The American Heartland Theme Park and Resort

[Urbanized]

^^^^^^
The YouTube video linked upthread has quite a bit of reasonable speculation on the rides, based upon a scale model presented at the kickoff media event.

The one issue I take with the YouTuber has to do with assumptions he is making regarding financing. He is apparently taking it at face value that, essentially, Bicknell will be writing a $2 billion check and self-financing everything. He is saying this based on the fact that at the media event they stated that they are not looking for investors. As I have (also) pointed out upthread, nobody has said that there aren't ALREADY other (more silent) investors. They also haven't said that there would be no financing involved. They've only just played it close to the vest.

I think that the guy (Bicknell) is quite possibly a billionaire with a "B." Again, he owned over 1,000 Pizza Huts and sold them just a few years ago. He owns media companies, entertainment companies, film and television production companies, and on and on. He is real.

That said, none of that means he is writing a check for all of this. And he has a proven ability to finance big things. He has also already clearly spent millions to get to this point on this park plan. I think he is quite serious about this development. And again, I think he/they may have enough horsepower. But the idea that he is personally writing a check for $2 billion is a bit silly on the surface. It's not something he will have to do if he doesn't want to.

[shavethewhales]

^^^^^^
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I think that the guy (Bicknell) is quite possibly a billionaire with a "B." Again, he owned over 1,000 Pizza Huts and sold them just a few years ago. He owns media companies, entertainment companies, film and television production companies, and on and on. He is real.

That said, none of that means he is writing a check for all of this. And he has a proven ability to finance big things. He has also already clearly spent millions to get to this point on this park plan. I think he is quite serious about this development. And again, I think he/they may have enough horsepower. But the idea that he is personally writing a check for $2 billion is a bit silly on the surface. It's not something he will have to do if he doesn't want to.

Possibly. Within his family I can believe they have a billion if all the info about his various franchises and his son's business is accurate. His "media companies" do not impress me in the slightest, so I don't understand why people even bring them up. They look like placeholders to me. The animation arm of Mansion has produced one movie that I can see, and it's about Gene himself, LOL. Their television division has apparently created one show, and it was a live recording of a symphony that aired on public TV. What artists do they represent in their "sound" division? What do they distribute in their "distribution" arm, and where to? Where is their supposed movie studio?

Maybe some of this $2 billion is about building some of those things, particularly the studios. That would make more sense, especially if they are dipping into the "pureflix" line of business in creating a Christian media ecosystem.