As of 2002, the Haunted House costs $3 per person to ride.
The Haunted House was built in April of
1964.
Legendary Dark ride builder Bill Tracy was commissioned by
Granville Trimper to build the ride after Granville
was impressed by other attractions he designed.
The Haunted House was expanded to two stories in 1988 with
the remnants of Ghost Ship, which was a Tracy-built ride located at the defunct
Ocean Playland on 66th St.
Granville Trimper developed the
new floor plan, track layout and stunt placement himself.
When the second story was added, crews constructed a
concrete beam center support and poured a concrete floor on top. All of the
addition was done in concrete.
Granville used three of the cars from Ghost Ship and
incorporated them into his current Haunted House ride by recreating the
coffin-cars.
Originally, the exit door was to the far right of the lobby,
but when the second story was added, Granville moved it to beside the entrance
to allow more cars to be in queue in the lobby.
Scotty, Haunted House manager, paints the lobby and balcony
floor red on average of every two years because of wear.
There are upwards of 40 backlights in the Haunted House to
make Tracy’s
stunts glow.
All sound effects are on digital sound repeaters.
In 2005, magnetic trips for the stunts were replaced by
laser-motion censing devises. There are no longer any stunts activated by
magnets on the bottom of cars.
Haunted House management takes the giant façade Bat down and
store it in the Haunted House (near the former head
slinger) during the winter to prevent weathering.
If you look closely in the HH near the electrocuting man,
there is part of the former roof from before the ride was converted to two
stories.
Giant backdrops for the former Ghost Ship can be seen on the
second level.
A total of three cars can be stored in the first room because
of malfunction. Two on the left (near skulls) and one in
front of the rat.
The trolls where the former wolfman
stood and the alien at the very end of the ride after the Coo-Coo clock were
added in the late 90’s by Chris Trimper, Granville’s
grandson.
In the late 90s, the Trimpers were
considering installing a mist machine in the graveyard to give a foggy effect,
but decided not to because it would cause mold.
The compressor for the ride is located in the graveyard
behind the gravestone. Originally, there was no wall dividing this small room
from the rest of the ride, but because the compressor was so loud, they built a
wall in the mid-90’s to drown out some of the sound.
There are trap doors throughout the ride for quick access
from one side of the ride to the other.
There are several locations where workers tend to sit to
watch over customers. If you look closely, you may see them!
There are 5 cameras located in the Haunted House and
monitored by Johnny up in the office to make sure no one ruins stunts or gets
out of the cars. (Sawmill, Graveyard, Beam Hill, Head slinger, Downhill)
The breaking system for the cars consists of steel
crescent-shaped molds going down the ‘downhill’—When
the car starts declining, the tire will be forced into this contraption to slow
it down. On rainy days when the tires are wet, they make an incredible
screeching sound as they are squeezed going down the hill to help you stop!
The lobby entrance, balcony exit, and balcony entrance doors include two sets of doors spaced roughly 6 feet apart from one another. This is so light does not penetrate into the ride and possibly affect other another rider’s experience. The lobby exit only has one set of doors, however.
There are 4 cutoff switches at the waterfall near the ride’s exit. Sometimes, cars can catch up with one another and travel through the ride at close proximity. The 4 switches, which are actually levers, are constantly tripped as the car travels by in the event that a car behind was too close. If it weren’t for the redundant switches, the customers behind may be at risk of getting soaked.
There are four main areas where workers will tend to station themselves to watch cars with troublesome riders. These areas are: the knit wit hill, crooked Mine shaft, to the right of the bathroom, and at the banister near the downhill. The head linger was a popular hideout before it was removed, but there are currently no ideal places to scope out the ride upstairs, except for near the entrance to the train tunnel.
There are actually a set of doors leading into the train tunnel, but starting in the late 90’s, they were propped back for a reason unknown.
The ride’s air conditioner is located above the torture chamber. During the summer, a puddle of water can be seen gathering beneath the Stretcher as a result of the condensation from the unit.
The balcony entrance and exit doors are locked every night using a bar that is mounted horizontally inside the ride and door locks mounted on the top of the doors.
In the late 90’s, the ride was vandalized during the night because of a drunken vandal who decided it would be funny to hop onto the balcony from the building beside it and ransack the upstairs. The person managed to break through the locking doors.
Although invisible to the common rider, there is a very large piece of fish netting hung on the wall in the first room behind the skull banister.
On average, it takes 5 minutes to ride through the attraction.
In 2005, lightning struck an antenna located near the roof of the haunted house causing many sound repeaters and electronics to short out. For a short time, the ride operated without house sound and with many black lights and effects not working.
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Effects Removed Since Ghost Ship Merge:
Lady in the Cellar
Mermaid (moved, changed from original state)
Frankenstein
Crab
Drunken Pirate
Bartender
Birthday Party (moved, changed from original state)
Head Slinger
Wine Cellar (Water flowing up)
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Effects added since 1995:
Set of Trolls
Head Wall Plaques (between Knit-Wit and Witch)
Coffin w/ Corpse
Vampiress
Reaching Reaper
Shaking Mummy
Reapers with Moving Coffin
Giant Skull w/ Hands
Jumping Goul
Electric Man
Hanging Man (kicking)
Scary Butler
Alien Bust
Toxic Man (built by me!)
Giant Spider Web (end)
Man from Aladin's Lamp
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