A NEW £1.5billion theme park and resort the size of the Glastonbury festival is coming to America.
More than five million visitors a year are expected to head to American Heartland in Oklahoma to enjoy one of the most expensive attractions ever built.
But there are still massive fears the whole thing could be doomed to fail… before the first over-priced hamburger has even been bought.
The Americana-themed park, scheduled to open in 2026, will feature the usual variety of rides, live shows, waterways, family attractions, as well as food and drink offerings of various quality and value.
Excited CEO Larry White said: “We are thrilled to make Oklahoma the home of American Heartland Theme Park and Resort, we look forward to bringing unforgettable generational experiences to Oklahoma.”
The park is located on the world-famous Route 66 and will also feature a large-scale RV park, 300-room hotel and modern indoor water centre.
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The park is backed by a dream design team made up of more than 20 former Disney Parks builders and Walt Disney Imagineers.
But even the best teams and backing can fail as we know from ventures such as the Hard Rock park.
One ardent sceptic regarding the park’s viability is Robert Niles from Theme Park Insider, who believes the location could be a big issue.
“Although the site for the proposed American Heartland Theme Park and Resort stands near Interstate 44, it’s still miles away from any major city or airport,” he warns.
Kristy Adams, senior executive vice president of sales and marketing for the group that owns Americana Heartland, isn’t having any of it.
“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,” she hoped.
But Niles adds concern, pointing out: “[This] seems to me to be ambitious for a park with no IP in a location with no substantial built-in visitor base. Anyone remember Hard Rock Park? That park had both, and still failed.”
So will a £1.5billion park, with no intellectual property and in a potentially poor location survive, if it is even built?
History perhaps tells us not, but we do hope the team at American Heartland can pull this off.
And that we can find it if they do.
