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Post by hauntfan on Feb 8, 2007 21:54:59 GMT -5
I apologize if this has been posted on this site before but I was just reading an Ocean County Gazette from Oct 20, 06 and it had an article with a link to a documentary about the fire at the Great Adventure Haunted Castle. I checked out part 1 of 6 on Youtube, amazing stuff. That fire and Haunted house has always been shrouded in mystery to me. I've never really been able to find anything about it till now. The fire was a tragic and unneccessary loss of life and it spelled the end for walk through haunted houses in many places. The documentary shows how it was a Mahanna designed and built attraction. Heres the link. Go to this site and then click on Pete's Youtube Channel link. www.popartpete.com/ |
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Post by bodysurfer1967 on Feb 10, 2007 16:20:36 GMT -5
Oh no. Not Pop Art Pete again.
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Post by 1992 on Feb 12, 2007 10:41:18 GMT -5
Watching this now. This looks very interesting but the encoding is beyond aweful.  |
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Post by 1992 on Feb 12, 2007 11:50:41 GMT -5
The inclusion of religious dogma and accusing Great Adventure of being politicaly incorrect was a mistake. I'm sure no one will agree with me (and thats fine, keep it to yourself) but the only thing Great Adventure did that was wrong after the fact was to not rebuild the castle.
After seeing that it makes complete sense to me why Morey's took down their Haunted House. Just one look at the pixilated sign in this cockumentary answers all questions. The "Haunted Castle" sign is in the same exact font as the "Haunted House" sign. I've heard for years the builder of both attractions was the same but it never really registered with me as it does now.
This whole thing is a shame. I'm sure it crippled Fred Mahana's buisness quite a bit. :/ It also looks like most fault of this fire (other then from the delinquent with the lighter) was from the Great Adventure's after market additions like the "phantom fence", "the chained door", and the "strobe room foam". Also not having any security in the attraction was a big mistake. The parks unwillingness to place a proper security system in the ride was what lead them to chaining doors, and placing fences where there shouldn't have been any.
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Post by bodysurfer1967 on Feb 12, 2007 15:53:26 GMT -5
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Post by 1992 on Feb 12, 2007 18:23:31 GMT -5
Thank you surfer! These pictures are great! I've been trying to find more information and _pictures_ of the attraction via google and I'm coming up with nothing of use. If you have any more photos please do share.
The first image you linked there is interesting, it appears as though the castle had not been painted, yet I think it was finished there?
Before today, the only image I saw from this ride was in a local newspaper where a small but very creepy black and white image was shown. It pictured the two grim reaper figures on the sides of the enterance. This image stayed with me. It would be nice to find that one again.
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Post by robert on Feb 12, 2007 20:25:35 GMT -5
That castle looked like crap. Castle Dracula had a much better look to it. How many haunted houses did the Mahanas build? Haunted House at Morey's? Gates of Hell at Casino Pier, Seaside? Hitchcock Manor? I have a feeling with rising real estate values at the shore, and with fraidy cat amusement operators, we will never see attractions like Mahana's ever again. Even Carmen Ricci said in an article that amusements aren't profitable anymore, about the plan to build condos on the amusement pier in Seaside. The condo people will have their way and wipe out the tacky parks because they're rich snobs that want the beach to themselves. For the first time, there will be no summer walkthrough haunt in NJ this year, unless you count Morey's Mummy and Jenkinson's Fun House, Pt. Pleasant Beach. Castle Dracula lasted 1977-2001, then there was Zombie Xtreme in Seaside 2002, and Haunted Manor 2003-2006. Now, nothing. Just ride throughs like Spook House, Keansburg, Stillwalk Manor Seaside, Dante's Morey's, etc. Someone better build a giant haunt at the shore.
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Crippled Visions
Junior Member
"Keep your friends close but your enemies closer."
Posts: 85
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Post by Crippled Visions on Feb 12, 2007 22:15:33 GMT -5
The wikipedia article is clearly written by Pop Art Pete. He is just trying to promote is crap dvd. |
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Post by bodysurfer1967 on Feb 14, 2007 11:13:09 GMT -5
I thought the same thing after reading it myself Crippled. I just dont get his whole conspiracy angle. It was punks with a lighter. Thats it. But it did close down many houses after that and soon after that many more burned down in the off season.
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Post by 1992 on Feb 14, 2007 12:47:45 GMT -5
My best guess is that the other two piers that had Mahana haunted houses (were there more?  ) got scared and took down their haunted houses. What they should have done was left them there and just taken better safty and security measures. I'm extremely pissed that the Morey's haunted house didn't last as I had always wanted to ride it when I was a kid. It was just so beautiful from the outside. It makes me very sad that theres really no other company around to fill the void that Mahana left. I find it quite shocking that the Great Adventure one was just a bunch of storage trailers. Was the one on Morey's pier constructed in a simmilar maner? Both the GA and the Moreys haunts looked like real structures. |
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Post by robert on Feb 15, 2007 2:30:53 GMT -5
There are plenty of haunt companies out there that can custom design a haunt for you. They do them for amusement parks for Halloween celebrations, etc. Halloween Productions is one company, also Hauntrepreneurs by Leonard Pickel, and more. It's really a shame that Pretzel, and Fantasies and Dreams (formerly Bill Tracy's Amusement Displays) both went out of business in 1979. That's why there were so few new traditional style dark rides built in the 1980's. Sally didn't start building them until later. When Dorney's Bucket O' Blood (built by Pretzel and remodeled by Tracy and Jim Melonic) burned in Sept. 1983, there really wasn't any company around to build a new dark ride, so they plopped a Musik Express there for 1984. I guess Bob Ott (former park owner 1967-1984) didn't know what to do so he ordered a Musik Express to fill the void of the dark ride. The Musik Express is still there. About the Mahana's, some of them are still alive, such as Gary Mahana in Toms River. He helped with the Morey's Haunted House. That was a true classic. I remember being frightened just looking at it. We were riding Dante's on Morey's, around 1981-1983 and I saw the front of the Haunted House and it creeped me out. But, I almost wanted to go in it but we left Morey's Pier for some reason. Same thing happened with Castle Frankenstein on Fun Pier, I saw the front at night, but didn't go in it. I just hope the Haunted Manor from Seaside finds a new home and operates in the summer again. That looked to be the closest to a classic 70's style pier haunt. I wish more would be built like that.
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) got scared and took down their haunted houses. What they should have done was left them there and just taken better safty and security measures.