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Dollywood/Gaylord Ent. Bring New Theme Park to Nashville!


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^Well, Opryland was my home park from 1974-1992, and Nashvillians are still upset about it's closure. It truly is a sore subject...they want coasters and rides, not so much slides. "it's complicated" sort of sums it best, I think.

 

I was taken aback by some of the comments about Dollywood...in The Tennessean comments.

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^Well, Opryland was my home park from 1974-1992, and Nashvillians are still upset about it's closure. It truly is a sore subject...they want coasters and rides, not so much slides. "it's complicated" sort of sums it best, I think.

 

I was taken aback by some of the comments about Dollywood...in The Tennessean comments.

 

Yeah, but they dunno what all this project is gonna entail yet and they already think it sucks... it's a bit ridiculous if you ask me. This land was never gonna be home to a new theme park anyway, it's not large enough.

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^Well, Opryland was my home park from 1974-1992, and Nashvillians are still upset about it's closure. It truly is a sore subject...they want coasters and rides, not so much slides. "it's complicated" sort of sums it best, I think.

 

I was taken aback by some of the comments about Dollywood...in The Tennessean comments.

 

Yeah, but they dunno what all this project is gonna entail yet and they already think it sucks... it's a bit ridiculous if you ask me. This land was never gonna be home to a new theme park anyway, it's not large enough.

 

I agree 100%!

 

I'm saying when any amusement park related news in Nashville happens, it brings out some crazy emotions. Salt on wounds...that kind of thing. It's been a generation and a half since Opryland closed. they prob deserve a little slack, and like Eric said, not necessarily best and brightest make comments.

 

We know what Dolly is capable of, Nashville doesn't, yet. It will be great.

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I agree, overall I think it's amazing to see a Gaylord Entertainment CEO and Dolly on stage together forming a partnership, those of us who remember the competition of Opryland vs. Dollywood in the 90s find it an amusing contrast, I know I do.

 

From what I understand, it will be themed to music much like Opryland was, which may make for some amazing theming. I am quite excited for this project and still believe it will be a game changer for waterparks when it opens.

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This is great news. Opryland was one of the first parks I visited, so it's always held a special place in my heart. It will be interesting to see more details about this park develop. I would like to see, at some point in time, some "dry" rides and maybe even a coaster open at the park, but I'm not complaining about these plans. Anything is better than nothing. I also believe this park may be the "seed" for a larger theme park developing in the future.

 

This is very exciting for the Nashville area.

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It may just be me... but look very closely (zoom in) on the expansion already shown on the site plan... it looks to me as if there could be some regular flat rides there. Is my mind deceiving me? I can see a 'tower' of some sort quite easily... then again, I may just be insane..

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...if you zoom in on the pic with the highlighted areas...i saw a double wave pool and a lazy river and what appears to be a kids area but no major slides...

 

That is more than likely the concept plan that they used to get approval from the city board. The final product is almost always different than what shows up on concept plans, so don't spend too much time studying it.

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It's good to hear that they're adding something to the Nashville area. I had the chance of going to Opryland a few times as a kid. My extended family down in Tennessee have been talking about getting a new amusement park ever since Opryland closed. I guess there always seemed to be some sort of park development in the works, but none of the proposals ever seemed very legitimate. I'm sure people in the area will be very happy that there is something new for them to do year round. I do really like the idea of a year round park, even if they don't have any roller coasters of spinning rides. It's good that they're starting out with family attractions in mind, rather than building huge roller coasters.

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^Opry Mills mall is supposed to be 100% functional by March. If everyone has moved back in at that time is up to the individual company. There are several stores with outside entrances that are already open. Bass Pro, D&B, the AMC Theater, etc. I'm told the food court is open as well, but I personally can neither confirm or deny this. I haven't heard if there is gonna be a grand re-opening or anything like that. I imagine they would try and make a big deal of the mall re-opening, to get the locals to come back out in force like they used to back in the day. You know... ...before...

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I don't know if this is true...i think it is. But in 1987 or 1988 Opryland took out the Antique Carousel...and its my understanding it was put away in storage...it has not resurfaced anywhere else. Maybe they will find a use for it for Phase 2? That would seem like a nice tie-back to original Opryland.

 

This pic is from Montezooma's Opryland thread. There's a fact sheet on page one of his thread that had more details about the carousel.

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=40134&hilit=opryland

554261073_montezoomaspicofantiquecarouselatopryland.thumb.jpg.ebc8ee3b81308576120efa769d4c3793.jpg

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^It was intended to go to Old Indiana Theme Park where a lot of the Opryland rides were sent after the park was closed. I have no clue what happened to the carousel though since that theme park never materialized. I know a lot of the rides ended up as scrap metal unfortunately.

 

Edit: I just googled it and found something that said it went to a mall in Cincinnati where it only ran for two years??? Not sure if that is true or not. I have a feeling it is long gone if that is true.

Edited by ernierocker
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And for those of you who are wondering...yes, there is a Waffle House right by this location!

 

And of course, a Cracker Barrel across the street also.

 

I've always been teased by the history and remnants of Opryland when visiting Nashville, but never made it to that fabled land. Have they started constructing the all-suites expansion on top of the remains of the River Rampage ride yet?

 

This is a really fantastic idea for the Gaylord company - bring in an experienced operator with local ties, help to build non-convention (weekend) business, and the snow concept will be a truly fantastic tie in to the already incredible Christmas activity lineup that they already promote (and charge!) out the wazoo. Put some cute little stages in for ambient entertainment, and this could be a big win.

 

Like everyone else, I'd love to see some coasters (even one!) on that expansion section, but what they are proposing makes a TON of sense business-wise first.

 

I'm curious what sort of local partners they're talking about for phase II... may not be theme park related at all, maybe a walking/shopping/restaurant district.

 

And yeah, I think Wild Waves will be dead... Nashville Shores, I feel sorry for, as though it's not terribly impressive, the new owners have been consistently investing over the past couple years, and they'll feel the hammer dropping on their growing business now.

 

In the end, any new themed entertainment is a welcome one, especially from pros like Herschend, and especially close to home!

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I don't know if this is true...i think it is. But in 1987 or 1988 Opryland took out the Antique Carousel...and its my understanding it was put away in storage...it has not resurfaced anywhere else. Maybe they will find a use for it for Phase 2? That would seem like a nice tie-back to original Opryland.

 

This pic is from Montezooma's Opryland thread. There's a fact sheet on page one of his thread that had more details about the carousel.

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=40134&hilit=opryland

 

Actually, do you mean page 4? Like you, it's also my understanding that the original antique German carousel with the rolling gondolas was put into storage. If I'm not mistaken, it was replaced by a bird show and then that was replaced with a more typical like carousel with horses. That would be a great tie-in to the old park if the original German carousel could be brought back to life!

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