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Post by robertk on Jul 18, 2006 12:29:08 GMT -5
Yes, we finally did it. After several years of failed attempts, we finally made it to the falls. What happened is we originally went up to the Thousand Islands area first, at the border last Monday night the guy checked our ID at the drive up booth, then he made us go into the interview room and a young girl Canada officer asked us more questions. We made it in. We stayed at various hotels in the area, then after a few days we moved down to Toronto and stayed at a hotel by the water and took the boat over to the island and walked through the amusement park and did the Haunted Barrel Works dark ride, yes it was built in 1970, so it was classic 70's horror and had some Bill Tracy like stunts such as a mine shaft and a naked lady skeketon and a guillotine. Then, we went to Niagara and stayed overnight at a cheap hotel by the edge of the amusement area. We did all of the haunted houses on the article on this site except the one on the NY side. We got video of the insides some of them. Complete from start to finish. And took lots of digital still shots, too of the outsides and of the entrances. My mom let me and my brother go off by ourselves Sat. night for a few hours to the amusements. We drove by the falls, the traffic was insane. Overall, it was a great trip. They don't make haunted rides like that anymore. And, both the Castle Dracula and the Haunted House played Bach Toccata and Fugue in D minor inside. You know, what used to play outside WW Castle Drac. At the falls, the Frankenstein is 40 years old and the Castle Dracula dates back to the 70's not sure when. The Haunted House opened in 1981. Nightmares was in business over 20-25 years. I might put my videos on YouTube and post links to them and post some of my photos sometime. When we crossed the bridge to return home, the only word the US officer at the other end in the booth said was "Citizenships". and my mom handed him ID and he let us back into the states. I am the same as robert my last name begins with k, my other username wasn't working, it would error like I needed to sign in again.
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Post by clnancy50 on Jul 18, 2006 17:29:31 GMT -5
Alright, that sounds pretty believable; thought someone was pulling a fast one on us. Did your mom just have to show her driver's license? What about everyone else? Does thiis Caste Dracula resemble the one that "used" to be in Wildwood?
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Post by robertk on Jul 18, 2006 18:13:20 GMT -5
The only similarities are the name, and that it looks like a castle on the outside. The lighted sign on top says Castle Dracula (Dracula in red blood), and the sign by the entrance and on the floor says Dracula's Haunted Castle. Othwerwise, it's like dark hallways with scenes behind bars and live actors hissing at you. There are some references to Dracula inside, and you go up and down stairs, all the attractions except Screamers have stairs. The Frankenstein and Haunted House are similar, dark hallways, scenes behind bars. The others like Screamers and Nightmares are pitch black hallways with red lights you follow and live actors touch you.
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Post by clnancy50 on Jul 18, 2006 18:25:53 GMT -5
It's 1:30pm here now. Hope to hear all about your trip soon.
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Post by hauntfan on Jul 18, 2006 22:04:33 GMT -5
I hope this is really Robert but I am skeptical. Eventually we will hear from the real Robert if this wasn't him but I hope it was. If it really is you, REAL ROBERT, I am happy for you that you FINALLY got to go. Have you been to Virginia Beach and Myrtle Beach? Those are the next two best tourist towns with haunted walk throughs that I can think of.
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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 Jul 18, 2006 23:45:20 GMT -5
It seems to be Robert. I can't imagine anyone else ranting on about the falls in that manner.
I'm glad you finally made it to the falls Robert. I bet the border police questioned you because they thought you and your brother were Arabs.
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Post by robertk on Jul 19, 2006 10:41:16 GMT -5
Yes, it is me. I created a new one because my old one wasn't signing in for some reason. Maybe it was a temporary error. I had fun even though I only had a few hours by myself with my brother at the amusement area with the haunted attractions. I took lots of photos and video. The video got kind of dark inside the three main haunts on Clifton Hill, Frankenstein, Castle Dracula, Haunted House. The Ghost Blasters dark ride in the arcade on the opposite side got ok. I didn't video inside the scarier ones like Nightmares and Screamers because it would have been pitch black anyway.
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Post by clnancy50 on Jul 20, 2006 1:36:29 GMT -5
So robert, you kind of had to start all over again with a new account? Which castle was better, Wildwood's or the one in Canada? Are you going to show us some pictures? You DID say you took lots of photos, right?
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Post by robertk on Jul 20, 2006 14:35:10 GMT -5
My honest opinion, the haunted houses/castles at the falls were great, especially the Frankenstein one and the Castle Dracula. There's a very spooky tall room at the beginning of the House of Frankenstein where you go up two flights of stairs, the House of Frankenstein in Lake George, NY is similar but this one seems darker and scarier. Castle Dracula basically has dark hallways and scenes behind bars and stairs up and down, no large rooms like the WW Castle Drac had. It's more like the second half of WW Castle Drac was, with the scenes behind bars, live actors hiding out in corners, behind walls or curtains, dark hallways, stairs up and down and some glow in the dark paint. The Haunted House, the other attraction was more lit inside with no actors and hallways and scenes. Nightmares and Screamers 1 and 2 were pitch black inside with red lights and some scenes and live actors. One thing is that you can get really hurt in these. Since you can't see where you're going and the floor most of the time, you can trip on something or a step. I almost tripped a few times. Places like these would be lawsuits waiting to happen, especially down here in the states, NJ/NY/PA area.
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Post by clnancy50 on Jul 22, 2006 3:22:13 GMT -5
You're probably right about the law suits BUT when they're dark and you don't know what's there or what's going to happen, THAT'S what makes it scarey, right? I know that's what makes ME scared! One Halloween I went to a "haunted" house with friends and some areas were SO dark, you had to feel your way. Then there were people grabbing at your legs; but the worse part of it was when we were feeling our way around, the place was dimly lit, we came to a complete dead end! I almost had a panic attack!!
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Post by clnancy50 on Jul 26, 2006 1:50:44 GMT -5
What's with all the little "high-lights"? Pretty clever. Anyway, bought this really neat book on Amusement Parks of Pennsylvania. They have a web-site in there for Dark Ride and Fun House Enthusiasts: www.dafe.org and www.laffinthedark.com. Haven't gone on them yet, but I just thought I'd mention it. Also, they have an article in there about The Haunted Mansion at Knoebels. I'm sure anyone probably already knows this but it says the Haunted Mansion ride was designed and constructed by the park staff, using parts obtained from amusement parks that were going out of business. It was constructed after the flood of 1972. |
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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 Jul 26, 2006 15:36:12 GMT -5
What's with all the little "high-lights"? Pretty clever. Anyway, bought this really neat book on Amusement Parks of Pennsylvania. They have a web-site in there for Dark Ride and Fun House Enthusiasts: www.dafe.org and www.laffinthedark.com. Haven't gone on them yet, but I just thought I'd mention it. Also, they have an article in there about The Haunted Mansion at Knoebels. I'm sure anyone probably already knows this but it says the Haunted Mansion ride was designed and constructed by the park staff, using parts obtained from amusement parks that were going out of business. It was constructed after the flood of 1972. Is that the book by Jim Furtell? There is also a book on JJ amusment parks that is good by the same guy. |
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Post by clnancy50 on Jul 27, 2006 20:08:44 GMT -5
Yes, Jim Futrell is the author of Amusement Parks of Pennsylvania. I think there's one on New Jersey, too. Has a great picture in this one of an ariel few of Dorney Park, with the Clown's Head and when you could drive through the park. The picture was from the 70's. I might get the one on New Jersey, too.
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Post by clnancy50 on Aug 2, 2006 2:05:35 GMT -5
Hey, robert, where are all your pictures of the falls and the haunted rides?
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Post by robert on Aug 31, 2006 12:54:34 GMT -5
They're on my hard drive. I have so many shots from different angles. I also have video on tape of some of them including the insides from start to finish. I have a combo video digital camera. It takes digital snapshots on memory card and video on small tapes.
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