Over our many years of studying dark rides of all types and makes, we've always been interested in learning as much as possible about the designers and builders as about the rides themselves - what their backgrounds were, how they came to be in such a business and what influenced their sense of design. Over time, we saw certain patterns emerge. One of them is rooted in our observations of the Flying Witch ride that operates at Playland Park in Rye, NY. This ride, extensively augmented and originally named Witches Mill, is one of a number of such rides built by F.lli Pinfari S.r.l. in Suzzarra, Italy. Other known examples in North America and Canada were Witch Mill at Rocky Point Park in Warwick, RI, 1971-1973 and Le Moulin de la Sorcière at La Ronde, Montréal, Canada, 1969-2005. Pinfari, known primarily for its line of steel roller coasters, was established in 1926 and ended operations in 2004, its brand and ride design products acquired in 2007 by Interpark S.r.l. of Modena, Italy.