Opening a brand-new theme park is serious business. Just ask Universal Orlando Resort, which opened Epic Universe this year and reportedly spent billions of dollars to do it. Most attempts at brand new theme parks from companies that aren’t already successful in the industry end up like the America's Heartland theme park project, which promised a lot and is now mired in lawsuits.
Hang On, Nateland Is Real?
Which is why it blows me away that we might really see a brand new theme park project from, of all people, stand-up comedian Nate Bargatze. Earlier this year, he told Esquire about his desire to build a park in his home city of Nashville, and now Felix Verdigets, the CEO of Nateland, Bargatze’s company, told THR that there have been real conversations with both investors and potential sites for not simply one, but potentially multiple Nateland theme parks in addition to the flagship park in Nashville that’s already in development. Verdigets said…
We’ve been in early discussions with some wealthy families and some governors of a couple of other states to do a Nateland-themed something, almost like a mini park.
Nate Bargatze has become one of the most successful stand-ups working today, but he clearly has his eyes on bigger things beyond hosting the Emmys this weekend. 2026 will see a Nateland Cruise take place, which will be the first of the Nateland Experiences. The theme parks will follow that.
I’ll be honest, I’m not that up on the career of Nate Bargatze, so I didn’t give this that much attention when he first floated the idea, in part because I assumed it was just that, an idea. Lots of celebrities talk about ideas that never happen, and lots of theme park concepts that are planned never happen. I assumed this would just get added to the pile.
But it seems he’s quite serious about the whole thing. He wants to build a theme park, with a size on par with Disneyland, in Nashville. Bargatze even has thoughts on where it will go: the former site of the Opryland USA theme park, though doing that would require knocking down the shopping mall that replaced the park.
Bargatze's Theme Park Idea Is So Crazy It Just Might Work
Bargatze also has his eye on Hollywood with his own studio and production company. It seems that, at least initially, the Nateland theme park(s) may have just general rides, but if the movies the studio produces are successful, they could become the IP for future attractions
I certainly did not have “stand up comedian builds theme park” on my bingo card, but I’ll give anything a chance. Everybody thought Walt Disney was crazy when he opened Disneyland, and that turned out pretty well for him. Maybe Nate Bargatze has that same blend of creativity and insanity that Walt had, which will make something like this successful.
