The American Heartland Theme Park and Resort

[bombermwc]

I'm not holding my breath on any of this. An RV park is super easy to build, and can be expanded on your masterplan in as many phases as you want. They can open a 30 slip shop and say they're "open for business". But that's not the same as opening a theme park of this size with no support base to staff it or even customers to visit it.

Someone mentioned Branson as a comparison. Well Branson got it's start as a collection of attractions that organically grew into what you see today. One big tourist trap of expense bull crap. Opening a theme park of this size is absolutely not the same thing. There are so many other places this could have gone to help it be more successful. They really chose an area in a corner of the state, where it stands the least. I'm sure they thought they will be drawing NW AR and Tulsa, SW MO, etc. But all of those together, make for a small MSA. Even putting them all together, you only get OKC.

If I'm going to drive 3 hours, i'm going to Six Flags, no Vinita.

[warreng88]

First phase of American Heartland Theme Park in Vinita begins construction: See the plans so far

They're not holding their horses, the developers promising a rip roaring, head-turning, doubt-inspiring, $2 billion — with a "b" — entertainment destination in Vinita called American Heartland Theme Park and Resort.

With an annexation debate with the city of Vinita behind them — the Vinita City Council approved annexing a little more than 6 square miles on Sept. 26 — American Heartland started construction this week on the first phase of the ambitious project:

Three Ponies RV Park and Campground, planned to open in 2025, followed the next year by the main 125-acre theme park meant to rival Disney's Magic Kingdom in Florida and Disneyland in California.

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/busi...5/71398880007/

[Jesseda]

Surprised no one talked about it yet on here. The American Heartland theme Park Mansion corp was the Grand Finale float at the Rose Bowl New Years Parade. It got a lot of attention plus they hired award winning singers like Jordan Sparks and Tanya Tucker to sing on the float and ride the float. The float had the three ponies on it for the three ponies resort they are building next to the park and the the American Heartland Theme Park sign, I know the station I was watching the parade the commentator mentioned Oklahoma and the new Theme park. I thought it was neat that Oklahoma was the Finale talk at the End of the Rose Bowl Parade.

[TheTravellers]

Surprised no one talked about it yet on here. The American Heartland theme Park Mansion corp was the Grand Finale float at the Rose Bowl New Years Parade. It got a lot of attention plus they hired award winning singers like Jordan Sparks and Tanya Tucker to sing on the float and ride the float. The float had the three ponies on it for the three ponies resort they are building next to the park and the the American Heartland Theme Park sign, I know the station I was watching the parade the commentator mentioned Oklahoma and the new Theme park. I thought it was neat that Oklahoma was the Finale talk at the End of the Rose Bowl Parade.

Oklahoma was also represented at the end of the London New Year's Day Parade (and throughout it).

https://www.okctalk.com/showthread.p...46#post1254846

[shavethewhales]

Surprised no one talked about it yet on here. The American Heartland theme Park Mansion corp was the Grand Finale float at the Rose Bowl New Years Parade. It got a lot of attention plus they hired award winning singers like Jordan Sparks and Tanya Tucker to sing on the float and ride the float. The float had the three ponies on it for the three ponies resort they are building next to the park and the the American Heartland Theme Park sign, I know the station I was watching the parade the commentator mentioned Oklahoma and the new Theme park. I thought it was neat that Oklahoma was the Finale talk at the End of the Rose Bowl Parade.

I mean, that's cool, but what an odd marketing splurge.

Currently the construction is on-going, but it looks like all they have done so far is lay out a big gravel pad. Obviously very, very early in the game, and having any dirt moving at all is a big step, but still not enough yet to convince any doubters.

This summer will be the telling point. RV park should have some major progress by then on some of the buildings and they should be announcing the start of the theme park construction by then I presume. Actually, if they are going to open in 2026, they should have already started on it...

[PhiAlpha]

Just noticed that these guys appear to have also purchased the Cherokee Spur Ranch/Lodge and some adjacent properties all between Cleora and Bernice early last year which includes over 1000 acres and 2+ miles of lake frontage on Grand Lake. So apparently they are planning more than just a theme park near Vinita which is about 8 miles from this area. It seems that a massive resort with a casino on a desirable part of Grand Lake would've been a much more realistic starting point...but what do I know lol.

[shavethewhales]

Yeah, especially when you consider the multiple, several billion dollar developments on lake Texoma.

Been pretty quiet this month. I just did a search for updated progress photos and couldn't find any. I'm not expecting much since it's January and the weather has sucked, but by now they should have a bunch of dirt moved around at the very least. They had bulldozed a few acres of rectangular area early this month. With the great weather this week they should be making good progress. Supposedly the concrete batch plant shows up in March.

[_Kyle]

Found their supposed official youtube channel. I have to be honest.. for a $2,000,000,000 investment, if this is their actual official account its quite amateur.
Another big thing is why did they mark their videos as made for kids? That cuts them out of the youtube algorithm limiting their reach, removes the ability to display most ads, and disables all comments.

For those who are unaware when you upload a video onto youtube a button appears with a slider that states "This video is made for Kids". Having videos of construction equipment moving gravel around for an RV park doesn't make sense to have under that.

[PaddyShack]

Found their supposed official youtube channel. I have to be honest.. for a $2,000,000,000 investment, if this is their actual official account its quite amateur.
Another big thing is why did they mark their videos as made for kids? That cuts them out of the youtube algorithm limiting their reach, removes the ability to display most ads, and disables all comments.

For those who are unaware when you upload a video onto youtube a button appears with a slider that states "This video is made for Kids". Having videos of construction equipment moving gravel around for an RV park doesn't make sense to have under that.

As an aside, Made for Kids videos also turns off the ability to play videos in the background or as Picture-In-Picture which has been annoying at times. There are a couple of engineering channels that label all of their videos as Made for Kids and I don't know why as their content is pretty advanced.

[fortpatches]

There are plenty of kids that enjoy advanced content. Smarter Every Day often times has his elementary-aged kids on his episodes and they can be "advanced" for kids. He is a pretty good science communicator. The most embarrassing thing he has taught me is that if there is a helium balloon in a vehicle and you hit the brakes, the balloon will rush towards the rear of the vehicle instead of the front. It's obvious when you think about it, but I just had never considered that.

[Urbanized]

^^^^^^^
I remember that when I first learned of this in a class I could not wait to run out and buy balloons and try it for myself (yes, I was of driving age before I learned this simple scientific principal). To tag on to what you posted, for anyone who is aware of this phenomenon the reason for this action is that the G force attained by slamming on the brakes causes the air in the cabin to rush to the front. Even though you don't feel air movement, there is enough to cause something lighter-than-air to move in the opposite direction. The exact opposite happens when you hit the gas; air flows to the back of the passenger cabin, causing the balloons to move forward toward the windshield. It's a fun trick.

[shavethewhales]

Anyway, some of the locals on the various Facebook groups around Vinita have posted a few drive by vids lately. There's not much to see. The gravel pad that was prepared earlier sits pretty much empty. I think there's one small construction trailer and one piece of equipment sitting idle out there right now. There's lots of orange construction fencing marking the bounds of the project sitting out there, but that is about the only sign that construction is "happening". According to someone who mentioned speaking with a construction worker at one point, they are waiting on the arrival of the concrete plant in March to start more serious work.

Seems odd to me. Why rush to break ground, then have it sit for 2-3 months before starting the real work? Kinda seems like they just wanted to make the video shown above of things happening so they could legitimize themselves. This looks worse to anyone paying attention, IMO. We better see some serious activity in March. I know they have a year before opening, but it still takes awhile based on the scale of what they have proposed.

[bombermwc]

Or, like most of us think, its all just smoke and mirrors to try to attract buzz and investment on a project that has absolutely zero chance of happening.

[mugofbeer]

^^^^
The sheer numbers of visitors to make this a success would have to be Disneyesque. They would never get those numbers.

[jn1780]

I don't see how they could build a modern theme park in less than 2 years that is actually competitive. I know Epic Universe is huge in comparison, but that has been under construction for 3 years now with a completion date of next summer 2025. If they didn't get it built that fast, its just going to be a bunch of cookie cutter off the shelf rides.

[shavethewhales]

So... on their facebook page a few days ago they announced that they are already projected to go overbudget and are therefor looking to raise capital soon. They have barely even broken ground. Still no sign of new activity at the RV site where they made a big show of pushing a bit of dirt around earlier.

I was holding out a bit of hope for them, but to already have to raise funds instead of just re-organizing the project to spread things out a bit more looks really dumb. The timeline is still so silly.

[Pete]

This is the post from their FB page; sounds like they are trying to get more public money:

American Heartland Theme Park
2/19/24
·
We’ve been a little quiet, and we know everyone looks forward to updates. Those of you who have been involved with or have knowledge about large projects will understand that progress is happening, even if we can’t see it on the site. So, here are the facts of what’s currently happening.

The scope of the American heartland project has grown. Because of this, the cost to support the project is also growing. Mansion Entertainment Group is continuing to engage with local and state leaders to make sure funding is available to make this project a success. Oklahoma has never seen a project of this size and we want to make sure we work together to do it right. The theme park, rv resort and hotel capacities have all increased. While this is good news, as a result, project development costs are trending beyond the originally projected $2B. In the coming months, Mansion Entertainment Group will estimate and reissue a warranted investment figure that aligns with updated financial projections and increased attendance and costs.

We are excited to announce that PepsiCo will be our exclusive soft drink provider for the resorts and we look forward to announcing many more partnerships in the upcoming months.

[Jake]

"The scope of the American heartland project has grown."

How could the scope possibly grow more? lol

[jn1780]

"The scope of the American heartland project has grown."

How could the scope possibly grow more? lol

They are adding a "legendary Tower"? Sorry I'm thinking of different pie in the sky.

[Pete]

"The scope of the American heartland project has grown."

How could the scope possibly grow more? lol

$2 billion wasn't big enough so they increased their scope while admitting they need help with the financing.

Makes sense.

[UrbanistPoke]

$2 billion wasn't big enough so they increased their scope while admitting they need help with the financing.

Makes sense.

Apparently the scope increasing is related to them buying a huge section of land fronting Grand Lake one the western shoreline in the Cleora/Bernice area. What is being communicated is that site will be a resort, housing, commercial development bigger than Shangri-La and likely come with upgrades to Highway 60 between those areas to connect them. A grand lake resort frankly seems way more feasible than the theme park. The entire thing is just odd anyways. I know the guy/family behind this is very wealthy but I don't see how they can do even a small chunk of this without significant help from the state or outside investors.

[okatty]

This is the post from their FB page; sounds like they are trying to get more public money:

No diet coke. I'm out!

[jn1780]

No diet coke. I'm out!

Priorities you know. Have to get those beverage agreements in place 3 years before you even open.

[PhiAlpha]

Apparently the scope increasing is related to them buying a huge section of land fronting Grand Lake one the western shoreline in the Cleora/Bernice area. What is being communicated is that site will be a resort, housing, commercial development bigger than Shangri-La and likely come with upgrades to Highway 60 between those areas to connect them. A grand lake resort frankly seems way more feasible than the theme park. The entire thing is just odd anyways. I know the guy/family behind this is very wealthy but I don't see how they can do even a small chunk of this without significant help from the state or outside investors.

Yeah I didn’t realize that the Cherokee spur ranch was part of the plan until a few months ago. A lake development, or at least doing that first, makes a ton more sense.

[UrbanistPoke]

Yeah I didn’t realize that the Cherokee spur ranch was part of the plan until a few months ago. A lake development, or at least doing that first, makes a ton more sense.

Agreed - Grand Lake has a ton of demand for more housing and there really isn't much lodging options. The renovations at Shangri-La were well received but it's also the only 'sizable' hotel beside the new casino on the north end of the lake but it's also not really a 'lake' resort as there's no marina or anything given the low water levels that far north. Hopefully it's a well thought out development and looks more like say a Carlton Landing when it comes to any housing built but that could be a good support housing area for the park (if it ever is built) and even if it's not built a resort on it's own on Grand would likely do just fine. With some minor upgrades to Highway 60 and maybe straightening/widening 85&85A that would be the easiest accessible development area on Grand given the distance between shoreline to I-44. Even though Grove/Monkey Island and the southeast shore in the Ketchum area is the primary development area those are both much more difficult to access than this area so it's always been surprising it's never been a more active development area. Going through Adair to get to the southern parts of the lake is a pain.