Opryland was the only place we all got to go as a family when I was younger. Times were so much better back then. I'm 33 now but I will always remember how much I enjoyed spending time with my family in opryland. It was a true THEME park.....
It wouldn't faze me if the mall that took its place was redeveloped, but it doesn't have to be. If a bridge was built, Bells Bend would make a much better site for a new theme park development. That part of Nashville is still farms and there's about 4 times as much land.
This park babysat me as a kid. My older siblings and I got season passes and would get dropped to spend the day in the summer. Sometimes we’d end the day at the hotel. Thank God we still have that!
Yes, the bear in the cave scarred me as a 5 year old, it was pretty terrifying, it also had the sound effect of a grizzly growling. I miss my grandparents, they drove from Pennsylvania to come here with us. So many wonderful memories
I miss Opryland so much. I would have season tickets and go all the time when I was a kid. Until they decided to make a stupid mall out of it. As if we needed another mall. Hangman, Grizzly Ride. Log Ride Rockin Roller Coaster. etc. Brings back memories. =)
I remember when Gaylord came in and all of the live shows with many musicians and orchestras were just stopped and Elvis Presley and other country music was piped throughout the park. I grew up going to Opryland and saw all the musicals and when I got my degree, I played in the musicals. That was Nashville - Music City!!
I worked at Opryland during the summers of '93-'95. It was a great experience and was a significant reason why I am who I am today. Bring Opryland Back!!!
Seeing this makes me a little teary-eyed. If I had the opportunity to go back in time for one day, I think I would go to Opryland. It was the best theme-park EVER! Some of the best days of my life were spent with my friends in the park. Please tear down that Mall and put OpryLand back up!
this place it's where I grew up! I had a season pass and it never got old. I hoped I'd one day bring my kids but, it's gone 😪 but every time I go to Oprymills, I look over to where Opryland use to be and I remember!
I was a junior at Auburn University when are auditions came up for Opryland USA. I had been to the park years before, and saw how how much fun the performers were having. Luckily I was cast, and it was one of my first professional jobs. We didn't make that much money, but I wouldn't give me anything for the memories and the people that I met there from every walk of life. The shows we're very good and set many of us up to go on to New York city to try to further our careers on Broadway. It was a great training ground... More than anything else, I still have so many people in my life that today I still consider my family. It was a very magical time when you were performing in Nashville , young and ready to face the world with your song or your dance. There was no other place like Opryland . And one of the things I learned was how music can bring us all together! From country, 2 I hear America singing, one could always find themselves tapping their foot and singing along . Yes I certainly miss that place, but I will always hold that time in my life so special. I believe in six degrees of separation , cause when you're in the entertainment world you really see that it seems there's a hundred people in the world, and the rest is done with mirrors!
Great memories i had going to the park as a young kid to teen years in the late eighties , early 90s...nashville now show, ralph emory, roy acuff, minnie pearl.
@@ericgreen8419 Sooooo many memories; I'm 48 now and I remember my parents dropping me and my friends off and we would spend all day there. So much fun!!!
@@brendatrump5163 we are close to the same age if you ever rode the Screamin Delta demon we probably met each other back in the day. I work the concession stand that you went by in line for the ride
It was a sad day when they took Opryland away from us! I also have many fond memories of Nashville’s older, smaller amusement venue, Fair Park. It wasn’t fancy, but it was always fun. I worked there for the 1965 season running the Mad Mouse.
I grew up in Nashville; I remember Fair Park and the Mad Mouse. I was very young so my memories of it are hazy but I do remember. We would save up bottle caps from sodas and use them to get a discount on our tickets.
I was young when the park was closed (born 1993, park closed in 1997), so I do not remember the times my parents took me to the park, but I think this video made me remember the railroad ride.
I moved to Murfreesboro TN in 1991....I used to love going to Opryland Park and whenever we had family come in, that was where we went. The company I worked for, Hydra-Sport/Stratos Bass Boat even had their summer company picnic there. Nashville lost a real treasure when it was gone.
The good old days. I wasn’t tall enough to ride them all before it closed. I can remember my siblings riding hangman, like it was yesterday. The Grizzlies River Rampage was definitely my all time favorite😌 some of the best memories🥰
I remember hearing it was the number one amusement park in the USA- it had more people visit per year than any other park and that included Disney. It was well loved and s place you wanted to go to again and again.
Wabash Cannonball Roller Coaster was the first roller coaster I ever rode. I was scared, but after the first run I got off and said let’s go again!! I ended up riding it over and over. I liked Screamin Delta Demon too.
I agree. I went several times a year with my family growing up, I've went to the stupid mall two times since it's been open. Folks in North Bama miss Opryland too.
Nashville already had plenty of malls during that time, Rivergate, Hickory Hallow, green hills, 100 oaks. Harding Mall. Cools Springs in Franklin, Stones River in Murfreesboro.
Gaylord wanted something that would draw revenue year round. Opryland was only operational during spring and summer with sparse events in October and December but was closed the rest of the year. Also, they were wanting to expand the park to try to make it where it could be used year round but it was located on a triangular sect of land with Cumberland River at one corner, the interstate at another and Three Rivers Church at the last corner. Gaylord attempted to purchase some land from the church but the church refused to sell anymore land. Then there was the fact that the park would flood during heavy rainfall. i always thought they should have built a new park somewhere else nearby that didn't have any issues like Opryland did. Still, i miss Opryland, great memories there. i loved the Chaos and the Wabash Cannonball coasters.
Up north there are parks all over the place. A lot closer to 200 miles from each other, and they are all huge. Kings Island and Kennywood are within 200 miles of Cedar Point, and all are gigantic parks.
I was a senior at Tennessee State in 96' an my roommate and i decided to go to Opryland....We had a great time, rode almost all the rides.....I remember vividly we ate some cinnamon doughnuts, that made us SOOOO sick....Nonetheless it was pretty cool.....I was devastated that they tore the park down in a few years after graduating from TSU.....Bad mistake....
God I miss this place.I met a bunch of country music stars @OpryLand.My favorite was Allan Jackson when he first got started.I also remember Chaos when it first opened.Stood in line for 3 hours to ride that thing,lol.Good times
Opryland really was a great place. Of course I remember going there as a child with season passes, but it was also a nice place for young people to find work. It was my first job. I remember they could only hire a limited number of 15 year olds. As soon as I turned 16, they hired me. Sadly, that was the last year it was open. Did I forget to mention that if you worked at Opryland, you could use your ID badge to get in free to other theme parks across the USA? Now that was sweet!
I always wished that we could have gone to Opryland. We finally did make it to The Grand Ol' Opry and the museum but the park was gone years before then.
I remember well - Sure hated it closed. We visited on one of the hotest and muggiest days ever..Not a leaf moving. Everyone was in line for one of the attractions and It seemed everyone had eaten a big bowl of northern beans, cornbread and onion. The kids were holding their nose laughing. And adults, too.That's my memory of Opryland.
Bring opryland back!! I went every summer, awesome memories! I got tall enough to ride The Hangman and that's the year it was torn down...now the only option of a good theme park is hours away!
I remember seeing what was left of the Grizzly River Rampage and its track when I was at a Junior Beta convention. It looked awesome and fun. I was tempted to just walk down the path and see where it took me. Such a shame that it's not there anymore :(
I went just once when i was young in the mid 80's, not long after that ' 83 advertisement. I remember riding a small red coaster with a yellow stripe down the sides of it. I almost got on the Grizzly River Rampage, but chickened out. I think my parents got on it though. I did ride the Old Mill Scream at 5 years old. LOL But i was very scared of the Barnstormer planes, they went so high! But now?, i'll ride most anything that i see. When you're little, you're a 'frady cat of big stuff...i was.
I grew up in Nashville. That place was a wonderful part of my childhood and I am extremely upset that it isn't there for other generations. If this is the way that freedom dies shoot e now. We can afford to wage war but we can't keep a struggling LANDMARK afloat, come on.... Capitalist piggies. Oink Oink!- The memories will live on..... ( I once got my head stuck in between the bars on the bridge watching the harp player at Christmas time. )- Those are memories! Thanks GRAND OLD OPRY.
We had season passes and my dad would take us on Tuesdays after school when the park was empty and we got to stay on the rides over and over. My dad would never get wet on the Grizzlie River Rampage but we kids would always get soaked. I only rode the Barnstormer a few times because it was always closed due to high winds. My favorite was CHAOS. It's sad to see the remains of Grizzlie near the hotel.
OMG! I miss Opryland soooo much! We had season tickets and would invite every friend I knew. It was such a great family time! It's sad that Gaylord took it for granted. The only other good, non-Disney theme park is Cedar Point, but that's really far away. I remember that awesome buffet with the amazing strawberry pie! I used to make-out in the Skylift. I saw Lorrie Morgan for the first time there! Too many good memories... Too bad it's gone.
I miss Opryland soooo much! I never got to experience the whole thrill of the park because they closed it right when I was getting to the age when I wasn't afriad of the upside-down roller coasters. :( I say they made a HUGE mistake with changing it to a mall. Don't get me wrong, I love shopping there, but you can't miss what you never had so they should have just left it how it was!
I'll never forget being SOAKED on the Rampage. When the ride was over a guy took a picture of me dripping from head to toe and said, "Man...you are DAAAARENCHED!!"
Someone mentioned TNN. Whoa flash back. It folded in 2000, but even in 2015 I can still hear my mom telling me to "turn on TNN" & we'd watch "Crook & Chase". Wow.
Was chaos the one that while you were in line waiting there were clocks ticking everywhere and sirens going every now and then saying you can't turn back or something? I remember an opryland ride that had all that and how scared I was the first time I rode it because of just the fear it built of just waiting in line
"Please move quickly through the station, your time is running out. Each car accommodates 2 riders." Those announcements are BURNED in my brain forevermore.
To ride again, visit Bobbejaanland in Lichtaart, Belgium. Only two of those were ever built and one is still going. It goes by the name Revolution and is now a VR coaster []-)
@jholttn Well put! I had a season pass, too. When it first opened, I was 11 yrs old and would go daily in Summer and the Fall. I loved the timber topper and Flume Zoom. I found A 50 dollar bill there and bought my first rock and roll album with it, Edgar Winter' Album!! ( hah)!
Went there in 86 i was in job corps in galconda Illinois went on a field trip only thing i really remember was the grizzly water ride and hearing some lady in a yellow dress holler HOWWWDY
Bring this park back. I liked it over the other southern parks I've been to. Disney World had great atmosphere but no real thrill rides, and Six Flags over Georgia has plenty of rides, but a watered down Six Flags cookie cutter theme. Dollywood may be better now, but it wasn't much to brag about in the late 80s when I went. To me Nashville and Opryland just went hand in hand. I really don't even want to visit there anymore without it.
Well shoot, was planning a trip back home to Clarksville and went to check on Opryland prices and found it was gone. Now I'm bummed, had a great time there growing up.
I loved that place i got to go there when i was a kid now only if i could share the same memories by taking my kids there but now we have to drive 4 hours to just have fun. SO SAD!!!!!!
When I was a kid, about 1968 or 69, Roy Acuff had his own idea of what Opryland would be like. But he wanted the opinions of kids. Some of us would see Mr. Acuff in the little grocery store at the corner of Riverside Dr. & McGavock Pike in Inglewood. I think it was called "Cee Bee" at the time. Mr. Acuff would pick a child to help him carry the groceries to his car for a quarter. Well, one day he asked us kids what we'd like to see at this future amusement park. I said I'd like a place to eat ice cream with little bistro tables. Lo and behold, when the park opened it did have a place with little tables and chairs to eat ice cream! I had ice cream there with my friends many times.
Let me add, Does anyone remember Magic World in Pigeon-Forge, TN? It too, had the Antique Car ride...in the back of the park. Sadly, it's gone now since back in the mid 90's when someone obviously got Tired of it. I remember i'd go to Magic World TONS of times versus going to Dollywood. I loved to ride that Spider ride in the front of the park and the tall Ferris Wheel. Opryland and Magic World need to make a HUGE-ass come back! LOL
One day I rode the Wabash Cannonball (the fast double circle ride) so many times, my inner ear was affected and I walked like I was drunk. I loved the live Broadway style shows but I always felt sorry for the performers in those hot costumes. They are had to be in good physical shape.
I think Opryland would be so successful now,because of American Idol. American Idol could have had a tie-in with the park. They could have contestants perform there and give concerts.
Only went there once and I got soaked on the Grizzly River Rampage. It was August, 1982 and hot! Went on around noon and at 6pm I was still wet from the ride. Make the heat bearable...pardon the pun.
Is the old shooting gallery still in Dave and Busters? I wasted many quarters on it as a kid when it was in Opryland. I was in there about 3 years ago and put a quarter or two in it just for old times sake. The rifle sights were still way crooked!! LOL
A mall. Like they couldnt of found another spot to of built that freakin thing, yet they go tearing down a lot of good times and memories from a lot of folks such as yourself, mine, and others.
When I moved to Nashville when I was 7, my goal was to work on the steam train at Opryland for the summer. That was 1997 and I ultimately never had that chance. Just sad.
What were those hand Monkey puppets with the wooden stick on the hand called? I Rememberhavingone of those as a kid when I was younger. I can still remember seeing vendors selling those all around Operyland.
They never should have shut this park down! If anything, maybe, they should have renovated the park. They could have kept the classic rides, but brought in some of the newer, more hair-raising rides. The mall could have been built either on the other side of the river, if possible, or build it at another location! I miss this park! Now, the closest theme park to us now is either in Pidgeon Forge, Louisville, or Atlanta! Who has time and money for that every weekend?!
I live in Knoxville, which is well out of Nashville Public Television's viewing area. So was Opryland USA, basically, the Middle Tennessee version of Dollywood?
As much as I miss this park and all it's glorious memories it gave me for my childhood, if we brought it back today, it wouldn't be as magical. There are so many violent, mean people that have moved to Nashville they would take it over like a gang and run it in the ground. Wouldn't be a safe place to be. The kids are even way meaner than they used to be so they would be vandalizing it and terrorizing people for fun. They would have to have cops and security all over the park in today's time.
We loved this amusement park; were very sad when it closed. We went frequently, and had years of annual passes. The “Shopryland Mall” RUINED was was a wholesome family experience and tradition. We once went on the Rampage multiple times since it was near closing time, and we were allowed on the ride over and over.....we were absolutely drenched, and changed our seating in the floating bumper car each ride to see who could get more drenched next ride in the “WET SEAT”. We laugh still about it now. I DO NOT have any similar fond memories about anything I ever did in a mall. Gaylord: BIG MISTAKE. I will not take visiting family and out-of town friends to A MALL. There is no central Tennessee native that I know of that feels otherwise.
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
I'm 29 and actually started crying watching this.
We need to bring it back.
I'm with you on that. Would be way better than a big dumb mall or hotel.
NonDripHelmet the hotel was there when opryland was, the only thing that came after opryland was the mall
Opryland was the only place we all got to go as a family when I was younger. Times were so much better back then. I'm 33 now but I will always remember how much I enjoyed spending time with my family in opryland. It was a true THEME park.....
Me too. Still remember the things I got at opryland
I loved that park it was a big part of my childhood
this is when nashville was nashville!
i agree Bam Bam
Heck yeah!
The good ole days!
Bam Bam hell yea fuck opry mills
It wouldn't faze me if the mall that took its place was redeveloped, but it doesn't have to be. If a bridge was built, Bells Bend would make a much better site for a new theme park development. That part of Nashville is still farms and there's about 4 times as much land.
Que? No es habla engele! Phss who sold us out? Foriegn in the leftover shell of our own society.
I remember seeing Roy Acuff there when I was a kid. He was a very happy soul.
This park babysat me as a kid. My older siblings and I got season passes and would get dropped to spend the day in the summer. Sometimes we’d end the day at the hotel. Thank God we still have that!
Just keep your happy memories and recognize that how lucky you were to have enjoyed it while it was there!
Opryland was my first job in 1995. I was 15 years old then! Time goes by so fast.
Same here, I was an entrance host. I started in 92 when I was 15 though. Still can't believe they closed it down.
yaa man, and to think, you made this comment 5 years ago and it got a response 5 years later
I worked at the Screamin Delta demon in the late eighties myself
Work there in the summer graduated in 91 so I guess I work there at about 88 through 90
We lived there in the 90s, such fun!! Nothing like it!!
Yes, the bear in the cave scarred me as a 5 year old, it was pretty terrifying, it also had the sound effect of a grizzly growling. I miss my grandparents, they drove from Pennsylvania to come here with us. So many wonderful memories
I miss Opryland so much. I would have season tickets and go all the time when I was a kid. Until they decided to make a stupid mall out of it. As if we needed another mall.
Hangman,
Grizzly Ride.
Log Ride
Rockin Roller Coaster.
etc.
Brings back memories. =)
I remember when Gaylord came in and all of the live shows with many musicians and orchestras were just stopped and Elvis Presley and other country music was piped throughout the park. I grew up going to Opryland and saw all the musicals and when I got my degree, I played in the musicals. That was Nashville - Music City!!
I worked at Opryland during the summers of '93-'95. It was a great experience and was a significant reason why I am who I am today. Bring Opryland Back!!!
Great Memories of a Wonderful City. I love Nashville!!!!!
Seeing this makes me a little teary-eyed. If I had the opportunity to go back in time for one day, I think I would go to Opryland. It was the best theme-park EVER! Some of the best days of my life were spent with my friends in the park. Please tear down that Mall and put OpryLand back up!
this place it's where I grew up! I had a season pass and it never got old. I hoped I'd one day bring my kids but, it's gone 😪 but every time I go to Oprymills, I look over to where Opryland use to be and I remember!
You know how many times I went to this place ! Tons!
I wish it were still here so I could bring my kids. Great memories!
I was a junior at Auburn University when are auditions came up for Opryland USA. I had been to the park years before, and saw how how much fun the performers were having. Luckily I was cast, and it was one of my first professional jobs. We didn't make that much money, but I wouldn't give me anything for the memories and the people that I met there from every walk of life. The shows we're very good and set many of us up to go on to New York city to try to further our careers on Broadway. It was a great training ground... More than anything else, I still have so many people in my life that today I still consider my family. It was a very magical time when you were performing in Nashville , young and ready to face the world with your song or your dance. There was
no other place like Opryland . And one of the things I learned was how music can bring us all together! From country, 2 I hear America singing, one could always find themselves tapping their foot and singing along . Yes I certainly miss that place, but I will always hold that time in my life so special. I believe in six degrees of separation , cause when you're in the entertainment world you really see that it seems there's a hundred people in the world, and the rest is done with mirrors!
"They paved paradise & put in a parking lot". 😕 I'm from Tx, but it was a fun park the few times we went in the mid 90's before it closed.
Great memories i had going to the park as a young kid to teen years in the late eighties , early 90s...nashville now show, ralph emory, roy acuff, minnie pearl.
Man I work there in the late 80s when I was in high school during the summer I know how you feel I miss it too
@@ericgreen8419 Sooooo many memories; I'm 48 now and I remember my parents dropping me and my friends off and we would spend all day there. So much fun!!!
@@brendatrump5163 we are close to the same age if you ever rode the Screamin Delta demon we probably met each other back in the day. I work the concession stand that you went by in line for the ride
Many wonderful memories from a Memphian who's family would come to Opryland for vacation.
It was a sad day when they took Opryland away from us! I also have many fond memories of Nashville’s older, smaller amusement venue, Fair Park. It wasn’t fancy, but it was always fun. I worked there for the 1965 season running the Mad Mouse.
I grew up in Nashville; I remember Fair Park and the Mad Mouse. I was very young so my memories of it are hazy but I do remember. We would save up bottle caps from sodas and use them to get a discount on our tickets.
So missed by everyone
I remember this place. We went here several times and had such a great time!
I was young when the park was closed (born 1993, park closed in 1997), so I do not remember the times my parents took me to the park, but I think this video made me remember the railroad ride.
I moved to Murfreesboro TN in 1991....I used to love going to Opryland Park and whenever we had family come in, that was where we went. The company I worked for, Hydra-Sport/Stratos Bass Boat even had their summer company picnic there. Nashville lost a real treasure when it was gone.
The good old days. I wasn’t tall enough to ride them all before it closed. I can remember my siblings riding hangman, like it was yesterday. The Grizzlies River Rampage was definitely my all time favorite😌 some of the best memories🥰
I miss this Nashville. Replaced by a garbage mall.... No memories to be made at a mall could compare to Opryland.
2021 and I still miss this place
I loved the grizzly river rampage
so glad to see this posted! One of my first jobs and many great memories!!!
I remember hearing it was the number one amusement park in the USA- it had more people visit per year than any other park and that included Disney. It was well loved and s place you wanted to go to again and again.
Wabash Cannonball Roller Coaster was the first roller coaster I ever rode. I was scared, but after the first run I got off and said let’s go again!! I ended up riding it over and over. I liked Screamin Delta Demon too.
I was 1996 in Opryland, it was an great amusement park.
Good Lord, I miss Opryland.
I agree. I went several times a year with my family growing up, I've went to the stupid mall two times since it's been open. Folks in North Bama miss Opryland too.
man I loved that place....I was so proud of myself the first time I got the courage to ride the screamin delta demon
My proud moment was when I was able to open my eyes on the Wabash Cannonball.
They should have built the Mall somewhere els
I agree with that
Nashville already had plenty of malls during that time, Rivergate, Hickory Hallow, green hills, 100 oaks. Harding Mall. Cools Springs in Franklin, Stones River in Murfreesboro.
Gaylord wanted something that would draw revenue year round. Opryland was only operational during spring and summer with sparse events in October and December but was closed the rest of the year. Also, they were wanting to expand the park to try to make it where it could be used year round but it was located on a triangular sect of land with Cumberland River at one corner, the interstate at another and Three Rivers Church at the last corner. Gaylord attempted to purchase some land from the church but the church refused to sell anymore land. Then there was the fact that the park would flood during heavy rainfall. i always thought they should have built a new park somewhere else nearby that didn't have any issues like Opryland did. Still, i miss Opryland, great memories there. i loved the Chaos and the Wabash Cannonball coasters.
Up north there are parks all over the place. A lot closer to 200 miles from each other, and they are all huge. Kings Island and Kennywood are within 200 miles of Cedar Point, and all are gigantic parks.
We should go to dat dang mall and say we WANT OPRYLAND BACK!!!!!!!
i agree Austin Gamer
In Nashville right now at Opryland hotel. New water rides inside the hotel are nice 4 kids. Miss opryland.
I was a senior at Tennessee State in 96' an my roommate and i decided to go to Opryland....We had a great time, rode almost all the rides.....I remember vividly we ate some cinnamon doughnuts, that made us SOOOO sick....Nonetheless it was pretty cool.....I was devastated that they tore the park down in a few years after graduating from TSU.....Bad mistake....
God I miss this place.I met a bunch of country music stars @OpryLand.My favorite was Allan Jackson when he first got started.I also remember Chaos when it first opened.Stood in line for 3 hours to ride that thing,lol.Good times
My favorite was the Flume Zoom! My 2nd fav was The Grizzly River Rampage!! I miss it!
april gant grizzly river is the only ride still built there.... I think they should just reopen that ride
Opryland really was a great place. Of course I remember going there as a child with season passes, but it was also a nice place for young people to find work. It was my first job. I remember they could only hire a limited number of 15 year olds. As soon as I turned 16, they hired me. Sadly, that was the last year it was open. Did I forget to mention that if you worked at Opryland, you could use your ID badge to get in free to other theme parks across the USA? Now that was sweet!
I always wished that we could have gone to Opryland. We finally did make it to The Grand Ol' Opry and the museum but the park was gone years before then.
REALY MISS OPRYLAND
I remember well - Sure hated it closed. We visited on one of the hotest and muggiest days ever..Not a leaf moving. Everyone was in line for one of the attractions and It seemed everyone had eaten a big bowl of northern beans, cornbread and onion. The kids were holding their nose laughing. And adults, too.That's my memory of Opryland.
Mines buying a grey hand puppet and it had a little bandana and its hand moved with a stick
Bring opryland back!! I went every summer, awesome memories! I got tall enough to ride The Hangman and that's the year it was torn down...now the only option of a good theme park is hours away!
There is no good theme parks. Six flags is a joke. Opryland was it. They were the best
grizley river rampage was my favorite
Rich Dziuba me too!
My summer babysitter throughout my childhood
I remember seeing what was left of the Grizzly River Rampage and its track when I was at a Junior Beta convention. It looked awesome and fun. I was tempted to just walk down the path and see where it took me. Such a shame that it's not there anymore :(
I went just once when i was young in the mid 80's, not long after that ' 83 advertisement. I remember riding a small red coaster with a yellow stripe down the sides of it. I almost got on the Grizzly River Rampage, but chickened out. I think my parents got on it though. I did ride the Old Mill Scream at 5 years old. LOL But i was very scared of the Barnstormer planes, they went so high! But now?, i'll ride most anything that i see. When you're little, you're a 'frady cat of big stuff...i was.
I grew up in Nashville. That place was a wonderful part of my childhood and I am extremely upset that it isn't there for other generations. If this is the way that freedom dies shoot e now. We can afford to wage war but we can't keep a struggling LANDMARK afloat, come on.... Capitalist piggies. Oink Oink!- The memories will live on..... ( I once got my head stuck in between the bars on the bridge watching the harp player at Christmas time. )- Those are memories! Thanks GRAND OLD OPRY.
We had season passes and my dad would take us on Tuesdays after school when the park was empty and we got to stay on the rides over and over. My dad would never get wet on the Grizzlie River Rampage but we kids would always get soaked. I only rode the Barnstormer a few times because it was always closed due to high winds. My favorite was CHAOS. It's sad to see the remains of Grizzlie near the hotel.
OMG! I miss Opryland soooo much! We had season tickets and would invite every friend I knew. It was such a great family time! It's sad that Gaylord took it for granted. The only other good, non-Disney theme park is Cedar Point, but that's really far away. I remember that awesome buffet with the amazing strawberry pie! I used to make-out in the Skylift. I saw Lorrie Morgan for the first time there! Too many good memories... Too bad it's gone.
man I miss Opryland!
I miss Opryland soooo much! I never got to experience the whole thrill of the park because they closed it right when I was getting to the age when I wasn't afriad of the upside-down roller coasters. :(
I say they made a HUGE mistake with changing it to a mall. Don't get me wrong, I love shopping there, but you can't miss what you never had so they should have just left it how it was!
I'll never forget being SOAKED on the Rampage. When the ride was over a guy took a picture of me dripping from head to toe and said, "Man...you are DAAAARENCHED!!"
Someone mentioned TNN. Whoa flash back. It folded in 2000, but even in 2015 I can still hear my mom telling me to "turn on TNN" & we'd watch "Crook & Chase". Wow.
I wish they'd teardown that stupid mall and bring back Opryland. The only good store is Bass Pro. #MakeNashvilleGreatAgain
That would be so much fun and be in their town have the landlord to get started here in Hendersonville North Carolina
Oh I miss the hell out of Opryland. Now I live in Nashville, and unfortunately, its just a flooded mall now.
Was chaos the one that while you were in line waiting there were clocks ticking everywhere and sirens going every now and then saying you can't turn back or something? I remember an opryland ride that had all that and how scared I was the first time I rode it because of just the fear it built of just waiting in line
That's it.
"You're time is running out", lol; the way she would say it was freaky.
why did they ever take this from us I'll never understand
Lori Cox Lynch. money and greed. such a shame
greedy
Greedy idiots. This was far and away the best theme park ever made, and I'll never forget all the memories I have from visiting with my family
greedy
Lori Cox Lynch there was a big flood no just greedy
CHAOS YES
"Please move quickly through the station, your time is running out. Each car accommodates 2 riders." Those announcements are BURNED in my brain forevermore.
To ride again, visit Bobbejaanland in Lichtaart, Belgium. Only two of those were ever built and one is still going. It goes by the name Revolution and is now a VR coaster []-)
@jholttn Well put! I had a season pass, too. When it first opened, I was 11 yrs old and would go daily in Summer and the Fall. I loved the timber topper and Flume Zoom. I found A 50 dollar bill there and bought my first rock and roll album with it, Edgar Winter' Album!! ( hah)!
Went there in 86 i was in job corps in galconda Illinois went on a field trip only thing i really remember was the grizzly water ride and hearing some lady in a yellow dress holler HOWWWDY
Bring this park back. I liked it over the other southern parks I've been to. Disney World had great atmosphere but no real thrill rides, and Six Flags over Georgia has plenty of rides, but a watered down Six Flags cookie cutter theme. Dollywood may be better now, but it wasn't much to brag about in the late 80s when I went. To me Nashville and Opryland just went hand in hand. I really don't even want to visit there anymore without it.
My dad worked for the company that owned this park!
Well shoot, was planning a trip back home to Clarksville and went to check on Opryland prices and found it was gone. Now I'm bummed, had a great time there growing up.
The Grizzly was my favorite.
I loved that place i got to go there when i was a kid now only if i could share the same memories by taking my kids there but now we have to drive 4 hours to just have fun. SO SAD!!!!!!
My friend and I would sneak into the park around sunset and ride til close. Those were better days.
I graduated "balls tech." in Gallatin just around the corner! '76 We operated steam eng. Rachel in Hampton for 3 yrs. '03....
When I was a kid, about 1968 or 69, Roy Acuff had his own idea of what Opryland would be like. But he wanted the opinions of kids. Some of us would see Mr. Acuff in the little grocery store at the corner of Riverside Dr. & McGavock Pike in Inglewood. I think it was called "Cee Bee" at the time. Mr. Acuff would pick a child to help him carry the groceries to his car for a quarter. Well, one day he asked us kids what we'd like to see at this future amusement park. I said I'd like a place to eat ice cream with little bistro tables. Lo and behold, when the park opened it did have a place with little tables and chairs to eat ice cream! I had ice cream there with my friends many times.
Let me add, Does anyone remember Magic World in Pigeon-Forge, TN? It too, had the Antique Car ride...in the back of the park. Sadly, it's gone now since back in the mid 90's when someone obviously got Tired of it. I remember i'd go to Magic World TONS of times versus going to Dollywood. I loved to ride that Spider ride in the front of the park and the tall Ferris Wheel. Opryland and Magic World need to make a HUGE-ass come back! LOL
One day I rode the Wabash Cannonball (the fast double circle ride) so many times, my inner ear was affected and I walked like I was drunk. I loved the live Broadway style shows but I always felt sorry for the performers in those hot costumes. They are had to be in good physical shape.
Its back! I'm staying there in July :)
Oh I loved the Tin Lizzies....the cannon ball gave me a headache.
I think Opryland would be so successful now,because of American Idol. American Idol could have had a tie-in with the park. They could have contestants perform there and give concerts.
Only went there once and I got soaked on the Grizzly River Rampage. It was August, 1982 and hot! Went on around noon and at 6pm I was still wet from the ride. Make the heat bearable...pardon the pun.
Is the old shooting gallery still in Dave and Busters? I wasted many quarters on it as a kid when it was in Opryland. I was in there about 3 years ago and put a quarter or two in it just for old times sake. The rifle sights were still way crooked!! LOL
Gaylord entertainment should be VERY ashamed for closing this park! And now what stands there is a damn mall.
that along with selling TNN to viacom.
I was thinking the same thing. How sacrilegious to build a mall where a great American amusement park stood. Gaylord can suck it.
A mall. Like they couldnt of found another spot to of built that freakin thing, yet they go tearing down a lot of good times and memories from a lot of folks such as yourself, mine, and others.
They are being punished because malls are sinking.
I used to buy the yearly pass. Hated that it left.
When I moved to Nashville when I was 7, my goal was to work on the steam train at Opryland for the summer. That was 1997 and I ultimately never had that chance. Just sad.
I remember going there a few years ago and was planning on going back, now that I found out that it's closed, I'm changing my plans
What were those hand Monkey puppets with the wooden stick on the hand called? I Rememberhavingone of those as a kid when I was younger. I can still remember seeing vendors selling those all around Operyland.
love it
If he could see the place now! Roy would disown Nashville.
With mall stores closing and malls generally doing poorly these days, how the mall doing now? I miss opryland. There’s not another park like it.
Hangman was my favorite
They never should have shut this park down! If anything, maybe, they should have renovated the park. They could have kept the classic rides, but brought in some of the newer, more hair-raising rides. The mall could have been built either on the other side of the river, if possible, or build it at another location! I miss this park! Now, the closest theme park to us now is either in Pidgeon Forge, Louisville, or Atlanta! Who has time and money for that every weekend?!
I live in Knoxville, which is well out of Nashville Public Television's viewing area. So was Opryland USA, basically, the Middle Tennessee version of Dollywood?
It was a little bigger than Dollywood at the time. But now I'd say Dollywood has caught up.
As much as I miss this park and all it's glorious memories it gave me for my childhood, if we brought it back today, it wouldn't be as magical. There are so many violent, mean people that have moved to Nashville they would take it over like a gang and run it in the ground. Wouldn't be a safe place to be. The kids are even way meaner than they used to be so they would be vandalizing it and terrorizing people for fun. They would have to have cops and security all over the park in today's time.
The person who gave this a thumbs down owns Opry Mills.
Why did it closed?
!!!! 1972!
Right!
We loved this amusement park; were very sad when it closed. We went frequently, and had years of annual passes. The “Shopryland Mall” RUINED was was a wholesome family experience and tradition. We once went on the Rampage multiple times since it was near closing time, and we were allowed on the ride over and over.....we were absolutely drenched, and changed our seating in the floating bumper car each ride to see who could get more drenched next ride in the “WET SEAT”. We laugh still about it now. I DO NOT have any similar fond memories about anything I ever did in a mall. Gaylord: BIG MISTAKE. I will not take visiting family and out-of town friends to A MALL. There is no central Tennessee native that I know of that feels otherwise.