She grew up there, and most of her adult life there, she is in her late 30s and just moved here. She knows the area and has spent time there.

And if she said "there's nothing out there" she isn't the best source of information.

You will probably be able to do the theme park in a day, then what? When we visited Branson a couple years ago, we stayed a few days. We spent a day going to shows/attractions, spent a day at Silver Dollar City, and spent a day shopping/eating/sight seeing in Branson proper.

People go to Winstar and Choctaw casinos for concerts that last 3 hours and stay for the weekend...

And for Winstar in particular...there was literally nothing around it when built.

I'm more worried about them not actually having the money to build all of this than it being in Vinita.

How big was Branson when Silver Dollar City was built?

SDC started out as a cave attraction and has grown into a large company with many business arms and other parks throughout the US. That took them about 60 years. These guys are trying to jump past them in one move.

SDC still has had enormous trouble with their workforce. It's been very bad in recent years and has only recently gotten a little better. There are still a few places within the park that they don't have enough people to staff so they sit closed. They are about to open some new employee dormitories since housing is so scarce in the area. Branson only has a few thousand people actually living full time in town, and a lot of that is retirees. A friend of mine commutes to work at SDC from the Springfield area every day, which I've always thought was crazy.

There is plenty already to do in this area if you like the outdoors. What a crazy comment that there isn't anything to do. Grand Lake by itself has numerous State Parks. I vacationed for a 3 day weekend and we wished we'd have done more because we rarely find ourselves in this part of the states. Had this park been there we'd have for sure done 5 days from the get go.

This isn't even worth debating folks, it's a ridiculous comment.

The highlighted parcels were owned by 1248 Holdings, LLC, and others related to Gene Bicknell who is affiliated with this group and spoke in the presentation today. They were recently transferred to OGB Holdings, LLC in January 2023, which is also most likely controlled by Gene Bicknell (OGB are his initials) and others affiliated with the project. It looks like they initially purchased a ranch and some surrounding properties for around $7 million between 4/26/22 and 7/6/22 (about $4,000/acre). In total they control 1,760.622 acres.

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There is plenty already to do in this area if you like the outdoors. What a crazy comment that there isn't anything to do. Grand Lake by itself has numerous State Parks. I vacationed for a 3 day weekend and we wished we'd have done more because we rarely find ourselves in this part of the states. Had this park been there we'd have for sure done 5 days from the get go.

This isn't even worth debating folks, it's a ridiculous comment.

Exactly. Like I was trying to say earlier...those are comments from a disillusioned person who has lived in Claremore her whole life and just got out...not someone who goes up there for recreation purposes...very similar to "There's nothing in OKC. I hate it here. Can't wait to leave." Not a good source for evaluating the viability of a project.

"The person taking my order, who has worked at chick fil a for 10 years, says it's terrible and that he/she can't understand why people eat there"

The highlighted parcels were owned by 1248 Holdings, LLC, and others related to Gene Bicknell who is affiliated with this group and spoke in the presentation today. They were recently transferred to OGB Holdings, LLC in January 2023, which is also most likely controlled by Gene Bicknell and others affiliated with the project. It looks like they initially purchased a ranch and some surrounding properties for around $7 million between 4/26/22 and 7/6/22 . In total they control 1,760.622 acres.

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Thanks for sharing, very interesting.

Why do I get the feeling that this is going to be the "conservative," "Murica" answer to Disney? And theme parks go down the rabbit hole of athletic shoes and movies and news networks and everything else that is cleaving into red and blue. I've been to Branson and this certainly does have that vibe to it, which makes me wonder why it's not just being built in Branson in the first place.

OK. All snark aside. I'm all for economic development. If this happens it will be good for the state from a tax dollar point of view, so you can't help but like that. It should bring travelers to Grand Lake which will help that region, and provide entry-level jobs for a lot of small-town kids. Again, that's good. So bring it on.

I'm more excited about the concert amphitheater for OKC, though.

That pretty much describes Branson

SDC started out as a cave attraction and has grown into a large company with many business arms and other parks throughout the US. That took them about 60 years. These guys are trying to jump past them in one move.

SDC still has had enormous trouble with their workforce. It's been very bad in recent years and has only recently gotten a little better. There are still a few places within the park that they don't have enough people to staff so they sit closed. They are about to open some new employee dormitories since housing is so scarce in the area. Branson only has a few thousand people actually living full time in town, and a lot of that is retirees. A friend of mine commutes to work at SDC from the Springfield area every day, which I've always thought was crazy.

Exactly. SDC's first roller coaster (Fire in the Hole) was built in 1972, 12 years after opening. Sadly, they are shuttering this coaster this year. The next oldest is Thunderation (1993) built 33 years after opening.

Don't they already have some employee dormitories there?

Shangri-La has some employee housing (according to one of the workers last month).

When I first saw the thread title. I was hopping it was Universal's smaller projects theme park projects.

The highlighted parcels were owned by 1248 Holdings, LLC, and others related to Gene Bicknell who is affiliated with this group and spoke in the presentation today. They were recently transferred to OGB Holdings, LLC in January 2023, which is also most likely controlled by Gene Bicknell (OGB are his initials) and others affiliated with the project. It looks like they initially purchased a ranch and some surrounding properties for around $7 million between 4/26/22 and 7/6/22 (about $4,000/acre). In total they control 1,760.622 acres.

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Yeah, that's about 15 minutes from Monkey Island. Maybe 20 minutes from Grove. And there are little airports on Monkey Island and in Grove.

It's also just 30 minutes from Claremore (and workers) and 45 minutes to TIA.

Kinda doubt that happens for awhile. Its been hard enough to get I-44 widened from OKC to Tulsa and it's probably the only turnpike in OK that legitimately needs it.

The new Turnpike project that widens I-44 between OKC and Bristow also widens I-44 between Tulsa and Claremore. Presumably this section would be next.

I was curious about how much $2 billion is for a Theme park that is expecting to produce like 4,000 jobs - so looked around for other, current projects.

Univeral's Epic Universe theme park is estimated to cost $1 billion-plus and is Universal's top project to date — and the Orlando-area's biggest one underway. It involves building a new theme park and a surrounding complex with multiple hotels, restaurants, entertainment, back of house, parking and support amenities. It is being built on 700 acres Universal already owned and is expected to create up to 14,000 new permanent theme park jobs.


It also seems that only 3 years to create such a large park is quite ambitious. I wonder if that is part of the reason it will cost so much - to accelerate the construction process.

Yeah, that's about 15 minutes from Monkey Island. Maybe 20 minutes from Grove. And there are little airports on Monkey Island and in Grove.

It's also just 30 minutes from Claremore (and workers) and 45 minutes to TIA.

There's also a little airport nearby in Vinita.

There are plenty of people who are not "lake" people or outdoors tourists. Mine in particular. We like to go eat, shop, and visit air conditioned indoor attractions. Not everyone wants to spend all day in the sun at the lake & drink beer, or go hiking....lol

There are plenty of people who are not "lake" people or outdoors tourists. Mine in particular. We like to go eat, shop, and visit air conditioned indoor attractions. Not everyone wants to spend all day in the sun at the lake & drink beer, or go hiking....lol

that means there isn’t much there for YOU right now lol. But just because there aren’t many options like that available now, doesn’t mean there won’t be. If this thing is built any where near the scale proposed and draws that many people, I would imagine that a lot of those types of activities will become available in Vinita, Grove, etc. I could see another Casino resort being built nearby, stores and restaurants opening in Vinita and more development between Vinita and Grand Lake, etc.

I might have missed it in the thread but old timers might remember when a theme park was proposed at Stroud back, l think, in the 70s.

I might have missed it in the thread but old timers might remember when a theme park was proposed at Stroud back, l think, in the 70s.

Some people in Tulsa are still holding their breath over Bells amusement park re-opening since it closed at the fairgrounds.

Wichita had Wild West World that lasted for two months (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_West_World)

People on the board who are old enough to remember Dog Patch USA between Harrison and Eureka Springs tried to compete against Silver Dollar City and changed hands enough times to finally close sometime in the mid 90's. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogpatch_USA)


A new theme park or large attraction, especially in a rural area seems like big risks. However, people drive all the way to rural Kentucky, north of Lexington, for the Ark Encounter, and Branson, despite it's off the beaten path location, Silver Dollar City seems to have continued success, but has 60 years of experience behind them.

^Wild West World was a crazy story. The guy did not actually have the funds to run the park and borrowed money from people at his church to get the place open. He was hoping he'd make enough in the first few weeks to start making payments, lol.

Dog Patch is a very interesting case history that ties into the growth of Branson, SDC, and even Dolly Parton/Dollywood. Did you know Dog Patch almost became Dollywood? They approached her at least. Obviously SDC got in front of her and made a much better case to build DW at a park they operated in Tennessee that at that point was called SDC Tennessee. Dog Patch's downfall was actually their attempt to turn a large part of the property into a ski resort...

I worked with a volunteer group on the Dog Patch property for a couple years before it was leased to a group called Heritage USA, which wanted to put a Christian theme park on the property. They were connected to the Bakers... It didn't pan out to much despite a media blitz and much fan fare. Very weird group - much more openly weird than this one.

But I still say that so far this American Heartland proposal reminds me of DreamVision - right down to the Disney comparisons, multi-billion $ price tag, and the random rural location. The fact that they have apparently purchased the property and have an existing business and some money behind them is a huge difference, however. Still lots to be skeptical of.

I worked with a volunteer group on the Dog Patch property for a couple years before it was leased to a group called Heritage USA, which wanted to put a Christian theme park on the property. They were connected to the Bakers... It didn't pan out to much despite a media blitz and much fan fare. Very weird group - much more openly weird than this one.

i think this was a different 'heritage usa'... the one associated with the bakkers was in south carolina.

There's apparently a Charlotte's Web themed attraction in all of this. Wonder if they've tried to reach out to other existing IPs that are at least somewhat identifiable.

Doubt this all happens, but they aren't Robby Bell, so points for that.

The highlighted parcels were owned by 1248 Holdings, LLC, and others related to Gene Bicknell who is affiliated with this group and spoke in the presentation today. They were recently transferred to OGB Holdings, LLC in January 2023, which is also most likely controlled by Gene Bicknell (OGB are his initials) and others affiliated with the project. It looks like they initially purchased a ranch and some surrounding properties for around $7 million between 4/26/22 and 7/6/22 (about $4,000/acre). In total they control 1,760.622 acres.

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Gene Bicknell is a Kansan who once owned 800 Pizza Hut franchises, the largest number owned by any franchisee. He sold them all in 2006, which embroiled him in a domicile case with the State of Kansas, who claimed he was still a Kansas resident at the time of the sale and therefore owed $43 million in taxes. He claimed to live in Florida, which has no income tax.

Initially courts ruled against him and he had to pay up. But after years of appeal he prevailed early last year, and Kansas had to pay it back with interest, about $63 million total. The initial land purchases in the quoted post above happened within weeks of that settlement, which happened May 15, 2022.

Now, the guy has many other holdings, apparently. Multiple radio stations, entertainment holdings in Branson, etc. He clearly had a lot of resources before he won this lawsuit, so he certainly might have been involved with this deal even without the tax victory. But it seems very possible that this was a project he was working on to find a place to invest his anticipated windfall.

It also feels like locating it in Oklahoma rather than Kansas might be a bit of a middle finger to the Sunflower State, as he’d reportedly exhibited quite a bit of animosity toward the state of Kansas during his years of courtroom fights. I’m guessing the proximity to his holdings in Branson is also viewed by him as a positive rather than a negative.

Here’s an article on his court case, which made national news in the business and legal worlds: https://kansasreflector.com/2022/05/20/former-pizza-magnate-bicknell-prevails-in-tax-appeal-to-kansas-supreme-court/

By the way, “windfall” might be the wrong word. This wasn’t unanticipated income; it was actually his own money being restored, with interest, according to the courts. Just saying he hadn’t had access to that money for years, and after he prevailed he needed to figure out what to do with it all. This project seems like the type of thing that could have been in the back of someone’s mind for many years, and getting a nice chunk of change back may have been the catalyst for dream actualization.

By the way, “windfall” might be the wrong word. This wasn’t unanticipated income; it was actually his own money being restored, with interest, according to the courts. Just saying he hadn’t had access to that money for years, and after he prevailed he needed to figure out what to do with it all. This project seems like the type of thing that could have been in the back of someone’s mind for many years, and getting a nice chunk of change back may have been the catalyst for dream actualization.

Wonder if he was able to do some kind of 1031 exchange since the money KS returned to him was at least partially related to a real estate sale?

I’m no tax expert (I have to pay for those) but that would make sense to me.

i think this was a different 'heritage usa'... the one associated with the bakkers was in south carolina.

LOL, It's quite a story. They were trying to revive Heritage USA at the Dogpatch property. https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2018/aug/22/behind-on-rent-lessee-abandons-dogpatch/

Very interesting to hear more about Gene Bicknell. Seems like a character. Having lots of money is a good start, securing the land is another good step. Still a LONG way to getting a $2 billion park built. Like has been pointed out earlier, Universal is spending $1 billion on a new park in the middle of Orlando. Why is this twice as much? Surely this will get pared down to a quarter of that at most? With half a billion dollars you can build a substantial park. I remember back in 2003 HFEC built Celebration City at a cost of something like $40 million, but granted they were starting on the bones of an existing park that had infrastructure but not much else.

LOL, It's quite a story. They were trying to revive Heritage USA at the Dogpatch property. https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2018/aug/22/behind-on-rent-lessee-abandons-dogpatch/

Very interesting to hear more about Gene Bicknell. Seems like a character. Having lots of money is a good start, securing the land is another good step. Still a LONG way to getting a $2 billion park built. Like has been pointed out earlier, Universal is spending $1 billion on a new park in the middle of Orlando. Why is this twice as much? Surely this will get pared down to a quarter of that at most? With half a billion dollars you can build a substantial park. I remember back in 2003 HFEC built Celebration City at a cost of something like $40 million, but granted they were starting on the bones of an existing park that had infrastructure but not much else.

With that, I was trying to find something comparable on scale.

The new Universal Park in Frisco, TX is only supposed to by like $500 million and 1/4 the size of Universal Orlanda. This park targets families with small children (and is the test-run for smaller local parks). It will have rides, shows, a 300-room hotel, restaurants, shops and other typical amusement park amenities.

They expect 3.4mil guests per year. (7.5k weekdays and 20k saturdays. (They don't list sundays?). They say it will create "thousands" of jobs, but no number was provided.

Theme Park | Frisco, TX - Official Website (friscotexas.gov) (https://www.friscotexas.gov/1826/Theme-Park)

^^^^^^^^^^
Wouldn't be surprised if they weren't planning on being open on Sundays, because I am guessing that hiding not far beneath the surface this is a Christian-themed park. It's consistent with some of what I read about Bicknell, and some of the coded language that has been used, and ties to Branson, which has a pretty strong evangelical undercurrent in places. Even the working name, "America's Heartland." So I would suppose (and again this is a guess) that this is being developed as a Disney alternative for folks who have soured on Disney. The centralized "heartland" location works, because it would be possible for 90% of their target demographic to drive, meaning they would not be as dependent upon direct flights as Disney is.

Honestly, it seems like there is probably a robust market for this. That said, while I understand the motivation for not being open on Sundays (if that is true) it would be a massive hit to the potential revenue for a theme park. Sunday is not just another day in the attractions business; it is by far the second highest-grossing day for nearly all attractions, secular or otherwise.

^^^^^^^^^^
Wouldn't be surprised if they weren't planning on being open on Sundays, because I am guessing that hiding not far beneath the surface this is a Christian-themed park. It's consistent with some of what I read about Bicknell, and some of the coded language that has been used, and ties to Branson, which has a pretty strong evangelical undercurrent in places. Even the working name, "America's Heartland." So I would suppose (and again this is a guess) that this is being developed as a Disney alternative for folks who have soured on Disney. The centralized "heartland" location works, because it would be possible for 90% of their target demographic to drive, meaning they would not be as dependent upon direct flights as Disney is.

Honestly, it seems like there is probably a robust market for this. That said, while I understand the motivation for not being open on Sundays (if that is true) it would be a massive hit to the potential revenue for a theme park. Sunday is not just another day in the attractions business; it is by far the second highest-grossing day for nearly all attractions, secular or otherwise.

Yeah i definitely think there’s a market for it given how probably around half the country feels about Disney right now. Aside from the social/political aspect of it…Disney world/land are extremely expensive to travel to and visit with a family. I’m sure this would be significantly cheaper in travel costs and admission/lodging.

Gatlinburg of Oklahoma

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nELI5qxequU&ab_channel=ThemeParkPredictions

A more optimistic take:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwLAHF0Uokk&ab_channel=CoasterStudios

Where is this actually located near Vinita? Apologies if that was already mentioned.

Where is this actually located near Vinita? Apologies if that was already mentioned.

I posted map of the parcels they own on page 2 or 3.

I posted map of the parcels they own on page 2 or 3.

Phi's maps showed the area is about halfway between Vanita and Grand Lake. The site is about 4 miles east of I-44 on US-60 at the OK-82 intersection.

I posted map of the parcels they own on page 2 or 3.

Thanks for posting that. I wondered if the lake in rendering might be the rock quarry in that area

I had a house on Grand Lake for many years in Ketchum Cove so I’m familiar with the area often taking to Vinita exit on 60 to get there.

TW Article on it: https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/business/2b-theme-park-planned-off-route-66-questions-and-answers/article_88de885e-25a1-11ee-b527-07b0e77564fe.html

Not sure if it has been posted yet but here is the official website: https://www.americanheartlandthemepark.com/

People Magazine article: https://people.com/american-heartland-theme-park-and-resort-everything-to-know-7564604?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=news_tab

Articles like this make me think there is a real chance this will be pulled off.

People Magazine article: https://people.com/american-heartland-theme-park-and-resort-everything-to-know-7564604?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=news_tab

Articles like this make me think there is a real chance this will be pulled off.

lol, articles like that are just fluff pieces where they pull photos and quotes from the PR. There's no investigative journalism there. They aren't questioning whether the developers actually have the ability to raise capital or if they can get the workers to the area, or if the very business proposal makes sense based on cost, likely attendance, and other factors.

In a recent article it was stated that the one and only funding source is Gene. They have no other investors on board yet. The family does have some money, but not $2 billion worth. It remains to be seen if they have a real business plan here or are just blowing smoke. They do have the land, and I believe they can get the RV park built. Everything after that seems up in the air to me. Still say it all gets scaled back.

It says 20 former Disney imagineers are also behind the project. That seems pretty impressive to me.

If you google this project TONS of publications from all over the world are covering this so if those are all fluff pieces then there is a lot of fluffing going around. Admittedly a selfish part of me will be jealous that Tulsa will ultimately see many international flights well before OKC if this thing does in fact even if a lot of visitors are domestic.

Plus when you look at the reality of the situation without getting political it seems like there is a growing hatred of Disney and universal(Hollywood in general) from a specific demographic who make up a lot of people and there is a market for something like this. Frankly I always thought it would be an expansion of Silver Dollar City or a new theme park in Texas.

If built I’ll probably check it out once but I’m really put off by the religious crap and I hope that’s brought to a minimum. The being closed on Sunday sh!t is a bit off putting.

^

The coverage is due to the press release and sexy images.

Everyone is starved for content so they eat this stuff up and don't do any fact-checking or follow up.

I guess we’ll just wait and see. Even if the RV park is built as proposed it’ll be pretty impressive though is there really a demand for that kind of an RV park here without something else to compliment it with the other plans?

I'm not saying it's not going to happen...

Just saying press coverage is not a good barometer.

The Chickasaws have the opportunity to do the funniest thing and just add an amusement park to their OKANA Resort/Water Park behemoth and end this thing before it even begins. Outside of Disney/Universal obviously, only the tribes have the resources and power to pull something off like this in Oklahoma in my opinion.

All of this noise has just made me appreciate OKANA even more. That SHOULD have gotten even more press, at least locally, since it's actually happening and will probably eclipse over a billion dollars when everything is built out. It'll be a game-changer.

Heartland Park not involving the Cherokees is a massive red flag to me.

I'm not saying it's not going to happen...

Just saying press coverage is not a good barometer.



It’s still impressive to me at least I mean yeah they have a couple flashy renderings but so do a lot of other projects and they don’t get this kind of coverage. I think it’s likely more to do with the concept of what’s being proposed as an alternative to Disney.

But also having 20 former imagineers working on this can’t be cheap so there has to be some kind of money involved if that’s really true.

I tried reaching out to their email asking for aerial map with actual boundaries drawn out which I haven’t been able to find anywhere even through I know the general area. I’m waiting to see if they even bother to respond at all.

The Chickasaws have the opportunity to do the funniest thing and just add an amusement park to their OKANA Resort/Water Park behemoth and end this thing before it even begins. Outside of Disney/Universal obviously, only the tribes have the resources and power to pull something off like this in Oklahoma in my opinion.
That is a good point and would be very cool to see. Lots of redevelopment opportunities in the immediate area with very low property values.


Heartland Park not involving the Cherokees is a massive red flag to me.

I’m not really all that surprised given the type of demographic these people are pandering to and I’d be a bit surprised to see them get involved. On the flip side if this thing does fall through maybe all the buzz around it could be an inspiration to the Cherokees to take the mantle and do it themselves without the religious/American theme. A Native American theme park owned and operated by native Americans would be pretty cool.

Yeah, an Americana-themed park doesn't exactly mesh with the tribes, but there are certain elements the Cherokees could have at least maybe put their stamp on. Like their own version of the indoor waterpark/resort hotel. They apparently weren't involved at all after they were initially told of the plan at the very beginning, which is weird.

I don’t find it weird because if you look at the people behind it they don’t seem like the most progressive/accepting people out there. I’d bet they’d prefer the tribes stay out of it.

It says 20 former Disney imagineers are also behind the project. That seems pretty impressive to me.

Probably not as impressive as you'd think. I just checked and Imagineering has been around since 1952, currently there are 140 job titles with that in it, 240+ imagineers currently employed. So I'd bet there are thousands of former imagineers out there...

I think it’s too early to say whether the Cherokee Tribe will or won’t be involved. At minimum a massive RV park and any type of resort right next to Grand Lake would provide would seem like a no brainer opportunity to build a casino around there. I have a feeling they may get involved if this moves forward.

Probably not as impressive as you'd think. I just checked and Imagineering has been around since 1952, currently there are 140 job titles with that in it, 240+ imagineers currently employed. So I'd bet there are thousands of former imagineers out there...
Maybe. I’m not a Disney history expert. But I do know currently it is not easy to become an Imagineer. I don’t know what the requirements were back then they might’ve been more lenient. They were also probably a more conservative crowd.

I don't think the Cherokees will be involved. They haven't been contacted prior to the announcement and have stated that they have no part in this. This group does not seem like the type that would want anything to do with a Casino. They probably want to build their own resort in order to get the ROI for the rest of the property. The theme park itself only makes so much money - you need that resort revenue too.

If they were to get involved, it would be to financially back the project as a general investing partner, but I don't think they need it or would be interested in taking a huge gamble on this, especially if the rumored political/religious emphasis is true.

lol, articles like that are just fluff pieces where they pull photos and quotes from the PR. There's no investigative journalism there. They aren't questioning whether the developers actually have the ability to raise capital or if they can get the workers to the area, or if the very business proposal makes sense based on cost, likely attendance, and other factors.

In a recent article it was stated that the one and only funding source is Gene. They have no other investors on board yet. The family does have some money, but not $2 billion worth. It remains to be seen if they have a real business plan here or are just blowing smoke. They do have the land, and I believe they can get the RV park built. Everything after that seems up in the air to me. Still say it all gets scaled back.

I was trying to find the quote, but I thought I ready somewhere that they were not looking for investors.

Also, I think the reason the news is so big is because the price tag is so big. Comparable parks seem to have a price tag of like $1 bln at most.

Nvm

I don't think the Cherokees will be involved. They haven't been contacted prior to the announcement and have stated that they have no part in this. This group does not seem like the type that would want anything to do with a Casino. They probably want to build their own resort in order to get the ROI for the rest of the property. The theme park itself only makes so much money - you need that resort revenue too.

If they were to get involved, it would be to financially back the project as a general investing partner, but I don't think they need it or would be interested in taking a huge gamble on this, especially if the rumored political/religious emphasis is true.

LOL. Yes I never said they would build a casino as part of the project...Okana is a big resort without a casino. i said they could build one nearby which the amusement park would have absolutely no control over. Obviously if brought in, they would be brought in as a financial backer.

My point was that it would certainly benefit them if this blew up and brought millions of people into their reservation area every year (as an example, they would have a massive built-in crowd for a casino/resort between the amusement park and Grand Lake) so there is plenty of financial motivation for them to support it. They don’t have the benefit that the chickasaws do of being the closest casinos to the DFW area so anything that draws people to their area is a good thing.

I was trying to find the quote, but I thought I ready somewhere that they were not looking for investors.

Also, I think the reason the news is so big is because the price tag is so big. Comparable parks seem to have a price tag of like $1 bln at most.

well the dude isn’t worth $2 Billion so that would seem kind of odd.

Staffing will be the biggest issue. Not sure how may people from Tulsa is going want to commute back and forth 65 miles everyday.