Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (SCBB) Discussion Thread

[wumwip]

^^ At least, postponed. Although I don't have anymore information about it.

 

About the ride testing, I'll do my best to snap some pictures and take some videos of the ride cars moving through the station tomorrow, and possibly a video ride-through!

 

 

Some more info:

 

After the riders are seated, the car proceeds from the loading area to the double doors. As the car moves forward, it spins 180 degrees, pushes through the doors, and heads at a relatively steep angle down the spiral hill with the riders still facing backwards. Almost the entire ride takes place underground. Towards the end of the ride, the car heads up two hills (equipped with anti-rollbacks) that lead to the unloading area.

 

Ooooohhh!!! Sounds exciting!!!! Can't wait!!!! Thanks for that info!!! I'm uber excited now!!!

*crosses fingers* please be open on friday... please please please....

[coaster-crazy]

^I'm excited too!!! For those history buffs, this is the 7th darkride attraction in this spot. The first darkride in this spot was Dante's Inferno which opened in 1932 - the Walk's first darkride. In 1934, this ride was replaced by Laff-Land, or the Laff-in-the-Dark ride. It was then followed by Treasure Island, Pirate's Cove, the Haunted House, the old Haunted Castle (1973-2009), and now the NEW Haunted Castle.

 

Laffland (Laff-in-the-Dark) 1934-?

 

NEW HAUNTED CASTLE OPENING THIS FRIDAY! ..(hopefully!)

 

~Nicholas

[wumwip]

^

Very cool info! Thanks for that. I wonder what those other attractions were like... especially "Laff-in-the-Dark" or "Laff Land". I wouldn't have ridden it if I were around back then because it would've probably had clowns in there and I am terrified of clowns... Hopefully there will be no clowns/jokers/royal jesters in the new Haunted Castle... it's enough the ride will have spiders.... (I hate spiders...!)

I hope to plant my tush on one of those wonderful spinning cars on friday indeed... I'll probably be screaming like a little girl when the car spirals steeply down backwards.... uh.... forget I said that...

Oh, and on the terrifying clown note, does anyone remember the 3D Funhouse attraction they used to have at the Boardwalk? I never went inside, and was wondering if anyone ever did... they ended up making it the Fright Walk attraction (which is very cool and scary...!)

[sfmman2000]

^ I did have a few chances to walk through the old 3D funhouse.

 

Here is what it looked like from the front (not my picture):

 

Inside, there were many startling pops and bangs, as well as clowns that would pop out from walls. In fact, sometimes they would even have a live actor in the maze scaring people. The soundtrack inside consisted of this looped over and over: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hettbehUb0Y

 

/off-topic

 

Amazing how one area (Haunted Castle) has so much history. Hopefully the new Haunted Castle will be the best dark ride the Boardwalk has ever had.

[wumwip]

OMG!! Where did you find that picture?! Wow, what memories I had seeing that...Thanks for posting that... Sounds like a place where I would've had a heart attack... O_O I do remember the music... another Danny Elfman special played in the park.

 

Anyway, on-topic:

I'm wondering what the new music for the NHC will be like... I remember the old ride just had Danny Elfman movie themes, which was cool, but I always felt the ride needed its own original theme... like the Fright Walk has its own theme... (I think... unless it's from a movie...?)

[coaster-crazy]

^Cool stuff guys - never got a chance nor remember the 3D Funhouse.

 

ATTENTION: THOSE WISHING TO RIDE THE HAUNTED CASTLE TOMORROW MIGHT BE DISAPPOINTED TO HEAR THAT THERE IS A VERY SLIM CHANCE OF OPENING TOMORROW.

 

This is due to state inspections that were being done on the ride TODAY. However, if everything from the inspections goes COMPLETLY smoothly, no problems at all, then there is a chance the ride will indeed open tomorrow. I will try to get some more info.

 

Thanks and sorry for any inconvenience. I will be posting the photos from today's FABULOUS VIP event at the Boardwalk tomorrow afternoon(..even though there was no HC preview, they had a lot of Concept art on display!).

 

~Nicholas

[wumwip]

Oh my gooshness... well, thanks for the update. I was sweating bulets thinking about it all... I'm looking forward to the pictures tomorrow. I'd love to see all the concept art they had on display.

Did you know I made some fan concept art of my own? I have two videos of it featured this week on my youtube channel.

 

www.youtube.com/wumwip

[coaster-crazy]

^I've seen all of your other Haunted Castle videos, but not this one! Awesome job - love my pics in it, haha. I will be creating a video with all of the beach-side panoramic views and play them fast to see the progression! Also, at the VIP event today I walked down to check out the Castle and the ride signs were up. The concept art pieces were mostly of the current version, however, there were many different ideas they had for the ride so those were cool to see. There was even one of the the current ride layout. I will post all of this tomorrow.

 

~Nicholas

 

p.s. Well, not the video at least.

[wumwip]

^

Yeah, I did use a lot of your pics... hope that was ok... they're awesome! I show them to my family, and they're all excited about this ride now.

You tooks pictures of all that? AWESOME!!! Can't wait!! Did you get any pics of the Castle at night by any chance? I'm itching to see those ghosts in the window light up...

What did you think of my corny dialogue in that new vid I did..? LOL I hate my real voice...

[coaster-crazy]

Haha - nah, your voice was fine. (except for that mental lapse near the end where you couldn't even say a word right ) No, I was at the Boardwalk from 11:45AM to 3:15 PM so I did not see the HC in the night. I might be going to the HC tomorrow afternoon, but probably not since I'm very busy that day. I will be going on Saturday to see if it is open by then.

 

~Nicholas

 

EDIT: I am also beginning to write a small book on the darkrides of the Boardwalk starting all the way back with the ones I mentioned earlier. A majority of the book would cover the construction of the NEW one. ... stay tuned!

[wumwip]

Cool!

I know I'm annoying with all the dang questions; but did you by any chance hear any music or sounds coming from the ride? (sound system test or something?)

[wumwip]

Sorry for double posting, but I just got news that the NHC will open within the next few days. It seems that the ride is still undergoing some testing which is believed to be the final testing stage of the ride. It might open either tomorrow or sunday.

This news comes from the Boardwalk's facebook page.

[sfmman2000]

Hey everyone. I had a chance to ride the new Haunted Castle today. About 85% of the gags were functional, and some that were working were not functioning properly, so I did not have the full ride experience. I will write some of my thoughts about the ride below, WITHOUT giving away any spoilers. Although, I will rate the ride based scare factor, fun factor, etc.

 

If you want to go in fresh, don't read below!

 

(select text to view)

 

The ride appears very high-tech, due to the spinning cars and interesting way of getting down to the basement, which is a good thing. Although, I would give the ride a scare factor of 2 out of 10. I would also give the ride a surprise factor (stuff popping out at you) of about 2.5 out of 10. This is sad news to report. But, not all hope is lost. The ride has some very cool figures and unique things to a dark ride. And, I believe kids will absolutely love the ride, although teens may come off feeling disappointed. Again, I rode the ride in a somewhat unfinished stage, so once every single effect is working, my opinion of the ride might be different. I don't know, maybe I'm being too harsh. When I think of my favorite dark ride, I think of Indiana Jones Adventure at DLR. My favorite 'cheesy' dark ride would be Haunted Mansion at Knoebel's, even though I've never been on it (but I've seen plenty of POVs ). The NHC is being judged against high standards! Something about the ride is very manufactured, and quite slow-paced. I would rate the family fun factor a 9 out of 10, which is good news, because the Boardwalk attracts many families. Overall, I believe the ride is a good addition to the Boardwalk, and I'm interested to see guests reactions to the ride.

 

But please, ride the ride for yourself this weekend and let me know what you think -- what you agree and what you disagree with in my review.

[sfmman2000]

Unfortunately, the ride did not open to the public today and there is a only a small chance of it opening tomorrow. I'll update the thread as I find out more information.

[coaster-crazy]

 

It's update time! ... so, for those who have been following this thread, the Haunted Castle project has come a LONG way. Removal of the insides of the old haunt began on August 23rd, 2009 and now a little over 9 months later, the ride is basically complete. I hope that the ride opens within the next 1 to 2 days.

 

Anyways, this update isn't just any update. This update is about the Boardwalk's VIP Summer Launch Party I was lucky to attend last Thursday(May 27th, 2010)! This event took place in the Coconut Grove's Sun Room which has a massive retractable glass roof. The event included a delicious lunch, a preview of the summer events, and... well, a supposed to happen preview of the Haunted Castle, which unfortunately did not happen. However, in the Boardwalk Ballroom, they were showcasing concept art from the Haunted Castle(both new and old). The lighting in this room was very odd, so some of the pictures didn't turn out perfect. Even though the ride was closed, I headed down to the HC to check it out. To my pleasant surprise, the ride signs were up! ... Anywho, I hope you enjoy this update, not many left now!

 

~Nicholas

Yep, that's me. Welcome to the 2010 VIP Party!!!

This is the beautiful Sun Room. I forgot to mention that there was also live entertainment. We had live Hawaiian music, and Brazilian dancers. Pretty awesome!

The ballroom showcasing stuff on the Haunted Castle. Behind this sign you can see a large projector screen, which was showing the time lapse construction videos!

The current ride layout. I thought this was very cool to see as I had been wondering what the layout was.

Another piece of concept art - this is the current building and shows where the lights will be placed.

Old concept art for the ride vehicles.

The current ride vehicle. Pretty cool looking if you ask me.

This piece of art is showing the types of paint they used on the HC.

One of the scenes in more detail. I believe this was the 'swamp' scene.

The loading platform themeing.

Backwards into the haunt! MWHAHAHAHHA! *ahem*

An old design for the new ride. This looks more like a castle than the current in my opinion. =P

A spooky looking gargoyle. Ahh!

..more spooky figures in.. COLOR!!!

A small portion of the ride layout. This is where the ride comes up from the basement level, and back up to the loading platform.

Looks pretty close to the current ride doesn't it!

Another old design that was scrapped.. cool!

Overview of the old HC before it was demolished. The yellow line outlines the construction zone for the new one.

..and another...

..and last but not least - another scrapped design! This one looks pretty scary.

THE RIDE SIGN IS UP!!!

As you can see, there are two rides signs. Each facing the opposite way down the Boardwalk.

Massive ICE CREAM CONE is up!!!

The diagonal tiles above the plaque are from the original Ice Cream stand, which I posted a picture of earlier in the topic.

==========================

NEXT UPDATE: The next update will hopefully be of the Haunted Castle opening - expect photos and an on-ride video. Until then, thanks!

[sfmman2000]

Excellent pictures, thanks! The old concept art is awesome to see.

 

P.S. The ride opened this afternoon

[coaster-crazy]

^Oooh! I am hoping to ride it Wedensday afternoon - thanks for the info. How do you know for sure?

[sfmman2000]

^I was working at the park today. Hopefully there won't be any downtime this week...

[wumwip]

Wow… great pictures and updates! Thanks again for everything.

 

Omigosh… I don't believe it… the freaking thing opened TODAY?!?!?!?!?!?!!?

UUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHH…. I….was…. there….. YESTERDAY…..

 

*regaining composure… please wait*

 

Okay, I went to the Boardwalk yesterday, hoping the NHC would be open… but I had that lurking feeling that it wouldn’t be… and sure enough... it wasn’t open. I asked around and all of the workers said they didn’t know when it was going to open or that it might open next weekend.

 

Me and my cousins were hanging out on the side wall, (near the employees only door of the NHC) and to our surprise, the door flung open wide and I got to at least see one of the cars coming up the hill (at a really fast speed I might add)… Two employees saw me and stepped outside, slammed the door and stood in front of it.

I said “Hi… um, do you know when they’re gonna open this?”

They said, “Not today…”

I said, “Tomorrow?”

They said, “Maybe… a slight chance…”

 

And so, I went on tons of other rides… and was so bummed out that I didn’t even take pictures of the closed ride. People were just hanging out on and around it, sitting on the walls at the bottom of the castle structure.

I at least got to touch the brick arch and… give it a little sniff and said, “Aahh, that NEW Haunted Castle smell…”

(…Yeah, I’m weird…)

 

Personal thought: The castle looked like a delicious cake from the show “Cake Boss”… I wanted to eat the larger tower…

 

And so, I ended up “hopping on” the Fright Walk to try to satisfy my NHC craving. Sadly, while walking through, in the middle of the maze, something popped out and made me quickly slide my foot into the base of the wall, and I broke my middle toe…

(…highlight of my day… and I was the designateded driver...)

 

But on the bright side, I did get to take a video of Ghost Blasters and finally got shot of the ghost behind the curtain that says “OOOOHH… SH*T!!”

I’ll try to have that up on youtube soon…

 

Anyway, did anyone get a video of the ride in motion?

At this point I don’t mind spoilers…

 

And at that, I have a few questions:

 

Where is the giant spider that was on top of the old HC? (they said it would return for the new ride...)

 

Where is the giant clock from the old ride? (they said it would reutrn for the new ride...)

 

Do the old shields and weapons fit in with the new ride?

 

How dark is the ride inside?

 

How was the decided blood and gore level after all? (I remember they said they were debating about it...)

 

How fast do the cars go?

 

What does the music sound like? (did this ride get it's own theme music?)

 

Lastly, which is scarier? Ghost Blasters or the NHC? NHC or Fright Walk?

 

Please fill me in... Spoilers welcomed.

[cfc]

Thanks for sharing the concept art. I'm hoping to check this ride out myself, someday (love old-school dark rides). But one thing is bugging me: In the drawings of the ride vehicles, "Hearst" is supposed to be "Hearse," right? (Or is the designer somebody named "Hearst"?)

[Mechanic]

Hearst being used in place of hearse is one of my pet peeves as well. (As are loose in place of lose, breaks in place of brakes, defiantly in place of definitely, etc. But I digress...) It's a very common mistake it seems, but not one I'd expect outside of casual conversation. You'd think that someone looking into drawing up concepts for a hearse would accidentally come across the correct spelling while researching the subject, but apparently not.

[cal1br3tto]

^I totally agree with your post and I wish many, many more people did too.

I noticed other misspellings; I even randomly spotted one where the page happened to land when I scrolled up from your post!

 

I like how the building turned out; the juxtaposition between the castle for the ride and the amusement park/boardwalk feel of the food & games portion creates a pleasing contrast. I'm glad they chose that instead of theming the entire building to a castle.

[sfmman2000]

Edit - I can answer a few of these:

 

 

Spider and clock?

 

They have not been added yet.

 

 

Do the old shields and weapons fit in with the new ride?

 

I'm not sure what you mean. The theming is all new inside. Except, there is a ONE piece of old theming that has remained in the new ride!

 

 

How dark is the ride inside?

 

Varies greatly during different sections of the ride.

 

 

How was the decided blood and gore level after all? (I remember they said they were debating about it...)

 

Blood and gore is practically non-existent.

 

 

How fast do the cars go?

 

For a majority of the ride, a similar speed to the old Castle cars.

 

 

Lastly, which is scarier? Ghost Blasters or the NHC? NHC or Fright Walk?

 

From scariest to least scary:

 

1. Fright walk

2. NHC

3. GB

Edited June 5, 2010 by sfmman2000

[wumwip]

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I hearby claim page 15 of this thread! Muahahahahaaa... sorry..

 

 

^

Thanks for the picture of the spiral and for answering practically all of my questions, Sfmman2000. The spiral looks great for the earlier construction stage.

 

 

I hope they add the clock and spider soon… That really makes it officially the NHC.

 

They had said before that the old weapons and shield on the walls of the old ride would be placed throughout the new ride… (I

guess it didn’t happen….?)

 

Darkness varies, eh? What’s the darkest part of the ride?

 

Hmm… no blood and gore… well, I guess that’s fine, as long as it works…

 

About the same speed is cool.

 

I like the fact that it sounds like they kept the same scare factor as the original HC.

 

Little fun fact: I did happen to see some props and animatronics from the old HC inside the Fright Walk.

 

I must say I agree with the above posts.

I guess they did misspell hearse… Spell check simply made the “H” capital when I typed up the word in Word2007. Maybe they were going for the cars looking like something from Hearst Castle? You know that castle in wherever-land that they say is really haunted? Thus having them call it “Hearst Theme”

(That makes the most sense to me…)

 

And, yes, I am sort of glad they didn’t “castle-tize” the whole area… it would’ve been too much in my opinion…

And it looks like they were considering some of the names that facebook fans posted (Haunted Dungeons, Monster Manor) But I’m glad they kept it Haunted Castle since the Boardwalk is the only park with a haunted castle ride.

I still think the NHC building looks good enough to eat… mmm… castle cake… *drools*

 

…Huh, what?

 

A few more questions:

1. Does the NHC have any clowns of any shape or form in it what-so-ever?

2. What’s the spookiest scene?

3. What’s the coolest part of the ride?

4. Do the cars have to have four riders all the time? Or can you ride alone like on the old one?

Edited June 2, 2010 by wumwip

[sfmman2000]

1. Does the NHC have any clowns of any shape or form in it what-so-ever?

 

No

 

2. What’s the spookiest scene?

 

The whole swamp area is definitely the darkest area of the ride. You'll have to decide for yourself whether it's spooky.

 

3. What’s the coolest part of the ride?

 

At the very end of the ride coming up the hill, there is a hooded guillotine 'master' who is holding a rope attached to the guillotine blade. You can guess what happens next! The guillotine master is the best animatronic of the whole ride.

 

4. Do the cars have to have four riders all the time? Or can you ride alone like on the old one?

 

We try to fill the cars to capacity, but a car can be sent with as few as one person. Riders on cars with one or two people must sit in the back row.