American Heartland Theme Park (Vinita)

[heironymouspasparagus]

I get closer to Vinita every month in my latest projects.  This is pretty insane stuff someone is slinging around.   If someone has $2 Billion to sling around like that, and this project is what they choose to do with it... well, they need some adult supervision!

[Red Arrow]

I get closer to Vinita every month in my latest projects.  This is pretty insane stuff someone is slinging around.   If someone has $2 Billion to sling around like that, and this project is what they choose to do with it... well, they need some adult supervision!

Or maybe a few less adult beverages.

[Laramie]

Bring in on baby, bring it on...  ...tired of this attitude about there being nothing/anything to do in Oklahoma.

Hope this $2B Disneyland-sized theme park proposed for Oklahoma comes to fruition.   There are many variables involved in a development of this size.

Got to admit:  Haven't heard of anything of this magnitude and size since the news broke in the 70s about Seven Continents multi-million dollar theme park being proposed between OKC and TUL--never came to fruition.

Wait and see how this turns out.  Tulsa metro is growing, investments are being made in other areas besides California, Texas,  Florida and Georgia. Oklahoma's weather isn't ideal for a year round Disneyland-sized theme park--but given the trend toward climate change, who knows what's in store for the future.  

[Red Arrow]

Bring in on baby, bring it on...  ...tired of this attitude about there being nothing/anything to do in Oklahoma.

But nothing/anything to do, along with our public school system and general attitude toward sex education, would help explain the teen pregnancy rate in Oklahoma.

[Laramie]

Teen teen pregnancy rate in Oklahoma, does need to be addressed.  

A great large theme park will give them more options about outlets to go and things to do in Oklahoma.

If they build this theme park, it will transform Tulsa into a tourist destination.   People will see what a beautiful city you have and the many places to see.  

The food, restaurant options in Tulsa are second-to-none in Oklahoma.  Whenever, I visit Tulsa, never had any concerns about were to eat; it was more about
finding time to go to all the places available.

[shavethewhales]

The group behind this has answered a few questions... and those answers definitely leave something to be desired.
https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/business/2b-theme-park-planned-off-route-66-questions-and-answers/article_88de885e-25a1-11ee-b527-07b0e77564fe.html

So basically, there is a single funding source for this $2 BILLION theme park and that source is a 90 year old man with a net worth somewhere around $100 million. He's a rich guy for sure, but only rich enough to get this proposal started - certainly not rich enough to even break ground on the theme park the way it has been described. At this rate, like I and others have said, they will get the RV resort built and it will probably stop there or be scaled back massively. They might get some various attractions built like an off-road park, mini-golf, a little water park, etc. All would go well with an RV resort. They aren't going to build a Disney competitor unless they attract a massive pool of investors willing to chip in a billion dollars. Even then, they are at half of what they said this would cost. The projected attendance numbers still make no sense, so I doubt they've done much in the way of accurate analysis for how to get from here to there. Sadly, I am not sure their one backer will even see the RV park open. It's a tough spot to be in when the guy behind it all is already living on borrowed time. What happens if he passes away before they even get the first phase open? I'm sure it's been discussed within their company, but still, he seems to be the driving force behind things, and his age is probably why they are crashing the schedule.

I'll be happy that Vinita/Grand Lake will get some attention and investment, but I just am not naive enough to believe it will live up to anything near the hype that they've created. It's almost a curse to announce a major theme park like this. Unless you've already got the money in hand, it probably won't happen.

[Jake]

According to this, and take it with a grain of salt, Bicknell's net worth is around 240 million: https://oatuu.org/gene-bicknell-net-worth-the-story-of-a-pizza-hut-mogul/

His son apparently has a much higher net worth of around half a billion.

Not that this matters since I doubt this gets close to being built anyway, but Gene Bicknell actually has more money than I thought.

[buffalodan]

I just looked and ODOT has a 2027 Grade/Drain/Bridge&Surface project there. I don't know what the plans are there, but I'd also think I would want to be opening shortly after the road. Can't imagine they set it up for a debut year, then close and have highway construction out in front for the second year.

I also just have a lot of other questions about the infrastructure. Is this going to be well water that they treat themselves? Can vinita municipal take on all the extra water/sewer capacity? Part of me thinks that a water park would have a lot of waste water, but I really don't even know.

Also, I know Grand Lake is popular and am really curious if I start to hear more about taking a long weekend to do Heartland/Grand Lake. You are going to drive right by this on the way to Monkey Island. I would have been insufferable as a kid demanding to go.

[dbacksfan 2.0]

Had to look it up. This is from The Oklahoman back in 1983 about three failed parks including a $100million Seven Continents Park in Stroud.

In Stroud, boasts of a multimillion-dollar theme park built on a piece of land the size of New Jersey have also proved untrue. When unveiled, promoters said there was no question the $100 million Seven Continents Amusement Park would be built. It never happened and the land was auctioned off two years ago.

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/1983/08/19/is-it-really-a-biggie/62834551007/

There's an article in the World but it's behind a paywall. Here's the link for those that have access.

https://tulsaworld.com/archive/economic-merry-go-round-killed-dreams-for-stroud-theme-park/article_62619608-e2a5-5e60-8655-a8fe05b78b97.html

[heironymouspasparagus]

I just looked and ODOT has a 2027 Grade/Drain/Bridge&Surface project there. I don't know what the plans are there, but I'd also think I would want to be opening shortly after the road. Can't imagine they set it up for a debut year, then close and have highway construction out in front for the second year.

It would all depend on who gets paid and how much....

[TheArtist]

If they are going to want world class attendance, they are going to have to create world class attractions and rides. Each ride/attraction can cost hundreds of millions.  Just got back from Disney World yesterday. Rode Rise of the Resistance for the first time.... WOW! Absolutely incredible.

Here are some numbers I scoured from the web, most of these I believe take inflation into account.

Remy's Ratatouille Adventure $270 million

Pandora world of Avatar ride, 500 million

Star Wars Galaxy's edge, 1 billion

Spaceship Earth 800 million (possibly as high as 1.2 billion with inflation)

Test Track 290 million

Radiator Springs Racers 200 million

Tower of Terror 140 million

Pooh's Honey Hunt 165 million

Rise of the Resistance 225 million

Pirates of the Caribbean (Shanghai) 400 million

Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind 450  million

Even with the pullback of moving the Disney headquarters to Lake Nona Florida, Disney still has about 17 billion in additional projects slated for the next decade....


"He cited "changing business conditions" as a reason for canceling the Lake Nona project. "I remain optimistic about the direction of our Walt Disney World business," Mr. D'Amaro said in the memo. He noted that $17 billion was still earmarked for construction at Disney World over the next decade — growth that would create an estimated 13,000 jobs. "I hope we're able to," he said."

These theme parks are constantly one upping each other so have to keep investing to stay relevant. Disney not only competes against other like Universal, but against itself whenever it opens a new theme park, land, or ride in another country. The quality and expectations keeps going up.

[buffalodan]

A friend sent me this link, and I was kind of blown away that they are expecting 4.9 mil visitors a year. I had been hearing something more in line with 3 mil, which is a bit higher than SDC, but sorta believable. I just keep thinking that if this is a park comparable in size to Silver Dollar City it makes sense. When I start to hear their numbers going up towards 2xSilver Dollar City or getting close to a six flags, I start to have visions of frontier city next to an RV Park.


https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/trending/article/american-hearland-theme-park-oklahoma-2026-18257322.php

I've heard that the rides have already been started and plans are getting detailed out for buildings and infrastructure, but it still just baffles me.

[shavethewhales]

Disney is insane and in a world of their own... almost literally. They basically built their own global entertainment city that by itself has a massive effect on the US tourism industry. It's foolish to even attempt to compare to them unless you really are spending multiple billions at a time. I know they are trying to tout having

For some more reasonable numbers, SDC commonly spends ~$30 million per project, and that results in big flashy rides such as Time Traveler and Mystic River Falls. SDC is considered a cut above Cedar Fair (Cedar Point, King's Island, etc.) and certainly above Six Flags. They are still well below Disney and Universal in terms of big, highly-technical indoor rides, but they buy quality rides and dress them up a bit. You can do a lot with $30 million, and not every ride needs to be a giant experience. I guess it depends on exactly the level of detail and atmosphere they want.

There's a big difference to how Disney approaches something vs. Six Flags. SF just wants a ride - any ride they can get as cheap as possible - to fill a void in their park and look good on a billboard/media post for a year until they come up with the next thing. Few rides at SF parks are really memorable outside the coasters, and SF doesn't build many big roller coasters any more like they used to (they've run themselves into bankruptcy a couple times at least and as of last year were having money troubles again). Disney, meanwhile, has more money than god and starts and ends their design choices by focusing on amplifying as much of the guest experience as they can so that every ride in the park is a big deal. SDC is a bit of an odd duck - they started off as a cave attraction and started adding rides around the same time Disney was getting big. They actually did share some of the same engineers and had similar rides at SDC as Disney during the early years (Fire-in-the-hole, Flooded Mine, Float Trip, etc.). These days they still have a big focus on the guest experience, but they've gotten a bit sloppier with some of their big rides and have just throw a bit of decoration on them. Dollywood, the sister park of SDC, just opened a brand new roller coaster with minimal theming that wouldn't look out of place at Six Flags. It's hard to draw the line with ROI on thematics unless you are drawing in multiple millions of guests who stay for extended periods.

These people seem like they want to create a high level space, but it remains to be seen if they could pull it off, despite having a few "Disney engineers" on staff, whatever that means.

[patric]

STROUD (1990) - This has always been a town for big dreamers.
Through the years, plans have been developed for such projects as a major horse track, domed stadium and massive airport to serve the state's two largest cities.

None was bigger, grander and got further along in planning than Seven Continents. The land where planners hoped to build a massive amusement park, Seven Continents, stands virtually vacant these days on the northwest side of Stroud.

Nearly 2,000 acres, just to the north and west of the midway point of the Turner Turnpike, has a few small businesses and houses on it today. There is little to remind folks of the grand plans for the giant park.

Martin Keating of Tulsa thought of the highly successful Six Flags Over Texas, located halfway between Dallas and Fort Worth in Arlington, and envisioned even bigger things in Stroud.

Times were good in Oklahoma. It was the go-go 1970s. By 1974, Keating had architects, planners and studies done for the park.
"I think we had about $4 million and people were telling us it would take at least $48 million to do it right," said Keating. "We had the plans. We had the option on the land. Things were going along great."

But the recession of 1977 set in and the park never got past the 1976 dedication ceremonies. Plans were complete but the financing never materialized. Not enough of it, anyway.

The park, covering the rolling and wooded hills near here, planned to have seven areas. The main attraction was to be a a huge mountain built in Antarctica Land. "It was to be similar to Space Mountain at Disneyland, only bigger," said Keating. "We had gotten started but the biggest part of the project, trying to get financing just as the recession hit, was more than we could do."

Keating didn't give up immediately. He kept beating on doors for another year before he came to the grim realization. His idea for the park was dead.
"I look back now at all of the alternatives that might have helped make it a reality," said Keating. "At one point, an executive from Coca-Cola came up here from Atlanta with a proposal to take over all of the concessions for the park and sell other parts of the park to companies.

"Some people felt we would lose control of the park. So we turned them down. Now, as I look back, that was a good idea. It would probably be a reality today if we hadn't turned them down."

Keating said his involvement in the project ended by 1980. He kept all of the reports and plans but put them away in the files.
About a year ago he said the governor's office asked for the plans. A member of the governor's staff came to Tulsa and took the plans back to Oklahoma City. He has no idea why the governor's office wanted the plans.

"If they want to revive the idea that's fine with me," said Keating. "I won't be a part of it. I've had that struggle. "I still think it's a great idea. There needs to be something in Stroud for the entire state. It is a place where Tulsa and Oklahoma City can share in something great."

But as a Tulsan, he added, "What they probably want to do is put it in Oklahoma City."

[buffalodan]

Has anybody heard any rumors about something similar going in on the Arkansas side?