The American Heartland Theme Park and Resort

[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.

[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.

[scottk]

No diet coke. I'm out!

Pepsi seems to be taking up all of the soda pouring right contracts for venues like theaters, ballparks, hotels, restaurants, and well theme parks. They must be underbidding Coca-Cola or giving a higher margin of sale.

In a place like this, I'll guess you settle for Pepsi if you are a Coke fan. The good news is, if you like Dr. Pepper, Tulsa area Pepsi bottlers have the pouring/distribution rights as opposed to Southwest Beverage/Great Plains Coca-Cola having Dr. Pepper in OKC area.

[G.Walker]

Pepsi seems to be taking up all of the soda pouring right contracts for venues like theaters, ballparks, hotels, restaurants, and well theme parks. They must be underbidding Coca-Cola or giving a higher margin of sale.

In a place like this, I'll guess you settle for Pepsi if you are a Coke fan. The good news is, if you like Dr. Pepper, Tulsa area Pepsi bottlers have the pouring/distribution rights as opposed to Southwest Beverage/Great Plains Coca-Cola having Dr. Pepper in OKC area.

I am on the Pepsi side of the fence, so this is good to hear. Seems like Coca-Cola does have the restaurant industry sewed up, so Pepsi has no choice to get theaters, theme parks, sports venues. Very rarely that I go to sit down casual restaurant or even a fast food joint, and they sell Pepsi products.

[acumpton]

Pepsi seems to be taking up all of the soda pouring right contracts for venues like theaters, ballparks, hotels, restaurants, and well theme parks. They must be underbidding Coca-Cola or giving a higher margin of sale.

In a place like this, I'll guess you settle for Pepsi if you are a Coke fan. The good news is, if you like Dr. Pepper, Tulsa area Pepsi bottlers have the pouring/distribution rights as opposed to Southwest Beverage/Great Plains Coca-Cola having Dr. Pepper in OKC area.

We are going on a Carnival cruise in June and they have Pepsi products and there is not a Dr. Pepper substitute.

[PhiAlpha]

We are going on a Carnival cruise in June and they have Pepsi products and there is not a Dr. Pepper substitute.

They used to have Mr. Pibb. "Extra" which still sucked but that's disappointing.

I hear the beers and drinks are good though lol.

[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.

[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.

[shavethewhales]

So as of today there is still no movement on site. The contractor showed up months ago and setup some initial erosion control and the staging area, and then pulled all the equipment besides an office trailer and left. Very odd. Some speculated they were waiting on better weather or the arrival of their own concrete batch plant, but the weather has been great and there is a plant literally across the street that could cover at least their short term needs.

From what I can piece together they are still negotiating with the state regarding public money for infrastructure improvements. The contractor is supposedly still on board, but I know you can't play around with start dates too much with any major contractor - they will take on other work and their manpower will get allocated elsewhere. Could add on a few months to their schedule just for missing the original start date, whatever that was. That wouldn't be as big a deal if it weren't for them promising to open at least part of this NEXT YEAR. It's going to come up quick...

https://ktul.com/news/local/one-stat...ma-attractions

Isn't the state senate kind of dead locked right now? What are the chances of that bill making it through soon?

[UrbanistPoke]

So as of today there is still no movement on site. The contractor showed up months ago and setup some initial erosion control and the staging area, and then pulled all the equipment besides an office trailer and left. Very odd. Some speculated they were waiting on better weather or the arrival of their own concrete batch plant, but the weather has been great and there is a plant literally across the street that could cover at least their short term needs.

From what I can piece together they are still negotiating with the state regarding public money for infrastructure improvements. The contractor is supposedly still on board, but I know you can't play around with start dates too much with any major contractor - they will take on other work and their manpower will get allocated elsewhere. Could add on a few months to their schedule just for missing the original start date, whatever that was. That wouldn't be as big a deal if it weren't for them promising to open at least part of this NEXT YEAR. It's going to come up quick...

https://ktul.com/news/local/one-stat...ma-attractions

Isn't the state senate kind of dead locked right now? What are the chances of that bill making it through soon?

Probably slim odds it gets passed, but it might. They killed funding for OKPOP and some other tourism related stuff already. Senate isn't dead locked but they have been very clear that anything that negatively impacts the budget any further in terms of tax cuts, etc. is dead on arrival from the house. So, depends how the bills language is written/impacts it causes.

[Laramie]

The proposed $2 billion, one thousand acres on which the 125-acre theme park sits will be a great addition to Oklahoma; especially a tourist boost to 5,180 residents of Vinita in the Tulsa MSA area.

Ground was broken (October 23, 2023) on the Three Ponies RV Park portion, a precursor to the AHTP.

[Swake]

Kansas City is getting a new "Mattel" theme park:

https://www.kmbc.com/article/mattel-...aster/60254507