Lost Dark Rides

My vote also goes to bringing back

the pirate ride and earthquake from cedarpoint.

Also, lets not forget that we are about to lose yet another dark ride at the myrtle beech.

I'll throw my vote to Le Cachot. I'll never forget the knights jousting on choppers on the fascade.

Erieview's was even better when it was at West View,was two stories then.

Hopefully it will be saved.

There was something about those cheesy Bill Tracy stunts that made them so good.

Have another one...Boot Hill at West View.

*** Edited 8/10/2006 10:02:50 PM UTC by Ex_Westview and KW_worker***

I remember Boot Hill. Actually it was a Western themed walkthrough. Some of the scenes and stunts:

The jail maze

The woman being strangled by the bandit

The saloon scene with the pianist

The Chinese man at the pump with water coming out of his ears

The Injun popping up in an ambush

The victim being run through a sawmill

The mine tunnel -- a mirror made it seem longer than it was

The upside-down room -- furniture hanging down from the ceiling

The man disappearing down a toilet -- only the hands were visible

Ahh...memories :)

Tilted room too.

I should have made this topic to include walk throughs too.

Remember the Whale that used to be the entrance to Kennywoods Noah's Ark. I miss that. Wouldn't that be a great feature for a new walkthrough somewhere?

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Rob Ascough said:
Is this different from the current Scooby Doo darkride?

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Yes. The original ride was The Happy Land of Hanna Barbara. It was switched in 1983 or 84 to The Smurf's Enchanted Voyage (or something close to that). In the early 1990s, they retrofitted the building to Phantom Theater - taking out the water, moving the entrance to the other side and adding a small kid coaster to the loading platform. The coaster was Taxi Jam - now I am not sure of the new name.

Phantom was gutted and turned into the current Scooby ride. Sadly, it appears that only Scooby is left from the HB days.

I cast another vote for Knott's Berry Tales... I STILL get the song from that ride stuck in my head every now and again... and I am eternally peeved that I did not get to share that ride with my wife. :(

LeCachot and some other lost clasics was featured on a show on discovery channel a while back.Show was a hour long and was only shown 1 year.I taped it on vhs so I hope to burn it to dvd soon. Also Earthquake at Cedar Point and Tornado wich was at Kennywod and then Great Escape was originally at Freedomland in NY. This park was filled with dark rides.

I have only been on a few dark rides at amusement parks. I somewhat remember the pirate ride at Cedar Point. I did think it was that great. A good ride for kids, but, it was actually kind of boring.

Indiana Beach probably has the best walk through haunted house I have ever been in. Dracula's Castle is the coolest haunted house I have ever been in. Some of it is kinda cheesey but, there are some unexpected moments. There is a room full of doors, and the first time I went in I must have picked the wrong door, because the door just lead me back into the same room again...cool! And, there is one hallway that is so dark, you can't see anything...add the sound of rats, and the illusion of things jumping on your feet....Freaky!!

Indiana beach used to have a decent ride though haunted house as well. It has been transformed into the den of lost theives.

So, if parks really want to bring back dark rides. They could use Indiana beach as their starting block. More rides like Draculas Castle would be well traveled!

I just thought of a few more examples of lost dark rides. I don't know how many of you are familiar with Michigan. But, there is a place called the wooden shoe factory...in Holland.

When I was a kid, there were several little dark houses adjacent to the shoe factory. There was one house that had a Dragon in it, and if you looked in the dragons eyes, they followed you when you moved...Back and forth up and down.

There was a building that held a dark maze, that I never went in because I was allways too scared. There was another house where all the furniture was on the ceiling. But, the family favorite was the sideways house!

You walked in the front door, turned to the right, and then went up a flight of stairs into a large open room. Only the room was tilted to a 45 degree angle. And, I think the floor was waxed...causing you to fall to the other side of the room. Then you had to try to climb up to the other side of the room, so you could get to the way out! very tricky!

Once past the room, there was a metal bump slide that dumped you into a pile of dirt. My brothers and sisters and I would go through that building over and over until we were too tired to do it again...but what fun that little place was!

It has been years since that place was demolished. They built a crappy hotel on the site. the hotel is still there today, and shoe factory...But, I haven't been there in years. And it is only a half hour drive. I'd bet I'd be there tomorrow if they still had the sideways House....ah memories!

Another good one was the Funhouse at Cedar Point.

Really cool memories for a few of those mentioned. One of the latest (Shoe Factory) was a curious point for me. We used to visit Holland fairly often and once we stopped next to that place.

I remember it was laid out kinda like a mini golf course. I checked each building, but they were locked up. I think there was even a Gravity House. This brings me to one of my faint memories...

DOGPATCH USA's Gravity House. I remeber this walk thru had a few unusual effects like a bounce walk with air blowing up so you'd feel like you were floating. There were a few other gimmicks in there as well.

Another of my (least) favorite rides was old Playland Park in Willow Springs, IL (sub. Chicago). They had "Dee Crazee House", a classic pretzel ride. The (least) remark is cause I rarely rode with my eyes open, but I remember the stunts. Loud clangs and bangs while running over Coke bottles, which an operator set on/near the track path. One of the few stunts I CLEARLY remember was moving toward a wall with a black hole in the center. As you neared, an alligator emerged with its mouth open and it snaps shut as you make a wild turn away! The banging double doors also freaked me out! Anyone else remember?

Ken

Ghost Ship, Le Cachot, Safari, and Tornado at Kennywood.

Funhouse and Pit of Death (Dracula's Cave) at Conneaut Lake Park.

Horizons, World of Motion, and the original Journey Into Imagination at Epcot.

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, If You Had Wings, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea at Magic Kingdom.

The old style funhouse at Geauga Lake, including the Human Roulette Wheel.

Pirate Ride, Earthquake, and Funhouse at Cedar Point

Phantom Theatre at Kings Island.

Adventure Through Innerspace at Disneyland.

Baron Funfrights at Daytona Beach.

Sooo many memories....(sigh)

Rob Ascough said:
Anything from Hunt's Pier in Wildwood. Keystone Kops, Jungleland, Wacky Shack, Pirate Ship SKUA and Golden Nugget all had darkride aspects. Heck, even the train had a haunted tunnel under the Flyer!

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This... along with Castle Dracula and the dungeon boat ride on Nickels Pier and Brigantine Castle (quite possibly the best walk through ever) look it up on Youtube

Surprised no one has mentioned "Land of the Dooz" and "The Haunted River" which once occupied the mountain that is now "Volcano" at Kings Dominion. Land of the Dooz was a train ride through the magical land of creatures (The Dooz) who controlled the seasons, or the weather, or something. It was gravity powered after climbing up a LOUD chain lift (An Arrow-built ride system, if I remember right). It was changed to "Smurf Mountain" in the 80's. Haunted River was a flume ride that loaded where Volcano does now (but exited the opposite way), and passed by scenes stolen from Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion before a decent lift and splashdown. It first opened as "Journey to Atlantis" which I rode when i was 4 and still have nightmares about.

I rode Smurf Mountain (dont' remember a lot about it) and Haunted River. I remember the gigantic spider and the splash down. But what I really miss there is Time Shaft and the Byern Curve.

Could someone describe the earthquake ride at CP? And when was it removed? Just curious because they had an Earthquake ride at Fisherman's Wharf in SF back in the early 80's.

No no, that wasn't a ride you remember, that was an actual earthquake when you were at the Wharf ;).

Just one, really: NIGHTS IN WHITE SATIN from the now-defunct Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach, SC. Great ride. Probably better if you are stoned.