Dark ride dismay...

Eek!!

Y'know, a lot of people have a lot of nasty things to say about Garfield's Nightmare. And...pretty much justifiably so. As darkrides go, it's not very good.

But even at that, it DOES have something of a story, and quite frankly the stuff inside is more finely detailed, some of it is actually animated, and it is all more attractive than what was previously there in the Old Mill. I'm a little surprised that even though Garfield isn't very good, it *honestly* is an improvement over what was there before. Incidentally, the old version was also all fluorescent paint and blacklight, there was just not as much of it...!

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Knoebels Haunted Mansion was my first ever that didn't terrify me beyond belief (I was 12) but only the second one I had been through (the first was SFGAdv Haunted Castle at age 8). Makes me mad I didn't make it to the Magic Kingdom to enjoy Alien Encounter! I've worked with a local company (The Haunt Factory) and I believe the element of surprise is what's most terrifying for the average person. Sometimes you can get it with moving props (Knoebles), but most times it takes the live actors to really cause a stir in the gut. I think liability has caused the good old walk throughs to go by the way side. I enjoy the blacklight stuff and the shoot-em-ups but the old style walk-throughs were the best.

Morte' ... been to New Orleans?

Garfield's Old Mill still smells like grandma's basement.

Yeah, I don't hate Garfield's Nightmare as much as everyone seems to. It's not amazing or groundbreaking or anything, but it's a silly little dark boat ride...and that's fun for what it's worth.

It's not worth much. ;)

I think it's just that it seemed like such a downgrade compared to what it was. Old Mill, then Hard Headed Harold's Horrendously Humorous Haunted Hideaway, then back to the Old Mill, just to go to Garfield's "fluorescent" Nightmare?

It just eliminated some of the charm of the Old Mill if you ask me. I mean, how can anyone "canoodle" and stuff in Garfield's Nightmare? :)

Maybe it's because I thought Old Mill was stupid too? ;)

Well, yeah, it was... unless you were "canoodling" and stuff! ;)

You're just trying to get me to say "canoodling" - and I'm not going to. :)

(canoodling is somewhere between candle and noodle)

Lol. No, I'm trying to get you to canoodle... damn, I gots no game. ;)

Actually, I was throwing the word out there as a homage to the way Charles J. Jacques, Jr. described it in Kennywood Memories. It's a funny word.

Aww. I'm so clueless.

After a day of gallivanting with Carrie, maybe we can do some canoodling?

Ha! There you said it! :)

And if we're going to gallivant, I guess we don't need Garfield's "teeth illuminating" Nightmare, anyway.

I guess I look at it with a preservationist's point of view - I would prefer to see the Old Mill "updated" back to it's former self, even pre Haunted Hideaway days, which was also a conversion. Garfield is a failure in that it altered some of the charming features of the Mill - gone are the long dark passages (Garfield's scenery is so bright it lights up the entire interior of the tunnel), the sections where you could see other boats passing by, and I believe the little interior-facing outdoor areas were covered up too.

Old Mills were designed to be dark boat rides with scenes that would light up to reveal mystic, haunting, or romantic images. I know that doesn't quite cut it with today's crowd, but if I had a park with an original Mill (from what is it, 1902?) I would make sure it stayed as intended for history's sake if nothing else.

Example: Minnesota State Fair also has an original permanent ride, the Ye Olde Mill, which I found in spite of it's "lameness" to be a total gas. The guys there are really proud of their relic, maintain it well, and rake in the cash for 12 days out of the year. They noticed the Ohio State Fair shirts we had on and struck up a conversation with us which led to an invitation to a back-stage tour. I got to see the paddle wheel mechanism and motor, the shop, and got to view the ride's path from inside. They also had many old photographs and articles about the ride through the years. I thanked them whole heartedly- not only for the special treatment but, more importantly, for keeping the tradition of the ride intact.

There's also one at the Kansas State Fair, which was saved from the wrecking ball and given an exterior face lift in 2006. That presevation effort was headed by a Kansas State Representative, who somehow thwarted an attempt by the fair board to have it razed. Thankfully, it also operates as originally intended.

Iowa also still has one, and it was almost totally rebuilt in 1996, but still faithful to the original. I've never been to Rye and wonder how the recently renovated Mill turned out there.

When my nephew acted up at the park, I forced him to ride Garfield's Nightmare as punishment. All through the ride he kept saying, "This ride is lame, Uncle Bubbis".

I was pretty upset with the conversion. Give me cheesy skeletons over any comic strip character anyday.

By the way, alliteration is awesome, Gator! The world needs more alliteration! :)

RCMAC said:

Old Mills were designed to be dark boat rides with scenes that would light up to reveal mystic, haunting, or romantic images. I know that doesn't quite cut it with today's crowd, but if I had a park with an original Mill (from what is it, 1902?) I would make sure it stayed as intended for history's sake if nothing else.

I think you probably captured my thoughts on this better than I did, RCMAC. It's seems strange to me to have maintained the original Old Mill structure and simply updated the theme to modern times. Something about it doesn't "fit" to me.

I just don't get into one of those boats expecting to see what I see in Garfield's 'do you know where those 3D glasses have been?" Nightmare.

Carrie M. said:
Lol. No, I'm trying to get you to canoodle... damn, I gots no game. ;)

Down girl!...and the line to canoodle with Gonch starts behind me :)

Thank God I havent eaten lunch yet..

You're just jealous :)

Down girl, Moosh? Just who exactly do you think you're talking to? :)

And that's right, Ken...just because no one has come along to pat your anniversary logo in a while doesn't mean you have to hate on everyone else! ;)

We'll fight over Gonch in our upcoming car ride (assuming all works out...shhhhhh!)