'American Heartland' Theme Park Expected To Bring Thousands Of Jobs To Vinita

Plans for a new billion-dollar theme park coming to Craig County in 2026 are getting Oklahomans excited.

The American Heartland theme park expects to bring nearly five million guests a year to Vinita.

Skepticism aside, people we've spoke with said they are excited to see a theme park of this scale right here in Green Country.

Instead of loading up the car and driving for hours to get to the nearest theme park, plans for the "next big thing" could save you travel time and allow for more time having fun.

Mansion Entertainment, a company with ties to Branson, announced a $2 billion investment, which hopes to bring a park larger than the size of Magic Kingdom or Disneyland to just outside Vinita.

“They've been meeting with electric, water, gas companies, they've already spent hundreds of millions of dollars on this project, now,” Vinita Mayor Josh Lee said.

Some viewers shared their skepticism on News On 6's Facebook page. Many are concerned about how the park will find staff or are comparing the announcement to the revival of Bell's Amusement Park, which has since decided not to move forward.

Many are hopeful and support the park establishing its foothold in Green Country.

“I think that's a great idea. It gives them enough space that if they ever wanted to expand it, they can to make it even bigger, which I think they should,” Tulsan Kristin Knutson said.

Mansion Entertainment said the park will create more than 4,000 jobs in a town with a population of just over 5,000 people.

“Being that there are many towns around Vinita, I don't think driving 20 to 30 minutes for a job is really that big of a deal. I think they're putting too much pressure on how much staff they are going to need,” Knutson said.

“If they're expecting it to be as big as they're saying, then they shouldn't have any problem paying their staff,” Tulsan Kristyn Fields said.

News On 6 looked into land records and was able to confirm the projected area was purchased by a holdings group. The company said funding is already 100-percent secured.