I have a friend (non-enthusiast) who lives in Nashville who said he heard on the news that Nashville was supposed to be the next place a park was going up. Apparently the parent company of Opryland (Gaylord maybe??) was thinking of putting in a Six Flags type park or Six Flags themselves were thinking of starting one up.
Now, I thought Six Flags was moving into primarily aquisition of existing properties instead of outright new parks. Please gimme a little help on this one if you can. Seems like I would have heard of it if there was any substance to this.
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Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like bananas.
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Off with the trims!
My fellow Americans; Let's Roll!
Woodencoaster.com
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Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like bananas.
The current management of Magic Springs is looking at Nashville.
Here is a link:
http://www.themeparksonline.org/tponews.asp?ID=1332
Jim W.
Hmm, that might be what he was talking about. :o)
Thanks for finding that link, Jim.
---Brian
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Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like bananas.
I thought they put in (or were going to) the Opry Mills shopping plaza in the old Opryland spot. They were said to do this around 2001. Please correct me if i'm wrong.
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Opryland is gone...it's not coming back. A large mall was built in the former parking lot site, not where the rides were. I don't know what they have done to that area, if anything. (approx. 120 or so acres).
The piece of real estate that the article mentions is in downtown, about a 15 minute drive from the Opryland site. It would be great, but it doesn't sound like they would be building coasters, at least not big ones.
As a former opryland employee I can hope that Gaylord doesn't have anything to do with it. They really don't have a good grasp on anything that any of us who post here would be interested in. That is great coasters, lengthy ride time, running rides, etc. Hence, the closure of opryland.
I have the video recorded about this that ran on Channel 2 News (their video clip might also still be seen at www.wkrn.com, but I'm not sure), and have a copy of the Nashville Scene with an article on the topic, which you can read online here.
I worked at Opryland in '87. Opryland closed Jan. 1, 1998. Destruction began later that month. Opry Mills opened May 2000. The mall takes up what was Opryland's parking lot as well as a small part of where the park itself was. The rest of the area where the park was is now one side of the mall's parking lot, as well as a few buildings for the Opryland Hotel. Some of the large rock formations from the Grizzly River Rampage can still be seen. They seem like tombstones to me.
The company that was looking here was Theme Parks L.L.C. out of Louisville, KY.
An aerial photo of the area that they are looking at for the amusement park is here.
It's surrounded by I-65 on the NE, by (was still being built in that photo) Adelphia Coliseum (TN Titans) on the NW, and by the Cumberland River on the S. Not enough room for more than a couple decent sized coasters IMO. And forget a megacoaster. They say they're more interested in building a 'ride park' rather than a more expensive 'theme park'. Even if there were enough room, the atmosphere for a park here would be horrible, with the Nashville skyline on one side, the smelly river on the other, and housing projects on the other side, across the interstate . I like looking at the Nashville skyline, but don't want to while I'm at an amusement park. BTW, downtown Nashville is NW of that picture. Many of the best theme parks are either built in the secluded areas, mountain areas, open space, green fields, or in wooded areas with tall luscious trees that give a nice appearance and shade, and most have enough room for expansion in the future. The area in question has none of these features.
One of the best features of The Beast is how it winds back through the woods. Kings Island (& Kings Dominion?) is a good example, as is Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Disney, Six Flags Over Georgia, even Dollywood and Silver Dollar City. Not to mention Cedar Point with the beach and Lake Erie on 3 sides. The site of coaster track sticking up past the tops of trees is pretty neat in my opinion.
Am I right?
One of the problems (though not the main) with Opryland was it had nowhere to expand, with the river on one side, main highway on another, and the hotel on the other. Not to mention the reason the attendance went down is that many people would not come all the way back to a park that had so few thrill rides (and 95% of it's rides were dated to the parks opening). With it's country music shows, it was geared more towards older people, though there are far more younger adults and kids that actively seek out and travel to amusement parks. If this proposed park doesn't have room for 3-4 good sized coasters to start with, a good number of other rides, enough room to expand, and overall not so good atmosphere around it, it will not last. Not to mention the traffic around the area is already bad enough.
Considering how many Middle Tennessean's travel to surrounding states to visit theme parks, Nashville/Middle Tennessee definately needs one, but there are far better suited, cheaper, locations in the area.
Edit - fixed links.
*** This post was edited by Raptor Pilot on 5/17/2002. ***
Actually word has it that Ed Hart.... of SFKK fame... is spearheading the project.
I have concrete evidence to support the fact that this is no small project. SF is not involved. I will not provide the information, but know that a major park in Nashville may be more of a reality than most people know.
I believe right now, they are lobbying for more support. But a birdie told me that they are looking at the areas near downtown.
Shaggy
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Shaggy
A.K.A. John K.
are you sure its not the sfne freak or the one without spaces that saw a huge rollercoaster?
=Ryan
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Roller Coaster Favorite Ride! -Blink 182
*** This post was edited by Park Man on 4/10/2002. ***
Thankfully I'm a music lover and can find other things to do here. Always cool bands playing (not country music. Bleh.). And Predators (NHL) games.
I believe that Nashville could use a 'coaster park' like cedar point (i have small wishes). I gripe about opryland never living up to my coaster expectations, but I have a soft spot in my heart for it. Awe.
Besides, urban parks have their pluses too. Think about Coney Island, Blackpool is set in the middle of the city I believe, Miracle Strip in PC Beach Florida, the san diego boardwalk?, the tiny park at the worlds fair site in Seattle, the fete de tuilleries in paris, to name off a few. I think they are neat because you can access them easily by walking or bus/train. And I like a city view whenever I can catch one!
And is it just me or does this post stretch all the way across my computer? Why?
*** This post was edited by coasterfreaky on 4/11/2002. ***
Miracle Strip Park is no where near downtown PC. Someone said there's a trailer park next to it (I've never noticed), but on another side you have a water park, the beach on another, and woods on another.
Notice all the parks you mentioned are small.
When I has seasons passes for Opryland in '83 to '85 (I still have them), my friends and I got so tired of the rides, that we'd go and not hardly ride anything, just play arcade games. :)
Opryland was much more for the younger family. When I went from 89-96 I was b/w 5-12, to me it was a lot of fun an the rids were, at that point in my life, HUGE!
Not a lot for extreme teenagers of the time, but just the right stuff for kids looking for good first rides or adults looking for some fun. I do wish it was still there, even though it probably wouldn't be as fun, but Choas and Screamin' Delta Deamon were one of a kind the way Opryland had them.
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