You'll notice there are no home videos posted of "Vacations At The Mall", with post after post from generations of past shoppers, talking about their favorite store. It takes a special kind of stupid to close a park like this and replace it with a mall that no one has ever liked. Opryland had a special "something", that will never be duplicated and always be missed. So sad.

Traded a diamond for a dog turd.

I was a performer in "Music, Music, Music" 1987 in the Roy Acuff Theater. One of the most memorable experiences of my life. It was a joy to work there.

Went there in 1983 as a leg of our senior trip. I remember every line I went through the workers would always say "Have a good day David". I kept thinking. How the hell do you nice people know my name? Then I realized my name was on my jacket. Still, The fact they mentioned my name and were so friendly is what I remember most. Saw Roy Acuff and Jan Howard and Jean Shepard. Made my dad jealous when I told him I saw Roy. :-)

I miss Opryland almost every weekend. Whenever I get down, I pretend that I and my family are going to Opryland and its 1978. Part of Nashville's soul died when Opryland was destroyed. It was and still is traumatic to thousands.

Easter present every year growing up was a Opryland season pass!! Mom could drop us off Saturday morning with 7 bucks each and pick is up after it closed. My step-dad was one who helped build the ride chaos!!!

Nashville 3 biggest blunders #1. Closing Opryland USA. #2. Closing Starwood Amphitheatre #3. Promoting Pop & Bro Country Music.

Thank you for this video I'm 50 now and spent most of my childhood there. Wish my kids could experience this magical place

I watch these clips over and over cause I don't ever want to forget Opryland. It makes me smile but makes me sad as well. I'm 52 now, that was a part of my life that was so simple and innocent. People weren't angry and spewing hate out of their mouths like they do now. I miss that part of what we called AMERICA back then. They were correct, the employees and visitors in the Opryland park were always helpful and had a pleasant attitude. So different than what we are witnessing today in 2023.

The Wabash Cannonball was the first roller coaster I ever rode and started my obsession with them. I loved Opryland. It was a great park for families.

it will forever be in my heart, my how back then people were so different and happier. Families together, no smart phones

They "paved paradise and put up a parking lot".... and shopping mall. 😢😩😭😭😭😠😬😬😬

I worked at Opryland. Best times ever! Hurts my heart that is gone. There is no one with deep enough pockets to ever bring it back. Loved going to work EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. Pure Joy! Thank you for sharing this glimpse of joy and history to others.

I worked at the Park, General Jackson & Opryland Hotel 7 years until it closed. Love it best job as a musician I've ever had. Terrible decision closing the park.

I remember looking through a knot hole on a rustic little building while a band played and someone was singing on the other side and i saw Willie Nelson about 5 feet away from where I was looking through the knot hole he wasn't that famous back then but i remember he had a red bandana around his head and the guitar strap was red white and blue Opryland hadn't been opened that long and it's hard to believe that i got that close to a soon too be super star like Willie Nelson.

I forgot how aesthetically pleasing Opryland was. The architecture, the theming, the landscaping. As a kid, I didn’t notice it much, but seeing films of it now, it was a beautiful place. The sounds, and smells as well are all gone. Terry London, with nothing but lies, killed a world destination. A place a child could go every summer, then work every summer. 25 years later, it still hurts.

I visited with my family in summer 1977 , when I was 10 years old and again in summer 1981 And there was nothing like it anywhere else! A BEAUTIFUL PARK WITH BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE AND BEAUTIFUL MUSIC and now just beautiful memories!

That is what I said when Opryland Closed. Nashville will never be the same.

I'm sorry my children won't get to experience the joy of Opryland.

Worked there in 86 and 87. So much fun, meeting great coworkers, park parties ……damn, we had it GOOD!

When Nashville was Holesome and Pure, Great Memories, it should have never closed

I loved those fruit shaped drinks!

I miss it so much my parents and I always went 3 or 4 times a year in 80s and 90s it was home and became friends with 2 musicians I still talk to one of the them

I saw Brenda Lee there. And I remember that if you dropped something then they would be right there to pick it up for you. I was there in the early 80's. I miss Opryland

I went to Opryland in 1979 with my parents as a teenager! Fun times! I remember the roller coaster Wabash Cannonball and Doo Wah Ditty City too. I remember the shows too.

Thank you for this video. I'm 54 now and lived in Alabama and visited Opryland in it's heyday many times with family and cousin. Wabash Cannonball, Runaway Mine Train, Log Flume..so many fun times. 😎👍

Opryland was special. It had good rides, good shows, good music, and good food. It was magical, clean and safe. I wonder what kind of tourism dollars the mall is bringing in these days? As Opryland Mills was being built the malls near me were losing stores rapidly. I can’t imagine that the Opryland mills mall isn’t in decline already. Sad, “they paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”

Opryland was a really great theme park. I actually met Roy Acuff there, who would often sit on a park bench and greet visitors. I was very disappointed when they closed the park. The mall is a sad replacement.

I still miss Opryland so much

Years ago Opryland in Nashville TN I miss Opryland back in the 90s 1993 or 1994. Good old days it was a years ago we been up there Opryland in Nashville,TN with my family, shivers family, my Grand parents Junell And Booker T. Shivers Family Reunion, 15 Children, 30 Grandchildren, 15 great-grand children, 10 great-great- grandchildren and in-laws and friends. We had a good times.

When I was a kid this place seemed more majical than santa clause

This place holds a special place in my ❤! Miss this iconic amusement park. And Julio’s Pizza and the fruit flavored juices were my fav. Grape especially!

The Grizzly River Rampage was the best ride there! As a child seeing that bear in the cave light up as you sailed by was an amazing experience. Miss You Opryland!

I have so many memories from there.

I have lots of fond memories of yearly visits to Opryland from when I was 6 in the early 70s through medical school in the late 80s and early 90s. I was so sad to hear it closed. They literally paved paradise and put up a parking lot…and another stupid mall.

My best memory is an autographed cookbook I still own that Jeanne Pruett signed at her Feedin Friends booth at Opry Land

I was born and raised in Nashville and Opryland was our hang out as kids. We had season passes and they definitely got their usage. I couldn't believe it when they closed it and built a mall there instead. Tourists don't come to visit malls. HUGE MISTAKE. Opryland was our Disnyworld.

Loved it's atmosphere.

I remember the last Christmas in the park. It was heartbreaking knowing it was the last time you would walk through it. Employees were crying. It was sad. I used to live in Nashville and when they re opened and made the mall....what they promised was not what they delivered. It was just a mall with the Grizzly river rampage ride left there behind it as a fountain for beauty. Once that broke it sat there dry for years until the flood came in 2010. I was praying that the mall would stay closed and was a member of Bring Back Opryland USA movement. What a joy this place used to be. ❤️

1983 was the first time I visited Opryland; I was 10. They had the Wabash Cannonball then. It was so scary the first time I rode it but then I was obsessed with it!!!

I moved to TN in 2004 so I never got to experience opryland theme park. It's kinda mind blowing when I go to opry mills and they fit a whole theme park where the parking lots are.

greed took it from us and it still sinks my heart such a shame

The SUITS who decided to shutter Opryland U.S.A. need kicked in their heads.

I miss Opryland 😢

Not a big fan of country but we went in may for my sons birthday. Always had a good time.

Multiple floods. 72, 75, 2010… as d yet it kept going. Such a shame

I am 56 I loved that place tons of cuties

They should bring Opryland amusement park back with everything they used to have especially next year because it will be the grand Opry 100th anniversary, so I really think that next year they should bring all of that back. I never got to go there when I was a kid, but I grew up here in the commercials, but I would like to go to that theme park, especially if they bring it back. 2025 will be 100 years since the grand old Opry went on the air in 1925, so it’s only fitting that they should bring the park back. Besides, nobody goes to malls much anymore so they can just tare down the mall that’s already there and rebuild the park like it used to be.

I worked at Julio's Pizza from '95 to early '97

they new within 2 years of construction of the new mall they tore down Opryland to build, it was a huge mistake. I know it's long too late now, but I'd love to see that mall torn down and good ol Opryland rebuilt in it's place, but sadly, it can't be done, the trees are gone, the magic is gone, all we have is the times people had there from years past.

I went there in 1974 at age 19. “I Hear America Singing” and the Dixieland band made a lasting impression, but that’s about all. I think my mind was more on my gf than the park.

People do dumb things like close something that makes money to something that loses money

Bring it back.. I say.

Reminds me of Carowinds from the 70's to the 90's. They're was a performance venue in every section.

Worst thing that ever happened to Nashville was closing this wonderful place and even afterwards Gaylord admitted it was a huge mistake!

I miss Opryland!! It was a great experience!! As and seeing the opryland theater and hotel and riding the rides. Why they close?

When I was a kid, our family went to Opryland every summer for almost ten years in a row. We'd usually leave on a Wednesday and head back home to Georgia late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. I wasn't really fond of country music, so of course they dragged me to every single one of the music shows (but we also saw all the magic and comedy shows too. Fair trade I'd say). We did the Opryland Express train ride, the Model T ride, Screaming Delta Demon, Wabash Cannonball, Old Mill Scream, Grizzly River Rampage, Chaos, and pretty much everything else several times a day. I tried Dippin Dots for the first time right outside the GRR, and we'd always go get burgers at the 50's diner in Do Wah Diddy City (spelling?). For the last couple of years we went, we'd also swing by Dollywood too. When we found out my dad had cancer, we stopped going to Tennessee, but went to Wild Adventures in Valdosta for a few years. In Opryland, I couldn't get my dad on the fucking bumper cars, but at WA I couldn't get him off the rides to save my life. We would go on the same roller coaster 4-5 times in a row, go see the animal or music shows, then ride something else 4-5 times in a row. It's amazing how more you love life when you know you're not going to have it much longer.

From Memphis, used to go alot as a kid. Currently in line at Hagrids Motorbike Adventure here at Universal in line watching this video.. Anyone remember the hand puppet monkeys they used to sell? Miss this place.

Didn't get here till 2012 but while Opry Mills is always packed to the gills 7 days a week with traffic backed up onto 155, this looks WAY more fun! I avoid that mall, the faux Opry ( the Ryman is the only Opry I recognize lol) and Broadway. After seeing what has happened to downtown in the last 10 years with all the bro country branded bars ruining the true Broadway experience and running out all the iconic honkey tonks, all I can say is I'm sorry for your loss.

Why remember when? Country music is not dead... We don't need a story book land. Opryland USA should be rebuilt and run again. It would be bigger than Disney... Using the same formula as before.

Was there 75-76 "Go Balls Tech". class '76!! now Lincoln Tech. 👈

Got to visit it once Airways wanted to go back Gaylord is simple proof, you can be rich and stupid at the same time.

If you liked opryland, you should visit Silver Dollar City in Branson Missouri. It's a great place.

Any witnesses of the AC/DC Concert at Opryland in `78?

it was so good but sadly i dont live in texas :(

Closing ruined Nashville in my opinion.

I want you to know I will revive country rock and Louisiana but if I have more than $10 million and I will do it?

I have a vision on the theme park in Louisiana I will call it country jazz but if you give me over 10 million bucks I will make it happen okay? Louisiana?

Opryland was great, I took the kids every summer.

In the early 1980s, before the cannonball roller coaster dove, I emptied my bowels and wet my pants and never rode it ANY coaster. Pure child trauma.💩💩🤮🥵🍆🥖🥓🌭🧈🚑