Charlie Daniels Western World - Soapbox Jr.

This morning, Mom sent me an article about the progress of comedian and actor, Nate Bargatze’s proposed “Nateland” theme park he hopes to build in his hometown of Nashville, TN filling a void that has existed since Gaylord Entertainment leveled Opryland and replaced it with the Opry Mills shopping mall.

While I’m a few years older than Nate, I fondly remember Opryland and went there from my youth in the 1970s on up to the late 1990s when the park’s closing was announced, and I’m sure he did as well. I truly hope he’s successful, I certainly miss having a park nearby to get my roller coaster “fix” every now and then.

I have written about a lot of CDB history in the past, but there’s also one bit of Dad’s history that many fans may not know about, there was almost a Charlie Daniels theme park.

Sadly, it never opened, but it’s in good company. Other ambitious theme park ventures that were never realized include The Land of Oz, a “Gone With The Wind” park and theme park king Disney failed to open the California version of EPCOT (Dubbed WESTCOT) and a park celebrating American history called Disney’s America in Virginia.

How close did Charlie Daniels Western World come to becoming reality? I’ll get to that in a little bit, but first a little backstory.

Dad spent a lot of time in Tampa, Florida in the 1990s and 2000s when a home for the disabled – most residents have very severe cases of cerebral palsy – called The Angelus in Hudson, FL became one of Dad’s most passionate causes.

He called the residents “his precious ones” and he continued the golf tournament and concert – Later dubbed Charliepalooza – until 2016 when he turned 80 and felt he had to slow down to conserve his energy for touring.

Through Dad’s efforts to raise money for The Angelus, Dad met local businessman and stockbroker, Michael Vandiver, who no doubt was inspired by the rebranding of Pigeon Forge’s Silver Dollar City as Dollywood and proposed a theme park based on Dad and his musical brand of storytelling.

I was in my late 20s when the plans were being discussed. As time went on, Mike gave us one of the proposal books full of concept art and financials which I’m sure we still have somewhere.

The park would have celebrated the old West along with Dad’s music, a train ala Walt Disney World Railroad, and – of course – rides.

I can’t recall what all was originally conceived, but I knew that if we were going to do this, then there were a few things the park had to have, and I proposed two of them, and one of them I went as far as to write a script for.

The first “must-have” ride was a floating dark ride based on “The Legend of Wooley Swamp.” Park goers would board a boat and float along the swampy marshes to see a Lucius Clay sifting through his buried money only to be attacked by the Cagle boys who ultimately meet their demise as Lucius’ evil transcends the grave and leads the brothers to their own deaths in the swamp’s quicksand.

I thought this would have been an awesome ride, almost like a darker Pirates of the Caribbean with plenty of room for special effects and scares.

The one I really poured my heart and soul into was a 3D+ movie of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” I was inspired by the beloved and innovative – and sadly now defunct – Muppet*Vision 3D attraction at what was then called Disney-MGM Studios.

Muppet*Vision 3D used a unique combination of audio animatronics, live actors, and environmental effects, to enhance the Muppet*Vision 3D movie. By the end of the movie, theme park goers had been squirted in the face with water from a fake flower by Fozzie Bear, witnessed an actor in a full body Sweetums Muppet suit, watched bubbles float through the theater through Miss Piggy’s musical number and watched holes being blown through the theater walls by dueling cannons pointed by penguins and the Swedish Chef. It was a spectacular show which never got old, no matter how many times I saw it.

I applied the same sort of innovations to a TDWDTG 3D+ movie to include wind, heat, pyrotechnics and even an animatronic band of demons who would pop out of the ceiling of the theater during the film’s climax and even scripted out each moment and effect so I could get across the potential that the attraction had.

It was exciting to think that we might have our own theme park, and I was brimming with ideas, there would have to be a roller coaster called the “Uneasy Rider,” and there were plenty more creative fruits to be harvested had it gone forward.

Back to the question of how far along did the planning get. Well, the land had been purchased near Tampa and Landmark Entertainment Group – which designed many attractions at theme parks across the country including Universal Studios, Paramount Parks and Las Vegas’s unique Star Trek The Experience just to name a few – created the designs and from what I understood, several investors were on board.

So, what happened?

From what I recall, building a park in Florida where Disney - and now Universal - had a firm hold on the theme park industry in Florida. Yes, Busch Gardens, was already in place, but they must not have been perceived as someone new inching in on their turf and the realization came that Disney and Universal – despite being an hour and a half away from Orlando, their incredibly deep pockets could basically squash the project from getting off the ground, or lure park goers away by spending more and more on new attractions that would make it difficult to keep up with.

So, as with the Oz, Gone With the Wind, Disney’s WESTCOT and America – not to mention a KISS themed park, Charlie Daniels Western World now holds a place in the Top Ten Amazing Theme Parks that Never Materialized.

I hope Nate and his partners are successful in bringing a theme park back to Middle Tennessee, and if they are, I’ll hopefully be there on opening day to bring back some memories of the good ol’ days of Opryland USA, may it rest in peace (or pieces).

What do you think?

Let’s all make the day count!

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God Bless America!

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Charlie Daniels, Jr.