you in the discord and to watch your videos. Wishing you all the best, and keeping an eye on the channel. In case something wild happens.
thank you so so much for everything that you add to the community, as well! ❤
That cut to the helicopter footage was incredible.
As an actor who works in the entertainment industry- this is truly heartbreaking. I wanted to go to evermore ever since I was about 15 and I think it was what kickstarted me doing character acting. Rest in peace Evermore- sucks you died in a strange and unusual way.
Was there ever any other way Evermore could die?
@@Moocow2003 meteorites- idk
Dang I’m even more mad now about those graves they took from Europe. At least they were presumably maintaining them before. Now these pieces of family heritage are just being left to degrade and the descendants of these dead will never be able to find them. I feel for the genealogists.
Tasteless as the purchase for scenery in a theme park might be, in European countries it is not uncommon at all for gravestones over a few hundred years old to be removed and destroyed to clear space for modern grave plots. Up to you whether or not the gravestone getting bought by Evermore was a better or worse fate than simply having it destroyed.
@@Smathalgoth Knowing their obsession with England though I’m guessing the stones are from the UK, which does not have a policy of destroying old stones. But since they must have purchased the stones somewhere I suppose they had already been taken out of their graveyards. I honestly don’t know what I think, whether it’s better to have the stones destroyed or to see them treated with disrespect and degrading anyway on a foreign continent. Neither option is amazing.
People were saying these graves were to be ground for concrete. I don't know if I'd believe that. Who'd buy concrete made from graves? @@cedoniapeterson9239
I just stumbled upon this today after visiting the park a year ago. Two of the workers back then were kind enough to give me a tour of the park after hours when I was passing through and couldn’t stay until the weekend for the regular hours. There was a private event going on that evening and I managed to get in an unmanned entrance (actually all of them seemed unguarded) as the event was drawing down. I bring this up because the workers that guided me gave me background on a lot of the historical objects there including a statue that was one of only I think 7 in the world. If I remember correctly, it was a saint of dentistry or something. Got the most surreal vibes coming off that statue that evening. Now it’s probably packed up in those storage containers or left in place to rot
"Dear God, they took the exposed wires!" Killed me
I used to work at evermore, between 2020 and 2022. I was a member of the concessions team and spent a lot of time working in either the tavern or the candy shop, and quite frankly it was such a fun job to work. Even though I wasn't officially an actor I did my best to dress up and make people feel immersed in the experience, and I know a lot of my coworkers in Concessions, Operations, and Acting did the same, putting all of their effort into making the place feel welcoming for guests.
I left because of management issues, although I won't go into much detail here in your comments. But even through those issues I still loved working at the park, interacting with folks and feeling as immersed in the world working there as I hoped the people visiting did as well.
Quite frankly ever since I left I wanted to visit the park, but life circumstances always stood in the way, and now that it's gone I'm going to miss it immensely. From the friends I made that I'll probably never run into again, to an excuse to dress up in fancy costumes that I spent my own money on.
Damn was it fun while it lasted.
If you who I think you are, I really enjoyed talking with you in the tavern. In many ways you were another character for me to interact with. Thank you for the good times.
Evermore is just one more example that rich people are not responsible for things being made. I hope all of the actors who worked at Evermore realize they are what made it great and do SOMETHING to keep the spirit living on for people interested in this type of thing. They surely are capable of creating valuable experiences for people without an out of touch millionaire with more money than sense.
😭💜💜
Every Evermore character will live on as NPCs in D&D games.
Whats sad is me and some friends were making plans to attend evermore right before the Dead Wars (Worlds largest D&D game happening on may 4th)
They were gonna bring costume supplies and stuff on their flight in.
See, that's the kind of magic this place held for people that went.
At least we see the vendors like Drawn to Dragons, Nerdy Wolf, and Geek Together were able to find stability in the provo mall before this hit.
Here's to the memories.
Cheers.
See you at Dead Wars!
Found you because of Jenny and I have really enjoyed your videos! Genuinely excited to see what is next - I would love to see you talk about other theme parks
Sad to see it go, but thankful for the memories.
I’m excited to see what you do next, Bob! The world is your oyster.
Evermore gave me something I will never forget. To all you actors who helped bring us the magic, I sincerely thank you. You all mean so much to me, not just your characters, but the fact that you would go so out of your way sometimes to brighten up the days of those who came. Technicalities and all that aside, you are what made the park experiences so special for many of us. And while we've all moved on to future endeavors, I will always hold a part of the memories and experiences with me. Thank you for making my life just a little bit better
-L
😭💜💜💜💜
looking forward to the inevitable 'Evermore, Nevermore' netflix documentary...
My friend and I traveled all the way from Virginia to come to Evermore in 2022. Despite the horrible management behind the scenes, our experience was magical and unforgettable, and we absolutely planned on going back one day once it was “finished”. It could have been a rousing success of a park but it was fumbled beyond belief.
💜💜 as someone who worked there in 2022, you are the kind of guests who made it worth it to stay!!
“Exciting new plans”…is it a mall or is it meow wolf?
this is the real question right now. WHO IS IT?
Or could it be... the big D??? Naw...
I'm sad I never got the chance to go. Some friends of mine and I were planning a trip in April of 2020, and well, you can guess what happened...
After researching Magi-Quest, the failures of Evermore are so much more glaring. Like having the interactive animatronic or electrical elements meant you could still offer a fun experience when the actors needed breaks or had a shifting narrative.
Relying on the actors 100% to carry the experience meant the quality of your park fluctuated with the skill, enthusiasm and availability of real life humans, who tend to, ya know, need to take breaks or deal with outside issues.
As someone who has been to both Evermore and Magi-Quest I completely agree. While the few times I went to Evermore were awesome, I was never really paying attention to the story or actors because I’m a bit too shy for that. At Magi-Quest the story still might have a couple of people you need to talk to, but it’s mostly carried by electronics and so it feels more like playing a video game in a public place than LARPing, which is more up my alley
@@yubcreepin4099 I feel like a combination of the two concepts would have been perfect. Utilizing static repeatable elements would take pressure off the actors, and using dynamic preformers would have supplemented the static elements by making each visit unique!
Thank you for all of your coverage. I was only able to visit Evermore once (at the pre-opening party) but I enjoyed following along vicariously through your channel.
Utah local here... Never heard about evermore park until that frivolous lawsuit against Taylor Swift haha. You were right about lack of advertising for sure. The only times I heard about the park were through word of mouth and they were usually negative sentiments. Some local groups wanted to do meetups there but I never really ended up getting a chance to visit. What a shame :/
I’ve never heard of this park before, nor have I ever watched your channel, but I am absolutely invested and enthralled and have watched this whole video lmao good work man, I’m sorry about the closure
Bless you and your citizen journalism on all this, Bob 🙏
I saw a thumbnail of a white dude with a train and a title alluding to a theme park I'd never heard of and was like "Ooh, autism!😮 Me too 😂".
LMAO i didn't even realize it checked all the boxes until this
"Dear god, they took the exposed wires!" kills me EVERY time
damn, this park lives in my head rent free cos jennys video autoplay at least once every two weeks so this is still sad to hear. as someone who larps and crews for immersive experiences I had slim hope they'd maybe turn it around.
Excellent as always Bob! So sad to see my favorite place close, I hope Brandon can turn it into something amazing and not townhomes
I hope whatever happens to this place you will keep covering it, you're our main or only source for evermore info and I am very grateful for al your efforts.
great vid man, if I can say one nice thing about Evermore it's that it was certainly never boring to talk about
If the new people working on this ISN'T Hasbro to make an Immersive D&D Park, I don't know who else it could be. Maybe the Tolkin Family?
It’s Taylor Swift and I’m not being cute or joking.
could you imagine
@@BobAtEvermore
Of Course.
That song “The Great War” is all about her secret obsession and the very dramatic nothing actually happened legal battle. And that blonde Ghengis Khan has been expanding the empire.
Evermore was always doomed to fail unfortunately. Just a matter of time. A waiting game to pick up the park in the bargain bin.
The last thing you should want is for those filthy goblins at Hasbro or WOTC to have any play in this transaction
How can they have "reduced consumer spending" if they barely sold anything?
they literally made park entry free at the end of 2023
No joke, there was one point where concessions management tried to reduce how much candy was being sold in the candy shop building. Like, trying to take away options and only have the building sell one thing (fancy mixed sodas).
I lived in Utah, near Pleasant Grove from 2021-2022, and one of the best parts of living there was going to Evermore park. Sad to hear it's closed down. Seeing the pictures of the place made me feel so nostalgic. (Can it be nostalgic if it only happened 2 years ago? XD)
I wonder if they’re going to get in legal trouble with the creditors for removing wires and other infrastructure
First time viewer, first time ever hearing about evermore park; awaiting the inevitable Defunctland video so I can understand this mess heh
Jenny Nicholson also made some really funny videos on Evermore if you're interested
Thanks for making this well put together video it is sad to see it go but hope something better come in its place
Soo disappointing and I’m having a hard time understanding how business owners could screw up something with such an easy market to succeed in.
I've been eagerly refreshing your page looking for this update! Glad you were having a vacation! Thanks for the video.
the fact that this park had 4.4 stars was insane considering the mis-management and awful operations. Having personally been there on multiple occasions, that many stars is due to super fans and us local nerds trying to milk every drop of enjoyment out of it possible. it deserved 0 stars for the operations, 2 stars for the physical grounds, & the cast and front line staff deserved 5 stars always.
This is crazy! My husband and I live here in Florida and had plans on visiting Evermore here in the next couple of years. However, I guess not now that it is closed. Maybe they should talk to Universal here in Orlando about bringing something like Evermore to Florida!
This is the thorough and fabulous coverage I’ve been looking for.
Bless you, Bob!
I think a good point of comparison is Meow Wolf. They built their Denver location under the same circumstances, during the same time, and with the same goals. Despite some recent layoffs, they are continuing to expand and the place is always packed. Plus, from everything I have heard, they treat their employees well (a shocking concept,) and when they did make layoffs, they didn’t make excuses. It was a tough decision they made to keep the business moving in the direction they wanted, not some inevitable issue caused by outside influences. For anyone who loves stuff like this, and can get to either Santa Fe, Las Vegas, or Denver (Denver is my favorite by far) I can highly recommend it. Also, as a wheelchair user, it is one of the most accessible entertainment experiences of my life.
Can't wait for all the youtube documentaries about Evermore. That Jenny Nicholson one was great.
It is sad to see something so many people worked so hard for, just to fall out a few years later.
However.
Duh? I mean im sorry but no shit it went under, i was honestly surprised it took this long.
May the people who lost their jobs find at least equally fulfilling work at a place thatll pay them.
Honestly at this point after all the false closures and reboots I felt like it was a 50/50 chance that the shambling corpse of evermore park would shuffle on forever somehow. Lol
I hope whoever takes over doesn’t tear it down, I hope they finish it and make it better for yall, I’m still mind boggled such a good idea could’ve been such a huge failure. There’s so many fans of this type of D&D aesthetic who would love to visit (a finished) park like this, crazy. Wishing you the best dude!!
Aww man, I am so bummed. I never got a chance to visit.
Honestly, you missed it by years. The last time Evermore put on a show that even resembled the dream they sold us on was in 2019.
Go to a renaissance faire! If your local ones haven’t been good but if you were willing to travel to this hot mess you should look into nearby out of state faires for a lot of the best with a lot less of the negatives
to any comments section lurkers wondering what brandon fugal is alluding to when he mentioned his previous real estate projects? unfortunately, its skinwalker ranch. im a little worried ngl
EDITED TO ADD: I'd like to acknowledge that I initially made this comment without having done adequate research into the topic, which means I was unintentionally acting in bad faith. Fugal acquired SR from its previous owner, Robert Bigelow, who actively mismanaged the property and essentially turned it into a tourist trap. But FUGAL actually shut that down and cut off public access to the property when he acquired it. I'm glad I actually looked into it because my perception has evolved from "this guy buys failing entertainment ventures and turns them into tourist traps" to "this guy buys failing tourist traps and is trying to make them into something that isn't a tourist trap, actually"
What's skinwalker ranch?
it's a spot in utah that allegedly has a lot of ufo activity that there's a series about on the history channel. brandon bought it in 2016 for half a mil.
I’m so sad about this… I always wanted to visit. The videos I saw of it always seemed so cool, like you said, entirely because of the people there. I hope it’s revived as something awesome.
The Spirit Halloween! 🤣
adrienne is so funny
Right? I CACKLED
I’m sorry to see Evermore closed. I really enjoyed it when I visited in 2021 and looked forward to another visit. I also told people they should visit when they are in the area.
Thanks for this video. I follow on IG but had not seen the announcement. I really hope the property owners will revitalize and keep this park going it truly is a special and unique experience.
Has the new owner created an IG or FB account for updates?
Thanks to all of the performers and staff who made it possible. I really hope it will continue.
First thank you for the news as always. Second the jokes in this was great!
Thanks for the update. As you mentioned in your video from a few months ago, Brandon Sanderson has already purchased the surrounding land. Doesn’t it make sense that Dragonsteel would be the most likely new tenant/developer?
see, it's hard to say. it's POSSIBLE. but i feel like if i were to actually expect it, it might just be wishful thinking. power for half of this park is just run off of a singular extension cord. i feel like brandon sanderson is a really smart guy and he might see the state of the property and recognize that it's not worth it? also, from the evermore general manager's ama last week, brandon only reached out to the park once several years ago and then they never heard from him again, so it doesn't seem like his interest in evermore itself was that involved or consistent. whoever the new group is, they seem to be doing a decent job keeping it under wraps. i've heard dozens of groups named in speculation, but none with any more frequency/confidence than another.
I see what you mean. It looks like it would take a lot of overhauling to make the infrastructure work. But I’m trying to think of anyone who has extremely deep pockets, a plan for a fantasy HQ and a giant, dedicated fanbase. And also owns all the property surrounding the park. I think it’s quite possible that Dragonsteel is keeping everything on the down low. Back when Disney was building Disneyland, local property values shot up as soon as everyone heard who the new owner was. It ended up limiting Disney’s ability to buy up the surrounding property. Also, Sanderson has been leaving cryptic messages in his videos about a number ‘631’ lately, leading to lots of speculation among his fans about a major project in the works. Could it be a revamp of Evermore?
i really and truly hope so. we'll see!
Brandon has stated that the 631 in his videos was purely planting a mystery so that the kinds of fans who know exactly what he’s up to and when would watch his Crowdfunding Launch video (instead of skipping it since they already knew what was up) so that they wouldn’t miss the announcement of his latest secret project. Not saying that he can’t have purchased it, just that the 631 isn’t hinting at it.
This was a dream of mine to see since the very first announcement and discussion. I was never in a position to travel to the park, but it was always a thought that returned every few months. I'm honestly and genuinely saddened by all of this.
I hope that whoever takes over continues to run a park of similar nature.
I noticed the website still has Christmas stuff up, like it hadn't been updated since November-ish
I hope you continue to make videos about Evermore or a new topic! You have a great way of mixing the facts with your own jokes
"I'm literally inside Disneyland I don't give two shits about this right now"
"Buzzy tier rush job with some of the wires"
Great video. The information density was great, editing on point and the jokes were good. Thank you - even if this is maybe bad news.
the fact a random antique archway was worth THAT much really puts thing in perspective. eesh.
It always felt halfhazard to me. I never went but I wanted to before it opened. After it opened it was too expensive to take my kids to and I wasn’t sure what we would do there.
I contacted them and presented the idea that they needed to promote their characters by publishing kindle books. I wasn’t even hoping to make money off of it but I would have been interested in helping and signing away rights.
After that,it seems like they didn’t have an appropriate operating budget…ever.
Ken just never seemed to respect or care about his own marketable IP
Aww that's a really good idea though 😭 kindle books!
I really really hope that Brandon Sanderson will make it to be what it was supposed to be. He seems like the one who knows how to make it great with such rich fantasy stories already fleshed out from his books! And honestly, changing the name might be for the best as Jenny stated since the first thing you look at is the failed lawsuit on google. I do wish they can keep the characters tho, that would be cool
Anyone that's been to a renfaire would know that a park like this could succeed on a trash budget. Seems like they just dumped money in all the wrong directions.
Imagine dying in 1798 of typhoid fever in England only for a Yankee millionaire 200 years later to buy your gravestone, put it in their shady theme park, and then toss your gravestone in a pile in a parking lot. My ghost would haunt The Grid for all eternity.
too boring to haunt, even if youre from 1798
Heartbroken this never took off. I remember the huge scale models and disolays they brought to the original Salt Lake Comic Con and i still have some of the coins and all of the postcards they gave out then. I still jave so much hope that the spirit of Evermore, woth better management, will come back. I also think it would be an EXCELLENT venue for a permanent Renfaire! I hope for the best for this place, and most of all hope it wont become more unaffordable luxury apartments 😔
ngl my first thought hearing the closure news was "does bob know?!"
lol that's such an honor
my biggest worry is they’re just going to finish the old buildings then construct condos or other “luxury accommodations” just like every other real estate developer
what a fascinating journey this has been. i've only really learned about evermore from jenny's vid i watch not a month ago, and hearing about its official closure gave me a little heartbreak. i hope something comes of the promises made by the landowner. it surely can't be worse then how badly ken & co did.
you can't tell me there isn't a market for a year-round ren faire if only it was managed properly
There's still a space imho for a project like this in Utah... On a much smaller scale real estate wise, supported with donations and a modest entry fee. A strong focus on scheduled event reservations also wouldn't hurt. This always struck me as more of a venue than a park (though the park aspects were fun, if inconsistent).
I'm amazed just by how many times this park was given a hand to be pulled up and the founder just kept on fucking it up. Even the LANDLORD was trying to pull their ass out of the fire by the end, but the CEO still managed to drop the ball. It's astounding, dude could work for WB with this level of incompetence.
All of my visits to evermore have been a blast, despite the negative online reputation. Extremely sad to see it go, but I hope something better-managed comes out of this. The actors were the heart and soul of the park, and I hope whatever comes next pays them well.
Having worked at the park from its opening to the start of 2021, all I can say is that this was a long time coming. While I enjoyed the characters and my fellow cast mates, this was 100% managements fault, and was inevitable from the very start. It only partially succeeded because of those who gave everything and were spat back out.
hear hear
I thought, “SOMEONE ALERT JENNY!” only for me to see that she’s already in the comment section. We love a dedicated girly✨
Can't say I'm surprised it didn't make it, but I am a little sad. As someone who was there opening night and seeing the potential I really hoped they would reach it. But they never did. And I was never able to justify the decent drive to go again. I regret that, but hopefully something neat will be done with the property and I can go back. If not, that first night was magical, though that probably had more to do with it being my first date with my wife.
As a side note, the fact that there is a space center a few miles up the road that is basically a sci fi version of Evermore that has been going strong for 30 years is proof the area can support that sort of thing.
Here's hoping you keep your channel going!
Change the title to "Evermore is No More (Officially)"
CZ is outhere trying to give free algorithm hacking advice.
Also you know Bloodworth is death and death is bored and orchestrating the events of the final destination series because death is stuck in a boring eternity of having no choice or agency only being able to act on the instructions of others. So he accidentally on purposes messes up so he gets to have a little fun by exploiting a loophole. That's why Bloodworth/Death gives hints on how to escape the loops, because nothing excites him more than the idea of someone escaping the loops. It also explains why someone dying then being resuscitated escapes the loop he was supposed to deliver them "1 (one)" time, he did his job. It's clear from the subtext, plus it makes the movies far better than they are.
Or to "Evermore is nevermore for ever more!"
I’m sorry for the actors and patrons who truly loved this and dedicated so much only to lose it because of an idiot. It seemed like it had so much more potential 😢
I went with my son once a few years ago. We had a great time. Sad to hear it is shut down now
I really feel bad for all who invested so much, as obviously this was a "passion project" for many.
I'm not in the LARPing community, so take anything I say with a huge helping of salt, but it seems the location also makes it a bit tough. Maybe there are enough people locally to support such a place, I mean, while still actually paying a living wage. BTW, In and Out has long been known to be ahead of the curve on pay scale. Anyway, it seems to me, if you want enough people to show up, it probably needs to be at more of a crossroads of the country. Or at least near enough to a large enough population center, that you have a chance at bringing in the part of the population who would be interested in this sort of place. I really don't know what kind of research was done, to determine the viability, maybe that's been covered by others. But at any rate, I wonder if any sort of polling was done in the region to measure how many people were actively taking part in events before Evermore started. With the population of Salt Lake City at just over 200k, unless the type of people who like this are over-represented, it might be pretty tough. That said, I do think there are things in the area that make it distinct that might indicate such a high number of potential customers.
The other thing that stuck out is the sense of the mismatch between the local climate etc. and what was attempted to replicated, IE, Medieval England and maybe Germany? This is more of a nitpick, but it would be pretty cool if there was actually a chain of these places, each with specific setups that align well with the area being modeled and the natural terrain. No need to drain one's lake or aquifer to try to represent a lush climate in a desert.
Finally, based on this video, it sounds like one of the most typical Achilles Heals in corporations was here as well. Leadership that doesn't listen to frontline workers about what is actually going on. Larger companies can generally get away with it because their size (and lobbying) have heavily tipped thing in their favor. But when a place this small operates this way, you end up with a major disconnect that means leadership is making decisions on bad information or, worse, bad presuppositions. And at that size, the margin for error is razor-thin.
PS:
There is an alternative to the corporate structure that I don't think we make nearly good enough use of here in the States. Co-ops. The people who work there, people deeply invested in the idea, literally become the owners. Obviously that takes capital, but, get enough people, and you can shoestring your way to profitability if the model is solid and the market is of sufficient size to maintain it. For something like this, where there is already a strong community that exists around this sort of experience, you might be able to draw enough people to make it work. Just a thought.
Hi Bob, have you ever tried Twin Mask? It's a larp out in socal that runs 8 times a year