Construction of the highly touted American Heartland Theme Park and Resort in Vinita is paused, according to an interview its developers gave to the Tulsa World.
The ambitious 1,000-acre, $2 billion project was supposed to feature a theme park opening in 2026 and an RV campground to open next year.
Developers promised the park would rival the Magic Kingdom Theme Park in Orlando and Disneyland in California. The RV park would have space for hundreds of campers and cabins for rent.
Neither of those projects is on schedule, as the land in question sits empty.
In the interview with the Tulsa World, developers say the park — which has been met with some skepticism because of its ambition and allegations of unpaid bills — will still be completed in 2029.
State representatives at a 2023 announcement ceremony included Interim Director of the Oklahoma Department of Commerce Hopper Smith. At the time, Smith estimated the project would bring 4.9 million people a year to northeast Oklahoma, estimating 2 million from out-of-state.
“American Heartland’s long-term impact will be transformative not only for northeast Oklahoma, but for the entire region,” Smith said.
News of the delay comes just a week after the nearby Silver Dollar City announced an expansion. Up the road in Branson, Missouri, that theme park plans to expand by as much as 1,200 acres and add a resort. Those expansions are expected to cost $500 million dollars across a decade of work.
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