Land of Oz (theme park)
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| Land of Oz | |
|---|---|
| Location | Beech Mountain, North Carolina, United States  |
| Owner | Emerald Mountain |
| Opened | 1970 |
| Closed | 1980 |
| Operating season | first weekend of October annually |
| Rides | total
|
The Land of Oz is a mostly now-defunct theme park located in the resort town of Beech Mountain, North Carolina. It was opened in 1970 by Grover Robbins, who had been successful with Tweetsie Railroad, and was fully operational until 1980. Based on the 1939 MGM movie The Wizard of Oz, visitors could take a walk down the Yellow Brick Road, "experience" the cyclone which struck Dorothy's house, and visit with the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, the Cowardly Lion, and of course, the Wicked Witch of the West. The Yellow Brick Road led (inevitably) to a show at the Emerald City where the characters met with the Wizard. Finally, an artificial balloon ride (propelled by electric power lines) allowed visitors to get a bird's-eye view of the park and breathtaking mountain scenery before leaving Oz.
The musical score sung by the characters on the Yellow Brick Road and at Emerald City was composed by notables Alec Wilder and North Carolina native Loonis McGlohon (with the exception of E.Y. Harburg and Harold Arlen's "Over the Rainbow" for which rights were obtained to interpolate into the Emerald City show).
In the late nineties, much of the old theme park was restored and is now opened once a year in October when Beech Mountain holds their annual "Autumn at Oz" festival. Although the balloon rides and the Emerald City are long gone, visitors can once again stroll down the Yellow Brick Road and see some of their old "friends" again.
A video and display on The Land of Oz is on exhibit in the museum at Appalachian State University in Boone.
[edit] References
- Bengal, Rebecca. "In Search of Emerald City". Eye. Posted at AlterNet on 1 April 2000. Accessed 11 December 2006.
- Wuckovich, Tom. "Here & There". AAA Going Places Magazine, September/October 2006. Accessed 11 December 2006.
- Land of Oz Theme Park, Appalachian Cultural Museum exhibit, Appalachian State University.
[edit] External links
- Beech Mountain, North Carolina - Land of Oz at Roadside America
- What on Earth Happened to The Land Of OZ? from Emerald Mountain
- Land of Oz vintage postcards from the park collected by Mark Turner
- Beech Mountain Calendar Tells what days and prices.
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