The Land of Oz

A memorable late 1990s trip with two small kids to a N.C. theme park

Nick and Kate on the Yellow Brick Road at the Land of Oz — Beech Mountain, N.C., fall 1998

Some family photos instantly send you back to a moment in time. For me, this is one of those.

It was the fall of 1998, a brisk, windy day in Beech Mountain, N.C. On a whim, I had taken Nicholas and Kate — then 5 and not quite 2 — on a six-hour roundtrip to visit a theme park known as The Land of Oz.

The trip from Reidsville to Beech Mountain was not without its challenges. I’m directionally dyslexic, and GPS was not available in the pre-iPhone (barely flip phone) days, so driving into the mountains on a foggy day was fraught.

Also, I had never taken two small children on a solo trip that far away, one of whom was still mostly riding in a stroller. That presented its own challenge, given that I had heard the Yellow Brick Road was still missing a few bricks.

Still, we forged on.

Off to See the Wizard

A kitschy theme park patterned after L. Frank Baum’s book, not the 1939 classic movie, the Land of Oz opened in 1970 as a sister park to Tweetsie Railroad, which is located near my wife’s hometown of Boone. Costing $40 million in today’s dollars to build, it was originally designed to keep ski employees busy during the off-season.

According to news reports, no expense was spared in re-creating Oz, which had a real Emerald City, a yellow road of 40,000 bricks, waterfalls, mushrooms, hot air balloons, and a dress worn by Judy Garland in the original film. Nine Dorothys, five Cowardly Lions, four Scarecrows, and four witches (two good, two bad) were part of the original cast.

Debbie Reynolds, her teenage daughter, Carrie Fisher, and 20,000 people were on hand for opening day, and the Land of Oz drew 400,000 in its first year. But its success could not be sustained, and the then-owners filed for bankruptcy in 1975 due to declining attendance and unpaid creditors. A fire later that year destroyed the Emerald City and the movie artifacts, including Garland’s dress.

By 1980, the park was closed, apparently for good. But cable TV came to the rescue, as repeated showings of “The Wizard of Oz” on Ted Turner’s cable stations resulted in a new wave of popularity that has never dissipated, especially when you’re willing to open for a limited schedule.

In 1993, an annual “Autumn at Oz” celebration began on the site. Open then for a single weekend, Jill heard of plans for the fifth anniversary celebration and suggested I take the two oldest while she stayed at home with Ben and Emma, then infants.

Which brings us to the picture.

I had brought a roll of film and a small point-and-shoot— again, these are the pre-iPhone days we’re talking about — because a regular-sized camera would have been too bulky when dealing with two kids, a stroller, and a yellow road with potholes. I knew my chances of getting anything were slim but asked Nick to hold Kate’s hand while I put the film in the camera.

When I looked up, they had started walking up the Yellow Brick Road. I fired off a couple of shots and then gave chase, telling them to wait for me.

I thought the rest of the photos that day were fine, but I didn’t take the roll of film in to be developed until late the next week. Imagine my surprise when the print at the top of this piece came back.  

Epilogue/Postscript

Nick and Kate enjoyed the experience so much that we decided to take all four kids to the following year’s celebration. The two, by this time in full Oz mode, both squealed as they saw and remembered the things from the previous year.

Ben and Emma, on the other hand, were a little bit more cautious. When the Tin Man reached down to say hi to Emma, she promptly punched him.

Sadly, he was not wearing a tin cup. And I doubt he received workers comp.

The foursome in 1999 with Emma, far right, pondering her choices.

I thought of those trips when we were all together at the beach last week and wondered if the annual “Autumn at Oz” was still a thing. It turns out that the celebration has been expanded and will run from Friday to Sunday for the next three weekends.

If you’re in the area and interested in seeing it, it’s now much easier to find than it was more than 25 years ago. Just put 1 Yellow Brick Road, Beech Mountain, N.C., into your iPhone.