Winter/Spring

Hey there Dark Ride and Funhouse Fans...it's time for yet another "Dark Times", so jump in the car and hold on tight!

Great news coming out of Easton, PA and pretty Bushkill Park. Thanks to two caring dark ride enthusiasts, (you know who you are!), one of the props from the now defunct Kennywood Park Le Cachot dark ride has found a new home in Bushkill! Look for the Master of Horror, Bill Tracey's "Hissing Snake" stunt next year in America's oldest operating dark ride.

Word is coming from Blackpool Pleasure Beach in England that there classic walkthrough Haunted Hotel has been removed in favor of another dark attraction. The Hotel will be missed, but we also applaud them for doing yet another dark ride in this fine park.

Great news for West Coast dark ride fans, who have had little to cherish since the great rides of Venice Beach, Pacific Ocean Park, and Whitney's Playland have long vanished. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk will be bringing back a totally new version of the now removed Cave Train dark ride, with, get this: thirty-one of the original characters joined by sixty new ones including dinosaurs and "spitting turtles"! There are a lot of fun items slated to be installed in this ride, which will feature eight to nine scenes and will use black light extensively along with a restored train. And...if that's not enough, the park is planning to add from one to three new dark rides in the future! Bravo!

Going overseas to the U.K. anytime soon? Then do yourself a favor and check out the incredible Fun House at Southport. This beauty still has traditional virtues including: barrels, slides, bucking boards, and roulette wheel which has a long line of riders!

We have had our "ears" to the ground recently, and rumor has it that Kennywood Park, PA, is considering a new Sally Rides dark ride in the future. While we think that this is in fact wonderful news, we still long for and miss the classic Le Chachot dark ride. Enthusiasts still sorely miss it.

More great news coming out of NY State from Sylvan Beach Amusement Park, home to the Very wonderful 1954 traditional Pretzel "Laff-Land". It seems much new work has gone in to several stunts and the rides' cars, featuring the Pretzels on the sides, to insure that it will be rolling for another 45 years! This is one of the three best operating dark rides in this country today!

In the "Lost, then found, then lost, and found again Dept.", it seems that parts of the revered Pacific Ocean Park Magic Carpet have found a nice home in the Detroit area, thanks again to another dedicated dark ride enthusiast. The Magic Carpet was a fairy-tale themed ride with a suspended track, and featured great scenery.

Been hearing about the Point Pleasant Beach Fun House in NJ, and how wonderful it is?, Well silly rabbit, we took a tour this past summer and learned that...Yes, it's True! This fine walkthrough features a mirror maze, circular slide, tilt room and several black lighted stunts and scenes. Look for it at the Northern end of the boardwalk, separate from the other rides.

More good news out of Erieview Park in OH! Much new work has been done on some of the stunts in the nicely preserved Frite Zone dark ride...

And, on the flip side, we have been hearing disturbing things that both the Noah's Ark and Fun House have been closed at times this past year due to problems at Frontierland at Morcombe in the UK. This is only one of three Noah's Arks left operating in the world. We can only hope the best for this traditional park and its future! And finally...........

SAVE THE GOLDEN NUGGET! While we are very happy that the fine Morey family of amusement parks has purchased the now defunct Dinosaur Beach pier in Wildwood, NJ, we also fear that the PTC built and designed, one-of-a-kind combination dark ride and coaster is in danger of being torn down if a new home is not found soon! We encourage you to Nicely write the park and express your concerns as educated dark ride enthusiasts over the fate of this triple tiered wonder! This one cannot go the way of the "Wrecking Ball"!

Laffs From The Past is a new column dedicated to documenting defunct dark rides where little information is available. If you have any information, please drop us a message so we can, in the future, add to the rides history.

First up is the Pretzel dark ride from Eagle Park in Cache, Oklahoma, (formerly from Craterville Amusement Park in Lawton, Oklahoma), which closed in 1984. Sadly, the fate of this classic dark ride with its spinning cars was decided last summer when lightning struck the park, reducing the dark ride and three other buildings to ash. The cars still stand on the track as a silent tribute to the engineering abilities of the one time dark ride great and leader.

That's it for this time! Have dark ride or funhouse news? Then, as always, send it in to share with fellow enthusiasts at The Dark Times. Until next time: "Please Keep Your Arms And Legs Inside The Car At All Times". This edition's credits and scares go out to the following people: Randy Skalos, Rick Davis, Bill Luca, Paul Lewis, Eric Princz, Joel Styer, Jack McDougall, Dennis Atkinson, Kelly and John Petrachkoff, Patrick Goodenow and the fine folks at Sylvan Beach, Dan Wilke, Neal Fennel at Bushkill Park, Ann Parker at Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk, William Frisk, Bret Malone and the Haunted Hero. Thanks to you all!

click here for the previous Dark Times

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This page was last updated Thursday, October 21, 1999