The other issue is that there is no media synergy-no intellectual properties or cinematic universes with memorable characters and elaborate backstories-to draw from in. Part of the problem was that the funds invested got the operators some level of thematic design, but without the experiential holism that makes Disney’s projects so superior. Through the lens of the Disney experience, in order to draw families, all you needed to believe was that “if you build it, they will come.” And for a while, it worked.
But Buffalo Bill’s in particular is a wonderful snapshot-like an insect trapped in amber-of that time from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s when every casino operator in the region thought that theming would guarantee revenue. I don’t know what the future holds for Primm and its three resorts.
