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Post by pineapple on Jun 22, 2006 17:33:12 GMT -5
Hey guys, just found this forum in anticipation of my trip to Wildwood in a few weeks! As a kid, my family would always go down to Wildwood for a company picnic at Mariner's landing. Eventually the company started having it somewhere else (no clue why they would ever do that?!?!?) and we slowly stopped going.
I went back last year and found that a lot of things had changed, but specifically the dark rides were all different. I remember being really freaked out by the artwork on "Dark River" and was sad that I now that I'm old enought to appreciate it and not be freaked out, it's redone pirate style.
So, does anyone have any photos of Dark River before they renovated it? I looked in that huge thread of 200 photos, but couldn't find anything. I did get to check out Dante's Inferno, which was pretty much how I remembered it (awesome art as well), but Dark River is the one that really stands out.
Thanks for you help guys!
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Post by Robert on Jun 22, 2006 20:54:11 GMT -5
Here www.halloweenproductions.com/recent_projects-pirates-before.php Old Dark River. I have photos I took of the front in the day, and at night in my personal collection. I liked this ride, although the Dungeon under Castle Dracula was darker and creepier. I'm not sure if I like the renovation, there's already other pirate themed rides like Den of Lost Thieves and others, I liked it when it had the horror theme. But, all the scenes on the website look pretty neat. Hey, I could use those images in Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, and build my own dark ride, there are different sized billboards and panels in the game you can apply picture images to such as jpgs and bmps. Here is some stuff on Dante's www.halloweenproductions.com/gallery/dantes_inferno_old/index.php and www.halloweenproductions.com/gallery/dantes_inferno_new/index.php and here's a video of both www.halloweenproductions.com/downloads.php Oh, and some of those employees at Morey's were jerks. Some wouldn't let me film with my video camera, such as the guy at Dark River , I had already taped it and when I came out he said I can't film. Also the guy at the funhouse maze at Fun Pier. I had no problem filming the small dark ride on Fun, or Dante's, or Golden Nugget. I was afraid to film inside Castle Dracula in case someone saw me and kicked me out. Oh well, I built my own virtual Castle Dracula in that roller coaster game. I can ride the boat ride in 3D.
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Post by CondorAlex on Jun 22, 2006 21:31:25 GMT -5
Speaking of Halloween productions, I watched this video on their site and found it hillarious. www.halloweenproductions.com/video2006/Dantes.wmv It talks about how Dante's Inferno was in dire need of renovation, when it had just been renovated the year before and was not fully fleshed out yet, as all the former props have been trashed except a few and older props from the former Haunted House were put in use. I'm sure if they were to look at it in 2003, right before it got gutted and rebuilt, they wouldn't have said it needed some "work." If I were apart of the Morey family, I would want that video removed.
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Post by wildre on Jun 22, 2006 21:32:28 GMT -5
Welcome pineapple! I'll leave the dark ride info for more informed posters.
re
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Post by pineapple on Jun 22, 2006 22:50:48 GMT -5
Yeah I can't beleive how toned down it is now. It's so weird how things come full circle... for instance... There was a time when a ride depicting such graphic artwork (naked chicks, people burning at the amusement of demons, etc..) would never be allowed to be built, but slowly, times change. Nowadays, things seem to be reversing. We've seen this ride progress from a vivid depiction of Hell, to the addition of clothes, to a nice, subdued graveyard scene. Just find it interesting. BTW, I'm a little unclear on the dates of the revisions, and how many revisions it underwent. Was there different art before the stuff HalloweenProductions changed?
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Post by Crippled_Visions on Jun 22, 2006 22:52:49 GMT -5
I never thought Dark River would become a missed ride. I always thought of it as a piece of crap. I wonder if someday people will talk about how they miss all the condos.
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Post by pineapple on Jun 22, 2006 23:00:54 GMT -5
I never thought Dark River would become a missed ride. I always thought of it as a piece of crap. I wonder if someday people will talk about how they miss all the condos. Yeah... you're right! Now that you linked me to that pic of the original Dante's.. i'm pretty sure that's the artwork I remember from my youth! Thanks man!
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Post by DjDoornob on Jun 23, 2006 9:09:49 GMT -5
Yeah Dark River is a relitivily new ride. I mean, i don't know how old you are, but if you are old enough to remember the naked chicks on Dantes, then by the time Dark River was added you were probably at least a teenager already. Somewhere in the mid to late 90's I think- and always looked the same until the Pirates revison. Not much artwork.
Hey, what happened to Casa Macabre/ Jersey Junkyard... is that aweful ride still there?
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Post by Robert on Jun 23, 2006 20:52:14 GMT -5
I believe the Casa/Junkyard is still there. Morey needs to get a new dark ride. I still miss the Whacky Shack. Out of all the dark rides past and present I think Castle Dracula was the best, followed by Dante's and the Golden Nugget and the others such as Whacky Shack. I think the Shack had the best front out of all the dark rides. It's a shame it wasn't saved, or the Morey's didn't make any attempt to save it. It was built by the late, great Bill Tracy, who built other Whacky Shacks and similar rides that still survive, but the Hunt's version was apparently custom built as I haven't found any others exactly like it. Dark River was ok, hey, at least it was a dark ride and not the latest thrill ride.
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Post by Crippled_Visions on Jun 23, 2006 23:38:33 GMT -5
I believe the Casa/Junkyard is still there. Morey needs to get a new dark ride. I still miss the Whacky Shack. Out of all the dark rides past and present I think Castle Dracula was the best, followed by Dante's and the Golden Nugget and the others such as Whacky Shack. I think the Shack had the best front out of all the dark rides. It's a shame it wasn't saved, or the Morey's didn't make any attempt to save it. It was built by the late, great Bill Tracy, who built other Whacky Shacks and similar rides that still survive, but the Hunt's version was apparently custom built as I haven't found any others exactly like it. Dark River was ok, hey, at least it was a dark ride and not the latest thrill ride. I'm not sure if this is true, but I've actually heard from reliable sources that Ted Snyder has most of the Wacky Shack stored away in one of his warehouses.
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Post by MMM on Jun 23, 2006 23:42:05 GMT -5
Thanks Crippled. So I guess that means we'll still never see it intact again, considering the owner?
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Post by Crippled_Visions on Jun 23, 2006 23:48:56 GMT -5
Thanks Crippled. So I guess that means we'll still never see it intact again, considering the owner? No one lives forever. Who knows what will happen after Ted kicks.
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Post by pineapple on Jun 24, 2006 8:20:42 GMT -5
So I know this tread is kinda off my original topic, thanks for all the info though! But does anyone remember the name of the fun houses that were on "Morey's/Mariner's" in the late 80's to early 90's? I can't remember anything about them other than they involved lots of polished up wood, moving planks, a slide at the end where I was always afraid of getting splinters, and the fact that I LOVED THEM!
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mike
Full Member
Posts: 170
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Post by mike on Jun 24, 2006 9:32:10 GMT -5
Robert
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Post by Robert on Jun 24, 2006 11:29:12 GMT -5
Ah, yes, the funhouses. I was in them. Morey's removed them several years ago because of what else, liability. I'm afraid we will never see fun houses like that again, or a new Pirate Ship because the insurance would be so high. They had to station several employees inside them. As well as the Hunt's Pirate Ship, they had several employees inside, too. About the Whacky Shack, is that true, that Ted has it in storage? Anthony told me a while back that Eric Princz who makes dark ride props bought the Shack but he couldn't move it and sold it back and they scrapped it on the spot and pushed it into a dumpster. This was just before the pier became Dinosaur Beach, the Catanoso's who ran Dino Beach actually bought the pier the year before and the Shack was still there but closed, it was known as Hunt's Horror then. I mean it would be good news if the Shack was actually stored in Ted's warehouses instead of in a landfill, but I wouldn't get my hopes up. My one wish would have been for the Shack and Dr. Blood's to be restored to their former glory for the public to enjoy, but that will never happen. You might as well enjoy Morey's crappy dark rides while you can before Morey's goes out of business, too and the entire place turns into one big private condo beach club type of community and the only ones that will be able to afford to stay there will be doctors and lawyers.
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