This Eerily Abandoned Wizard of OZ Theme Park Is Reopening Its Doors
This is what OZ would look like if the Wicked Witch of the East won...
As a kid growing up in Kansas, the Wizard of OZ was just as defining a part of my 90's childhood as D.A.R.E. and Presidential blowjobs
Seriously, it's a movie us Kansans worship.
And why not? It's a cinematic classic. In need of a refresher? This quiz ought to help jog your memory.
Sure, the movie did to tornados what Jaws did to Sharks, and if I had a dollar for every time someone's told me "You're not in Kansas anymore," I could afford to buy myself a heart, a brain, courage and ruby slippers to boot. But as an impressionable, lil' munchkin constantly fighting the boredom of life in the suburbs, the movie awakened in me a sense of wonder. I identified with Dorothy, trapped on her hum-drum, sepia-toned farm, and dreamt of visiting the land of OZ with its vibrant colors, flying monkeys, and lollipop-lauding little people.
Despite my numerous attempts to get sucked up by a tornado as a child, I never did make it to OZ—but there's a theme park in North Carolina whose reopening is about to change all that....
Nestled deep in the back roads of Beech Mountain, NC sits The Land of OZ. From 1970 to 1980, there was no place more like home for OZ fanatics
This Wizard of OZ-themed amusement park, complete with a full cast of characters and attractions from both the book and the movie, has been largely abandoned for the last several decades
Now, rather than looking like a magical land of wonder, it gives off a creepy "Silent Hill" kind of vibe that's equal parts unnerving and awesome
Despite looking a bit threadbare after years of disuse, the eerie, abandoned park is now the perfect destination for photographers and urban explorers alike
Visitors navigate the park via the famed yellow brick road, though now it looks less like something you'd skip down and more like the quickest route to escape the hoard of zombies lurching after you
There's even an abandoned chair lift that once offered a bird's eye view of the entire park
Best of all, for creep-seekers and OZ fans, the park will be briefly reopening to the public for four Fridays in June as part of Beech Mountain's Family Fun Month
This is the only time of year that the park is open in its entirety, so pack your ruby slippers and forget that there's no place like home because the Land of OZ is calling your name
