One of my favorite day-trip escapes is Waldameer Park in Erie, Pennsylvania, a small amusement park that is home to some of my favorite rides anywhere. One of those attractions is Pirate's Cove, a walkthrough funhouse that opened in 1972. I did an in-depth post a while back about the Waldameer Pirate's Cove and its sister ride in Ocean City, Maryland, so for now, I'll just leave a video clip of the walkthrough's greatest scene. It speaks for itself.
I visited Waldameer with the Dark Attraction and Funhouse Enthusiasts (DAFE, pronounced like "daffy"), and we got to hear from two people who worked at the park when the dark rides were built.
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Having a picnic with the park owners is a really cool feeling that you don't get at any corporate park.
Waldameer deserves praise for keeping and maintaining two dark rides, something few other parks can claim. Even better, Pirate's Cove and Whacky Shack were built by the greatest dark ride designer of the 60s and 70s, Bill Tracy.
No DAFE event at Walameer is complete without a lights-on, guided walkthrough of the Whacky Shack! Above, you can see club members storming the ride in pursuit of a hidden $1 million. There were two tour groups, and one started from the end of the ride.
After traversing a spinning "vortex tunnel," riders make a U-turn and see some skeletons lit in blacklight attached to the spinning barrel's exterior. The above picture is of that scene. I found it quite humorous to see a bunch of gawking dark ride enthusiasts (the tour group that started from the end of the ride) wedged between the metal scrim and the spinning barrel. I had no idea how they got down to that level!
Later in the tour, we walked through the maintenance area, and I got to take some close-up pictures of my own.
Here are a couple more pictures I got on the tour. The room above has a tilted floor like a "mystery shack," so the cars really speed through it.
It is incredible that all the spooks in Whacky Shack have been preserved practically as-is since 1970!
I love Whacky Shack and Pirate's Cove, but I can't forget about Waldameer's most thrilling ride, the Sky Ride! ...or maybe I'm thinking of the Ravine Flyer II wooden coaster. ;-)
I have posted on the second weekend of each month for a while now, and the second Sunday of July is my birthday, but I'll also be at Disneyland! I probably won't have a post for next month, but I look forward to sharing California trip reports very soon.
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| The Whacky Shack is a classic ride-through |
Halfway through the ride, the cars navigate a gentle dip in view of the midway.
The setting of Ravine Flyer II right on Lake Erie is hard to beat. That breathtaking first drop is only surpassed when you instantly bound over the four-lane highway adjoining the park.
8 comments:
It really shows that these rides have been tended and preserved with loving care. Good for Mr. Nelson; if you're going to be a workaholic, running an amusement park is the right work to have!
Andrew, what a fun and interesting day to experience! I would've loved hearing stories from those original folks who designed and maintained those attractions. I bet there were some great stories shared, and lots of laughs, too.
With the thorough job you do reporting on different parks and rides, I CAN'T WAIT to hear about your upcoming Disneyland trip. And I'm looking forward to your pictures, too. Enjoy(!) and we'll be anxiously waiting for your next post.
Melissa, I can only hope that I'm still that enthusiastic at 90 years old!
Sue, it was a special moment in time that I'll always remember. I don't know if I'll enjoy my Disneyland trip, but thanks for the kind words. ;-)
Andrew, that's great that you were able to be there for this special event. The lights-on walk through reminds me of something Disney did back in the nineties, during a special "Annual Passholders Night" at Disneyland. They let people walk through "Snow White's Scary Adventures" and "Pinocchio's Daring Journey." Unfortunately, they did not allow any photos to be taken.
And speaking of Disneyland.....wow, you will be there in just two short weeks! Like Sue, I will be looking forward to multiple trip reports from you!
TokyoMagic!, a tour of the Fantasyland darkrides sounds amazing. I don't usually think of Disney as doing things like that, so it's cool to know that they did at one time. I can't believe that there are only two weeks until I visit California! My family is still deciding who among us is going to visit Knott's, so I'll get back to you soon about that.
Andrew, I don't think Disney does anything like that anymore....at least not for the public. They might still do it for the employees, but I'm not sure about that. With the dark ride walk-throughs, they had cast members posted every few feet with flashlights, aimed at the ground, warning people about not tripping over the track. They also let people walk on the stage (and backstage) of Country Bear Jamboree. They did allow photos to be taken for that. And they had the lights turned on in Space Mountain, for the event. I also have pics of that. I'll have to post those!
I remember reading about a ticketed event a few years back where guests got to ride Spaceship Earth with the lights on. And various dinners in the Haunted Mansion.
Melissa, I remember hearing about the Haunted Mansion "dinner" events. There was also a ticketed event where people got to eat breakfast in the Serengeti scene of the Jungle Cruise, and then afterwards, got to pilot their own J.C. boat through the entire ride. I think the tickets for that were between $300 and $400. Sorry, that's too rich for my blood!
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