Tustin firm looks to wild west--to Florida

A Tustin-based theme park consultant has teamed with Florida company Inspirations Inc. to create a permanent outdoor rodeo dinner show at a planned agricultural center in Osceola County, Fla.

Dave Schmitt, principal of Management Resources in Tustin, said the proposed showdubbed the Great American

If approved, the rodeo would operate in a new 8,000-plus-seat center four or five nights each week and include a traditional Western barbecue and rodeo performance.

Schmitt said the show could be up and running by summer, but declined to estimate the cost of the project, citing ongoing negotiations with the arena operator. He said only that it would involve "minimal capital outlay."

Schmitt acknowledged the Great American Rodeo would be unlikely to fill 8,000 or so seats each night, but said feasibility studies indicated the concept could draw a couple thousand visitors for each performance, partly because of its location at a new state-of-the-art facility near 1-92 in an area where tourismrelated development is expanding.

Schmitt said his company was approached by Inspirations Inc. principal Tom Elrod, formerly president of marketing at Disney World, to join the project.

The Kissimmee/St. Cloud Convention and Visitors Bureau and at least one Osceola County commissioner have expressed support for the rodeo.

"It's a wonderful idea," Schmitt said. "Foreign visitors like the idea of the wild, wild West."

The 20-year-old Management Resources specializes in theme park and entertainment project planning, marketing and operations. It has done work on behalf of the Walt Disney Co., Knott's Berry Farm, and the Anaheim Angels. Notable local projects include the Orange County Marine Institute and the renovation of the Santa Monica Pier. The company also worked on the recently completed $1.4 billion Aladdin Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, and the Kennedy Space Center.