Dixie Stampede Orlando closing

Dukefan · January 08, 2008, 05:58:30 PM

Thought I would post this here since it is related to HFE-

From the Orlando Sentinel (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-stampede0808jan08,0,1043987.story)

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Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede closed abruptly Monday afternoon when its owners told the staff of the giant dinner theater that they had sold the attraction's 13-acre site east of Walt Disney World to an undisclosed buyer.

Although rumors of a sale and layoffs had circulated among employees for the past week, the company had adamantly denied as recently as Monday morning that a shutdown was in the works.

The attraction's namesake and part owner, country singer and actress Dolly Parton, issued a statement saying the property's new owner had made a compelling offer. No sales price was announced, and the buyer was not identified.

The attraction's owners, who operate three other locations in the South, said they hoped to open elsewhere in the Orlando area but had not found a new location yet. In the meantime, they filed notice with the state that they were laying off 162 people starting immediately.

"We at Dixie Stampede have been blessed, but I am a firm believer in timing and opportunity," Parton said. "This was an opportunity we could not pass up. We're exploring our options now and we will be back better than ever!"

Since opening in June 2003, the Central Florida Dixie Stampede has mixed down-home dining with shows featuring horses, pigs, ostriches and a human cast of make-believe Civil War soldiers, antebellum belles and old-time zanies.

Dixie Stampede spokesman Pete Owens said the attraction had just completed its best Christmas season. He said the decision to close had nothing to do with a lack of customer interest.

"The real-estate deal wasn't completed until today," Owens said Monday afternoon. "We really couldn't communicate about it until now."

The attraction closed after Saturday's show for a scheduled weeklong refurbishment. Most of those on the job Monday were office workers, but other staffers began arriving after the announcement to pick up their things.

The attraction's giant lighted sign, which for nearly five years had caught the eyes of countless drivers from its high-profile location alongside Interstate 4, was dark Monday, and the theater's parking lot was nearly empty. One worker said the closing was hard to believe.

"We felt something was going on, but we gave them the benefit of the doubt," part-time auditor Hope Alberdeston said as she walked across the parking lot. "Even on the last show day this weekend, we didn't know. It's not right to do business like this."

Dixie Stampede LLC, the Pigeon Forge, Tenn.-based company that operated the 1,086-capacity theater, also has Dixie Stampedes in Pigeon Forge; Branson, Mo.; and Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Owens, the spokesman, said those who had purchased advanced tickets would be notified of the closing and would be offered refunds or help with making other dinner-theater plans.

The company plans to give most of the 150 to 200 employees severance packages with as much as 60 days of compensation. Some would be transferred to other locations, he said, and the attraction's livestock and horses would also be moved.

Sarah Flatt, a server who had worked at Dixie Stampede for eight months, arrived at about 4:30 p.m. to retrieve some personal items. She said she wasn't pleased with the way the closing was handled.

"A company this large could have at least held a meeting Saturday night to tell us what was going on," she said. "Some people have been here five years, and they aren't at all happy. I mean, all we know now is that we don't have jobs."

By Christopher Boyd.

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Very sad that all these people abruptly lost their jobs. I had read before that the Orlando location had attendance problems early on, but that they were doing well by the second year or so. The article states that "the decision to close had nothing to do with a lack of customer interest", so I assume they were given a cash offer on the property that they just couldn't pass up.

shavethewhales · January 08, 2008, 08:53:05 PM

Very unlike the Herschends, who usually take the utmost care of their employees. I guess Dolly's portions of the company have always been run differently though.

Swoosh · January 09, 2008, 04:55:46 PM

The outlet mall made them an offer that they couldn't refuse.

There is more to the story, I'm still checking with my sources to find out if all of it is true or not, but Dolly herself was a big player in this one.

Copper · January 10, 2008, 04:41:17 PM

I hope they rebuild in Orlando like they are saying. I wouldn't mind seeing one in Pennsylvania either.

Swoosh · January 10, 2008, 10:47:50 PM

If Dolly has her way they won't -- or at least not in the form it WAS in before the sell-out

Copper · January 23, 2008, 12:05:42 AM

Quote from: Swoosh on January 10, 2008, 10:47:50 PM
If Dolly has her way they won't -- or at least not in the form it WAS in before the sell-out

I am wondering what you heard. What state are you talking about? Did Dolly not like the Dixie in Orlando???

Swoosh · February 27, 2008, 10:47:40 PM

Just some of the "changes" in the main room regarding the meal that were made for Orlando

Joy · February 28, 2008, 09:36:54 PM

According to Jim Hill Media, it looks like Disney is eyeing the Dixie Stampede building for a possible High School Musical musical theater.

http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/archive/2008/02/18/monday-mouse-watch-could-the-now-defunct-dixie-stampede-soon-become-home-to-a-new-high-school-musical-themed-show.aspx

Who knows? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

~ "Becky" Joy ~

Swoosh · February 28, 2008, 09:55:39 PM

Yeah cause that would make so much sense

Jim Hill blows a lot of smoke, if you know what I mean. The theatre was bought so the outlet mall could expand

betamike · June 02, 2008, 06:39:46 PM

I seriously doubt the HSM idea (wink). The day after it closed to the public, it was used for a convention of some type. The area is simply saturated in these dinner theater type of shows and the price point of Dixie Stampede isn't what a lot of the tourists in the area are wanting to spend their last dime on. Usually these dinner shows come at the very end of everyone's vacation since both Disney and Universal keep everyone occupied for a while.

If it wasn't for them closing earlier this year, they may have begun to think about it now with the general downturn in attendance.