LOCAL NEWS

American Heartland Theme Park Coming to Oklahoma


The Oklahoman has released a story regarding the recently announced ‘American Heartland Theme Park’ reported to be built near Grand Lake and in the Vinita area of Northeast Oklahoma.
 The new, 125-acre theme park could be opening in northeast Oklahoma by 2026. Named “American Heartland Theme Park,” the venture could bring as many as 4,000 jobs to the Vinita area, according to the developer, Mansion Entertainment Group.
 Based in Branson, Missouri, Mansion’s portfolio includes television productions, short films, as well as hosting concerts and theatrical performances at the Mansion Theater for the Performing Arts in their hometown. The venue has hosted artists like Kenny Loggins, Jeff Foxworthy, Bob NewHart, Dennis Quaid and many more.
 The company announced the expansion into several of those areas in early 2022, noting plans then to build a movie studio with stages and equipment that would “rival anything in Los Angeles,” said CEO Larry Wilhite, a former general manager of the theater.
 In a July 19 news release from American Heartland, the company announced the theme park in and resort is scheduled to open in 2026 west of Grand Lake on Route 66.
 In the spring of 2025, the company says the first phase, featuring a RV park and campground, will be complete. Named “Three Ponies,” the space is “prime from travelers and naturist who are looking to reconnect with nature,” the company advertises.
 A “top-tier,” 300-room hotel with an indoor water park is also planned, but no timeline for those venues was given. The “Heartland” amusement park will feature regional themes, like Great Plains, Bayou Bay, Big Timber Falls, Stony Point Harbor, Liberty Village and Electropolis.
 “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,” said Kristy Adams, senior executive vice president of sales and marketing.
 The executive director for the creative team behind the park is multi-millionaire Gene Bicknell. A native of Pittsburgh, Kansas, he joined the Pizza Hut franchise network in 1962, just four years after the first location opened in Wichita.
 He aggressively expanded after PepsiCo. bought Pizza Hut and took his company public under the name National Pizza Co., later known as NPC International Inc.
 Under Bicknell, the company operated hundreds of Pizza Hut locations worldwide, as well as taking over Tony Romas and operating some Wendy’s locations, too. He sold the company in 2006 for $615 million, setting off a tax battle with his home state. At the time, NPC operated 790 Pizza Hut stores in the United States.
 Since announcing their expansion into different genres of entertainment, Mansion has been busy. The company has produced “Ozark Mountain Symphony,” a TV special playing on American Public Television, as well as a short, animated film titled “Gene’s 6th Symphony” that has premiered at film festivals.
 Bicknell was a writer for the film and Wilhite, a producer.
 Both individuals have extensive backgrounds with audio production, with Bicknell owning several AM radio stations nationwide and hosting the program “Patriot Podcast” and Wilhite performing gospel music at venues throughout the region.
 That experience plays into another side of the business: “Mansion Sound.” The department boasts a studio with a 96-input configuration on an audio mixing console. According to a 2022 news release, it is the only such console to be installed and in operation worldwide.
 According to American Heartland, the creative team features over 500 years of combined experience with Disney and Entertainment experience.
 Among them is Steve Hedrick, who has spent half of his 40-year career in the industry working with Disney. He’ll be leading a design team that features over 20 former Disney Parks builders and Walt Disney Imagine.
 Others include Tom Turley, who has 45 years of experience with planning and development as Disney Land International and Dan Hilsen, who has 30 years of experience as ride engineer with Disney World International.

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