New Park - American Heartland in NE Oklahoma

[mg]

A new $2 Billion park was announced today for northeast Oklahoma. It is backed by the Mansion Entertainment Group from Branson. Currently, it is slated to open in 2026.

https://www.americanheartlandthemepark.com
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230719039822/en/American-Heartland-Announces-2-Billion-Theme-Park-and-Resort-Development-in-Northeast-Oklahoma

[Lampie]

I'm not going to hold my breath that it actually happens. If it does, that's cool. But it seems like in the last 20 years most big projects like this get announced and don't even get to the moving dirt phase, or at best move some dirt but stop short of going verticle with construction.  4,000+ new jobs in NE OK would be nice.

I'm curious if it will get SDC to accelerate their expansion at all or if they will continue on their seemingly slow methodical plans for expansion.

[mg]

I'm curious if it will get SDC to accelerate their expansion at all or if they will continue on their seemingly slow methodical plans for expansion.

SDC had to have known that this announcement was happening; especially with the backing company being from Branson.

More and more I'm expecting SDC's announcement next august to be a larger long term plan like Dollywood typically does for their announcements. Hopefully we will hear more about the "planned unprecedented growth" that they kept teasing when talking about the parking lot remodel.

[History Buff]

The initial problem with this is that it will have to be a local park.  There is no infrastructure to support it (i.e., hotels and other amenities) in the immediate area.  It could be a good thing for places like Joplin and Tulsa if they are able to draw visitors.

[shavethewhales]

I don't think anyone who actually understands the industry is going to hold their breath about this. I think the result of this will be them building an RV park near grand lake and maybe some amenities like a small water park. Maybe they'll do OK with that, but most likely not since it's just not a big tourist area. There are a lot of Grand Lake people, but if you want to do well you need a really good location on the lake and it needs to be efficient and targeted to the local populace. This proposal is super generic. They want to take on Disneyworld on day 1. Very naïve to say the least.

The ownership group is... interesting. I almost don't want to get into it all, but just look up the Mansion businesses online and see if you can find much substance.

[Okiebenz]

Much like Bells returning, I really don't see it happening either.   It would be great if it did, but I will believe it when I see it.  Of course the locals on Fakebook are all bought in believing it.

[sdcfan88]

^very much this, I put it right up there with Bells returning with the likelihood of this happening. Especially on a Disney-esque scale. Seems to be a bit of a stretch.

[chittlins]

Pie in the sky.  For scaling up to this size it need to be closer to a major airport. TUL is 1 hr away and XNA is 1 1/2 hrs away.

That said, after having been to Puy du Fou in France and it's rather remote location, who knows? I have always thought a very similar park that developed major shows and attractions in and around American History could be successful.  I would love for Sight and Sound to develop a new theater based on US history stories similar to their biblical based.

[shavethewhales]

This isn't like Bell's at all though. The Bell family has no money, sense, or resources besides their IP which they have pretty much ruined. Regardless, they had a great deal on the table that Robby ruined by not understanding the first thing about business or the necessary politics to play to let the deal play out.

This proposal is backed by a bit of money. The owner of the Mansion group is apparent an ex-pizza hut franchisee and owns a few other things. He's probably worth ~$100 million at least, but I haven't looked him up too much yet. The Mansion Entertainment group is just a weird looking company from the outside looking in. They absolutely have the capacity to build something in Vinita just based on the amount of money at Gene's disposal. They could build a neat little amusement/water park like what Robby wanted to rebuild Bell's as. They could try to grow it organically into something and make Vinita/Grand Lake into a regional vacation destination. This $2 billion figure isn't going to happen though. They aren't even going to get half of that. I could believe they could raise a half billion, but even that would be tough.

[cowboy]

I'm a bit skeptical based on the number of visitors they say they'll attract - 4.9 million?? SDC doesn't attract that many, SFOT doesn't attract that many, most seasonal amusement parks do not attract that many...

I think the idea of the park is a good one, something based around Route 66 and America's Heartland - so I'd definitely love to see it succeed. I just don't want to get my hope shattered again. Not sure why they didn't build it around Catoosa Oklahoma that would still give them that Route 66 tie, but also closer to Tulsa and the Hard Rock Casino (Land is probably a lot more reasonable for purchase in the Vinita area).

There seems to be several large-scale announcements happening in Oklahoma with the $300 Million OKANA Resort in OKC, the Harrah's Casino and Resort between OKC and Tulsa, and the Tulsa's Gathering Place expansion, etc. It will be interesting to see how and if everything comes to fruition.

Jay

[Lampie]

The ownership group is... interesting. I almost don't want to get into it all, but just look up the Mansion businesses online and see if you can find much substance.

They seem to be good at press releases and big announcements, but I can’t find much substance beyond that. Are their any film/tv projects that they’ve finished?

[History Buff]

It’s pretty bold to declare everything will be open in the fall of ’26.

How to tell if a prophet is authentic:  wait and see if their prophecy is fulfilled.  In this case, it’s not a long wait.

[cowboy]

I thought it was interesting that Screamscape was saying they had doubts about the new park because they are building the RV park first.

I think it was a must to build the RV park first so the construction workers, etc. have a place to stay. There really isn't anywhere to stay in Vinita or relatively close so the RV park makes perfect sense.

I have my doubts, but maybe it will happen after all.

Jay

[chittlins]

Anybody remember Grand Texas?

This is 2.0 if it's lucky

https://bigriverswaterpark.com/

[shavethewhales]

^Yes, I've brought up Grand Texas a few times talking to people about this. Thing is, Grand Texas just got drained of money because they had to do YEARS of expensive civil projects just to get the site to support their proposed developments. They sold off a good deal of land and built an RV park and a water park + adventure park, so it wasn't a bust, but I doubt we'll ever see the long-ago promised theme park. Similar outcome as what could happen here, but in this case I just think they don't have enough money to do a fraction of what they are showing.

https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/business/2b-theme-park-planned-off-route-66-questions-and-answers/article_88de885e-25a1-11ee-b527-07b0e77564fe.html

Their funding source is the Pizza Hut guy. He is 90. They are crashing the project schedule seemingly to get something built before he passes. Since he's their only funding source, that means they probably have something like ~$100 million to work with IF he is throwing almost everything he has into it AND they are getting loans on top of that. They would need another $900 million in investment to build out anything like they have discussed, and that's still a billion short of what they threw out there.

At least it'll be a nice RV resort.