Historian explains why Opryland closed for good

[@Discernin8]

I’m a native of Nashville and as a child, teen and adult we went there all of the time. We never got tired of the theme park. I also worked there as a high schooler. I miss the Amusement Park so much.

[@mikebrooks5405]

now malls are becoming a thing of the past, and theme parks are thriving

[@guineapiglady2841]

😡

[@paulhunt4690]

Another native Nashvillian who visited the park often. It truly was sad when they closed. Deep down, we knew the Gaylord people were lying about keeping some rides. It was all about the money.

[@KaneWyatt]

I despise everyone involved in the decision to close Opryland USA for one reason: GREED. They took something special and unique from all of us who cherished summers and holidays at Opryland and replaced it with a dumb mall.

[@wanderingweh405]

crime infested mall at that

[@wanderingweh405]

I went every summer when was kid. I took my daughter and had season passes the last yr it was open. I cried in the Tin Lizzy line when the ride operator said this will be a parking lot. We realized what we had. It wasn't a good move in tourist town to loose the biggest tourist destination. Nashville is all bars now not much geared for the family.

[@ReddFourBirds]

I hate to make you sad again, but Kentucky Kingdom has the Tin Lizzies. Unfortunately, the car fleet is low, and it may not be around much longer. Really sucks, it had a new lease, and it lasted... well, longer than Opryland. Come to think of it, KK has a lot of leftovers.

[@alrightb]

The worst thing could have happened. They put the same stores we already had in Nashville in one place. High priced. I miss opryland. I went the last day it was opened

[@BoundyMan]

I flew into Nashville Airport in 2008, to go to a funeral in Kentucky. I flew in on Friday morning and had to wait for my mother who was to fly in that afternoon, so I had plans to go to Opryland. I learned about it closing in 1997 when I was getting my rental car and my father called me, and the person at the counter heard me telling my plan for the day. So I ended up hanging at the Mall until it was time to pick up my mom.

[@iwatchclipsandstuff]

The REAL reason the park closed and was completely torn down (except for a small section near the employee parking) was because the electric throughout the park was literally ripe for electrocution. In '08/09 I helped install 200,000 ft of Cat 6 and install the Hotel's new wireless system. During this time I met a Super who had worked there for 30 or so years (much older man) and this is what he said ultimately happened. It was closed for safety reasons. The park was just too dangerous to keep open. I remembered that as the river overtook what was the park and engulfed the mall during the flood of 2010 - thinking it would have been a disaster to have all that water and live wires, not sufficiently grounded.

[@Brookerulezz]

So sad we lost that place. End of story

[@VocalEdgeTV]

And we’re still bitter.

[@Dr_GraysGhost_420]

😂 Bring that crap up to any local and they still get fighting mad

[@bigreed67]

Gaylord Entertainment could mess up a county fair!

[@jamesarnold2399]

We got screwed.

[@WinTheDay-e7i]

Miss it so much!! Bring it back!

[@aikohikari6587]

I work at a theme park and love it so much. Closed theme parks are to me a sign of depression. Makes me cry to see those lost places. Don‘t take away the fun for the people!

[@dannydougin3925]

Not everyone finds them fun! 🙄

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

​@@dannydougin3925So it that enough to close it down and replace it with a mall?

[@kyaudioguy1]

How's that mall doing? How's Gaylord doing? It was a failure for the town, but a major win and stealing of capital from the fat cats, just because because someone will make money doesn't mean its for the greater good.

[@DeborahAquino-p9h]

I miss it! I worked there one summer! Loved it!

[@garywilsonwilson893]

I was there as a child 2 years after it opened and 8 times after that with my grandparents. Rode the grizzly rampage the day it opened.

[@lilitharam44]

I'm a lifelong Memphian and have a Lot of great memories of driving to Nashville and going to that wonderful park. Corporate greed is what killed it, and they have the nerve to show their faces on the interview. Please don't feel alone Nashville, the Memphis area had a Wonderful swimming facility called Maywood that corporate greed got to as well and now we have no where to swim.

[@robertporter6641]

I visited Opryland when I was maybe 5 years old. There’s a picture of me standing next to a wooden cutout of Shotgun Red. All I remember because I was so young was we had fun.

[@StarTrekGirl099]

That was a sad day.

[@UmmYeahOk]

Grapevine Mills in Texas opened in 1997. The Gaylord Texan opened soon after, nearby. I remember there being talks about what they were going to call it, and at one point, people were calling it Gaylord Opryland Texas. At the same time, Six Flags, much further away in Arlington wasn’t doing too well. Flash forward to the present, and while Six Flag is doing much better than it had been in the 90s, both the Mills Mall, and Gaylord resort are always busy. People who saw malls are dying, don’t seem to have visited this place. Although, the mall up the road from it had. There were just too many malls, so people had their favorites, which naturally tended to be the newest ones.

[@QuackrWackrCrackrJackr]

I remember being a kid and my grandparents taking me.. I wasn't big enough to ride a lot of the coasters but they did have 1 that went upside down I was allowed to ride with them... I almost fell out.. I had to hold on for life as with them between me nothing was holding me.

[@stephaniegee227]

Why did it close? Money.

[@paulsjeeps7528]

They employed a lot of high school students, with the schedule for when the park was open 7 days a week matching the summer vacation for Nashville schools. Then the school board decided to move up the first day of school for the fall term, Opryland asked the board to reconsider, and the school board took offense at a business trying to influence their decision on when school would start. There was an attempt to find an alternative source of labor by buying the old Executive Inn on Murfreesboro Rd and turning it into a dorm for migrant labor that was brought in from Texas, but that apparently created more problems for Opryland than it solved.

[@jayderwin1]

@@paulsjeeps7528that’s interesting I’ve never heard that before.

[@nicolehaw1088]

@@paulsjeeps7528 oh wow interesting, not to compare apples to oranges but I live in Orlando.most employed I would say are young folks but there is a mix of all age groups. I wonder why they opted for mostly high school kids for tourism attraction.

[@paulsjeeps7528]

@@nicolehaw1088 It was the seasonal schedule. It was open seven days a week in the summer, weekends only for a few months in the spring and fall, and closed in the winter, though there was a time when they were opening part of the park for a short period during the Christmas season. Winters here were considered too cold and wet to attract tourists to an outdoor venue - there would have been too many days when the number of visitors likely would have not covered the expense of keeping all of the rides, shops, and stage shows open. There was a relatively small staff of adults that worked year-round to handle maintenance when the park was closed and supervise the seasonal workers when the park was open.

[@paulsjeeps7528]

@@jayderwin1 The school board made several comments back when they were focused on moving up the first day of school each year, that showed how detached from reality they were. When the issue of high school students working summer jobs to save money to buy a car or put money aside for college was brought up to oppose their plans, a board member argued that a high school student's only job was to study. Seemed that in their world view, all high school students were expected to enroll in college, then later start job hunting with a new degree, zero work experience, and zero experience with getting through a job interview. You can still see how the section of Murfreesboro Rd between the airport and I-24 was changed by the Executive Inn having been converted to a dorm for migrant workers.

[@b.a.sports4361]

The park was definitely better than the mall cause it sucks

[@KennyRyman]

Six Flags AstroWorld in Houston closed back in October 30th 2005..

[@KennyRyman]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/e4jPdKmBjZlpmKM

[@KennyRyman]

Check out Astroworld just Click the Blue link....

[@BeardmanVaush]

Sad. I always wanted to visit there.

[@pirategreg8076]

I miss that place so much!! I remember the Chaos indoor coaster and Screamin' Delta Demon were among my favorite rides. This whole story just plain sucks...

[@michaelminton1224]

I was there on opening weekend in April of 1997 and enjoyed it.

[@kryptism]

Dollyland is kicking ass!😮

[@DioVindice]

Dollywood!

[@kryptism]

Ok...!😏

[@jayderwin1]

Dollywood is very similar to what Opryland was

[@akita96th]

I used to go there back in the late 70's it was awesome....I couldn't believe they closed it down it was always so busy and crowded. They were all idiots for closing it down.

[@ultilinium8]

The real shame is that the Gaylord hotel itself is quite amazing if not impressive. I like malls and amusement parks because they can both be home to themed entertainment. The mall is fine, but a park much better complements the place.

[@anyways661]

Gaylord did this. Plans for Dollywood sealed the deal.

[@riversarcadereview385]

WHY didn't those who COMPLAINED buy out the owner and keep it running

[@BRFilmStudios]

I’m a huge mall nerd, I love almost every mall! However, Opry Mills is just a generic outlet mall with absolutely no character. Maybe it was alright back when it first opened, but after they redesigned it post-flood, it’s the most boring mall in the city. Such a shame Opryland is gone…

[@capt.tuttle6292]

“Nashville Screw Job”

[@solarusthelonghaulerrailfa3226]

Exactly

[@randolphwilliams2365]

The corporation that owned it was clueless. They could have outdone Dollywood and made billions.

[@BrotherTimothyClark]

Well just look at what they tried to do with WSM. Thankfully it didn't work.

[@roxybryant5076]

Thus the reason why I boycott Gaylord Ent.

[@ddrusa]

Oh well another one gone whats the point malls are goinf dead

[@ADCar]

What a shame.

[@Dreamconfedi]

The wobbliest archive footage I've ever seen. Never seen a video degrade like. Almost like it was a special effect on top, but I doubt that.

[@kemberelyhamm880]

I miss Opryland🥹

[@chrisaprilpowers3252]

That was the down fall of Opryland, now there letting people that ain’t country sing there

[@ChuckE.CheesesIllinois]

Sad that both this park and AstroWorld died because of money

[@ricktheexplorer]

Nashville is nothing without Opryland.

[@duvine3882]

I call shade, as refusal to adapt to the times was their demise. Avoidable by new choreo, diverse performers of different ethnic colors , different cultural backgrounds acts like from western Europeans using new instruments, blind key or guitar players, wheelchair dancers, new sets/costumes/songs, f/x in performances like megachurches do etc, but adoration to an era gone was a man made obstacle.

[@chocolatecake23]

No one goes to Nashville to hear bongos bro…. They would have been doing just fine

[@duvine3882]

@chocolatecake23 Sure, that's why they are gone, the ones who don't want to hear bongos are dinosaurs hit by the meteor and their offspring became mamale that do, ok boomer.

[@chocolatecake23]

@@duvine3882 ok, what bot. What’s a mamale? Lol

[@duvine3882]

@@chocolatecake23 who told you to ask her?, don't answer.

[@brich6875]

It’s like the video said that tastes began to change. Peooke used to really enjoy the shows and music but times change as do people.

[@kellymcclendon6601]

Gaylord? What mo can I say?

[@akita96th]

Malls was where people went to see new things to buy but now we have the internet and MALLS are a THING of the past.....Roller coasters on the other hand will get people out of the house. I wouldn't walk across the street to go to a mall. I would drive two hours on the interstate to ride a ROLLER COASTER. LOL