No kidding

South Florida CEO, August, 2004 by Barbara Perkins

Wannado Entertainment wants kids to play doctor--and pilot and broadcaster and any number of adult roles. But the games may end if two Mexican litigants have their way. A suit was filed in federal court, claiming the idea for Wannado City--an indoor theme park that includes a faux hospital, airport, and television station--is a knock-off of the popular Mexico City attraction La Ciudad de Los Ninos. "It should be called Wannabe," says Andres Rivero, a partner at Rivero & Mestre, the law firm representing plaintiffs Controladora Amazing Toys and Amazing Toys de Mexico. Wannado Entertainment, the Fort Lauderdale-based subsidiary of Mexico's Corporacion Interamericana de Entretenimiento, plans to open a 140,000-square-foot Wannado City complex this month at the Sawgrass Mills mall in Sunrise, company officials said. But the opening may be delayed by the lawsuit, which names only Wannado's partner, Sawgrass owner The Mills Corp., as a defendant. Why the suit so late in the game? Rivero says his clients only gained access to Mills' plans recently. Valerie McCarty, Wannado's chief marketing officer, says she's "confident in the concept and the park," but would not comment on the lawsuit.

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