OKANA Resort & Indoor Waterpark

[Pete]

[Jake]

Facebook comments are full of some real winners as always on this post.

[BDP]

Will everything but the outdoor water park be open on the 21st?

[Pete]

Will everything but the outdoor water park be open on the 21st?

That is unclear.

The hotel and indoor waterpark for sure. The spa to the west may be. No way on either of the two big restaurants is those western buildings. And there is an arcade, stores, and several restaurants between the hotel and the indoor park... I'm sure we'll know more very soon.

[Plutonic Panda]

Sorry, my memory is a bit fuzzy here but what is the deal with the river bike Trail? Is it going to be in front of the hotels in between the river? I know they’re building that pedestrian bridge. I’m assuming they’re gonna have a path wide enough that will have a section for bikes in a section for pedestrians?

[W8N2SKI]

Okay...dumb question...what is the deal with the missing sections of the blue slide? They have it capped. Expansion?

[jn1780]

Okay...dumb question...what is the deal with the missing sections of the blue slide? They have it capped. Expansion?

I kind of wonder though where it could go if they did expand. May just be the the launching platform had two sides, but they only wanted one slide of that type so they capped it off. It would be interesting to see what the inside looks like. It would be cool if it was routed all the way to a future expansion area.

[Jake]

Okay...dumb question...what is the deal with the missing sections of the blue slide? They have it capped. Expansion?

I've been wondering this as well. There's even supports waiting for it.

[BDP]

That is unclear.

The hotel and indoor waterpark for sure. The spa to the west may be. No way on either of the two big restaurants is those western buildings. And there is an arcade, stores, and several restaurants between the hotel and the indoor park... I'm sure we'll know more very soon.

Thanks for the info. Would be cool to check out, but only if the other amenities are open.

[Anonymous.]

This place is going to be so awesome. I did not realize how large those slides are until they posted the people standing in them.

Also the amount of people I have heard that thought this place was going to have a casino element is pretty funny.

[citywokchinesefood]

This place is going to be so awesome. I did not realize how large those slides are until they posted the people standing in them.

Also the amount of people I have heard that thought this place was going to have a casino element is pretty funny.

I know they can't legally do it there. I would really enjoy a place to play poker that close to downtown.

[HFAA Alum]

I know they can't legally do it there. I would really enjoy a place to play poker that close to downtown.

Honestly, I don't see why not. It would bring in a lot of the snowbirds, not to mention high rollers looking to drop a few over some hands. I understand the whole 'not in the city core' thing, but this place is about as far off from the city core while still looking to contribute to the local economy. If anything, that much money being rotated would be a wet dream for local chains.

[dankrutka]

Honestly, I don't see why not. It would bring in a lot of the snowbirds, not to mention high rollers looking to drop a few over some hands. I understand the whole 'not in the city core' thing, but this place is about as far off from the city core while still looking to contribute to the local economy. If anything, that much money being rotated would be a wet dream for local chains.

Reread the thread. There’s about 100 posts on this. It’s not legal to open a casino if it’s not on tribal reservation land, which Okana isn’t.

[HFAA Alum]

Reread the thread. There’s about 100 posts on this. It’s not legal to open a casino if it’s not on tribal reservation land, which Okana isn’t.

And I do understand that is the statute, however I find myself in disagreement with it. As someone who does casino entertainment for a living, not much really goes on that's dubious to the surrounding environment unless in places where intentionally unsupervised by security (namely offshoot branches that like to save money for expansion efforts throughout the state, or remote locations that refuse a liquor license for the sole purpose of driving up profits for the main location elsewhere). Places like that, bands don't like to play at because of lodging accommodations and pay scale, but I digress.

That law feels more like a stipulation against the people who typically would have the finances to open, run, and maintain an establishment of that caliber. As far as the legal reasons for the statute, I don't see much of one. And even you want to go with the 'Sin City' narrative, most casinos have areas for family entertainment and other ways to engage aside from the act of gambling itself. Not to mention it opens up another large venue for A-list and B-list music acts to come through town. Not to mention there would be a great opportunity to have the music scene flourish throughout the city when you have people coming from all over to play there. I guess I'm looking at it from the entertainment aspect, but I still have yet to encounter anything dubious when it comes to venues closer to town. In fact, the further away from civilization the locations tend to be, the more dubious activities you'll see people lean into.

[Plutonic Panda]

Yeah, I think it would be awesome if they built a casino there as well. I understand as it has been stated in this thread, it would take an act of Congress to do so, but having casinos in downtown, Oklahoma City would be awesome. Acts of Congress have happened before.

[Urbanized]

And I do understand that is the statute, however I find myself in disagreement with it. As someone who does casino entertainment for a living, not much really goes on that's dubious to the surrounding environment unless in places where intentionally unsupervised by security (namely offshoot branches that like to save money for expansion efforts throughout the state, or remote locations that refuse a liquor license for the sole purpose of driving up profits for the main location elsewhere). Places like that, bands don't like to play at because of lodging accommodations and pay scale, but I digress.

That law feels more like a stipulation against the people who typically would have the finances to open, run, and maintain an establishment of that caliber. As far as the legal reasons for the statute, I don't see much of one. And even you want to go with the 'Sin City' narrative, most casinos have areas for family entertainment and other ways to engage aside from the act of gambling itself. Not to mention it opens up another large venue for A-list and B-list music acts to come through town. Not to mention there would be a great opportunity to have the music scene flourish throughout the city when you have people coming from all over to play there. I guess I'm looking at it from the entertainment aspect, but I still have yet to encounter anything dubious when it comes to venues closer to town. In fact, the further away from civilization the locations tend to be, the more dubious activities you'll see people lean into.

It has zero to do with any of this. It’s FEDERAL law, not a restriction by Oklahoma or Oklahoma City. Changing it would require a literal act of congress. And - at least for the next four years - such legislation would have to be signed into law by a president who has historically been very antagonistic to Indian gaming. Continuing to pine for it here wastes everybody’s time and bandwidth.

[BoulderSooner]

It has zero to do with any of this. It’s FEDERAL law, not a restriction by Oklahoma or Oklahoma City. Changing it would require a literal act of congress. And - at least for the next four years - such legislation would have to be signed into law by a president who has historically been very antagonistic to Indian gaming. Continuing to pine for it here wastes everybody’s time and bandwidth.

well kind of ... it also now takes separate Oklahoma Government approval to put non historic lands of tribes into federal trust .. (this was added as a rider to a federal transportation bill years ago when the shawnee tribe wanted to build a casino in OKC 200 miles from their land )

[warreng88]

I posted a five star review to offset the negative reviews based on price alone and it looks like they finally got somebody to go in and respond to the reviews, but only the five star reviews. The reviewed three and under (haven't seen a four star review) have all remained uptouched.

[TheTravellers]

I posted a five star review to offset the negative reviews based on price alone and it looks like they finally got somebody to go in and respond to the reviews, but only the five star reviews. The reviewed three and under (haven't seen a four star review) have all remained uptouched.

It's absurd there are even reviews, it doesn't even open until 2/21, right?

[bamarsha]

It has zero to do with any of this. It’s FEDERAL law, not a restriction by Oklahoma or Oklahoma City. Changing it would require a literal act of congress. And - at least for the next four years - such legislation would have to be signed into law by a president who has historically been very antagonistic to Indian gaming. Continuing to pine for it here wastes everybody’s time and bandwidth.

Marijuana is still illegal in the entire country (federal law), yet it is "legal" (if you can call it that) here. It would take that same act of congress (the US congress) to make weed legal. So, if the state really wanted to "legalize" gambling throughout the state, we could follow the exact same approach as weed... just do it and tell the feds where they can go.

[warreng88]

It's absurd there are even reviews, it doesn't even open until 2/21, right?

Exactly and people were posting reviews when the prices were announced. It looks like the oldest google review is about four months old.

[ourulz2000]

Received a flyer in the mail today in DFW promoting its opening on February 21.

[amocore]

You want to turn a very exciting place in something depressing; add a casino !

I am not talking about gambling but the people and the state of mind who come with a casino. I have seen the crowds in casinos all over the state. Nice or not facilities, it smells like life had been sucked out of them.

PS: I do not talk about everybody but I feel the greater part of people “playing” in casino in OK, should not be there and it shows on there face.

[TheHorseman]

You want to turn a very exciting place in something depressing; add a casino !

I am not talking about gambling but the people and the state of mind who come with a casino. I have seen the crowds in casinos all over the state. Nice or not facilities, it smells like life had been sucked out of them.

PS: I do not talk about everybody but I feel the greater part of people “playing” in casino in OK, should not be there and it shows on there face.

Totally agree with this. And that goes with drug decriminalization for me as well.

[Pete]

Go to any Oklahoma casino in the middle of a weekday afternoon.

You will see hundreds of broken-down, chain-smoking addicts in a scene that is the polar opposite of the partying, everybody wins commercials that run endlessly.


Last time I was in Vegas, I was up early and looking for a place to have breakfast. Of course, you have to go through casinos to get to anything in that town. Let me tell you, there is nothing sadder than legions of zombie-like people hunched over machines at 7 AM in the morning.