| Land of Oz | |
|---|---|
| Location | Beech Mountain, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Owner | Emerald Mountain Properties |
| Opened | 1970 |
| Closed | 1980 |
| Operating season | first weekend of October annually |
| Area | 16 acres (65,000 m2) |
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. The park was based on the book rather than the film. In fact, during the designing phase employees were told not to watch the movie but rather read the book. The costumes of the actors were in fact based more on the book descriptions until later on in the park's history when they were changed to look more like the film. 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 (a specially modified ski lift installed by Goforth Brothers http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3728969.pdf) allowed visitors to get a bird's-eye view of the park and breathtaking mountain scenery before leaving Oz. There was a small museum that showed props and costumes from the film. These were shared between the park and Debbie Reynolds who joined with them to buy these props from MGM.
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 integrate into the Emerald City show).
A video and display on The Land of Oz were on exhibit in the museum at Appalachian State University in Boone, but the museum no longer exists, and the artifacts are in storage at Appalachian State.
Land of Oz opened in 1970 with the intention of extending the ski resort to be a 'year-round' attraction by offering an attraction at the pinnacle of Beech Mountain. A ski lift was specially designed to become the hot air balloon ride which has since been redeployed to be a ski lift on the back bowl of Ski Beech. In later years, characters from the story conducted tours, but the original design was for the visitor to assume the role of Dorothy - experiencing everything from Kansas to tornado to the meeting the characters on the yellow brick road to Oz. The visit culminated in Emerald City, where Dorothy appeared with her friends to meet the Wizard.
The park was the top attraction in the southeast the first year. Dampened by the death of owner Grover Robbins a few months before the park opened, the driving force to keep the park as a special experience gave way to commercial necessities foisted on Carolina Caribbean Corp by the downturn in real estate sales. Emerald City burned in 1976, destroying some artifacts, including the dress worn by Dorothy in the movie. Land of Oz finally closed in 1980.[1]
After the park was closed much of it fell into disrepair. Props were vandalized, stolen, or left to degrade from the elements. Some of the park was saved such as parts of the yellow brick road, some munchkin houses, and some of the later costumes. Parts of the witch's castle were saved but has yet to be restored to its former glory.
The owner of the land restored the park about ten years later. In the late nineties, former employees started the Autumn at Oz event as a reunion. Later this became an annual event, and in 2009 the festival had 8500 attending. In 2010 more of the park's original characters will return, the Fountain of Youth will have green water, and vendors and face painters will add to the event. Gregory Hugh Leng was guest of honor. A museum now shows costumes from the movie and other memorabilia. The Yellow Brick Road has a few of its 44,000 bricks missing but once again takes visitors through the Enchanted Forest and Poppy Field. Dorothy's house, which can be rented for the night or for events such as weddings, includes a basement intended to make visitors feel the experience of a tornado; the Wicked Witch's legs stick out from under the house. In 2011, the park will host the International Wizard of Oz club and some of the original 1970 cast will return to share photos and tales from the original inspiration of Jack Pentes.[1]