Two bidders are considering offers to buy Wild West World, the bankrupt theme park's lawyer said Thursday.

They'd better hurry, because a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge wants to know soon whether the park can be sold.

In a hearing Thursday where a Kansas City-area bank was rebuffed in its attempt to reclaim four rides, the main theme to emerge was the need to find a buyer quickly.

In the meantime, Judge Robert Nugent moved to hold the park together, denying the bank's request to seize its four rides.

"This case is going to move quickly..." Nugent said. "This is a very time-sensitive piece of property.

"I'd like it very much if the snow did not fall on (the park) while it is owned by the debtor...."

Nugent told lawyers the park's sale will be the court's first focus.

"If it is not sold soon, then the prospects of allowing creditors the maximum recovery will decline as time goes by," he said.

That message is clearly understood by park owner Thomas Etheredge, his lawyer indicated.

Wichita lawyer Ed Nazar said he wasn't sure when to expect offers from two groups "who've walked the park." But he acknowledged it better be soon.

"I'm pushing them both," said Nazar, who declined to identify the bidders, citing confidentiality agreements.

Absent a quick sale -- some amusement park analysts say the window to sell the park will close around Labor Day -- the park will be liquidated to pay creditors.

Thursday's hearing was the first attempt to begin liquidating the park, through Bank of Blue Valley's request to seize four rides it leased to Etheredge last year. The bank sought permission to take control of the rides, valued at $954,000, claiming they were insufficiently insured.

Bank attorney Paul Hoffman said his client isn't locked in to repossession and would consider insuring the rides individually on the park grounds while the search for a buyer continues.

Several parties to the bankruptcy, including the unsecured creditors committee and the city of Park City, joined Etheredge and his lenders in opposing the bank's seizure request. All indicated in court that the park should be sold as a whole to maximize the cash creditors can recover.

Nugent declined to turn the rides over, but he did order Etheredge and his lead lender, the First National Bank of Southern Kansas, to produce a better insurance policy than the one the bank obtained last Friday.

That policy covered the rides, but carried a $50,000 per incident deductible and failed to specify risk, Hoffman said.

"No, we didn't get what we wanted this morning," Hoffman said. "We wanted the right to get our rides if we so decided.

"But we understand the court's decision, and we're anxious to work with the court on this case."

The higher deductible is a ten-fold increase from the $5,000 included in the park's original insurance, which expired July 25.

"We're in an area that has been hard-hit by flooding, and there's the possibility of tornadoes," Hoffman said. "We could be looking at a $200,000 deductible here."

Nugent bought that argument, although he acknowledged that "getting casualty insurance for a theme park that's in Chapter 11 bankruptcy isn't easy, and it isn't inexpensive."

"It seems to me that this is easily fixed," he said. "Get them a $5,000 deductible and get them a look at what the insurance says."

The next hearing in the case is an Aug. 14 status conference before Nugent, when the details of the park's reorganization plan will be divulged.