Jump to content

OpryLand


Recommended Posts

I am curious how many people were ever at OpryLand in Nashville TN and how many people even know about OpryLand.

Yes it was a park that was dedicated to Counrty music, but it also had some of the best shows and performances around. The talent in my opinon would rival what Disney has.

Also OL had some amazing rides, Chaos, Screamin Delta Demon, Wabash Cannonball, The Hangman, and The Rockin Roller Coaster to name a few. Unfotunately this park met its demise and ended up as a mall like Cincinnati Mills.

What a shame and what a loss.... cowboy.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I too went to Opryland as a kid. My Brother and I rode the Walbash Cannonbll over and over again. I think it reminded us of Vortex at PKI, even though it didn't have as many loops, or wasn't as tall or fast. I had visted Oprymills the mall that now stands on the old park property, back in 2003. It made me sad. They are still some stuff still around from the old park though. The General Jaskson show boat is still there. And also rocks from the old water raft ride.

I just wish Premier (owner of Six Flags before name change) wouldn't have let most of those rides just sit in an open field. It would have be nice for some of the other coasters to be rebuilt elsewear. Correct me if i'm wrong, but wasn't Hangman the only coaster that was relocated?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I actually think that Opryland was the best landscaped park in the country. I don't consider Disney to be landscaped as almost everything is plastic and made to "look real." The close second would have to be Bush Garden's Williamsburg.

I was completly shocked when I heard that Gaylord Entertainment had decided to close the park and open an outlet mall. How absolutely disgusting is that premise.

Anyway, I have the memories and can say I'd been there a few times.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I too went to Opryland as a kid. My Brother and I rode the Walbash Cannonbll over and over again. I think it reminded us of Vortex at PKI, even though it didn't have as many loops, or wasn't as tall or fast. I had visted Oprymills the mall that now stands on the old park property, back in 2003. It made me sad. They are still some stuff still around from the old park though. The General Jaskson show boat is still there. And also rocks from the old water raft ride.

I just wish Premier (owner of Six Flags before name change) wouldn't have let most of those rides just sit in an open field. It would have be nice for some of the other coasters to be rebuilt elsewear. Correct me if i'm wrong, but wasn't Hangman the only coaster that was relocated?

yeah it went to wild adventures in GA! the steel family coaster went to the great escape as canyon blaster

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Opryland was an amaizing theme park, with a lot to offer for the entire family. I made my first trip to the park when I was 4 years old and my family and I made bi-annual trips there until the year it closed. I still remember the first time I was big enough to ride the Screamin Delta Demon...I loved that ride! It was unlike any other ride I had ever ridden. To ride in a bobsled type car down an open track was amaizing, to feel the turns and to see how high the cars would go up onto the sides, it was awsome! Other rides in the park were great as well, The Rockin Roller Coaster was a great mine train coaster. And Hangman was one of the best SLC I had ever ridden (and it is still in commisson today....where? GL!)

I remeber when they added Chaos it was so cool to see that long of a train on a coaster, and the special effects were really cool too (for the time) You even got to wear 3-D glasses on the ride! The coaster itself wasn't much, but everything else made the ride that great!

Even above the rides....the Entertainment was excellent! The shows there were always high quality and I felt that they lived up to the industries top competition. Even if the shows were based around country music (which I didn't like) I still enjoyed the shows. The food was top quality! And their special seasonal events were great too! I remember hunting for easter eggs in a makeshift field of hay and straw out by the picnic groves. And for Christmas I remember going to see all the lights and ice-skating in the amplitheatre.

Opryland was a great theme park and it such a shame that we had to loose it to a shopping mall. That area of Tenn. was a destination that everyone could enjoy. I have not been down since the closing of the park so I haven't been able to look around but I have heard there are reminants of the park around still to this day.

Does anybody know if the Opryland Hotel is still as majestic as it was when the park was there? That hotel was amaizing and beautiful. The gardens and the dancing waters & light shows. And I remember it was always booked solid.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Opryland was an amaizing theme park, with a lot to offer for the entire family. I made my first trip to the park when I was 4 years old and my family and I made bi-annual trips there until the year it closed. I still remember the first time I was big enough to ride the Screamin Delta Demon...I loved that ride! It was unlike any other ride I had ever ridden. To ride in a bobsled type car down an open track was amaizing, to feel the turns and to see how high the cars would go up onto the sides, it was awsome! Other rides in the park were great as well, The Rockin Roller Coaster was a great mine train coaster. And Hangman was one of the best SLC I had ever ridden (and it is still in commisson today....where? GL!)

I remeber when they added Chaos it was so cool to see that long of a train on a coaster, and the special effects were really cool too (for the time) You even got to wear 3-D glasses on the ride! The coaster itself wasn't much, but everything else made the ride that great!

Even above the rides....the Entertainment was excellent! The shows there were always high quality and I felt that they lived up to the industries top competition. Even if the shows were based around country music (which I didn't like) I still enjoyed the shows. The food was top quality! And their special seasonal events were great too! I remember hunting for easter eggs in a makeshift field of hay and straw out by the picnic groves. And for Christmas I remember going to see all the lights and ice-skating in the amplitheatre.

Opryland was a great theme park and it such a shame that we had to loose it to a shopping mall. That area of Tenn. was a destination that everyone could enjoy. I have not been down since the closing of the park so I haven't been able to look around but I have heard there are reminants of the park around still to this day.

Does anybody know if the Opryland Hotel is still as majestic as it was when the park was there? That hotel was amaizing and beautiful. The gardens and the dancing waters & light shows. And I remember it was always booked solid.

wow your actually posting about another park!!!! Holy shi#

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does anybody know if the Opryland Hotel is still as majestic as it was when the park was there? That hotel was amaizing and beautiful. The gardens and the dancing waters & light shows. And I remember it was always booked solid.

The Opryland Hotel is still phenominal. It's still booked a good portion of the years as it's widely utilized as convension destination.

They now have a new location in Orlando.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes Opryland Hotel is still there and it has gotten bigger. They expanded an entire new area with a river boat ride inside the new section. This is expansion was a few years ago. Still a great place to go stay for christmas.

As for the remnants of the park, the white water canyon ride is still there. That is the rocks and channel are still there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

as you can tell from my signature, this was the place that I rode my first coasters...

This place was awesome, and they were located close to my sister's place, and she would take us almost monthly, as long as it wasnt july or august...

It was fun, but I remember looking at wabash, and thinking... HELL NO

and then I was skeptical about SDD, but she said it was like a Log ride or a Slide, but ha! wrong, it was just fun!!

I wish there were more Flying Turns Rides...

Fun!

Opryland may have a new future...

Dolly is thinking about buying some land near nashville for a park...

WOO HOO

Oh yeah, and the Rapids Ride has tours through it from the Hotel...

Go for it!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

ALSO!!

Opryland has a small neighbor, which just closed this year,

Music Valley Amusement park, it was literally a walk from Opry, however, since it was on the other side of the Hotel, it was not as convenient... if you are familiar with the setup of Opry, the area was OPRYLAND, then hotel, then the shopping strip, MVAP was behind the strip, now its OPRYMILLS, and HOTEL, and strip...

All seen from the Freeway

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Opryland may have a new future...

Dolly is thinking about buying some land near nashville for a park...

WOO HOO

Dolly is a very shrewed business woman. A park in Nashville would directly affect Opryland. I can't imagine she would set up a part to compete with herself.

Oh my, you dont understand business do you?

Also, there is no Opryland USA, so it would only effect the local parks, draw people away from Beech Bend Park and the locals, and to go to The New Nashville Park, it would possibly draw some people out from Pigeon Forge, but when you have the world's #1 Wood Coaster, something is going good here...

She is basically taking over the TN area, trying to get more parks, make more money, especially with that being such a huge town, and right on a major Interstate (I-65) she can make even more money, not quite Six Flags big or Paramount big, but still pretty frackin' profitable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh my, you dont understand business do you?

Also, there is no Opryland USA, so it would only effect the local parks, draw people away from Beech Bend Park and the locals, and to go to The New Nashville Park, it would possibly draw some people out from Pigeon Forge, but when you have the world's #1 Wood Coaster, something is going good here...

She is basically taking over the TN area, trying to get more parks, make more money, especially with that being such a huge town, and right on a major Interstate (I-65) she can make even more money, not quite Six Flags big or Paramount big, but still pretty frackin' profitable.

Actually my degree is in business administration and I'm quite proficient in the subject. As you may or may not know, attractions have "draw" areas. Dollywood draws from Nashville and even from Cincinnati to some extent. It is not good business sense for her to market against herself or to fragment her draw area.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I visited Opryland numerous times and found it to be one of the best theme parks in the US. The Screamin' Delta Demon was a great bobsled ride and very, very well themed. The Grizzly River Rampage was a great river ride and the Old Mill Scream was on of the first modern day Spillwater rides with great rock work to make it look like a mountain. The Walbash Cannonball was the first looping rollercoaster I ever rode, I like how they greased the track to make it go a little faster. Chaos in my opinion was one of the best indoor themed rollercoaster ever. The music was great and so was the special effects. The other thing I remember about the park was the great shade and really good logos for their rides. I still have the chaos shirt.

Nashville tourism took a hit with the closing of Opyland Theme Park and from what I have read never quiet recovered. But, I have read that the City is actively trying to get someone to build a new theme park. Hopefully it will have a section that pays respect to Opyland. Build a new version of the Screamin' Delta Demon and I will be there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But sometimes canabalism is a good thing. For example a Dolly Park in Nashville would most likely pull away from SilverDollar City in Branson and also pull from Louisville and St.Louis areas. By entering a new market and pulling in new customers that are not familiar with the so called Dolly Brand, this would actually lead to a new market visiting DollyWood for the first time. This is just like the same reasson we who love PKI want to go visit other Paramount parks or even CP and other Cedar Fair parks for that matter.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went to Opryland many times as a kid. In fact, Wabash Cannonball was my first steel coaster. They had a neat little collection of rides. Chaos was a really interesting coaster - it was a Vekoma Illusion, and had 40 car trains! I think there is another one in operation like it at Bobbejaanland in Belgium. Rock n' Roller Coaster (Arrow mine train) was finally relocated to the Great Escape as Canyon Blaster a few years ago, and Hangman was relocated quickly to Six Flags Marine World as Kong. Check out www.rcdb.com to learn more about their coasters.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...