staff covered the entire floor with a heavy tarp to protect the
pristine hardwood. The “forest” consisted of artificial trees
and various dioramas. In the early 1960s, the Enchanted Forest
received a slightly more sinister upgrade, and was reborn the
Enchanted Castle. The façade was changed to resemble a castle,
and a few spooky dioramas, such as dungeons, were added inside.
When New York City’s ill-fated Freedomland U.S.A theme park closed
following the 1964 season, Kennywood jumped in and acquired its
Tornado dark ride to replace the Enchanted Castle. At this time,
Kennywood management felt that dancing would never return to the
hall, hence track was lagged to the |
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flooring
and a part of the floor was scalloped out to allow a barrel to
rotate around the track. The ride, built by the former Arrow Development
Company, had a storyline revolving around a Midwestern town ravaged
by a tornado. 1920 circa automobiles took riders on a twisting
ride through high winds (supplied by high-powered fans), collapsing
fencing and underneath airborne livestock. Park superintendent
Andy Vettel Sr. constructed a new façade resembling a barn. However,
the Tornado was soon to blow out of town. |
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Top photo: Aerial view shows former dance hall building converted to
Ghost Ship ride near top.
Bottom right: Dance hall looms behind boaters on Kennywood Lagoon.
After
the 1966 season, all but a few of the Tornado contents were
packed up and shipped off to Great Escape theme park in Lake
George, New York. Kennywood hired Bill Tracy of Cape May, New
Jersey’s Amusement Display Company to design its replacement,
the Ghost Ship. It was the collaborative ideas of both Tracy
and the park management that gave birth to the Ghost Ship. Over
Tracy’s illustrious career he created a few other Ghost Ship
attractions for various parks, but even though they shared names,
each one was unique. Kennywood’s was installed at a time when
Tracy’s career as a dark ride specialist was in full stride.
For the façade, Tracy chose the look of an old wrecked pirate
sailing ship. A larger than life skull that morphed into a boney
crab with huge claws, haunted guard over the broken hulk. The
outside corrugated sheeting was colored in a pale greenish-blue
to mimic Davey Jones’ locker.
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The
former dance hall’s promenade became the loading platform. Under
the platform’s canopy it was shady and cooler, even on a sunny
day, which helped add a foreshadowing of what lay ahead. The
queue line weaved back and forth a few times between steel pipe
handrails until you eventually ended up on the left side of
the ride platform. The backdrop of the queue area resembled
stone and the ceiling was adorned with old netting and human
skulls. About once a minute, a terrified-looking skeleton in
a small boat would come out of the “stone” wall on the left
and ride down a small section of track alongside the queue line,
then re-enter the wall on the right. Off to the far right platform near the exit double-doors
was an old-west bordello piano player.
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This stunt was similar to one once used in a Tracy walk-through installation, Boot Hill, at the former, nearby West View Park. However, Ghost Ship’s piano player was retained from the old Tornado ride. Although it didn’t fit the current theme, it enhanced the apprehension of would-be riders. One of the Tornado’s rotating barrels was also retained, complementing another barrel installed by Tracy. |
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As
for the Tornado’s former piano player, it sometimes made
for some comic relief on a sinister-looking loading area,
especially when the mechanical pianist was in the shop
for repair. “One time I turned on the tape machine and
I sat down at the piano like I was playing it,” recalled
former Ghost Ship ride manager David Procupp. “A lady
came up to me and said, ‘You’re really good!” |
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Above: A spectacular watercolor rendering by Tracy of the Dorney Park Pirates Cove architecture proposed by his earlier Outdoor Dimensional Display Co. The Nautical-Pirate ride theme was heavily traded by Tracy. |
Right: Finished Dorney Park project |
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