Back in January 2022, we announced details about a massive new 1000+ acre resort which is planned for the US Midwest. The theme park within the resort has been billed as the world’s first Eco Theme Park. In May, we brought you further information and concept art for this exciting new project which will be coming to the Chicago area. Now, we have even more information which has been released to us here at Theme Park Tourist on the new, first of its kind, Eco Theme Park.
The name of the park will be WILD and the location is now listed as the western suburbs of the Chicago area. We are hoping to release information on the exact location in the coming months. WILD is currently scheduled for an opening date in 2025/6.
Interactive animal experiences
We have already reported on the Eco and green focus of the theme park and in addition to the theme park, the project will include a year round indoor facility that will house numerous attractions from dark rides to up close, interactive animal experiences. These include stingray petting exhibits, walk through bat caves, and a very wacky musical attraction all about the importance of bees.
Other exhibits include hydro and aquaponics exhibits, a large format theater, and other themed rides and attractions. The park is nearly 300 acres and includes some of the largest immersive animal enclosures around. These will only house exotics that have come from sanctuaries, rescues, or those strictly bred for hunting reasons.
Rides and attractions
The piece of concept art shown above is taken from a planned log flume ride where guests are said to be able to get brief views into the 5-acre Black Bear enclosure. The two images below show concept art from the proposed, “The Amazon River Adventure” which will feature real animals from South and Central America.
The image below shows the Tea Cup pavilion from India. It is part of a working tea farm where guests can see “eco friendly” methods to provide us with many people’s favorite drink. There is also a plantation house that has the ultimate tea store and restaurant. Again, the aim has been to strip away the preachiness putting fun first with subtle but powerful messages.
In addition, several highly themed rides ranging from coasters to unique one of a kind experiences will fill multiple themed lands. The image below is concept art of the proposed mine train.
The concept art below shows a storyboard from “The Bee Ride”. It’s a musical adventure through a cartoony farm where fruits, vegetables, and flowers sing about the importance of bees using different themes of the same melody fitting their style.
Below is a series of images showing just a few of the many other attractions that will be on offer at WILD.
Like many theme parks, WILD will be split into a number of themed lands…
Themed Lands
Here are a number of images giving you an idea of the lands that will be included at WILD.
The park is designed to teach about green energies, climate change, renewable resources, and other current global eco topics. All done by putting entertainment first and making the messages subtle rather than preachy. Fun is certainly at the heart of this project while being aware of necessary global topics.
Beyond the park, a 500 room themed resort with one of the largest indoor water parks and well over 100,000 sq ft of conference and banquet space are planned.
Lastly, an extremely unique indoor entertainment district will include a 2,000 seat Broadway theater, unique shopping and dining, and numerous other entertainment options. The entertainment district is large enough to serve as the home to several full scale indoor parades throughout the year including Mardi Gras and New Years.
This is still just a taster of what will be on offer when WILD opens in 2025/6 and we know for sure information on the major attractions is yet to come! We will keep you up to date with further information and concept art, as soon as it is released, for this ambitious and exciting project which is coming to the Chicago area, here at Theme Park Tourist.
From seeing more concept art and hearing further details, are you looking forward to visiting WILD when it opens? Does the concept art get your imagination going? Which part are you most excited about? Do you think “eco” can be fun? What animals would you like to see? Let us know your thoughts by leaving us a comment below or on our Facebook page.
