History of Opryland

[chris holman]

 

[chris holman]

If anyone wanted to know what happened to the Hangman ride this is it. It's Called Kong now the ride is in  Marina world in California been there for awhile.

[MLBrumby]

Such a shame! I didn't go to Opryland more than a couple of times. It seemed like a very nice park. I recall how clean it was. 

I think I've mentioned here before. Back when I first moved to our Chattanooga office, I'd drive often to BNA to fly to Dallas, which was where we had a lot of business at the time. I recall sitting with McKinsey consultants who were working on the dismantling of Opryland. They used to sit around each other and talk about how the mall was going to be the greatest thing for Nashville. I realize Gaylord was driving that bus and McKinsey was hired to justify their plans, but ever since then I have absolutely disliked anything to do with McKinsey. The consulting lingo... the crap they force into the conversation as a top priority... the elitist attitude. Sorry if I offend anyone here, but that's how I feel. I doubt I'm alone. 

[Auntie Yock]

Replacing a beloved theme park (albeit one in an attendance slump) with a mall was the single-worst tourism-related mistake in the history of Nashville. I'm still of the opinion they should rebuild Opryland, even if at another location within Metro or the surrounding counties along the Cumberland or one of the lakes.

[MLBrumby]

I recall one conversation I had with one of the consultants on a flight saying O'land's attendance was in decline. So I wondered aloud why. He said it was a slight industry trend, but primarily Gaylord didn't want to keep investing in new rides and shows to keep drawing visitors.  He said it was much tougher for parks in areas where the weather wasn't warm year-round to pull the crowds, but I think Dollywood put the lie to that. 

Hark back 10-12 years to a proposal I think I saw on this board. I want to see Disney open a smaller musical-themed park. Sort of an EPCOT for music. Their music and Nashville's music community with certain rides would be a slam dunk and wouldn't dilute the Disney brand b/c it's unique and can't happen just anywhere. Nashville is perfectly suited. Seriously, Disney is now always so crowded in both FL/CA... last time we discussed a trip to FL with our kids, we decided against WDW. 

[BnaBreaker]

On 4/24/2020 at 12:57 AM, Auntie Yock said:

Replacing a beloved theme park (albeit one in an attendance slump) with a mall was the single-worst tourism-related mistake in the history of Nashville. I'm still of the opinion they should rebuild Opryland, even if at another location within Metro or the surrounding counties along the Cumberland or one of the lakes.

Agreed completely.  I think I've heard that even the CEO of Gaylord regrets the decision to replace a unique, popular and beloved theme park that was making money with an indoor outlet mall that can be found in twenty other cities.

[BnaBreaker]

Here is The Rock N Roller Coaster, which is now known as Canyon Blaster as it stands today at Six Flags Great Escape in upstate NY:
 

 

And here is "Revolution" in Bobbejaanland in Belgium, which is the one and only sister ride of Opryland's CHAOS (my personal favorite, along with the Screamin' Delta Demon):
 

 

[jmtunafish]

On 4/24/2020 at 9:38 AM, MLBrumby said:

I recall one conversation I had with one of the consultants on a flight saying O'land's attendance was in decline. So I wondered aloud why. He said it was a slight industry trend, but primarily Gaylord didn't want to keep investing in new rides and shows to keep drawing visitors.  He said it was much tougher for parks in areas where the weather wasn't warm year-round to pull the crowds, but I think Dollywood put the lie to that. 

Not to mention all the theme parks north of us.  Six Flags even has a very successful theme park as far north as Montreal.

I will never forgive Gaylord for closing down Opryland.  They didn't even give us one more year, they just closed it without warning after the season had ended.  I still think the old superspeedway site between Lebanon and Murfreesboro would be ideal for another theme park:  it's flat,  and it's already got all the utilities and even a large exit on I-840.  But theme parks cost billions, so I doubt we'll ever see a new Opryland, unfortunately.  If I had the money, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

[SoundScan]

On 4/25/2020 at 9:05 PM, BnaBreaker said:

Agreed completely.  I think I've heard that even the CEO of Gaylord regrets the decision to replace a unique, popular and beloved theme park that was making money with an indoor outlet mall that can be found in twenty other cities.

It's crazy because it seemed so obvious even at the time that building a mall was a huge mistake. Everyone is Nashville thought it was a stupid idea, which frankly should have indicated to them that it was going to fail given that locals shopping there was the only chance it had--tourists don't travel to a city to visit a mall with the same stores they can find in their own town.

[MLBrumby]

I'm proud to say I've never been in that mall or any owned by that company "Mills".  Whatever their name is. I went to Opryland twice and to the General Jackson in the last year the park was open. Seemed very nice. It was certainly unique. 

[jmtunafish]

This article was posted in another forum discussing major American cities that don't have theme parks.  The article is a couple of years old, but the writer said that if any city in America could support a new theme park, it's Nashville.

https://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/201812/6448/

[MLBrumby]

Great article!  Surprised there was no mention of the rumor that Disney was looking in Middle Tennessee about twenty years ago... a rumor that had a lot of credibility, but an industry trade mag would know, and they mentioned that Indy was considered once for a 'mini Magic Kingdom'.  Can't help but think a Disney 'mini' park focused on their deep musical programming would be a phenomenal success, but I guess they're afraid it would take business away from FLA and CA.  As far as location, it's pretty hard to beat Middle Tennessee for accessibility to huge swath of the North American market.

Edited August 30, 2020 by MLBrumby

[MidTenn1]

Just now, MLBrumby said:

Great article!  Surprised there was no mention of the rumor that Disney was looking in Middle Tennessee about twenty years ago... a rumor that had a lot of credibility, but an industry trade mag would know, and they mentioned that Indy was considered once for a 'mini Magic Kingdom'.  Can't help but think a Disney 'mini' park focused on their deep musical programming would be a phenomenal success, but I guess they're afraid it would take business away from FLA and CA.  As far as location, it's pretty hard to beat Middle Tennessee for accessibility to huge swath of the North American market.

Disney looked at Williamson County for an "equestrian themed resort" in the late 70's. A high up Williamson Co. official, and good friend of mine, relayed that information to me at the time. Don't know why they decided not to build it. Maybe it was just a dumb idea.