Jump to content
  TPR Home | Parks | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram 

Opryland U.S.A.


Recommended Posts

Opryland U.S.A.

 

Boy, going through old coaster stuff can really be fun. I came across all this stuff on Opryland, I probably haven't looked at it in over 10 years.

 

This was truly a beautiful and unique park, it really is a shame what became of it. It wasn't big on thrills but it sure had a lot of talent and charm.

 

Opryland was located just 9 miles from Nashville on 200 acres of rolling countryside. It was a tribute to Americana and America's Musical Heritage.

 

Enjoy my look back at this wonderful park that is now a discount mall. Progress, you gotta love it

 

Shane

 

PS. If you love looking at old nostalgic amusement park stuff check out my thread that is dedicated to all the old parks, rides and fun stuff of the past. I will be updating it with old stuff every now and again so check back often.

 

Shane's Amusement Attic

 

864749423_oprylandpictures2.thumb.jpg.3b4567faf18c5510f821e30fc55ff0b6.jpg

more pictures of the park.

906831129_oprylandpictures1.thumb.jpg.db030d25451dd30ad587fd6ecf3ee4ea.jpg

General park pictures.

canonball.jpg.c5016c4a09afbb0ba6e8c1a16424085c.jpg

Another shot of the Wabash Cannonball. This shot is a mirror image of the ride. Opryland seemed to use this mirror image in a lot of their printed material.

1598472039_rocknroller.jpg.9da4a065fc5ad9f3f40447c1aa70ece6.jpg

The Rock-n-Roller Coaster. This ride was also called Tree Topper. It is now located at the Great Escape in New York.

waltz.jpg.a4c099f0a07caeb5e1e016bcc351d2b3.jpg

The Tennessee Waltz

785757106_grizzly1001.jpg.351860f69d67fc2a08a833449613cb4b.jpg

1164312076_Grizzly1.jpg.6b89a4f23532b53457e3fe4095db5e45.jpg

barnstormer.thumb.jpg.5c25c2b575df6b673425762f6a7b59a1.jpg

This unique ride was only one of two built by Bradley and Kaye. The other was at Old Chicago, the indoor amusement park in Chicago. Both rides met a similar fate. Intamin took a stab at recreating this ride and they too are all gone. I am going to venture to say that the ride just wasn't that great. But I remember liking it.

122432618_wabashcanonball.thumb.jpg.f522a5efb398fc30473dfea8a9fa7019.jpg

The Wabash Cannonball, this is one park that I remember ran two trains at the same time on their corkscrew. One train was red and the other was blue.

491442254_rides5.jpg.83313983a5dc7cf1e546cb29d266848b.jpg

This was not a typical horse type carousel and if my memory serves me it was at the park for a couple of years, then it was gone.

938015218_rides4.thumb.jpg.234a7cac8ebc03e0d521558c308ae70e.jpg

1646649238_rides3.thumb.jpg.664c8df7cbd790620b4df72b92d284c2.jpg

Three locomotives???? Does Disneyland even have that many...lol

1372801253_rides2.thumb.jpg.0d46377fccc9da0f01f2209ec318b2c2.jpg

I find it interesting that they release the number of passengers for that season. How cool is that?

767055269_rides1.thumb.jpg.c3351e07412293e3d59e1a333949d8a0.jpg

Now onto the rides...

96.thumb.jpg.11badf42d692f68f990c97c9713c9f58.jpg

95.thumb.jpg.00eb3d65fe57ee55a1119205737712a3.jpg

94.thumb.jpg.a7f6fd7a8a3b862d2a9185c912cff847.jpg

1415132391_Parkinfo5.thumb.jpg.1ce14c0f9b9d84d1e2dbfb7d44d0e9e9.jpg

$9.75 admission...those where the days!

6621930_Parkinfo4.thumb.jpg.30f82aa0042708e6afde1fc7f1e6c1cd.jpg

Parking was only $1.50 or a parking season pass for $7.50. You can't even park one day at Six Flags for that amount.

1042427736_Parkinfo3.thumb.jpg.c983527fedba0ffdb8eeb16dfb948051.jpg

380284356_Parkinfo2.thumb.jpg.7d36b614002f659ccb9fb4f968b48727.jpg

Notice the original cost of the park and the attendance back in 1979.

1155956299_Parkinfo1001.thumb.jpg.ebc3d340774db32bd0d732fa90f8501f.jpg

The Opryland U.S.A fact sheet

1393890330_bw3-2.thumb.jpg.ea6f2bba4b3c4b15f888cd79f64db99e.jpg

"Sign Tennessee" a tribute show to the blues and another shot of Grizzly River Rampage, the second river ride built by Intamin

796857168_bwpics1-3.thumb.jpg.6f23e77b361e33a1d0040c0b1f2541f3.jpg

The arrow development corkscrew "Wabash Cannonball", Grizzly River Rampage and Opryland Train

1758141424_bw2-3.thumb.jpg.6bf6a22d938b4c760aab9686f69f7d07.jpg

The Jukebox Theater, Barnstormer & Nestea Plunge log flume

1506683725_brochure3.thumb.jpg.1d9334c667a346031c25dbc513de1aaf.jpg

1940600569_brochure2.thumb.jpg.61d3809b26628df172722224b66db4e4.jpg

875334616_brochure1.thumb.jpg.f6fa2f87ceb13583f44c35ab2df0fbd0.jpg

1108479329_oprylandinfomap.thumb.jpg.f056849d13dd2e14cfbfc3eda3e7d561.jpg

This is the basic layout of the park showing each themed land.

2025160671_Oprylandinfo8.jpg.4841d997d364ec862331a5fa4ebec048.jpg

and finally DoWah Diddy City

1182632884_Oprylandinfo7.jpg.e722c583798082fe2e20fb430fdf547d.jpg

State Fair Area & Lakeside Area

917990140_Oprylandinfo6.jpg.367ee09a553dbdaeeb02bef2f18ce4c9.jpg

The America West theme area

201602483_Oprylandinfo5.jpg.672b8a158650247693d75e0afd27f41d.jpg

Old New Orleans & The Riverside theme areas

1307056536_Oprylandinfo4.jpg.581d439410ee3c18244b5a9c9a7d8ecc.jpg

The Hill Country theme area

577407332_Oprylandinfo3.jpg.2e4a593c5576d7569cfdf7088da5ceca.jpg

Opry Plaza theme area

2125483119_Oprylandinfo2.jpg.d57ead35f0aa81619261ef75a97ab386.jpg

495831107_Oprylandinfo1.thumb.jpg.734bca787d0f814ba9f38df79f31fc2b.jpg

Park information. This book tells about each themed area, the rides, shows, games and other attractions.

2128656787_brochure25th4.thumb.jpg.8ccc899fffee739903d1686a224def5a.jpg

164775269_brochure25th1.jpg.0b4f584319068cae0c4422e07df3ab83.jpg

The Hangman....Six Flags MarineWorld got the ride, Wild Adventures got the name.

219215066_brochure25th.thumb.jpg.609da487714a50cc221a6fd5471e7ca6.jpg

The brochure celebrating the 25th season. It didn't last much longer.

2009482008_overalmap.jpg.f4516df36b3fea9c40c000f1b717a9e5.jpg

The entire Opryland U.S.A. complex

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 206
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

I so upset that I was never able to go to Opryland USA! My mom went and she said she loved it! Looks like a good thirll park and show park! The roller coasters looked really good! Too bad it closed, same with Libertyland! Libertyland was Elvis Presley's favorite amusement park! It had a good line up of rides, too. Now it just sits dormat (Libertyland).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All of the rides that were sent to Old Indiana that were in the open field are now scrapped. Its sad to hear that because those were good rides that could have been used. Six Flags, at that time owned the property with the rides. Why couldn't Six Flags install the rides in their parks instead of having to pay for a new roller coaster?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I still don't know why this park closed.

 

Gaylord Entertainment stated they closed the park because it was losing too much money. Same old song and dance.

 

This was my childhood park, so I really appreciate you taking the time to put this together.

 

It really was a shame that Gaylord couldn't of just sold the park off instead of paving it. They always seemed to care more about the hotel than the park. When they built the final conservatory, any chance of expanding the park was cut off.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here are pictures from around the park taken from the 1977 souvenir booklet. But first a park map from the year that Grizzly River Rampage was built.

972537740_brochure4.thumb.jpg.7f0e32eca15d8b80e06a5aae678289ee.jpg

This page from one of the parks last seasons sure makes it look like the park was full of excitement and energy.

485943804_oprylandisgone.jpg.adcef479c805303c22cd7a8532c82858.jpg

So Sad :(

1483286642_brochure24.thumb.jpg.f30941ec733b9d74be52ae96093364bf.jpg

689332491_Book22.thumb.jpg.21c95154852ce5c36fa7cae27d921133.jpg

841483691_Book21.jpg.c14adde12094776aca8562ba4a28638b.jpg

1971757015_Book20.thumb.jpg.617c4752280869bd535e63f3e4a8950b.jpg

1513508216_Book19.thumb.jpg.ccdb97495ff636746b7afd9058252074.jpg

1514037910_Book18.thumb.jpg.8560479a948dd2569a7c816810b80919.jpg

178514293_Book17.thumb.jpg.c364d0e0457636917ede0cbaf6c97c35.jpg

2001759092_Book16.thumb.jpg.ee5e5310c3e6561bbfbc5d16234dae60.jpg

1021462614_Book15.thumb.jpg.d0dee1ea4ef251e2c6333f59e2ee5bb0.jpg

1432134415_Book14.jpg.81c6fcc3fcb1dd5409b3c440342fc1d7.jpg

1986296811_Book13.thumb.jpg.18fb2b4d705064bc901cae38cad90edc.jpg

2062058344_Book12.thumb.jpg.00912c44ee2f1c21a2c74dd3e7150131.jpg

2002658390_Book11.thumb.jpg.a5f6b73ad8a7f78c163ef880a21fe3df.jpg

457817815_Book10.thumb.jpg.8153ad7907d55ea8441b83f3ad58d7fd.jpg

1788289950_Book9.thumb.jpg.cf204ab4d659f4c082454be45bc71e68.jpg

819867361_Book8.thumb.jpg.20240bf8bb0a40ee5923a6ec6a16cead.jpg

744623843_Book7.thumb.jpg.ae864264e9edf0eed0996e8db5870dab.jpg

80969351_Book6.thumb.jpg.130b170b4849bd6fbb0f2ceb2e089ffa.jpg

1193490721_Book5.thumb.jpg.666a433830fe556a7f9ee1c9b2023488.jpg

547551310_Book4.thumb.jpg.1ecd146b9436a6d18ed1a4c60163c910.jpg

453979383_Book3.thumb.jpg.d6876a981161938abdef621e3878b22a.jpg

1094515809_Book2.thumb.jpg.38dfcdd78a423e3f3358f9dfe0962ac2.jpg

1797119192_Book1.thumb.jpg.6ee63706c71d0af705e1428fb98e7419.jpg

580334551_1979parkmap.thumb.jpg.45ab4672c62fc4a15c69d93ae9528137.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OMG!!! This is awesome!! montezooma thank you sooooo much for posting this stuff. I'm a HUGE fan of this park.

 

You have just some incredible info and background. Please keep posting all this great stuff. It's such a gold mine!

 

Geez I miss this place so much, I'd give almost anything to go back for one day... one day.

 

I've attempted to model several of the Opry rides on my YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?p=r&user=Platformz&page=2 and have some video of what remains of Grizzly River Rampage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What happened to the Chaos roller coaster? It was fairly new when the park closed.......

 

I don't buy the "it was losing money!" crap. I have been a couple times, and my mother and father went many times. The park was ALWAYS packed, even on weekdays.

 

The mall, on the otherhand, is very uncrowded except for on the Holidays.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well it must have been doing something that wasn't wanted if it's not there now.

 

Back to the pictures...

 

Shane, this is seriously cool stuff. Looking back at stuff from years ago certainly puts a lot into perspective with the benefit of hindsight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great trip down memory lane. I worked at Opryland from 94 til it closed. Was one of the best times of my life. I worked in the Petting Zoo and loved my job. It was a great experience many memories and good friends. Thank you for the memories.

 

Side note: The Tin Lizzy cars are still poking around at SFKK

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Rock n Roller Coaster was rebuilt at Great Escape, but after years of rusting in that field, Arrow or Morgan had to come in to replace some track sections. You can easily see where the old/new track stops, because the new one is all round, like Phantom's Revenge. Even on the ride, there is a difference, because the train shuffles like crazy when its on old track and the ride is not that bad on the new one.

 

On this picture, you can see the difference: http://www.rcdb.com/ig2214.htm?picture=23

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very cool. Thanks for sharing these. I've always been interested in Opryland because my dad visited there before, and we had a park map lying around somewhere.

 

I wish park admissions were still less than $10!

 

Martin's Fantasy Island was close!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is wonderful! Thanks for sharing all of this great memorabilia!

 

I visited Opryland several times as a kid and I'm still infuriated at Gaylord for closing the park. Hard to believe it's been ten years since the park was plowed down.

 

I don't buy the "it was losing money!" crap. I have been a couple times, and my mother and father went many times. The park was ALWAYS packed, even on weekdays.

Opryland never lost money, Gaylord Entertainment just thought that they could make more with a mall. Not long ago Gaylord's current management team even admitted that closing the park was a mistake...if you are able to access the The Tennessean newspaper archives you can actually look up the statement they made.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

WOW! I am getting great response to all my nostalgic postings. I hope it prompts others to go through some of their old stuff and see what treasures you have. I would love to see other threads like these.

 

As a kid I would write the parks every year and ask them to send me brochure, park map and any other info, I never threw any of it away and I am glad I didn't...it is really nice to find all this stuff and see it again.

 

Anyways for all you die-hard Opryland fans here is another souvenir booklet from the 1982 season.

centerfold.jpg.53f0ed9cb4f34d0bcd45c4b7d4a3d752.jpg

This is the "centerfold" from the booklet for all you coaster pervs.

613030387_bookt.jpg.3a064cebc14f49918320b971e5576331.jpg

1368497009_books.thumb.jpg.98d0b6d02834649994dbd6049514bf3d.jpg

549425528_bookr-1.jpg.c0665bcfa1db201d447fd5beb68b6f20.jpg

455598284_bookr.thumb.jpg.6db674d720feb6b30eeb84354ad584e6.jpg

Notice the costumed character...It is Frankenberry from the breakfast cereal. WTF? I wonder if Count Chocula and Boo Berry where also mascots of the park?

1003566185_bookp.thumb.jpg.67cdf62a885e907aecd729251af8e341.jpg

680555517_booko.thumb.jpg.8b76dbca1d7aa86d5a35e8483ee019cd.jpg

273299883_bookn.thumb.jpg.64a73f32c04bee0db4463f3e1ed3df0b.jpg

1005958680_bookk.jpg.f03b3d44690bcc88aae9ce6e039601b7.jpg

452994991_bookj.jpg.be4db684d4e2eb415e3f993f5dfc7185.jpg

1895281914_booki.thumb.jpg.c887d852ae6aac0f63a10e450d9f445d.jpg

578010544_bookh.thumb.jpg.a9643d3fe0e4ad81d0f1b3abda786b79.jpg

1713259810_bookg.thumb.jpg.ae8483df6f0e5fbb1cced0918915ef42.jpg

1575003308_bookf.thumb.jpg.09790aa54e8a5f77ffe379cc81a301f9.jpg

1405717901_booke.thumb.jpg.a2afdb4d67e971f24eeec8bb7140e178.jpg

1516388251_bookd.thumb.jpg.84107ccdf4312b0377b3b09cde1fe2ad.jpg

539760086_bookc.thumb.jpg.36139e17811a14a204df12dc9d202ee7.jpg

916950189_bookb.thumb.jpg.e8c9fb3be19d77490e5cbc0de0ca1f8f.jpg

954421939_booka.thumb.jpg.2e72ba08201aecbd66782c3c771f3abe.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a few more from a brochure that I found. Afraid I am all out of Opryland stuff now, well unless I stumble across another box full of stuff, which I probably will someday. I know that I took some super 8 movie footage of the Screamin' Delta Demon, but I have yet to find it.

2000114463_brochure5-2.jpg.b30e2678cd235c78d39c76e8c75f97b2.jpg

2015023417_brochure5-1.jpg.d8ecdefd3640ea934631981abbe319e5.jpg

649806892_brochure5.jpg.07b7df6728082dca2db38b6d700cd5af.jpg

Opryland U.S.A. brochure 1988

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not only did Opryland have great shows, but the landscaping gave BGW a good run for its money. It was a truly beautiful park.

 

While I had to laugh at the one brochure touting Wabash Cannonball as a "supercoaster", Screamin Delta Demon was a good ride, and Chaos was seriously cool.

 

I rode Revolution at Bobbejaanland a few years ago, but it just wasn't anywhere near as cool as Chaos was. The music in there was awesome and the effects were great, especially in the first version with the backward clock and total darkness. The second version with the blacklight and some sort of monster at the end wasn't as good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Trying to stay on topic, but Worlds of Fun also had a Barnstormer ride that I believe was even taller than 100 feet. I believe it was installed in 1976 but not for sure. It may have been 200 feet tall. I just remember it was closed often due to winds of over 20 miles an hour. It crashed and 3 or 4 planes flew off. I'm almost sure people died and soon after they took it out of the park. I rode it two or three times and it was the scariest ride by far that I have ever rode.

 

The park look great, and I am very excited to see these great pictures.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use https://themeparkreview.com/forum/topic/116-terms-of-service-please-read/