Such an awesome group of ladies to walk with down the yellow brick road
It all started with a yellow brick! And a Bible study group. Our story began with me talking about going to the Land of Oz when I was a little girl in the 70s. All I really remember about the trip was that it rained and the witch's feet were sticking out from under Dorothy's house. But fast forward to the 80s after the park had closed. My family was visiting the Boone area and my parents knew the Land of Oz was somewhere around there. My dad even asked someone at a gas station where the Land of Oz was and the lady looked at him like he had lost his mind. But the house where we were staying, during the summer, was a ski chalet on the side of Beech Mountain. While exploring the mountain, and hiking to the top, we found the Land of Oz. At that time, it was not closed off and we were able to walk around the deserted amusement park. We had noticed in the chalet that they had yellow bricks for door stops. And not to incriminate anyone, but our house may have acquired a yellow doorstop also!
Fast fast forward to the 2020's and a Bible study group of ladies that I have the privilege of being involved with. We talked for years about visiting the Land of Oz and finally were able to do so in September 2026.
Our Oz day started with getting our tickets to ride up the chairlift. Carrie hit the jackpot and had them all shooting out at her!
Then we got to ride a chairlift and see the Beech Mountain summer activity of bike riding down the mountain.
Then the fun really began! We had a plan to walk slowly and see all the performances. Some more than once to get a better view. We were very dedicated to immersing ourselves in all that this day had to offer!
After the entrance area, with information about the park's history, you go into Kansas and a gift store. The most interesting thing they sold were necklaces with small yellow bricks. They were made from pieces of the original brick road and cost $70!
They also had been selling pieces of the original road for $20! Guess I could have made money that day. They said that these pieces were from bricks that were breaking and they had to take out; and that there are still original bricks in the road.
After looking in the store, our first stop was in Kansas. There were three shows with Dorothy while we were in Kansas. We also got to meet Miss Gulch aka the Wicked Witch. All the characters were super friendly and talkative when they were not in a show. The professor in Kansas asked us if any of us had been in the Land of Oz before, and when Chelsea and I told him we had been there in the 70s, he told us he had been there too! We learned there were 4 characters there that day who had been a part of the original Land of Oz. Super cool!
The first show was Dorothy and the 3 farmhands dancing. Lots of references to them being the scarecrow, the lion and the tinman.
The second show was Dorothy talking in front of her house with Toto.
The third show was Dorothy talking to the Professor about running away from home.
When Dorothy knew the storm was coming, she ran home and my favorite part of the experience was next. We got to walk through the house!
We think Uncle Henry was also from the 70s park
The house was nicely decorated when we walked in and Aunt Em was there telling us a storm was coming.
Blue gingham was everywhere!
Then we walked down some stairs with the tornado happening around us.
The next part was super cool! You had to walk up a ramp that made you feel all wobbly and unsteady and then you were back in the house again, but everything was messed up. It was just like the house we first came in, but topsy turvy from the tornado.
We made it out of the house and into Munchkinland, and who was there to greet us but Elphaba herself and she was not happy that her sister was under the house with her ruby red fitted feet sticking out from under the house.
We got a bonus show from the mayor of Munchkinland. And they had us sing along with them!
After singing with the munchkins, we had finally made it to the yellow brick road and we were determined to see everyone and experience it all! We may have danced a little down the road!
The characters were in their own places with people taking pictures for us. We became known as the Bible study group! Characters would also take pictures with you whenever you saw them if they had time. They were all so accomodating, even the witch!
Chrissy got to hold Glinda's wand
The Scarecrow was our next stop. The skit they performed involved lines and songs from the movie. They did a really good job!
Angel had to tell the Scarecrow that Jojo is his biggest fan
Dorothy helped the Tinman next.
Our last show was with the Cowardly Lion. We couldn't see this one too well so we decided to wait and watch the next time Dorothy came by. And in doing that, we actually watched all the shows again. This group of ladies gelled together so well in wanting to do and see it all. We were glad we had not brought husbands as they would not have been as cooperative!
After the Lion, there were no more shows, but still things to see. One favorite being the witch's palace where we were warned to not bring water!
The waterfall. Not a lot of water
We had so much fun on the yellow brick road!
Angel fell asleep in the poppies
This is a restored original ballon from the park's only ride
At the end of the road, we reached the door to Oz. Chrissy had the job of knocking so we could go through.
The last show was meeting the Wizard of Oz and everyone getting there gifts and Dorothy going home. This was an indoor drama. Of all the ones we saw, this was our least favorite even though we enjoyed it.
Our last balloon pic
After the show we shopped, because you have to get merch, and got a snack because we were starving. I got the ruby red slipper which was a deep fried Little Debbie strawberry shortcake. It was as good as people said it would be!
Because we were all in, we paid the $8 to climb to the Over the Rainbow Lookout. We were going to see 5 states. It was fun, but not sure it was worth the money. The states all looked the same! But we did get to see the Tinman again. And Glinda came up there so we got another picture with her.
Thankful we had bought sweatshirts early in the day
We had one more stop and that was back to the first store due to needing to get a specific size sweatshirt. The people were super nice and let us back into the park. We almost ran through the whole thing again, but figured that was pushing it! But we did run into a friend of Carrie's and the coolest thing was that her mom had been an original Dorothy!
The grown up Dorothy
We had a fabulous day! And this was because of the people running the show and the ladies in our group. We arrived at 10:30 for our 11:00 tickets and left at 4:30. We got our money's worth for sure without any complaints. I am truly thankful for my girls!
