American Heartland Theme Park: Consolation Prize for Fans Wanting Disneyland Texas?
For years, Disney fans have clamored for a third U.S. complex in Texas…and we’ve explained why that won’t happen. Well, some of you now might be getting a consolation prize of sorts, as a new $2 billion theme park comparable in size and scope to Disneyland or Magic Kingdom has been announced for Oklahoma. This post shares details and commentary about the potential competition for Disney and Universal.
The project is called American Heartland Theme Park and Resort, a more than $2 billion entertainment destination development in northeast Oklahoma, just west of Grand Lake on Route 66. American Heartland will be a 1,000-acre development with a 125-acre theme park, which is slated to open in 2026.
American Heartland Theme Park and Resort will be built in phases starting with a large-scale RV park with cabins scheduled to open phase one in spring 2025, a film and television studio, and a world-class theme park and resort after that. The American Heartland Theme Park and Resort will offer a unique visitor experience rivaling the world’s top resort destinations.
“We are thrilled to make Oklahoma the home of American Heartland Theme Park and Resort,” American Heartland CEO Larry Wilhite said. “At the crossroads of the heartland, Oklahoma is an attractive location for a family entertainment destination. The state’s business-friendly approach and innovative partnership efforts have helped make this possible. We look forward to bringing unforgettable generational experiences to Oklahoma.”
As noted above, American Heartland Theme Park and Resort will be comparable to the size of Magic Kingdom and Disneyland. The park will feature an Americana-themed environment with a variety of entertaining rides, live shows, family attractions, waterways as well as restaurant-quality food and beverage offerings.
“Oklahoma is excited to welcome American Heartland Theme Park and Resort,” Oklahoma State Rep. Rusty Cornwell said. “Located on historic Route 66 just west of Grand Lake, the development will attract visitors from around the world to experience and celebrate the rich cultures and hometown values America has to offer.”
The adjacent 320-acre Three Ponies RV Park and Campground is designed by Oklahoma architects ADG Blatt. This complex will be the largest campground in the central U.S. with 750 RV spaces and 300 cabins plus amenities. When completed, American Heartland Theme Park and Resort will also include a top-tier 300-room hotel and modern indoor water park.
“There’s no better place to represent the heart of America than northeast Oklahoma,” said Oklahoma State Sen. Micheal Bergstrom. “This $2 billion investment in our state will create more than 4,000 jobs and introduce a new category of entertainment to the region, and its long-term economic impact will be transformative.”
“Tourism is already one of Oklahoma’s top industries and this project will elevate our state even further. Since tourism is a doorway to economic development, American Heartland Theme Park and Resort will draw new businesses not only to the surrounding area but also throughout the region and state,” Bergstrom continued.
The developer of American Heartland Theme Park and Resort has leadership with deep Oklahoma roots. American Heartland is an affiliate of Mansion Entertainment Group, LLC, Branson’s leading performing arts, animation and studio brand.
According to its mission statement, “Mansion Entertainment Group is on the verge of becoming the most powerful entity in family entertainment, with its unparalleled expertise across film, television, animation, music, theatre, and family immersive entertainment experiences.”
(Editor’s note: The only completed productions of Mansion Entertainment Group that I could track down were for the Rose Parade finale float and a symphony on PBS.)
Mansion purports to have a “commitment to producing high-quality, wholesome content that the entire family can enjoy.” It has carved a niche for itself in the entertainment industry with an impressive roster of talents, cutting-edge technology, and innovative storytelling techniques.
As Mansion Entertainment Group continues to expand its reach and diversify its offerings, the company claims it is “poised to become the go-to destination for families seeking engaging and meaningful entertainment that inspires, educates, and entertains.”
Led by Executive Producer Steve Hedrick, the design team of American Heartland Theme Park is made up of the world’s best theme park designers including 20+ former Disney Parks builders and Walt Disney Imagineers. Design firms include THG, FORREC and Cuningham, whose portfolios feature the world’s foremost theme park brands including Six Flags, Disney Parks and Universal Studios.
American Heartland Theme Park’s creative team is comprised of over 500 years of Disney and Entertainment experience. This award winning team spans generations of production, live entertainment, studio work, television, and theme park development.
- Steve Hedrick – WDE Disney Executive 22 yrs (TP Industry 40 yrs)
- John Sorenson – Walt Disney Imagineering Land Planner 30 yrs
- Tom Turley – DLI Ops Planning & Development 45 yrs
- Don Hilsen – Walt Disney Imagineering Ride Engineer – 30 yrs
- John Polk – Walt Disney Imagineering Special Effects 20 yrs
- Tim Kirk – Walt Disney Imagineering Concept Artist 35 yrs
- Annette Crump – Walt Disney Imagineering Planner/Scheduler 11 yrs
- Andy Burden – WDE/DLI Technical Design 12 yrs
- Rick Allen – WDW Operations 24 yrs
- Craig Hodges – WDW Operations – 42 yrs
- Dave Vermeulen – Disneyland International 40 yrs
- Ted Carlsson – Disneyland/WDI VP of Technical Design – 35 yrs
- Scott Sinclair – Disneyland & WDI Theme Park Designer – 20 yrs
- Ronnie Rodriquez – Disney Creative Entertainment – 35 yrs
- Reggie Jarrett – Disney Entertainment – 35 yrs
“We are pleased that American Heartland Theme Park and Resort has taken the first step and chosen Oklahoma to build a world-class entertainment destination,” said Hopper Smith, interim director of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. “We look forward to assisting with this project as it develops.”
American Heartland Theme Park and Resort is a family-friendly park promising timeless fun and boundless adventure. The 125-acre theme park will feature a collection of six distinctly American lands to welcome guests on a journey through the best of the American story. Families will find thrilling rides and heartwarming shows as they discover Great Plains, Bayou Bay, Big Timber Falls, Stony Point Harbor, Liberty Village and Electropolis.
“American Heartland will be a place families can come together to create lasting memories, experience joy, laughter, imagination and wonder,” American Heartland Founder and Chief Creative Officer Gene Bicknell said. “There is so much to celebrate about our country: its landscapes, its cultures and most importantly, its people. No matter where you’re from, you’ll feel right at home at American Heartland.”
“American Heartland will be an anchor tourist destination on Route 66 set to attract more than two million out-of-state visitors to Oklahoma each year,” Kristy Adams, senior executive vice president of sales and marketing for Mansion Entertainment Group, American Heartland and Three Ponies, said. “The scale and quality of the development will be unlike anything else in the region, making Vinita, Oklahoma a can’t-miss destination for families around the world.”
Turning to commentary, there’s good and bad to discuss with reasons for optimism and pessimism about this project. Let’s start with the positive. There are multiple high-profile former Imagineers who are working on this project, including several in senior design and other roles on Tokyo DisneySea.
Moreover, the founder Gene Bicknell is a Pizza Hut magnate and franchising those restaurants, apparently, pays better than I ever would’ve guessed. Based on the verbiage of the press release and the accompanying website, I get the impression that this is a pet project and driven by the values and beliefs of the owners.
Given both of those variables, the best case scenario is that American Heartland Theme Park becomes the Disney’s America that never was, and obviously minus the Disney branding and characters. If the concept art is accurate, it won’t have design and attention to detail on par with Tokyo DisneySea, but it still looks really nice–there are lands on par with the American Waterfront port. (In fact, Stony Point Harbor looks a lot like Cape Cod at TDS–compare the concept art above to the photo below.)
As a fan primarily of themed design and not Disney IP, this is something that would be right up my alley. In fact, I really like a lot of what I see in the concept art and described in the overview of each land. There are a lot of good ideas and potential in the project.
However, my excitement level is minimal for American Heartland Theme Park. First and foremost, I’ve seen a lot of announcements like this over the years from new entrants into the theme park space, and very few actually end up being built. And that’s even when they are attached to major studios or brands, and American Heartland Theme Park is not.
It’s very easy to envision a scenario where the only thing that happens here is the campground and RV park. In fact, that’s probably the most plausible outcome. There’s likely no shortage of demand for Three Ponies, and it’s certainly easier to get a campground off the ground than it is a brand-new, large-scale theme park.
I also would caution against assuming that the theme park is likely to happen because several ex-Imagineers are attached to this. It’s also true that WDI purged much of the team behind Tokyo DisneySea after that project was completed. There’s a veritable graveyard of announced-but-unbuilt theme parks around the world that have similarly impressive design teams. Everybody’s gotsta get paid.
There is also the reality that, impressive as it may seem, $2 billion is not a lot in 2023 dollars to build a whole theme park and resort complex along with a film and television studio. Yes, I realize the stated budget for Universal’s Epic Universe is only around $1 billion, but the final number will either end up being significantly higher or the park will feel incomplete at opening (or both). I also realize that Disney can’t do anything cheaply or efficiently, so its budgets are basically in Monopoly money as compared to the other parks.
Regardless, the point stands: this will not be Disney’s America or Tokyo DisneySea caliber on $2 billion. More like Busch Gardens Williamsburg or Knott’s Berry Farm, which are two awesome regional parks in their own right. However, they’re not world class tourist draws or what you’d expect from the company that “is on the verge of becoming the most powerful entity in family entertainment.”
Just as this being a pet project likely being driven by the owner’s values and beliefs is an asset, so too is it a liability. Bicknell wants to will an entertainment empire based on wholesome and family-friendly content into existence…but may soon be faced with the hard realities of creating such content and the actual market for it.
Nevermind the 100-year first-mover advantage of Disney, and the vast libraries of characters controlled by Disney, Universal, etc. (Even Skydance Animation is having a tough time gaining traction, despite the formidable talent, funding, and studio support!) There’s absolutely a market for Americana and nostalgia, but it’s exceedingly difficult to build a theme park that’ll attract millions of visitors per year on that alone. There needs to be another hook.
Then there’s the location. I’m far from an expert on this region or Oklahoma, but Vinita seems like it’s kind of in the middle of nowhere with no inherent tourism appeal like Florida or California. Touting a location along Route 66 caught my attention, and not in a good way; this is 2023, not 1963. (It is about 60 miles from Tulsa International Airport, which isn’t terrible.)
I mean no disrespect to the people of Vinita, but if I were scouting spots for the most powerful entity’s first theme park presence, I’m probably looking at plots near major cities in Texas, Atlanta, Charlotte, or a few other cities in the Midwest or East Coast. For a viable large-scale theme park, you’d ideally want easy access to millions of upper middle class locals within an hour from the park and a place with tourist appeal and relatively convenient access.
Ultimately, it’ll be interesting to see whether American Heartland Theme Park ever opens. It does seem more credible than other announcements from the last decade that haven’t come to fruition. And on the plus side, at least it’s probably not a scam unlike some of those past projects. It seems more like one business tycoon’s passion project, and maybe he’ll will it into being.
If it somehow does happen, I’d recommend visiting American Heartland Theme Park early in its existence. Business acumen in the Pizza Hut arena does not translate to the same in theme parks–the official website and press release suggests a lot of hubris and very little knowledge of what makes for a successful theme park. Basically, there’s very little to suggest that this park has any form of financial viability in the long-term even if is built. But what do I know, Mansion Entertainment does have a full three years to build their brand and become the most powerful entity in family entertainment. Perhaps it’ll happen.
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RE LG’s comment about American Dream Mall – I believe the developer on that project was Mills Development not Mansion Entertainment.
Yup, just like its mission statement says, Mansion Entertainment Group is most definitely “on the verge of becoming the most powerful entity in family entertainment,” leaving Disney in the dust. Nice knowing you, Walt.
Check out the history of the American Dream mall in New Jersey, just outside NYC. I can’t help but think much will be repeated here.
It is a good idea.
Let’s see what happens.
There are amusement parks throughout the U.S.
But with a population under 4million people in OK, a large scale project seems difficult to imagine.
I have no idea what a buildout of his scale would cost, but a quick ‘google’ search indicates that the cost of an average roller coaster is $8 million. And an RV park & adjacent campground are nothing compared to the cost of a building a single room at All-Star Resorts.
Arkansas , Idaho, Iowa, South Dakota – all low population states – have one small each Park that few of us would know.
This is not a blow to Disney, Universal, Six Flags, Cedar Fair, and/or Sea World.
I’m not even sure Dollywood (Herschend) and/or Great Wolf Lodge would feel much pain.
However, I wish them well, because anything that draws one less person to any Disney location is one less person in front of me at that Disney location.
To.be honest this place sounds awful. If you truly want to.Cell beats American heritage, got Williamsburg,VA. And Plymouth Plantation in MA and several other accurate historical reenactments.Mystic Seaport in Connecticut. Go to D.C. and visit museums. There won’t be rollercoaster but they make history real.and fun. And they have activities for kids.Miami and St Augustine are similar.
If you want conservative bent,,the Creation Museum (everything it has to.say is ridiculously I accurate but hey)/and that Noah’s Ark thingy or Dolly wood.
No thank you. I’ll stick to Disney and Universal as the main course with a side of Busch Gardens and Six Flags parks.
My Godson is still a toddler so I anticipate many years to come in these parks.
Excited about the proposed Dallas-area Universal park. Definitely plan to make that trip a couple of times.
Two Billion dollars would only realistically cover the costs of installing infrastructure such as water, electrical, sewage, waste management, road planning and traffic lights /signage. Not to mention all the aforementioned services for each RV spot and any other basic building. Then there are paving and cement costs.
Sounds like a neat little project, but the finance numbers are completely understated.
I would love to see this happen. My Disney days are over. Too liberal, too expensive, too Iger, too long to get anything done. In the meantime, I’m taking my Disney dollars and going to Europe!
Then why are you on this blog?
Good thinking, when Disney is too liberal for you take your money to Norway.
Thanks for the belly laugh!!!
On Jesus being the reason for the season:
If you read the Gospels, the shepherds were in the fields with their flocks , it wasn’t winter, but spring. The early church chose December 25 because it was in the middle of Saturnalia,a,Roman holiday that involved feasting and gift giving.
It is,also around the solstice, and pretty much every religion has a holiday around that time. The winter solsticce is the longest day of the year, and light is returning to the wnorld.
However,,all the traditions we associate with Christmas are actually pagan and predate Christianity by centuries. Holly and evergreen garlands? Pagan Celts in Ireland and what is now the U.K. Mistletoe was,sacred to the Celts as well. The Norse,and,Germanic Celts brought in evergreen trees,and used candles long before Martin Luther made that custom.Christian,and Sat in alia involved gift giving. Other than explicitly Christian and very modern. carols,nothing we associate with Christmas is original to.Christianity.
Interesting entertaining article as always but I have no comment on a possible threat to WDW by something that doesn’t exist and may never. From a Disney POV they better start worrying about Universal.
I think my interest ended here—
“ restaurant-quality food ”
How could anyone write that??
I live just outside of Tulsa and would love for this to happen. Oklahoma only has Frontier City in OKC and while it’s ok, it’s TINY! I feel like the people in the Midwest are willing to drive for entertainment. I mean I drive to Dallas just for IKEA and we drive to WDW every year. We would easily drive to Vinita multiple times a year if this park happens. Currently the place that has the most entertainment anywhere near us is Branson.
Nope. I’m in Oklahoma, and this is being touted locally as the anti-woke Disneyland alternative. A little too MAGA for me.
and a bunch of the replies here are celebrating it as such, so I’m thinking we’re probably correct that that’s what it’s planned to be.
So much for tolerance of all view points!
So Disney going woke is OK, but when someone else decides to go the other direction, that is not OK? Guess what? There are a LOT of people in this country that would love to support a wholesome family experience such as this. Enough to have it be successful? No one can answer that. But this country is pretty evenly split. For everyone like you that says no thanks to a park with potentially conservative values, there is someone else already saying no thanks to Disney with their more liberal values. Have you seen Disney World’s attendance numbers recently?
I’m sure they pale in comparison to what this will bring in …….. not!!
That’s a hot take Stew. This new park may not bring in as much attendance as Disney World, the busiest vacation destination on Earth? Oh no, what will they do? Or every other tourist destination that lags behind. I guess everyone that isn’t Disney should close up shop.
Just here to commend your writing. Interesting, insightful, and funny, as always. Thanks for creating this wholesome and entertaining content!
On a completely and partially unrelated topic, as someone who lives in the Houston area (15+ years, just a little after AstroWorld closed), it is just completely insane that there is no theme / amusement park here. I get that DFW area as a whole is a bit bigger and closer to most of the country, but residents here are waiting to burn their money at some sort of amusement park. With DFW, San Antonio, Austin and New Orleans all an easy drive away, there is enough of a supporting population too.
I’d live to go to this amusement park. I live in south TX and Disney has become to expensive to justify the long drive or expensive plane tickets for a family of just 3. The middle to lower income people need a place of enjoyment just as much as the upper income people and Disney has certainly priced us out.
I live in Kansas City, MO. My family has season passes to Silver Dollar City which is an excellent regional park, and it’s about 3 hours away. Vinita os also about 3 hours away from us. If this park os affordable and good, it’ll be another family spot for all those larger cities.
A spot like that is great out in the Midwest. It isn’t close to a major city and cause noise complaints. But close enough to drive to. And this will attract TX, OK, AR, MO, IA, KS, NE, and more. From where I am in basically the middle of the country, it’s a two day drive to Orlando. And forget about driving to Disneyland
I live in Oklahoma and as others have noted the weather here is not optimal for a MK like park. Ice storms, tornados, high winds, steamy humid heat, flooding. It’s so humid the shade doesn’t help. That’s not even going into all the other issues of workforce, housing, funding for upkeep and maintenance…
I agree if this does happen go early.
“Steamy, humid heat?” Have you been to Orlando (which was an essentially unknown swamp prior to Disney’s arrival) in August? Orlando will also see your tornados and raise you hurricanes and alligators!
There may be problems with this location, but weather/climate is not one of them.
I have been to Orlando in July and August, from personal experience the heat index was lower in Orlando than where I am in Oklahoma. Right now we have heat advisories and it is 100 here and feels like 106. It could be 100 everyday for the next month. I am not saying it’s nice in Orlando in August. I’d rather not be spending time outside in either place when it’s a heat advisory.
However, one worrying thing about going early is how safe will an amusement park with only a $2 billion budget be? (See American Dream Mall in NJ (same developer Mansion Entertainment) that had a “decorative helicopter” fall and injure four customers)
Wow, I didn’t know about that. Thanks for commenting and letting me know. Not recommending going early anymore.