Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/04/24/failed-wizard-of-oz-theme.html
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It says that they’ve reopened sporadically, but the “Autumn at Oz” thing has been going on for quite a long time pretty regularly. I want to say it’s been every october for a long time, but I do think there are a few years that it skipped. I went to uni really close by, but never quite got the chance to go myself 
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Your tour’s first stop is at the Fountain of Youth, where you be asked to drop all inhibitions and to remember your childhood…
Including inhibitions on grammar?
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This is awesome.
Also, it reminds me of Dogpatch USA.
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We went there several (7?) years ago with Grandparents and our kids. It was interesting. Kitschy. Semi-crowded. Local volunteers play parts along the way, acting as tour guides and entertainment. You park way below the site in a field, then get shuttlebus or hayride to the entrance. Quite a bit of walking, but all at your own pace…hence the semi-crowded part, as there are bottlenecks due to the path or interesting landmarks (Wendy’s house, Munchkin village, etc).
All in all, about 2 hours. The kids (6 and 4 at the time) were suitably entertained, more so because they can run around the mountain and play while the parents look at the scenes.
It’s interesting for the intersection of kitsch nostalgia, local theater, and pondering just where the money from tourists (can it be that much?) goes to ‘update’ and repair the site. If it was truly stupendous and glamorous, you’d think “the actors should be better” or “where’s my butter beer?”
It reminded me a lot of,though imho not as cool or museum-like, Wisconsin’s House on the Rock. Or the NC/SC “South of the Border” area in its 70s to 80s heyday.
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I don’t know if it would be worth the trip. I’ve heard somewhere that there’s no place like home.
Especially those.
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I seem to have misplaced my ruby slippers.
Is that the one the Lost Boys built around her after they shot her down? Odd that they would mix in some Peter Pan.
If they go by the book, they’re silver slippers.
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HA. Wendy. Sorry. Was thinking about my kid, and her view of the whole Oz park, versus her love of Peter Pan at the time (and currently). Her grandmother really really really tried to get my kid to love Wizard of Oz like she did, and to really really get into the park. And my daughter just kept insisting on Peter Pan, and, to a lesser extent, Wendy.
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I see this happening regularly, where a grown up tries to get their kids to do and to like stuff that they themselves really liked when they were a kid. To a certain extent, I understand that behavior, and I even occasionally do the same, but I stop myself quickly. My kid isn’t me, he/she isn’t a reincarnation of me, there’s no reason that they will have the same experience or inclinations as I did when I was their age.
It’s ok to expose the kids to stuff you did when you were a kid, but those kids are their own people, and they are going to evolve along their own path. The best we can do as their grownups is to show them around this awesome world and let them have their own childhood, experiences and, ultimately, memories.
Nothing against grandma, @Patrick_Olson. Your comment just touched on something that’s been floating around my head recently.
Well said.
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And then there’s:
“You may even get the chance to play one the roles of Dorothy’s trusted companions…”
I think “pre-brain” Scarecrow had a hand in all this.
The books are… Quite a bit different.
For example, in the books there’s a scene with a pile of dead wolves which Tin man had beheaded.
I like the books a lot more than the 1939 film.
For me, if I had to choose only one take-away from the WoO film, it would be about the man who wrote the lyrics to its music, Yip Harburg. As far as social causes, he was far ahead of his time (and, not to mention, an avowed atheist; he wrote extremely clever poems about his views on religion).
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(Immediately kicked out of park for swimming nude in Fountain of Youth)
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This made me LOL
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