The American Heartland Theme Park and Resort

[cappa]

Maybe an uneducated comment but seems like it'd be tough to source a workforce at a location like this. An hour drive from Tulsa..

[Swake]

It's not a monument to McDonald's anymore but it is WAY nicer. How exactly did Vinita lose the McDonalds? lol

Whenever OTA widens I-44 there that building is toast.

[jedicurt]

Maybe an uneducated comment but seems like it'd be tough to source a workforce at a location like this. An hour drive from Tulsa..

this was my thought as well. they are in a county of around 5,200 people, and will need like 6,000 employees.

[PhiAlpha]

I just spoke to a co-worker who just moved here from Claremore about this. She stated its a bad idea, because of the location. She stated there is nothing out there, and they will have a hard time getting people to visit the area. She stated if it was closer to Tulsa, it would be better. She stated tourists are going to want to do more than just the park, and will need more lodging, restaurants, entertainment.

Other Disney parks are located in major metro areas, not sure what they are trying to do here. $2B is a big investment for rural area. I think it will be built, but scaled down.

LOL. Some lady who lived in Claremore once isn't exactly a great source and if she's from there...I'm sure she has a more negative view than those of us that go up there for recreation all the time. Grand Lake is out there which is a decent tourist destination similar to Table Rock or Lake of The Ozarks in MO.

I found some land purchased by a group that looks like it has ties to these guys and is in the general area they mentioned. I'll see if I can map it and post it here.

[PhiAlpha]

Whenever OTA widens I-44 there that building is toast.

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.

[PoliSciGuy]

Maybe an uneducated comment but seems like it'd be tough to source a workforce at a location like this. An hour drive from Tulsa..

No that's a great question. Are there any other parks that are similarly placed in a sparsely populated area? I'd be curious to see what comparisons there are.

[PhiAlpha]

No that's a great question. Are there any other parks that are similarly placed in a sparsely populated area? I'd be curious to see what comparisons there are.

How big was Branson when Silver Dollar City was built?

[G.Walker]

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.

[G.Walker]

LOL. Some lady who lived in Claremore once isn't exactly a great source and if she's from there...I'm sure she has a more negative view than those of us that go up there for recreation all the time. Grand Lake is out there which is a decent tourist destination similar to Table Rock or Lake of The Ozarks in MO.

I found some land purchased by a group that looks like it has ties to these guys and is in the general area they mentioned. I'll see if I can map it and post it here.

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.

[BoulderSooner]

That said, it's an opportunity missed not building this in Disney, OK.

lol that would have been fantastic ..

[PhiAlpha]

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.

[PhiAlpha]

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.

[Jake]

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

[shavethewhales]

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.

[Zuplar]

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.

[PhiAlpha]

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.

OGB Holdings1.jpg
OGB Holdings2.jpg
OGB Holdings3.jpg
OGB Holdings4.jpg

[PhiAlpha]

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"

[Zuplar]

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.

OGB Holdings1.jpg
OGB Holdings2.jpg
OGB Holdings3.jpg
OGB Holdings4.jpg

Thanks for sharing, very interesting.

[jn1780]

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

[fortpatches]

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).

[jn1780]

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

[Swake]

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.

OGB Holdings1.jpg
OGB Holdings2.jpg
OGB Holdings3.jpg
OGB Holdings4.jpg

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.

[Swake]

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.

[fortpatches]

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.

[PhiAlpha]

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.