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Post by robert on Aug 24, 2006 19:26:57 GMT -5
I have some sickening news. The owner of Funtown Pier wants to get rid of the rides and build condos at $1 million-$2 million each for the affluent North Jersey and New York people. My concern is what will happen to the Haunted Manor if this happens. See, it's a tax problem. By building expensive condos peoples taxes will be lowered. Also the insurance is high to run an amusement park which is probably why the owner wants out. Carmen Ricci was mentioned on the site that I saw. He said that amusements aren't profitable anymore. He never rebuilt his pier or castle because the town didn't want him and his pier. It might not happen for a couple years, the condos if it happens. So we still have next year at least to visit the Haunted Manor at Seaside.
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Post by hauntfan on Aug 24, 2006 20:44:12 GMT -5
Robert, this is truely sickening news. The loss of major amusements has been non stop. Just as you reported this year will end both Myrtle Beach Pavillion and Atlantic City's Steel Pier amusements. Niagara Falls has lost at least two haunts and possibly a wax museum. Now Funtown Pier, with the last great walk through haunted house in New Jersey. This isn't right. I hope that they don't get rid of the Carousel Arcade with the 80's Flashbacks arcade which I consider to be the most fun, best arcade anywhere now, but they probably will get rid of it. I am telling you, Morey's Pier's will be next. We are witnessing the ending of the amusement pier era in New Jersey, and seeing the begining of the condo pier era.
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Post by robert on Aug 24, 2006 21:50:11 GMT -5
And don't forget this www.dafe.org/ a small park on Lake Erie in Ohio is closing, which is home to the Fright Zone dark ride built by Bill Tracy in 1963. It's kind of like a Whacky Shack. I hope it's saved. I was just at Niagara Falls and I didn't see any haunted houses closed, they were all open, but they did convert an Alien Encounter attraction into a motorcycle museum last year and one haunted house Horror Manor a block away closed, but otherwise everything was ok. I hope that none of those haunted houses close for the next 20 years! I want to go back sometime! The names are familiar, Frankenstein, Castle Dracula, Haunted House, etc. plus Nightmares (very dark and scary) and Screamers I & II (also very dark and scary). And a Ghost Blasters dark ride. We had no trouble getting across the border going back into the US, the officer practically waved us through after glancing at our photo ID's/licenses. He didn't ask to see our birth cert. but going into Canada at another location they did, and they gave us a harder time because they asked us all kinds of questions like why do you want to come to Canada and where are you staying, etc. We had to go into the building and get interviewed after the officer at the booth checked us. In two years you will need a passport or new border crossing ID card to enter or reenter the US. All these park closings simultaneously are sickening. Especially when most of the parks closing have dark rides, that places the dark rides in danger when the parks close. |
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Post by clnancy50 on Aug 26, 2006 1:49:08 GMT -5
robert, Come on, does all this really surprise you?? Look at Dorney Park or other places; where do the kids normally run to anymore? Is it dark rides or the newest roller-coasters or whatever else? I don't like it either because as I said before, we are from a different era. Kids today want more excitement, more thrills. I guess that's why Dorney keeps expanding and building newer things and getting rid of the old. It's what the younger people want today. "We" remember and loved the older amusements, but we're talking: change, change, change here. And the older you get the more you'll see change; condos, apartments, parking lots, malls, Wallmarts. So much is standing where I held great memories as a kid and it does make me sick, too. How are the younger kids going to react when they get older? Is there going to be MORE change? There will probably be newer and better things for the future, (how, I don't know), and they'll look back, too. It's the circle of life, I guess. Eventually, maybe these condo and mall builders will run out of land? Naw, they'll just tear something else down and make something better.
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Post by robert on Aug 26, 2006 14:12:27 GMT -5
Yeah but you should see all the kids line up for the haunted houses at Dorney Park, the lines get really long sometimes. So it is true if you build it they will come. It's just that the old rides were past their prime and not really marketable to the newer younger generations. The giant coasters get all the press. Knoebel's Haunted Mansion is still going, and it was built a year before my birth in 1973. Ocean City's Haunted House and Pirate's Cove built by Bill Tracy were built in 1962 and are still going. Rehoboth's Haunted Mansion was built in 1978 and still going. I think these parks are pretty safe, as the owners are committed to their parks and dark rides. also Rye Playland and Long Island's Adventureland with dark rides are pretty safe for now.
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Post by clnancy50 on Aug 27, 2006 1:05:59 GMT -5
Don't you think these owners are really concerned about high safety measures, too? That wasn't a concern years ago but today, people will sue over anything; even if you accidentally slipped in one of those darkrides. And that goes for any rides. I can't even imagine what kind of insurance they pay in these days and times. Did you read the part in the site you sent me about when Journey to the Center of the Earth got stuck going up the hill and he had to use a crowbar to get it going?? Then another guy "accidentally" turned on the ride? With all these thousands of kids riding these rides, if I were an owner, I'd probably get butterflies all day long, hoping nothing happens. Now a days, it's very unlikely, but things still happen. Are these dark rides today as dark and "scarey" as they were years ago? Must they keep them better lit? In my one book on PA's amusement parks, alot of things folded up because PA passed stricter laws on amusements and alot wouldn't pass the test. I'm sure, too, that laws varey from state to state. You were in Canada; do you think they're more leniant with their ride inspections or anything? Looking around, do you think there are as many darkrides as there were, maybe 10-20 years ago? I think the more publicity and the scarier the thrill; that's what kids are looking for; whether it's a darkride or some other thrilling ride.
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Post by Hollowgraves on Sept 7, 2006 2:29:33 GMT -5
Responded to this in another topic but let me address it here too. Funtown Pier is NOT closing and is NOT becoming condos. It was mentioned as an idea but Funtown and the Haunted Manor will be remaining for 2007 and beyond.
Even if the pier HAD decided to close, Hollowgraves Haunted Manor would just move on to the next location, wherever that may be. The Haunted Manor is not owned by Funtown. We are a separate entity that rents space from the pier. So have no fear about us disappearing.
JOHN
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Post by robert on Sept 7, 2006 20:47:55 GMT -5
You better not disappear, Hollowgraves. You're practically the only walk-through haunt left on the NJ shore. The only other walk-through haunts in the east are at Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, Lake George, NY, Salem, Mass. Virginia Beach, Myrtle Beach, and Gatlinburg, TN. There are no permanent ones in Pennsylvania (my home state) as far as I know or in Maryland like Ocean City, they had one on the pier, a three story walk-through called MORDID Manor but it burned down several years ago. Funny thing is now the pier replaced their dark ride that replaced the Manor with a new one called Morbid Manor. So, in the summer, Haunted Manor would be the closest one to me (80 miles away). Lake George, NY is 280 miles from me and Niagara Falls 300+ miles. Virginia Beach is 300 miles from me, and Myrtle Beach 600 miles. Those are quite long drives. So, I hope someone builds some closer to home. I heard the Fun House at Point Pleasant Beach is a great attraction. There's a website about it. I know NJ Transit train goes to Point Pleasant but is there any public transportation, bus, etc. from Point Pleasant to Seaside Heights?
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Post by hauntfan on Sept 7, 2006 21:08:34 GMT -5
WHEW!!!!! That is a relief to hear. Funtown Pier and Haunted Manor are basically the last of their kind. They are so classic together. There is nothing like a high quality haunted walk through on a amusement pier on the ocean, there is just no other experience quite like that. Plus that area has the awesome Sawmill restaurant and Flashbacks 80s arcade, inside the even larger and classic Carousel Arcade. It would be a huge blow to people everywhere who love amusements to lose Funtown. So glad to hear you are staying and hopefully I will be there for Halloween!
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Post by Hollowgraves on Sept 8, 2006 2:03:53 GMT -5
Robert, as far as I know, there are no buses from Pt. Pleasant to Seaside but I could be wrong. Not sure if it's any help but during the summer, there are a few buses that run from the Dover Township Park & Ride into town. I live in Bergen County, right outiside of Manhattan, for the duration of the year. During the summer, when I need to go home or back to Seaside, I get a bus out of the Port Authority and after stopping the Dover Township Park & Ride, it brings me right into town.
Hauntfan, thanks for the kind words and I hope you can make it out to see us for Halloween.
An interesting fact concerning the Carousel building and this whole condo situation. While the Haunted Manor is located in Seaside Heights, Funtown's actual location is Seaside Park. The border between the towns goes right through it. The Carousel building and the space behind it, our location, is not actually truly part of Funtown. Funtown just leases the space and then rents it to us. Therefore, if the condo thing HAD actually happened, it probably wouldn't have had any effect on the Carousel building unless they decided to take part. We still probably would have had to leave but who knows WHAT would have happened?
JOHN
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Post by Hollowgraves on Nov 29, 2006 5:16:27 GMT -5
Just want to correct a statement I made earlier in this thread, for those who did not read my recent announcement. While Funtown Pier WILL remain open for 2007 and beyond, Hollowgraves Haunted Manor will no longer be located there.
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