New Park - American Heartland in NE Oklahoma

[KevinLong]

2B is a LOT of money for a attraction that is not a usual "destination" place. The question is will it be enough of a standalone draw to cover its expenses and infrastructure costs. Aside from the nearby lake and Tulsa an hour away, will it be a place people will want to return to time and again?. does it survive 3-5 years aftr opening.

I am a freak and I drive 3 hours one way several times a year to SDC.  Most people aren't that loyal.  This will not be a park you visit one day when going to the area. Maybe if you visit Tulsa.

The Amusement park industry is filled with "gonna be" projects that never go very far. Everything fits on paper and your imagination.. reality costs 10-20% more at least and 10-15% longer to do. I wish them luck, they will need it...

my two cents

Kevin

[Dollarz]

And doesn't Mansion also have a film studio planned for Branson that they announced in 2022? Perhaps that's getting rolled into the American Heartland development. All of this seems very ambitious with not a lot to show for it.

[chittlins]

2B is a LOT of money for a attraction that is not a usual "destination" place. The question is will it be enough of a standalone draw to cover its expenses and infrastructure costs. Aside from the nearby lake and Tulsa an hour away, will it be a place people will want to return to time and again?. does it survive 3-5 years aftr opening.

I am a freak and I drive 3 hours one way several times a year to SDC.  Most people aren't that loyal.  This will not be a park you visit one day when going to the area. Maybe if you visit Tulsa.

The Amusement park industry is filled with "gonna be" projects that never go very far. Everything fits on paper and your imagination.. reality costs 10-20% more at least and 10-15% longer to do. I wish them luck, they will need it...

my two cents

Kevin

Don't forget the burgeoning metro of NWA that's projected to near 1 million in 20 years(currently 600k)

Now, if this was a Tribe and it had a casino attached to it, I'd be more inclined to believe that some of it sees daylight.

I would have shot for the US 69/I 40 area. Why, major roads centered between Dallas/OKC/Tulsa/River Valley/NWA

[shavethewhales]

Apparently Vinita rejected the annexation of this area on Tuesday evening. They aren't rejecting the whole proposed development, but several people expressed cutting down the area and doing it in steps. They kind of want Mansion to step up and actually build something to prove that they are the real deal before they sign off on everything. Or at least that was my take after skipping around the youtube video of the 4+ hour public hearing. Kind of bizarre that the annexation portion would be so controversial considering the area is pretty much empty. Glad people take local government seriously at least.

[KevinLong]

long way to go to get it done in two/three? years?  They have stumbling blocks already and they haven't even pissed people off yet.... time will tell.

I do not think it would be too far off the mark to say that every quarter that fails to see actual groundbreaking puts them back at least 6 months on opening.

great Ideas sometimes just never happen....

my two cents
kevin

[sdcfan88]

Yup much like Bells latest attempt in BA you are gonna have all the NIMBY people crying fits and it will kill this project.

[mg]

Their representative lost me right off the bat when he referred to Disneyland as California Disney and said that it costs a family 10s of thousands of dollar to visit Disney. Yes, you can spend that much, but you can for sure visit for much less. We've never gotten close to that on our trips.

After watching more of it, the issue seems to be with how much the town is trying to annex. I didn't realize how far from the town the actual property is. The tow is trying to do fence line annexation where there are strips of land that are annexed along roads to connect the town with the property. They seem to be doing it along multiple roads and that is the main complaint.  Will be interesting to see where it goes.

[KBCraig]

Annexation is a problem wherever it exists. And at least in Texas, there is "extra-territorial jurisdiction", where a city doesn't even have to annex property to exert zoning/planning control over it.

[mg]

Here is the proposed annexation map.

I believe that that the orange area is the park and the red is unannounced development; rumors seem to be a golf course and cabins... not 100% sure though.

[KevinLong]

looks to me like the city is trying to grab up both sides of most major roads so they can get the tax money for any businesses alongside the road that may spring up.  300 foot easements would encompass most buildings and parking lots along the corridor.

got a long way to go before the first paying customer pulls into the amusement park lot.

Kevin

[chittlins]

Their representative lost me right off the bat when he referred to Disneyland as California Disney and said that it costs a family 10s of thousands of dollar to visit Disney. Yes, you can spend that much, but you can for sure visit for much less. We've never gotten close to that on our trips.

After watching more of it, the issue seems to be with how much the town is trying to annex. I didn't realize how far from the town the actual property is. The tow is trying to do fence line annexation where there are strips of land that are annexed along roads to connect the town with the property. They seem to be doing it along multiple roads and that is the main complaint.  Will be interesting to see where it goes.

Two days for a family of 4 at Disneyland/DCA will cost nearly 1k in tickets alone. 3nights at a near by hotel will nearly run 1k for a #$%@'n Best Western. Airfare? Allegiant will run 1k from XNA, American...$1,300 at least with baggage fees.  Couple hundred bucks for a car rental.  Insane prices for food. 10s of thousands??? No, but it could creep into the 5k range easy. Especially if you get into the whole Genie Plus add on stuff.

I'm kinda over Disney and apparently lots of others are as well.

[shavethewhales]

So the annexation ultimately went through and the RV park has officially kicked off with a big ground breaking ceremony. Still a lot of questions in the air about this, but so far everything has gone well and they are on their way.

I remain skeptical that the park will ever reach the proportions they originally outlined, but I do believe they will get a park open in a few years. Will definitely want to visit before they struggle and end up closing. There are a lot of people in the area, and they have good access due to the turnpike, but I still say that without a major IP or something to draw people, it's just a random big theme park with a generic americana theme in the middle of nowhere.

Their main hope of creating a draw is simply building enough themselves to get big, but I still don't see where the $2 billion is going to come from...

[History Buff]

At the same time, a lot of people are tired of Disney cramming IPs in their faces at every turn.

[Dewayne]

There are a lot of people in the area, and they have good access due to the turnpike, but I still say that without a major IP or something to draw people, it's just a random big theme park with a generic americana theme in the middle of nowhere.

Their main hope of creating a draw is simply building enough themselves to get big, but I still don't see where the $2 billion is going to come from...

Are we already forgetting how SDC came about and put Branson on the map??? Nobody would have started any show in Branson if SDC wasn't here because shows alone don't draw people in.

This park is just outside Vinita, 45 minutes from Tulsa, on Route 66, next to the I-44 Turnpike, and West of Grand Lake. That is NOT the "middle of nowhere"! Route 66 attracts thousands to millions of people every year from all around the globe and brings in more tourists than anything else in Oklahoma.

As they have said, the company already has the money.

Plus, like History Buff said, everyone is tired of Disney and their Woke ideology. We need more companies who are against the woke regime and the creators of this park have already said that they are extremely anti-woke.

There is absolutely no way this park won't thrive because of all these factors!

[shavethewhales]

Branson was well on it's way long before SDC got to be very big at all. In fact, by the time FITH opened in 1972 there were already a ton of theatres and famous performers calling Branson home. The damming of Table Rock Lake is actually what spurred the area into being a tourist town, with the country artists driving it after that. SDC grew at a steady pace, but it's hard to say when it really got "big". I'd say the 90's?

The AH park certainly does have a decent location in terms of access. I40 is a major artery and will make it easier for people from several surrounding states to get there. It's still not surrounded by much though other than Grand Lake. The thing is, there are already plenty of established parks around the country and plenty of lakes, so what will make them stand out?

The anti-woke stuff won't bring people in. People don't go on expensive vacations to protest Disney. I'm sure they have some things in the works however. They will surely roll out some characters, movies, etc somewhere in the timeline of this development. We'll see if they catch any eyeballs though...

Anyway, next time I'm running up to Branson I'm going to try and get off the highway to get a few construction shots. Probably not much to see from the road yet, but would be interesting to see how much activity is going on by the entrance. I imagine they have a big setup by now for the contractor staging since they'll be there for a few years.