Land of Oz (theme park)

Infobox Amusement park
name = Land of Oz


caption =
location = Beech Mountain
location2 = North Carolina
location3 = United States flagicon|USA
opening_date = 1970
closing_date = 1980
previous_names =
season = first weekend of October annually
area =
rides =
coasters = 0
water_rides = 0
owner = Emerald Mountain
slogan =
homepage =

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 " [http://www.emeraldmtn.com/LandofOz/oz.htm 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.

References

*Bengal, Rebecca. [http://www.alternet.org/story/302/ "In Search of Emerald City"] . "Eye". Posted at AlterNet on 1 April 2000. Accessed 11 December 2006.
*Wuckovich, Tom. [http://www.aaagoingplaces.com/pagesso06/dept_herethere_so06.html "Here & There"] . "AAA Going Places Magazine", September/October 2006. Accessed 11 December 2006.
* [http://www.museum.appstate.edu/exhibits/oz/pages/oz.shtml Land of Oz Theme Park] , Appalachian Cultural Museum exhibit, Appalachian State University.

External links

* [http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tips/getAttraction.php3?tip_AttractionNo=3764 Beech Mountain, North Carolina - Land of Oz] at Roadside America
* [http://www.emeraldmtn.com/LandofOz/landofoz.html What on Earth Happened to The Land Of OZ?] from Emerald Mountain
* [http://www.markturner.com/land_of_oz.htm Land of Oz] vintage postcards from the park collected by Mark Turner
* [http://www.beechmtn.com Beech Mountain Calendar ] Tells what days and prices.