Grand Southern Studios Developing New Orlando Park?

Is Orlando ready to welcome yet another new theme park? In the past few years, there have been quite a few rumors about a Six Flags Over Florida coming to the area, but plans never materialized. Back in 2011, the infamous Orlando Thrill Park was announced, but the plan was rejected by the city. Now it looks like another company is getting ready to build a new theme park in Central Florida, and the plans, while extremely vague, sound quite promising.

To have a better understanding of the situation, let's go back to 2013. On November 12, 2013, an interesting press release stated that a company known as the Information Architects Corporation acquired all assets of The Dakota Creative Group LLC for the "development of major theme park operations." Here's the full press release, which you might have seen on other websites as well:

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     ORLANDO, FL -- (Marketwired - Nov 12, 2013) - Information Architects (OTC Pink: IACH) is pleased to announce the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire all outstanding assets of The Dakota Creative Group, LLC. Formed in 2006 The Dakota Creative Group is a detailed developer of major theme parks.

Having personnel that were previously employed by Disney and Universal the company has developed plans for an all new destination resort theme park including designs for five all new unique rides. The company has also acquired the design specifications and rights to a host of other rides from existing theme parks that the company will put their own unique brand on.

Additionally the company has agreements in place with approximately 250 restaurants and food vendors to be incorporated into the parks. The company has also signed agreements with two destination resort hotels to be incorporated into the parks and is in the design stages of multiple boutique hotels to also service the parks. To round out the destination resort experience, the company has detailed plans and specifications for an 18 hole championship golf course. The theme of the park is to be based on a well-known brand and will be announced at a later date.

For the development of the parks, the company is currently in negotiations with multiple financing entities and expects to have the funding in place to begin construction in the very near future.
Revenues at existing U.S. theme parks have been on steady increase of 3.6% in each of the past two years after a 4.5% jump in 2010 and are expected to reach a record $13.4 billion this year, according to research firm Wall Street Daily. 131.6 million people visited theme parks last year and this acquisition positions IACH to become a major player in this growing industry.

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From that point on, nothing else was heard from the company, until just about a month ago. In fact, on September 3, 2014, Information Architects created a new company called "Grand Southern Studios and Theme Parks, LLC," which is based in Orlando. Another new press release was shared to many news outlets (specifically catering to investors). Here it is:

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     Orlando, FL / ACCESSWIRE / September 3, 2014 - Information Architects (OTCPK: IACH) today announce the formation of 'Grand Southern Studios and Theme Parks', LLC. This new wholly owned subsidiary of IACH will be the holding company for the financing, development, and construction of the company's planned theme parks. A major portion of the groundwork for the theme parks was gained in the previously announced acquisition of the Dakota Creative Group; this new subsidiary is to move the development to the implementation stage.

Hiring personnel that were previously employed by Disney and Universal the Dakota Creative Group has developed plans for an all new destination resort theme park including designs for five all new unique rides. Grand Southern will acquire the design specifications and rights to a host of other rides from existing theme parks that the company will put their own unique brand on.

Additionally, IACH is in talks with restaurants and food vendors to be incorporated into the parks. The company is in talks with two destination resort hotels to be incorporated into the parks and is in the design stages of multiple boutique hotels to also service the parks.

To round out the destination resort experience the company plans to develop an 18 hole championship golf course and is tying in animated properties from its wholly owned subsidiary 'Legacy Animation Group'.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain forward-looking statements that are neither historical facts nor assurances of the future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy, and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements are related to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside our control. Our actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, acceptance of our products among consumers and professionals, our need for additional capital, our ability to manage growth as well other risks identified in our filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this press release is based only on information that is currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it was made. We undertake no obligation to publically update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

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After the announcement, the company also created a new website for this new company, which is now just a static page with some very amateur-like logos:

Let's recap all the bits of information included in both press releases for those who may feel "lost" (or for those who prefer to avoid reading extremely long paragraphs on a computer screen):

• Information Architects Corporation is the company behind this major project;
• The Information Architects Corporation acquired The Dakota Creative Group, LLC in 2013;
• Information Architects Corporation also acquired the 'Legacy Animation Group'.
• The project for the Orlando area includes hotels, shops, a golf course, and a theme park;
• This project is still NOT set in stone, and may be cancelled at any time;
• Planning for the theme park and the surrounding area has already started.

Finally, just a couple of weeks ago, two new members were added to the board, one of which (Peter Alexander) has an extensive knowledge of theme parks, having been involved in many theme park projects. He has been the owner of the "Totally Fun Company" since January 1991 and was also the VP of Planning & Development for Universal Studios (November 1981 – January 1991) as well as Director of Project Management at Walt Disney Imagineering (July 1979 – October 1981). Here is the latest press release (the last one, we promise!):

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     Orlando, FL / ACCESSWIRE / September 30, 2014  - Information Architects (OTCPK: IACH) today announced the addition of two new members to the Board of Directors. The first addition is Peter Alexander who has a very extensive background in theme park design and construction. His company, Themed Future Concepts, is responsible for various phases of development of 20 theme parks in the U.S. and abroad.

Prior to Themed Future Concepts Mr. Alexander held theme park executive positions with Walt Disney, Universal Studios and Time Warner. Mr. Alexander is also an industry expert in producing key feasibility studies for planned them parks. He has produced these studies for theme parks all over the world for companies including Walt Disney, The Royal Court of Dubai, and Koch Development among others.

Mr. Alexander is also responsible for the design and creation of 21 iconic rides and shows at Universal Studios, Six Flags, and Walidi [SIC.] among others. Some of the rides he is responsible for include Back to the Future: The Ride; Jaws: The Ride; King Kong: Kongfrontation (2); A-Team Live Action Show and many more.

Mr. Alexander has also written and directed the 2001 feature film 'The Profit' and co-created the television series 'Guts' on Nickelodeon network in 1992. Additionally he wrote and produced 'Go for It' in 1991 also on Nickelodeon.

The second member to be joining the Board of Directors is Randy Grinter, who was formally the president of IACH. Mr. Grinter has a very accomplished background as a nightclub operator and at one time operated the largest private live music club in South Florida. Mr. Grinter also was in charge of security for the 'Hollywood Sportatorium' which was considered by many to be the rock music mecca of South Florida in the 70's and 80's.

Mr. Grinter also has an in-depth background in the film industry having held positions as Grip, Gaffer, Assistant Cameraman, Camera Operator, Director of Production, Unit Production Manager, and Producer on projects including commercials, music videos and a wide variety of related productions. Additionally Mr. Grinter has written several screen plays.

Most recently Mr. Grinter has been building websites with a focus on building complex web platforms. As was previously announced Mr. Grinter is heading the project to develop, enhance, and complete the IACH company website which is expected to be launched soon.

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In conclusion, while the plans for this new themed resort are still very vague and the future of this project seems quite uncertain, we are definitely excited. The last theme park to open in the Central Florida area was LEGOLAND Florida, but it used most of the existing infrastructures left behind by Cypress Gardens Adventure Park. The last theme park to be built from scratch in Florida was actually Universal's Islands of Adventure, and that one opened in 1999, fifteen years ago.

Do you think Orlando could use another (quality) theme park that could possibly create even more competition, or is this market getting close to saturation? Make sure to share your comments with us.

NOTE - We would like to thank the following websites for providing us the necessary information that we put together to create this in-depth analysis: Investors Hub, Market Wired, Reuters, Yahoo Finance, 4 Traders,