What’s the ‘secret sauce’ in theme park idea by a Texan for Texans? It might not be BBQ

A Texas-themed theme park built by Texans for Texans could be on the horizon.

Texans aren’t shy about their love for the Lone Star State and that’s exactly why the idea hooked Lizzy McGee, TexasLand USA CEO and founder.

“It’s more of a state of mind that anyone can come here, create, work hard and it’s a land of opportunity,” McGee said. “The people are friendly and I feel like the concept of looking out for your neighbors still exists in Texas and so all that combined creates this secret sauce.”

TexasLand USA would be exactly how the name describes a theme park full of the state’s historical and cultural significance’s.

People could visit attractions such as the Apollo 11 mission control, the Prada store in Marfa and a recreation of the Fort Worth Stockyards. Another major attraction would be a Texas pavilion where towns from across the state could share their local businesses and history.

“We want to be the best of Texas and showcase everything Texas has to offer from a cultural standpoint and from a geographic standpoint,” McGee said.

Lizzy McGee, a sixth-generation Texan from Houston, dreamt up the theme park

McGee, a sixth-generation Texan from Houston, dreamt up the theme park idea after moving home from Los Angeles during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She was working for Disney as a strategist on their theme parks and resorts. It was there where McGee learned that Walt Disney’s original business model for his theme parks were places to bring people together.

From the sheer amount of new and returning faces moving to Texas during the pandemic like herself, a light bulb lit up.

“It had all the metrics that major theme park companies look for when going somewhere new,” McGee said. “It’s got a large and burgeoning market, business friendly environment and then this more magical component that’s hard to put your finger on if you haven’t ever lived [in Texas].”

The name TexasLand USA drew inspiration from Dollywood, the Tennessee theme park named after country superstar Dolly Parton.

McGee researched how successful Dollywood is and why people keep visiting the park, zeroing in on how the locale leans into its regional identity. So if Dollywood has Dolly Parton, what does Texas have?

Well, Texas, McGee said.

“Texas is such a powerful brand in and of itself,” she said. “TexasLand was born in that moment.”

TexasLand USA: Part amusement park, part history lesson

McGee hopes to invoke education through entertainment at TexasLand USA.

The park won’t be like a museum in that sense, instead incorporating Texas history into experiences and attractions. And it wouldn’t be a theme park without rides, but even those will have inklings of history, McGee said.

One example might be a splash pad that’s pirate themed, where the park would tell the story of French pirate Jean Lafitte who helped protect the shores of Galveston in the early 1800s.

“The main mission is to bring families together to have fun, but certainly secondary goals of giving people an authentic taste of Texas,” McGee said.

After envisioning the park for years, McGee is close to making it a reality.

The TexasLand team raised around $82,000 earlier this year and plans to use the money to pay for consultants to gauge demand. A process companies use when they’re planning to open a new sports stadium or theme park.

Besides that, McGee and team are scouting for land and where exactly the best fit for the park would be in Texas. Another link in the chain is holding focus group sessions to see what people would like to see in the park.

Once the team has a design and concept in mind, the next step is pitching to investors and finding potential partners. The plan is to have most of these items checked off the list by this fall and start construction in 2024, McGee said.

The ultimate goal is to have TexasLand USA ready to open by 2026.

“I know it’s ambitious, but that’s okay,” McGee said.

‘Texas can bring people together with a power that few other stories can’

The reaction to TexasLand USA from the general public has been, frankly, overwhelming, McGee said.

From the focus groups to people reading about the project in the press, the response has been overtly positive and shows that Texans have had a pent-up demand for this type of project. The support hearkens back to McGee’s own feelings of how Texas brought her family together.

McGee’s late grandfather was originally from Philadelphia and never owned a pair of cowboy boots, but that didn’t stop him from wearing burnt orange UT Austin shirts and quizzing her on the Houston Astros lineup every night.

Like she said, there’s something magical about living in the Lone Star State.

“My family is a prime example of the way Texas can bring people together with a power that few other stories can,” McGee said.