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Dark Ride Paradise - Wild Bill's Nostalgia Center


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One final night shot of the exterior of the Haunted House walk through. It looks damn awesome to me.

 

Agreed. I'm glad that you're keeping us up-to-date on this project, Larry.

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Those Pretzel cars look so

 

nice.

 

 

And those ones aren't even refurbished yet. Chuck has a furniture upholsterer who is going to help with the seats and Chuck is a whiz with the painting. He isn't known as the "Dark Ride Artist" for nothing. The upholsterer is an old-timer who Chuck says will retire after assisting on the cars.

 

 

He's the Dark Ride Artist? I've been wondering who that was! I've seen his work all over the fair rides! I really like his style!

Edited by larrygator
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He's the Dark Ride Artist? I've been wondering who that was! I've seen his work all over the fair rides! I really like his style!

 

Yes, that is his work from years past, but Chuck is much more than just an artist with a paintbrush. He is an complete artiste in refashioning dark rides. He is a master of replicating old stunts, as exhibited in the recent work he did with the Camden Park Haunted House.

 

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Chuck Burnham redesigned Haunted House at Camden Park

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Old Haunted House at Camden Park

 

Unfortunately, it is difficult the visibly show all the redone stunts inside the building, which patrons and park management are ecstatic about, but here is a visually comparison of the Haunted House facade at Camden Park.

 

Some might be familiar with his past work with a brush, but in the future the complete dark ride will be his legacy.

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Chuck is in the process of pulling some photos together regarding the spinning Pretzel cars that were formerly at Beech Bend. I have a couple of facts to share about this ride also but will give Chuck a couple of days to send the photos

 

So I'll move on to another attraction. As I mentioned in an earlier post, one other aspect of Wild Bill's future be be a burlesque stage. One portion of the show will include belly dancers and they will perform with Sofia. Who is Sofia you ask?

 

Sofia is the shop mascot. She is an 8 year old Anaconda, Chuck says that is the equivalent of a 20 year old woman. Sofia is very affectionate and loves hugs.

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^Good question Chris. Using your own words, I would call it a cool, wacky entertainment place. This will certainly not be a cookie cutter format with a sterile environment.

 

Here are some of the direct quotes I got from Chuck.

 

"We are going out of our way to make this a throwback to those days gone by when walking around a grove like ours would be a relaxing environment with no "punks", gigantic lines and classic music from the 50's,60's and 70's to enjoy while riding our dark rides and watching the youngsters have a ball at a very reasonable price. Hey, we're not trying to be an amusement park but we know that people are sick of the ridiculous amount of $ they have to spend."

 

"This will be a YEAR round funzone with a few other big surprises at a very affordable range of pricing (pay as you go with no charge on the parking)."

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Next up I'd like to write about the fourth ride:

 

The rolling stock for this ride was most recently at Beech Bend, but not for as long as most people think. These spinning pretzels cars only ran from 1990 through 2010. Chuck Burnham purchased them from Dallas Jones in October of 2011. Seasoned enthusiasts may question me as they remember the ride from the 1970s and 1980s. However, when the park was closed from 1984-1990 the Haunted House fell into a state of disrepair. Dallas Jones purchased the cars and track from Noble's Funland Amusement Park in Paducah, Kentucky. Along with the props, Dallas Jones also had 500 feet of straight track in storage which Chuck bought. Bends are being done in-house by Chuck to create this masterpiece.

 

These spinning Pretzel cars are very rare, the only other known running cars are at Deno's Wonder Wheel Park as Spook-a-Rama, but welds prevent spinning. The old cars from Kennywood's Le Cachot went to Bushkill Park and are now in the hands of a private collector, there was a fourth set was one that an Oklahoma Air National Guardsman restored for a dark ride on his air base during Halloween in 2001 under the code name Oklahoma City Project. These cars came from the defunct Eagle Park in Cache Oklahoma and did spin, but it is not known where they currently are located.

 

At both parks the cars ran with welds to prohibit spinning. The Beech Bend ride was filled with stunts created by prop vendors Funni Frite and ADC (American Display Creators).

 

Chuck said he "was very disappointed in that ride with the poor set-up of their props vs. the ridiculous sideways encounter you're presented to them in the too lit up room you travel through. Our Pretzel is superior and I guarantee the theme we have planned for this type of "spinning" adventure will surely leave our guests elated upon the exit only wanting more. Our Pretzels will have MORE bang doors(constructed out of actual planking milled from our own lumber mill on our property, hence the detailed attention to EACH inch of those Bill Tracy plank panels you see in started pattern up on the Haunted House gable), more twists then other pretzels , more fast flicked lights, buzzers, whistles, hills and drops and many more stunts." Chuck plans to have at least 5 of the 6 cars on the track at all times, sometimes they will keep the 6th in reserve.

 

Many dark ride experts consider the Knoebels Grove Haunted House Pretzel ride to be the standard of old school dark rides and Chuck's goal is to blow that ride away. He knows it is a all challenge but he has been planning for this since he was a kid. Chuck says "the real draw will be our frontage and the loading area BIG bang doors. I have the psychological advantage of 35 years of envisioning sitting in a waiting Pretzel car and staring down a hallway (in anticipation) at the (seemingly giant) battered entry doors."

 

Chuck is still keeping the theme of the spinning ride a secret. He told me that I could quote him one last time, " I personally give TPR fans the Dark Ride Artist honest oath that this ride alone will be a trip through my own twisted best!"

 

Across each of the rides certain stunts will remain as were. However, Chuck is adding more stunts which make sense to the theming of each ride. The folks at Camden Park called Chuck a "MASTER of replication" for the work he did there. Chuck has access to the old ADC catalogs, he's a mold-maker, he fabricates what he needs, he builds his own sets along with the motorized stunts it will take to entertain the occupants. Since most of the old stunts in all the rides were vandalized he needs all these skills.

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The body of the cars didn't look that bad when Chuck checked them out, but they are getting a makeover.

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However, the undercarriage and all moving parts were very thirsty and in immediate need of some oil.

Edited by larrygator
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^ and ^^ My pleasure. Thanks for following and being excited.

 

Although Chuck doesn't post on TPR, he does follow the updates and let's me know if I miss anything. Wild Bill and Chuck are excited that many of you share interest in this undertaking which is almost 10 years in the making.

 

I think everything I have shared to date covers the plans for 2012. The proprietors are always on the lookout for vintage dark rides and props and are following leads for down the road. I'll continue to post construction updates as I get them and also let you in on announcements as soon as they can be made public. There are just some aspects Chuck needs to protect at this time. He is even in the process of investigating some trademarks.

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Hey everyone, here are photos of the removal of the cars from Beech Bend and their arrival in Connecticut.

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Here are some of the props inside the ride.

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and into the back of the box truck.

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These cars are too heavy to move by hand.

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You can see the wear and tear on the sides of these cars. We see you in the background Kentucky Rumbler.

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All packed and ready to go.

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Chuck carefully removing a car from the truck.

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Bob Backlund and Wild Bill horsing around.

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Oh yea, all the straight track that Chuck has to bend returned on the truck, also.

Edited by larrygator
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  • 4 weeks later...

This is just a shameless post to bump this topic back into view... I've actually started making tentative plans to visit New York in May or June, and Wild Bill's is on top of the To Do list.

 

Any and all updates, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, are welcome. Thanks again in advance!

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This is just a shameless post to bump this topic back into view... I've actually started making tentative plans to visit New York in May or June, and Wild Bill's is on top of the To Do list.

 

Any and all updates, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, are welcome. Thanks again in advance!

 

 

There will be an update with photos later this weekend. I just returned from a 7-day cruise and had some photos waiting for me in my Inbox. The update will include piles of dirt, since everyone on TPR loves piles of dirt.

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