I remember the Smurf ride as being a fun dark ride, and very well done for a non Disney park.
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- Peabody
-Alan
Tinkerbell said:
was it an old pic? they used to walk around PKI before they took out the smurf ride.
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it was an old pic. that's all i needed to know.
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Idle hands were orient to her.
In the early 1980's Hannah-Barbera aquired the US rights to market and produce the enormously popular Belgian characters known as the "Smurfs." The Smurfs originated some 20 years prior from a childrens collectible toy devleoped by an artist/creator named Peyo Culliford. The small figures depicted the characters who were only "three apples high" and their significant personality traits.
When Hannah-Barbera obtained the license and began producing Saturday morning cartoons in 1981 they had an instant hit. Soon toys, comic books, dolls and most significantly more of the original little blue rubber collectible figurines were everywhere.
By 1984, the characters had become so popular throughout the US and Canada, that it seemed only natural for the parks that showcased HB's characters to add them (in some form or another) as new attractions.
KI's Enchanted Theatre recieved a much needed overhaul when the Smurfs came to the park. Kings Dominion's original family dark ride "Professor Backenforth's Journey into the Land of the Dooz" located inside the park's mammoth "Lost World, Fantasy Mountain" was also overhauled and became "Smurf Mountain."
Although KI's Voyage received a complete scenic overhaul (the boat trough, layout and boats remained the same) KD's attraction simply had the former animated Dooz characters removed and the Smurfs took their place in pretty much the same vignettes.
PKI's lasted through the 1991 season while PKD's lasted a few years longer. By this time the Smurfs were no longer a hot commodity and Hannah-Barbera productions had discontinued production of the series. The Smurf's, as cute as they were, were all washed up.
I can sum up the dissapearance and poularity of the Smurf and countless other Saturday Morning TV cartoon series....
Nickelodeon.
The Smurfs were really the last of the immensely popular Saturday Morning cartoon characters. They helped usher out an era when kids would spend half their Saturday glued to the TV. Today, very few Saturday Morning cartoons exist and the ones that do, do not even begin to grasp the audience that the Smurfs did.
It was a quiet ending to an immensely popular addition when they were first added. Just prior to the 1984 seasons, KD and KI promoted the characters arrival at the parks with wonderful billboards that announced "They're coming....." Kid's could hardly wait.
Both parks deliverd on their promise of delivering the Smurfs. Not only in ride additions either. As guests entered the park each day, along side staples Scooby Doo, Fred Flintstone and George Jetson, kids got to meet and greet Smurfette, Brainy and some of their other blue friends.
By having the rights to showcase the HB characters, all KECO parks were able to pull from the lot. Although only KI and KD had actual themed "Smurf" rides added, all of their properties such as Canada's Wonderland and Carowinds added the characters. Carowinds added an area called something like "Smurf Island" or such and Canada's Wonderland added an area called "Smurf Forest" I believe.
So there's a long winded answer to your question....yes, the Smurfs did live at the parks and had meet and greets with the guests. Hence the postcard!
Shaggy
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Shaggy
A.K.A. John K.
I pretty much got the tune down but only a few verses of the song that originally went with the ride. A tune BTW that is hard to get out of your head
These are friends that live in my TV :)
Chuck, who was just a little kid and thought it a big dissapointment to replace it based on only one HB show.
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Charles Nungester
Park Jockey :)
I only remember that it ended with Gargamel somehow getting his feet frozen into a block of ice, and then your boat went over a tiny hill before exiting.
I also remember my friends and I used to scoop pennies from the trough and throw them at the Smurfs, but let's forget about that, shall we? ;)
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You can't spell "dishonorable" without "honorable."
Which one? Smurf's Enchanted Voyage or just Enchanted Voyage?
Neither one had a set story, rather you passed by different vignettes or scenes. The Smurf's Enchanted Voyage took you through Smurfette's humble abode, Brainy's Laboratory, Papa Smurf's Mushroom House etc. Of course Gargamel and Azreal (sp??) were there up to their no-good antics. La-La, La-La-La-La, La-La-La-La-La.
Enchanted Voyage was also a series of vignettes all based on a tune cheerfully written expressly for the ride. As Chuck mentioned prior, the tune was called "The friends that live in my TV" and it took you on a voyage through the diffrent scenes direct from the HB cartoons. You were welcomed to the ride by a large animatronic snail that was just outside the entrance to the show building. Your boat passed right by him as it entered and exited. The outside of the building had a facade of a TV set complete with antenna and dials. One of the focal point scenes was a large circus which your boat rode right through a clown's mouth.
Shaggy
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Shaggy
A.K.A. John K.
Chuck, who would love to have a copy of that song.
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Charles Nungester
Park Jockey :)
How about the story of Phantom Theater? Why don't you go down before you get to the furnace room (assuming it's in the basement)?
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You can't spell "dishonorable" without "honorable."
Den said:
I only remember that it ended with Gargamel somehow getting his feet frozen into a block of ice, and then your boat went over a tiny hill before exiting.
I too remember the ending of the ride.... it was themed to a "boat wash" I think. As you went up over the small hill, one of those "chamois dryer" cloths that used to be in car washes was placed over the exit. I believe it lifted up just enough to allow the boats to pass underneath. I distinctly remember a banner hanging above the exit that read "Have a Smurfy Day!".
PCW's Smurf attraction was a walk-through. From what I remember, the first part of it was the "happy" section with the blue characters singing away, then there was the "evil" section which featured Gargamel in a fun-house setting. I remember it being VERY dark in there and kind of spooky for a kids attraction.
ProgRay (proud fan of the blue Smurf Ice Cream the parks used to serve)
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