we’re not in kansas anymore…

From the very young age of three I had a very strong fascination with the classic 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz. The fascination has grown immensely over the years into a bit of an obsession. I’ve seen the film countless times in the theaters every time it’s re-released, I have tons and tons of memorabilia, I own all different versions of the film on vhs, dvd and blu-Ray, I’ve seen Wicked 3 times on broadway, and I even own a replica pair of the ruby red slippers that I wore on my wedding night,  so I think it’s safe to say I’m fan lol. What’s so incredible about the Wizard of Oz is that after 80 years people today still resonate with its message, beloved characters, music and story. Most people that know me, know about my love and admiration for the film, so starting several years ago around the fall I would consistently get messages from family and friends about this abandoned theme park called Land of Oz. It’s located in Beech Mountain, North Carolina and every year in October (it used to be in October but we found out at the festival that they changed it to September to avoid snow!) they would open this park one weekend out of the year to celebrate the film. 

The Land of Oz opened in 1970, but due to a tragic fire and financial troubles the park closed down in the 1980s. Since the mid nineties the owners of the land began restoring portions of the park and created an “Autumn of Oz” event as a reunion of original park employees. But by 2009, this event grew significantly and the owners have been able to raise money to renovate and upkeep the park and add new attractions each year. Now the park opens every Friday in June for an event called “Journey with Dorothy” and this September was this first year they opened the park for 2 weekends instead of just 1 for the largest Wizard of Oz festival in the country, to commemorate the film’s 80^th anniversary.

Being a jersey girl, flying to the middle of nowhere in North Carolina for a weekend with my husband in tow was not exactly easy. Beech Mountain is not close to any major airports, therefore a rental car is n e c e s s a r y! My husband and I flew into Charlotte on a Friday. We got in early, about 10:30am and started our drive over to beech mountain which was a little under 3 hours. We did stop for lunch and went to a zoo since we couldn’t check in to our hotel for a few hours, but more on that later. We stayed in an adorable Best Western lodge in a town called Banner Elk, North Carolina which is maybe not even 15 minutes from Beech Mountain. The two towns were beautiful, the views of the mountains were breathtaking and the crisp air was refreshing. It was an absolute pleasure to leave the hustle and bustle of jersey for a weekend and spend time in the mountains. I suffer from anxiety and can be pretty anxious when I don’t know where I am and we have a lot to do and see in a short amount of time, but being in the atmosphere was incredible. I felt so relaxed, more relaxed than maybe ever. Everything is slower there and more peaceful for sure. This trip was much needed for both my husband and I.

Saturday was our day to finally go to the Land of Oz. The Land of Oz has guided ticket times, so you need to pick a time when you purchase your ticket. Also you need to buy tickets in advance because the tickets sold out weeks before the event. Our time was at 2pm but I sent a few DMs to the Land of Oz Instagram account, and whoever runs that is magnificent because they always responded fairly quickly, so I found out that we could go to the festival at anytime but the shuttle to take us to the actual park was between the hours 1 and 2. So we got up early, had breakfast complimentary at our hotel (gluten free friendly!) and made our way up the mountain to the festival. I have a fear of heights so driving along what feels like a cliff for a period of time makes me extremely uncomfortable and after the whole weekend was said and done that was my only complaint of the trip, it was scary! When you arrive at the festival there’s music, a pop up museum, pony rides, vendors selling food and all things Oz, there was a small mini golf course in Oz theme, they even had a nearby store across the street selling Oz memorabilia as well. We spent quite a bit of time walking around and just soaking it all in. We purchased our movie museum pass prior to the day of to save money and inside the museum is a photo op, and costumes from the film, which was incredible to see. The owner of the costumes is a major Oz collector and he had several other Oz items, such as original books as well (no pictures were allowed in the museum except in front of this makeshift yellow brick road back drop) but Walter Krueger is the Oz collector and he was so nice talking to us about how he was able to get the costumes and talked about an online group to follow since I’m big into all things Oz as well. It was great meeting someone that loves the film probably more than I do, and that’s a lot! Next to the field where the festival was, were a few restaurants so we were able to walk over and have lunch and then made our way to the shuttle line to take our journey to see Oz. The shuttle drives up this large mountain and drops you off in front of this lookout that oversees all this land, and we had a great day so it was beautiful to witness. 

When we arrived in Oz it begins in Kansas, there’s professor marvel’s carriage and the Gale farm and Dorothy’s house. There’s a performance every half hour, where they do little snippets from the film. It starts off with the three farm hands and Dorothy talking about Miss Gulch and then her seeing professor marvel to run away, and then after watching the outdoor performances you walk into Dorothy’s house which is designed from the time period and then as you walk towards the back of the house you see where the tornado hit as everything is a mess and destroyed and the floors are slanted to walk out. Obviously when you open the door to walk out the witch’s feet are under the house and you arrive in munchkin land, and you can have a photo op with Glinda. At this point you walk along the yellow brick road and encounter photo ops with Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion, the witch, the flying monkeys, the Winkie guards, and finally you arrive at emerald city. The big green doors that read Oz, there’s a guard there asking what you want and of course you tell him you want to see the Wizard and he lets you in, as you walk through there’s food, drinks, and tents selling Oz memorabilia, authors of Oz books doing signings and meet and greets, a horse of a different color, a hot air balloon to pose in and a final performance with Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion and the Wizard. Whenever you wish you can take the shuttle back down the mountain to the other part of the festival. Everything is at your own pace which is nice so you don’t feel rushed. You can do as little or as much as you want. Being that we traveled all the way from jersey I wanted photo ops with every single character, and tons of photos on the yellow brick road. I mean after all i did dress for the occasion.

The festival was so much fun and I’m so glad I finally got to experience it. I have high hopes that it will continue to grow and become bigger and better each year. If we didn’t have to be on a flight home at 6am the next day we would’ve stayed to see Rachel Potter who was in Wicked, perform several songs, but it was at 8pm and we had to drive the almost 3 hours back to Charlotte. My husband Chris, who dreaded going, and I don’t blame him it’s a totally weird event to drag your husband to, truly enjoyed himself. He loved being up in the mountains the most but the festival was fun for anyone and people of all ages. 

Also, if you are looking to go next year, here are some fun tips! 

Always purchase tickets when they go on sale, I believe they went on sale in May and we went the first weekend in September, remember it’s only open one or two weekends out of the entire year. Also purchase the movie museum exhibit ticket ahead of time too to save money, I believe it’s an extra $5 a ticket at the door. Go early, and enjoy the music, food and atmosphere before heading up the mountain. I’m so glad we went hours before our shuttle time so we could pretty much leave when the shuttle dropped us off. We got there around 11, we got on the shuttle at 1, and i think we left around 4 so we spent a good full day walking around and taking everything in. Never once felt rushed or felt like we missed out on anything. 

Now for the zoo we stopped at on our way to Beech Mountain was called Zootastic Park and it was amazing! It’s located in Troutman, North Carolina it was about 40 minutes from Charlotte airport and it was the most interactive zoo I’ve ever been to! We paid an admission price and an extra $3 to feed animals on a wagon ride, which was about a half hour long and we fed bison, donkeys, zebras, alpacas, llamas, etc. After the wagon ride we were able to walk through the zoo which had lions, tigers, bears,(oh, my!) black leopards, and hyenas. We had a very very close encounter with a giraffe which was fun but slightly terrifying at the same time-they’re so tall! We then paid an extra $150 and got to spend 15 minutes with a tiger cub. This was one of the greatest experiences ever! Best $150 I’ve ever spent by far! The cub was named Sheldon, he was 48 pounds, so he was  no small kitty lol. If he was 50 pounds or heavier we wouldn’t have been able to play with him because in North Carolina the cubs have to be 50 pounds or less to let the public near them. Tigers grow a pound or two a day so we literally came on the right day! He went for a really long run and his trainer tired him out so when we saw him he was very exhausted which was good because I was bit hesitant when I found out how big he was and had to sign a consent that we could get scratched. He was gentle and beautiful and the trainer was so kind in giving us ideas on how to get great pics and where to pet him, she made us feel safe and taught us a lot in that short period of time. This weekend getaway was one of the best weekends of my life and I just wanted to share it with all of you! If you have any questions or anything please share!