The 320-acre Three Ponies RV Park and Campground, designed by Oklahoma architects ADG Blatt, will be the largest campground in the central U.S., officials announced in July during a news conference for American Heartland.”
A groundbreaking is set for the end of the month for a campground with 750 RV spaces and 300 cabins — the first phase in an announced $2 billion Disneyland-like theme park in Vinita.
The announcement was made Wednesday after the Vinita City Council voted 7-1 on Tuesday night to annex six square miles east to encompass both the theme park and RV/camping areas, Vinita Mayor Josh Lee said.
“It’s been a fantastic few months,” Lee told the Tulsa World on Wednesday evening. “It’s been a lot of work, but we are on the path to a renewal for the future,” he said.
The American Heartland Theme Park and Resort is planned to be a 1,000-acre development with a 125-acre theme park, which is comparable to the size of Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom. The theme park alone would be nearly twice the current size of Tulsa’s Gathering Place, which is 66.5 acres.
The park will feature an Americana-themed environment with a variety of rides, live shows, family attractions and waterways, as well as restaurant-quality food and beverage offerings, officials said.
The theme park also will include a top-tier 300-room hotel and indoor water park.
The developer is American Heartland, an affiliate of Branson, Missouri-based Mansion Entertainment Group LLC, a performing arts, animation and studio brand. It is the presenting sponsor of the 2024 Rose Parade Grand Finale in Pasadena, California.
The development will be about 6 miles east of Vinita.
“We are thrilled to announce the start of construction on Three Ponies RV Park and Campground will begin this month,” officials announced Wednesday on Facebook.
“The project team will gather with state and local officials at 10 a.m. Oct. 30 to break ground. We look forward to celebrating this major milestone as we begin our journey together!”
Additional details were not released in the social media post.
The 320-acre Three Ponies RV Park and Campground, designed by Oklahoma architects ADG Blatt, will be the largest campground in the central U.S., officials announced in July during a news conference for American Heartland.
The RV park with cabins is scheduled to open in 2025, with the theme park planned for a 2026 opening.
All land for the project already has been purchased. Officials have declined to say how much was spent on the land purchase.
Gene Bicknell is the main financial backer of the project, officials have said.
Bicknell, 90, is American Heartland’s founder and chief creative officer. He owns theaters in Branson and founded NPC International, which became the world’s largest Pizza Hut franchise. In the mid-2000s Bicknell sold NPC International, which owned more than 800 Pizza Hut locations around the world.
He is also a former mayor of Pittsburg, Kansas, and an author, actor, broadcaster, pilot, veteran and professor.
Significant infrastructure improvements, including roads and utilities, will be needed as the massive project moves forward.
Asked Wednesday evening about those challenges, Lee said:
“We’ve got a long way to go. There’s work to be done every single day, and work is being done every single day.”
Vinita, the Craig County seat with a population of about 5,200, is 64 miles northeast of downtown Tulsa on the Will Rogers Turnpike and Oklahoma 66. It is about 120 miles southwest of Springfield, Missouri, 95 miles northwest of Fayetteville, Arkansas, and 188 miles southeast of Wichita, Kansas.
The theme park and RV/cabins area would be located about 10 miles west of the northern and western sides of Grand Lake.
While many have expressed doubt about the theme park’s becoming a reality, both American Heartland and Three Ponies RV Park and Campground now appear on Google Maps.
“We commend the Vinita city leadership for their diligence in pursuing a path forward that is mutually beneficial to both the project and the community,” said Kristy Adams, American Heartland senior executive vice president of sales and marketing, in a statement to the Tulsa World.
“We look forward to continued positive and productive conversations in the next steps of this development.”
