I think they just grabbed something close-ish and pasted it onto their concept art. Same goes for the Thunderhead clone. Is it possible those are close to what they actually want to build? Yes. Is it likely? I doubt it
Here two years later, obviously this went nowhere. Allow me to break down this insanity for y'all.
October 30, 2023;A groundbreaking was held for the attached Three Ponies RV Park, nothing on the theme park. All that would ever be built was a signpost and gravel road/lot.
February 16, 2024; The incredibly exciting announcement was made that PepsiCo had been tapped as a drinks provider, while everything else was at progress point very didn't start.
April 24, 2024; Oklahoma legislature fails to pass a bill that would have provided the project with $35 million in sewage infrastructure, a staggering turnaround from what had between February and then that vote had been quite popular among lawmakers. What soured them so suddenly?
May 31, 2024; The developers embark upon an apology tour. WE WILL MOVE FORWARDS. OUR APOLOGIES FOR OUR SLOWNESS. The PR couldn’t have been more slick.
October 24, 2024; The project timeline is revised by an extra three years, at least. Officially, they need to adjust the site footprint due to a flood zone and await approval from the owner/lead investor, 90+ year old Gene Bicknell.
July 25, 2025; Gene Bicknell sues the park’s partners under RICO laws, claiming that they ran a text/email campaign making him believe that God was commanding him to finance this theme park AND give said partners a two-thirds ownership stake. That little grandpa scam cost him $60 million.
The full article itself is absolutely fucking wild, apparently there was a fake nun involved and the developers were really sketch. Two of them had a history of proposing huge Disney killer parks in the South (including a project where the lead for securing finances was jailed for fraud several years ago), and one of those specifically was portraying himself as an experienced global entertainment executive/creative. This is specifically the guy who convinced the Branson Mansion Theater business to build a theme park, like some kind of destructive kleptomaniac.
So yea, the American Heartland pitch in Oklahoma has been a textbook crash and burn for pipe dream theme park developments. I think there’s a few more fireworks left to go off but yeah, thanks for enjoying my TED Talk.
Holy shit, thanks for the roundup and the link to that absolutely INSANE article. Definitely worth a read for anyone who is wondering.
The fact that this guy has defrauded investors on TWO PREVIOUS park projects is also fucking nuts. He's just been out there for years stealing millions from people?!
lol, this sounds like they wanted someone like cbn, newsmax, oan, dailywire or gac to fund the park (and im not trying to be political, but feel free to move this comment to a political thread)
If these guys really wanna try their hand at operating a theme park, I see a pretty good sized park in Maryland with lots of potential that's supposed to close permanently at the end of the season but is possibly put up for sale.
Buy up the park, address the many problems it has. Add lots more theming and a star coaster or two. I could see them turn SFA around if they had the dedication to.
While nobody deserves to be scammed, these “god” types are something else. God doesn’t care if there are starving children in the world, but he’s going to tell someone to build a theme park.?!
While nobody deserves to be scammed, these “god” types are something else. God doesn’t care if there are starving children in the world, but he’s going to tell someone to build a theme park.?!
Then stop using this statement as an excuse to put political commentary in your comments. Seriously, between this and your baseless hot takes and theories nobody on this forum sidetracks or derails more conversations than you. Keep things impartial and on topic.
Then stop using this statement as an excuse to put political commentary in your comments. Seriously, between this and your baseless hot takes and theories nobody on this forum sidetracks or derails more conversations than you. Keep things impartial and on topic.
No. No more unnecessary threads. Don’t burden other forums with this either. We have a politics thread if you feel like you absolutely have to post it somewhere, but it’s most professional to just keep this stuff to yourself
