Land of Oz

As I finally begin to remember what it’s like to relax and have fun after grad school, I realize there is a lot to see without traveling internationally. Traveling is one of my favorite hobbies, and today I was able to be whisked away to the Land of Oz, yellow brick road and all.

My friend Katelyn invited anyone who wanted to go to take a trip to the Land of Oz, which also happens to be located in the mountains of North Carolina. Our traveling trio consisted of Katelyn, Anna, and myself- all school counselors-to-be.

In order to arrive in Kansas, you take the ski-lift up (which is included in your ticket). They failed to mentioned that you need to be wearing close-toed shoes, or at least shoes with the straps on the back. Luckily for us, Katelyn had an extra pair of strappy heels in her car, so we weren’t forced to take the bus (which was no where to be seen…). The ski-lift attendants may have gawked at someone wearing high heels up the mountain, but hey- we all got to ride together. This is a view of the ride going down, because DANG- look at those mountains. The ski resort is also home to a mountain biking trail in the summer, which is kind of cool.

YES! FINALLY IN OZ!!… Well not quite. We obviously had to start in Kansas. The tour begins with the guide handing out characters for Glinda, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Lion. The man next to me got to be the scarecrow, even though I was smiling and being so good, they didn’t pick me. I was so close. He was nice though and let me wear his hat for a picture.

Szili said I looked like a hipster scarecrow. I’ll take it.

The journey then takes us to a farmhouse, where out comes Dorothy asking where Auntie Em is! She talked a little bit and then sang “Over the Rainbow.” This is the point where I realized this was an interactive adventure, and it was quite entertaining! But uh oh- she spotted a twister and we all had to rush to the cellar.

This was the coolest part. You walk through the house, which is all decorated like an old-fashioned farm house, and then go down some stairs to the cellar. Here they create a faux tornado as you are walking through dark room. They used glow paint and black lights to make images pop off the walls, they had a twirling model of the home, and some fans to make it windy. Then once you are through the tornado, the house is tilted! All the furniture is awry, the pictures are crooked, things are destroyed. It was hard to walk because I felt off-balanced.

They definitely made it feel very real. (I knew I was a counselor when I thought, “I wonder if this is triggering for someone who has been through an actual tornado.”) After leaving the tornado stricken house, we were suddenly transported to the Land of Oz!

As many of you know how the story goes, naturally the house landed on the Wicked Witch of the East!

The tour then continued on to meet Glinda the good witch, which was played by a member of the tour. The same thing happened for the scarecrow, the tin-man, and the lion. When we got to the Wicked Witch of the West, also a member of the tour, she killed it. She acted so well and really put her heart into it. That was kind of cool.

Dorothy was our guide the entire time we were in Oz, and she did a remarkable job of staying in character as she was trying to hurry the group along. “Come along now- we need to meet the wizard!” AKA- hurry up there is another tour behind us.

My friends and I skipping along the yellow brick road.

The adventure in Oz was a blast. We had beautiful weather, and it was nice to walk around along the yellow brick road. Costumes were definitely appreciated. My favorite was the two tiny girls dressed up like Dorothy- ruby slippers and basket included. They didn’t leave our guides side the whole time. It was adorable.

There will be only 5,000 visitors to the Land of Oz this summer. It is only open on Fridays in June, so this event tends to sell out quickly. I am pleased that I got to experience whilst I am still living in North Carolina, and with some pretty great company too.

If you’re a nerd like I am, you might be intrigued to learn that the Wizard of Oz may be seen as an allegory to the populist times and a reflection of politics at the time when it was written in the late 1800s. It’s not my theory, but I found an interesting article where you can learn about it.

Thanks for stopping by! As a bonus for reading this far, here is our pic with Dorothy.