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Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum Attraction Type: Exhibit Location: Park Motor/Venture/Comfort Inn, Niagara Falls, Ontario Year(s) Operational: 1963-Present Designer(s): Ripley's Studios, Costello Productions Postcard from opening year in 1963 In 1963, an edition was put on to Welland Securities' Park Motor Inn bringing the structure right to Clifton Hill. This included more rooms, a gift shop and cafe (where Kelsey's has been since the 90s), The Yard pub (became the Rathskeller Pub in the late 60s, then Rumors Nightclub in the 80s, now divided up into multiple things like the relocated Kelsey's bathrooms and Zombie Attack) and the Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum downstairs. Ripley's leased the space from Welland Securities (present day HOCO), making it Welland Securities' first attraction technically, even if they didn't run or own it. It was the second attraction in the Ripley company's popular chain of "Odditoriums", predated only by the original St. Augustine, Florida location. The museum would be a mixture of a sideshow, wax museum, and science exhibit showcasing strange, unique, or exotic "believe it or not" facts. It's wax figures and elaborate displays were created by the art department at Ripley's International, who provided fantastic theming and environments to accompany the oddities on display. There was a wide variety featured within including strange artifacts (and replicas of them), unique works of art, interactive scientific dioramas, and illusions. The building was packed, touting over 550 exhibits. Some of these included a replica of the Lincoln Memorial built out of 10,000 Lincoln pennies, Japanese swords amongst other items in an Oriental Room, the burial of a fly, the world's smallest violin, a shrunken head, the tree that spouted water, and recreations of various headstones in an elaborate graveyard scene. There was also a guitar, fiddle, and bicycle made out of matchsticks, as well as a replica of the fictional medieval torture device the "Iron Maiden" which guests could stand in (although it didn't do any impaling.) Some of the wax exhibits included Liu Ch'ung The Double-Eyed Man, Robert Ripley himself in a Ripley Room, The Woman Who Flew, The Man With a Hole in His Head, and the tomb of Chang T'ung the Human Candlestick who's mummified body served as a candle holder for 261 years. Re-creation of the Tomb of Chang T'ung as seen on this mid-60's brochure cover. 1963 postcard of the Lincoln Memorial model built entirely out of Lincoln pennies. The attraction was instantly successful and was one of the first in the area, drastically contributing to not only the growth of Clifton Hill and it's character, but also to the growth of the Ripley company who would go on to turn the museums into a global chain after the Niagara location's success. It wasn't the first attraction on The Hill however with that title going to Tussaud's in 1959, and the Antique Auto Museum had opened around the corner on Falls Ave. in 1962. That being said, it did wonders for building Clifton Hill's unique charm, and was the second attraction on The Hill and the first considerably up it, with Tussaud's being located at the bottom and Ripley's at the very top. This greatly improved traffic up The Hill, as tourists who wanted to experience the museum were now traversing the entire street to see the attraction even if they weren't guests in any of the motels along it. A 1964 T.V. episode of the John Bradshaw Show on Hamilton's CHCH-TV showcased many of the scenes and displays in the museum, but like many of the television episodes, specials and commercials related to most attractions discussed on this site, the episode remains lost media. Due to the age of the episode it will likely never be found, as that was long before home off-air recordings existed and many TV stations (especially small local ones) erased and re-used their tapes at that time, as it was before historical preservation was thought about. The Graveyard, 1963. The Oriental Room (Left) and Robert Ripley himself (Right) in 1963. Exhibits were constantly updated, but major changes came in the early-70s to keep up with more attention-grabbing attractions that had popped up like The House of Frankenstein and Castle Dracula. These updates included a disorienting walk-through vortex tunnel, builder of the Great Wall of China Chin Shih Huang Ti, an ancestor skull from New Guinea, a "Catacombs" section, the animated candy machine used in the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and several more detailed wax displays like Little Jack Homer and the "babes in the woods". A "floating tap" illusion fountain was also constructed in the attraction's lobby at this time and designed by local artist Derek Costello, who may have done more work for the attraction as well including some of the wax figures listed above. A large billboard-style neon sign was also placed on the building's roof in 1974. Little Jack Homer, mid 70's. A somewhat embarrassing incident for the Ripley company occurred in 1980 when a visitor to the Niagara museum successfully solved a block puzzle he had seen at the museum after two years and four months. The museum had touted that it would take "all the people on the Earth working day and night for a million years" for the blocks to be arranged in every possible combination, however the guest in question, who was a math teacher, proved otherwise. After his calculations were confirmed by computer, the display, which was featured in every Ripley's location at the time, had to be promptly removed from all of them. The 80's would see further updates as the Ripley's brand became more known for their attractions than the source books and T.V. show that inspired them. The building was remodeled in 1985 when Rumors Nightclub replaced the Rathskeller pub upstairs and the upstairs windows were removed. The new sign for the attraction, which would be added in addition to the pre-existing rooftop billboard, would appear to be running through the corner of the building. These unique facades would become a staple of the Ripley's Odditoriums all over the world. The lobby would also now feature an animatronic robot at a "broken pipe" fountain. The fountain reused elements of the floating tap, and the robot may have ironically been another piece by Costello, although this isn't confirmed. One large shred of evidence in that direction however is it's resemblance to the fully programmable T-100 Terminator he later built in his garage for Halloween, but that's another story for another time. Lady Elizabeth Raleigh presents her (ex)husband's head in the Catacombs, 1977. Top Left: The "Floating Tap" before the addition of the junkyard robot. Above: The re-themed fountain with the towering robot. Bottom Left: The remodeled attraction with Rumours Nightclub above. Moving in a more "world record" direction, the museum did away with some of the cultural artifacts and replicas as the world became more connected, and certain items no longer held the exotic allure they once did. While still containing several of those elements to this day, the museum began to move more in the direction of "world's smallest", "world's largest", "world's only" sort of displays. Strange taxidermy also became a staple of the attraction such as the legendary "Fiji Mermaids" the chain became known for, and the "Two Headed Calf" which became somewhat of a mascot for the Niagara location. A shooting gallery was also added inside the actual attraction, and a large arcade replaced most of the gift shop. Owner of the Ripley's company Jim Pattison along with the mayor attended the official ribbon cutting for the remodeled attraction on June 10th, 1987. The 1987 ribbon cutting for the updated attraction. The mysterious "Fiji Mermaid" in the early 2000's. Ripley's, who owned Tussaud's by that time and had moved the Ripley's International art department to above that attraction, even got up to some cross-promotion when a figure of O.J. Simpson (promoted as "The Greatest Running-Back of All Time!") was placed in Ripley's next to a plaque discussing his sports records. This was of course complete with a large sign reading "Wax figure courtesy of Louis Tussaud's English Wax Museum. Before leaving Niagara Falls be sure to visit this... WORLD FAMOUS ATTRACTION." And then, in somehow even larger text: "DOWN THE HILL." This scene probably aged about as well as milk, and was (understandably) removed in the early-90s for obvious reasons. Perhaps it would have been better suited for a "Believe Him or Not" museum. The horribly aged O.J. exhibit in 1977. Above and beside: Shots of the arcade in 1999. The attraction was extensively remodeled again in November/December of 2003 and into spring 2004, debuting in time for the tourist season that same year. The billboard sign on the roof installed in 1974 was removed, as was the sign through the building's corner. The facade would now be a massive replica of the Empire State Building turned on its side, with the antenna atop the building extending out over the street. A giant fiberglass King Kong was now standing on the structure, and a sideways helicopter with spinning blades was sitting on a landing pad. A sign resembling the original billboard formerly upright on the building's roof was placed sideways at the top of the toppled Empire State Building. The remodel also saw the edition of an animatronic worker climbing a rope up and down the side of the building. Also added were many comically destressed fiberglass characters hanging off, and even upturned cars and soil at the far side of the building where the toppled skyscraper's uprooted foundation would be. One of the pillars in the lobby's entrance was even disguised as a crushed phone booth the building had fallen on. With the new update also came the removal of the arcade in favor of the "Wax Zone" counter selling wax casts of customer's hands. Above: Removal of the iconic sign in 2003. Top right: The attraction 2002 before the remodel. Bottom right: The totally changed building following the extensive the remodel as seen in the early 2010's The animatronic lobby band, 2010. The impressive new facade was accompanied by a completely overhauled interior focusing more on interactivity and education. Many of the wax displays and darker areas (both thematically and literally) were removed at this time. The lobby robot would eventually be removed in 2010 while the fountain would remain. Instead of the robot, the lobby would now feature an animatronic show of sideshow performers singing current pop songs, located at the front facing the road into Comfort Inn (formerly Park Motor Hotel.) This new show (of admittedly debatable tastefulness) would feature the Three-Legged Man (loosely based on Francesco Lentini) on banjo, The World's Smallest Man (based on world's then-smallest man Chandra Bahadur Dangi) playing the bars of his cage, and a depiction of a woman of the Myanmar Padaung Tribe playing her neck extension bracket like a xylophone. The museum would close at the end of the 2015 season (after the attached Comfort Inn/former Park Motor Hotel had been torn down), and reopened on May 20th, 2016. The new version of the attraction would be modernized even further inside and out, and gone was the questionably-ethical animatronic band in the lobby (which had seen better days in recent years anyway) in favor of a much more Ripley's-esque display. The new animatronics, located in the front window facing Clifton Hill, are an elderly man in a replica of a vintage coin-operated car ride name the (self-aware) "Sonic Animatronic Flyer", with a large snail on the hood. His friend, an equally-elderly turtle standing on a nearby crate, holds a fan and blows wind in the man's face, as if to give him the sensation of speed. The random, sarcastic, zany nature of the display perfectly encapsulates the spirit of the Ripley's brand. The Sonic Animatronic Flyer that inhabits the lobby today. The facade was also repainted at the time, and the side facing Clifton Hill extensively remolded since Rumors Nightclub had been removed in 2015. The former stairs up to it were now gone, and the space formerly home to the bar was now home to Kelsey's new bathrooms and Zombie Attack, both of which are accessed from elsewhere. This allowed for the first floor of the building to expand to where the stairs had previously sat, this being the front window the new animatronics are displayed in. The fountain in the lobby was removed, however. The remodel also saw the removal of the wax hand casting counter in exchange for a re-expanded gift shop. The attraction as it's appeared since the removal of Rumours upstairs in 2015. An attraction like Ripley's is bound to change constantly as world records are set and broken, what's shocking or entertaining changes, and what's considered taboo becomes no longer (or becomes too taboo to continue to display.) Despite all the changes, updates, and remodels over the years, Ripley's continues to be one of Clifton Hill's most popular attractions. It paved the way for Clifton Hill's wacky personality, and other than Tussaud's (which Ripley's also owns) is currently the only other member of Niagara's sixth decade club of attractions who have been entertaining guests for over 60 years. It's also still in it's original location whereas Tussaud's has since moved to Victoria Ave., making it the oldest Niagara attraction in its original location and the oldest on Clifton Hill, Believe It... or Not.

Water Parks and Attractions Here you'll find both indoor and outdoor water parks, as well as stand-alone water slides and attractions. This list doesn't include community splash pads or one-off waterslides in hotels and community pools, unless they contain multiple attractions (thus making them a water park) or have some sort of unique/heavy theming. Niagara Region Americana Indoor Water Park - Americana Conference Resort Spa & Waterpark, Niagara Falls Fallsview Indoor Water Park - Falls Ave. Complex, Niagara Falls Great Wolf Lodge Water Park - Great Wolf Lodge Niagara Falls, Niagara Falls Wet 'n Wild - Prudhomme's Landing, Lincoln White Water/Typhoon Lagoon - Niagara Falls Greater Toronto Area Children's Village Waterpark/Soak City - Ontario Place, Toronto Splash Works - Canada's Wonderland, Toronto Sunshine Beach/Wild Water Kingdom/Wet 'n Wild - Brampton White Water - Shopper's World, Brampton Lake Huron and Georgian Bay Plunge! Aquatic Centre - Blue Mountain Resort, Blue Mountain (Collingwood) Slipper Dipper Water Slide - Blue Mountain Resort, Blue Mountain (Collingwood) Tube Ride - Blue Mountain Resort, Blue Mountain (Collingwood) Wasaga Super Slides - Wasaga Beach Wasaga Waterworld - Wasaga Beach Ontario - Other Areas Atrium Oasis - Lamplighter Inn, London Atrium Pool - Wheels Inn, Chatham Bingemans Big Splash - Bingemans Funworx, Kitchener/Waterloo Calypso Theme Waterpark - Gagnon East Park Water Park/Wally World at East Park - East Park, London Loose Moose/Splash Canyon - Midhurst Wally World Water Park - London Wild Waterworks - Hamilton Alberta Bonzai Waterslide Park - Calgary Discovery Canyon - River Bend Golf & Recreation Area, Red Deer Douglas Fir Water Park - Douglas Fir Resort, Banff Londonderry Fitness and Leisure Centre - Edmonton Mariner's Cove Water Park - Holiday Inn Lethbridge, Lethbridge Mill Woods Rec Centre - Edmonton Oasis River Country Water Park - Sheraton Cavalier Calgary Hotel, Calgary Riverside Waterslide - Medicine Hat Southland Leisure Centre - Calgary Village Square Leisure Centre - Calgary Wild Rapids - Sylvan Lake Wild Waters - Edmonton World Waterpark - West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Manitoba and Saskatchewan Atlantis Indoor Waterslides - Winnipeg, MB Fun Mountain Water Slide Park - Springfield, MB Penguin Village - Saskatoon, SK Skinner's Wet 'n Wild - Lockport, MB Soaked! Waterpark - The Atlas Hotel, Regina, SK Splasher’s Indoor Pool and Waterslide - Canad Inns Destination Centre, Brandon, MB Splasher’s Indoor Pool and Waterslide - Canad Inns Destination Centre Fort Garry, Winnipeg, MB Splasher’s Indoor Pool and Waterslide - Canad Inns Destination Centre Garden City, Winnipeg, MB Splasher’s Indoor Pool and Waterslide - Canad Inns Destination Centre Polo Park, Winnipeg, MB Splasher’s Indoor Pool and Waterslide - Canad Inns Destination Centre, Portage la Prairie, MB Splasher’s Indoor Pool and Waterslide - Canad Inns Destination Centre Transcona, Winnipeg, MB Splasher’s Indoor Pool and Waterslide - Canad Inns Destination Centre Windsor Park, Winnipeg, MB Splash Island Water Park - Portage la Prairie, MB Turtle Tide Water Slides - Grand Marais, MB British Columbia (and Northern Canada) Big Splash Water Slide Park - Tsawwassen Bridal Falls Waterpark - Bridal Falls Chilliwack Landing Leisure Centre - Chilliwack Cultus Lake Waterpark - Cultus Lake H20 Adventure Centre - Kelowna Salmon Arm Waterslides - Salmon Arm Splashdown Vernon - Vernon Quebec AMAZOO - Granby Zoo, Granby Atlantide Water Park - Sainte-Calixte Camping Aqua Parc St-Pie - Saint-Pie Les Glissades D'eau - Le Village du Pere Noel (The Village of Father Christmas/Santa's Village), Val-David Mont Cascades - Cantley Valcartier Vacation Village - Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier Atlantic Canada (East of Quebec) Atlantic Splash Adventure - Atlantic Playland/Atlantic Splash Adventure, Lucasville, NS Shining Waters Water Park - Shining Waters Family Fun Park, Hunter River (Cavendish Beach), P.E.I. SplashZone - Magic Mountain, Magnetic Hill (Moncton), NB "360ft Water Slide"/Pools - Splash " n" Putt Resort, Traytown, NL Thunderland Amusement Park - Badger, NL

Special Articles These articles are special features on various attractions, artists, developers, locations, stories, and more which are separate from the main History pages. Rather than tell the cohesive history of a subject, these special features are meant to be spin-off articles of the main pages. Recent 1971 Guided Tour Button All Special Feature Articles "Sculpting Memories: The Waxattract Story" The story of perhaps the most important design in firm in Canadian amusement history is finally told. Learn about the Niagara Falls company and family responsible for some of the most iconic attractions in The Falls, such as Castle Dracula, Circus World, The House of Frankenstein, and Waltzing Waters, as well as legendary attractions abroad and innovations that changed the global amusement industry forever. The House of Frankenstein 1971 Virtual Guided "Tour" Experience the iconic Clifton Hill haunted attraction as it would have been on opening day! This tour takes you through the technological marvel that revolutionized Clifton Hill and the wider amusement industry. "Come in...and 'kill a little time' with us..."

MGM Studios Plaza & MGM Great Movie Journey Attraction Type: Gift Shop/Exhibit Location: Niagara Falls, Ontario Years Operational: 2002-Present (Extreme Movie Ride 4D only), 2003-early 2010's (full complex). Designer(s): Blacklight Attractions/Dark Rider, Iwerks When the government of Ontario was selecting the location for the government-run Casino Niagara in the mid 90's, the Harry Oakes Company (HOCO) who owns the attractions on the south-west side of Clifton Hill apparently put in a bid to get the casino on their land, however it ended up going to the Falls Ave. Company, replacing the Maple Leaf Village mall between the Sheraton Foxhead and Sheraton Brock Hotels. This ended up being a financial injection large enough to start a bit of an attraction arms race against HOCO. After the rebranding of all the hotels in the Falls Ave. complex, the opening of Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood, and the additions of Hershey's Chocolate World and the Coca Cola Store, a massive 2002 expansion would be the next addition to the complex. This expansion would focus more on new attractions to face Clifton Hill, consisting of Rainforest Cafe and WWE Niagara Falls. Bigger plans were in store for the Sheraton Fallsview however, which was connected to the former Louis Tussaud's Wax Museum building, dating back to an original section of the 1920 Foxhead hotel. Most of the Tussaud's building was completely demolished, little of which was saved and remodeled into a new structure as part of the 2002 expansion. The structure work for the new building was done done by architecture firm Raimondo + Associates. The same year, the basement of this new building would become a 4D motion theatre while work continued on the three floors above, as well as on the former mall that filled the second floor of the neighboring, now-renamed Sheraton Fallsview. The Louis Tussaud's Wax Museum building which the structure for the MGM Studios Plaza would replace shortly after this photo was taken. Deemed the "Extreme Movie Ride 4D", the theatre is a ride simulator built by SimEx-Iwerks, the leading name in motion theatre technology at the time, who was also building the Ride Theatre for the soon-to-open Great Canadian Midway at the same time. The ride is a moving theatre on a tilting platform which guests board to watch a 3D ride film, with the motion being the fourth dimension. A temporary attraction while the building was still being completed was a live magic show located above the theatre. The details of this show are extremely vague, as it only ran for one year. The theatre opened with the film "Dino Island II", which would remain a constant in the theatre for years alongside a revolving door of other secondary films. The first of these secondary films remains a bit of mystery. The MGM Studios Plaza under construction in the former Tussaud's location, Fall 2002. Three banners originally located on the side of the building featured Spiderman, the Cat in the Hat, and a dinosaur. Spiderman's banner featured the words "Live! Performances" on it, implying he was either part of the magic show or a walk around character near the complex. The Cat in the Hat and dinosaur banners both read "Box Office", implying that the original secondary ride film was based on the Dr. Seuss character. However, no evidence of this film's existence is available online, which would be incredibly strange for something based on an IP and officially licensed from one major company to another. By Fall of that year, the banners had been removed and "Mad Racers" was being shown as the secondary film, despite the building still not being completed. It's very possible that the original secondary film was Mad Racers from the start, and the Cat in the Hat was perhaps incorporated into the magic show, and Spiderman simply a walk around character, thus explaining the taglines on the advertisements. Shots of the building under construction with the ride theatre and magic show already in operation, Summer 2002. The MGM logo on the front of the building, 2004. In 2003 the three levels above the theatre were completed, and the building officially opened as the MGM Studios Plaza. A large fiberglass sculpture of the MGM logo and the famous Leo the Lion replaced the banners on the side of the building, letting tourists know this was the officially licensed, real deal. The building would house the MGM Studio Store on the first floor, where guests could buy movie themed merchandise and memorabilia. This gift shop would later be connected through to Marvel Superheroes Adventure City when it opened next door in the Sheraton the following year. A two level walkthrough interactive museum called the MGM Great Movie Journey was located on floors 2 and 3. The museum held many real movie props, and was designed by Blacklight Attractions. In addition to showcasing screen-used props, it also acted as a behind-the scenes glimpse into movie magic, letting guests experience many special effects. Entrance to the MGM Studio Store in 2004. After watching a pre show on a small movie screen, the screen would open, and guests would walk through. Features of the experience itself are vague, but one detail the attraction's designers heavily promoted was a recreation of M's office from the 007 franchise, complete with a sliding bookcase revealing a hidden FX control room. Located on the roof of the building would be the Pink Panther Balloon Ride, a Zamperla Rides "Samba Tower" ride model themed to the Pink Panther painting the neighboring building, seated atop the ride's center tower. The ride cars were themed to balloons attached to bucket of paint. Despite being a relatively slow moving, tame attraction, the elevation at which it existed and winds it would usually experience made it quite thrilling. Despite the Sheraton towering above it right next door, it actually provided spectacular views of the Falls, which weren't blocked by the structure. The sliding bookcase revealing behind-the-scenes movie magic in the Great Movie Journey, 2003. The Pink Panther Balloon Ride atop the plaza. Connecting all the attractions in the plaza was a large spiral staircase located at the front of the building, accessed from the MGM Store. The stairwell ran from the basement to the roof, although the ride theatre in the basement had its own additional entrance just down the Hill. Movie posters for various MGM films were placed along the stairwell and equipped with motion sensors. When a group of guests walked past, the poster would light up and play a sound clip of a quote from the matching film. The impressive completed plaza in 2004. The sign for the Pink Panther Balloon Ride. Judging by the poor condition of the neon signage below, this image was taken later in the attraction's life. Despite being one of the most high-profile intellectual properties to ever have an attraction based off it in the Falls, it never matched the popularity of the other additions to the Falls Ave. Complex. Rainforest Cafe, WWE Niagara Falls, Planet Hollywood, Hard Rock Cafe, and Marvel Superheroes Adventure City are all far more frequently reminisced about, and (in the case of those that have also since closed) more vividly remembered. Very little documentation of the MGM Studios Plaza exists, aside for exterior shots of the building and a short promo from Blacklight Attractions discussing their work on the Great Movie Journey. While it would stick around longer than Adventure City next door held on to its Marvel branding, Adventure City lost its branding due to the fallout of Disney's purchase of Marvel, whereas the MGM Studios Plaza simply seemed to quickly fizzle out when the area began to change once the 2010's hit. In the early 2010's, The MGM Studio Store became a generic gift shop despite retaining the MGM theming, and the Great Movie Journey shuttered. This was exceptionally strange considering the giant MGM logo, as well as the occasionally operational Pink Panther Balloon Ride, remained on the exterior of the building. This meant that despite the walkthrough closing and the store ceasing to sell MGM merchandise, the Falls Ave. Company was still paying the licensing fee (or MGM simply wasn't aware). A ride film based on the movie Happy Feet finally replaced the long running Dino Island II in the 4D Theatre in 2013, which was quickly replaced with another dinosaur themed film named "Terrapolis" in 2015. As mentioned above, the Pink Panther Balloon Ride's operating schedule became increasingly sporadic and random, likely running for the final time around 2014. For the years it was open past the Great Movie Journey, the staircase up to the ride actually took riders past the entrance and exit of the closed museum. Around the time the Pink Panther ride stopped running in 2014, the gift shop became expanded arcade space for the connected Adventure City, with the MGM Great Movie Journey walkthrough above on floors 2 and 3 ending up being abandoned for almost 10 years. One somewhat creepy fact is that once the gift shop was replaced with the arcade and there was no employee monitoring the area, guests could easily slip upstairs to the abandoned attractions. But that's not all: the motion-activated movie posters along the staircase still worked, their once charming movie quotes now startling and eerie as they cut through the totally silent building, located just mere feet away from one of the busiest locations on earth. Things sat this way until the building became the Niagara Distillery bar and barbecue restaurant in 2019, which occupies all 3 floors of the building (not including the basement). The Pink Panther Balloon Ride remained abandoned on the roof until after the pandemic in 2021, a horribly out of place relic of another time in the tourism industry, decaying in plain sight as the Hill changed around it. It was eventually sold to an unknown buyer in Europe and dismantled that October. By this point you might be wondering what the fate of the motion theatre was, but that's because there hasn't been one. The ride still operates, with its secondary entrance right on the Hill allowing it to operate without the rest of the MGM plaza. In fact, it even recently received a new animatronic dinosaur head on the front of the building, promoting the Terrapolis film, which has now been running for almost 10 years. The theatre is now all that remains of this once grand attraction that brought behind the scenes movie magic to The Falls. Like the theatre itself, it's original sign is now the final remnant of the building's former glory. The building as it appears today, complete void of colour and personality, especially compared to it's former self.

The Great Canadian Midway Attraction Type: Family Entetainment Centre Location: Niagara Falls, Ontario Years Operational: 2002-Present Designer(s): White Hutchinsin Leisure Learning Group, Art Attack FX, Integrative Design Services HOCO's Dazzleland Family Fun Center had completely changed Niagara Falls attractions (and more specifically the complexes they were located in) when it debuted in 1992. Being the first family entertainment centre (an arcade-like complex that includes small rides and other attractions as well) in the Falls, it would usher in the direction the area's amusement industry was headed, and several more would open in the area in the decades to follow. Dazzleland Family Fun Center, mid-90's. When the government of Ontario was selecting the location for Casino Niagara in the mid-90s, HOCO apparently put in a bid to get the casino on their land. Eventually the casino went to the Falls Ave. Company, replacing the Maple Leaf Village mall between the Sheraton Foxhead and Sheraton Brock Hotels. This ended up being a financial injection large enough to start a bit of an attraction arms race against HOCO. After the rebranding of all the hotels in the Falls Ave. complex, the opening of Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood, and a massive 2002 expansion to the complex consisting of Rainforest Cafe, WWE Niagara Falls, and the 4D Motion Theatre, the Falls Ave. Company was well into a several-stage redevelopment plan. The plan also featured upcoming additions of more attractions to fill out the already built and soon-to-be-named MGM Studios Plaza that the 4D Motion Theatre sat in the basement of, as well as an indoor F.E.C. to replace the second-floor mall in the now-renamed Sheraton Fallsview. Dazzleland (top, 2001) and the Great Canadian Midway (bottom, 2002) built atop the old Dazzleland foundation. With Dazzleland already being a massive success, and wanting to stay ahead of the curve, HOCO didn't just expand but also refine it into an entirely new attraction. More games reasonably equals higher guest enjoyment, and therefore profit. With this taken into account, the outdoor courtyard style with it's room for walkways between the buildings was re-designed, and HOCO again called upon the White-Hutchinson Leisure Learning Group (WHLLG), the firm who had designed Dazzleland. WHLLG designed not only a remodel of Dazzleland, but an incredible 5-step plan that if seen through to completion would have changed Clifton Hill even more than it ended up doing, leading up to an outdoor amusement park and a waterpark hotel in the field between Clifton Hill and the Skylon Tower. However, only steps 1 to 3 would actually come to fruition. Step 1 was remodeling Dazzleland into The Great Canadian Midway, which opened in 2002 and cost roughly $10 Million. The level, concrete foundation Dazzleland was built on was kept as the foundation of the Midway, hence why it has a similar footprint. Dinosaur Park Miniature Golf was moved to a former parking lot in front of Comfort Inn, and Wendy's would remain above Circus World with the Midway built around it. Rather than have several different buildings, the Midway would all be one indoor space, allowing for more games and year round operation, a genius business move. The Midway, like Dazzleland before it however, was divided into different themed areas and attractions, with the interior themed to an old-school amusement park at nighttime to make it feel outdoors. This makes the Midway somewhat of a spiritual successor to Dazzleland, which builds on the theme and retains the same atmosphere. The central area of the new Midway housed the Games Zone, with miscellaneous redemption games, arcade games, and strings of carnival-style lights between poles above the arcade. Surrounding this area was originally a variety of fake facades utilizing forced perspectives to resemble the buildings and stalls of a carnival midway. Inside the Midway in 2002. Wendy's remained, complete with the former entrance on the Dazzleland side that now exited into the Midway. The only change would be the removal of the hallway near washrooms at the back of the restaurant leading to Dazzleland, as the washrooms had also served as the washrooms for the attraction. The Midway would have its own, much larger washrooms, rendering the connecting hallway redundant. Next to Wendy's, roughly in the place of the former video game/pinball building in the back corner of Dazzleland, was the Ride Theatre. It was originally themed to a funhouse, as it showed the SimEx ride film "Fun House Express", also sometimes simply referred to as "Fun Express." The facade was made to resemble red and white carnival banners flanking the theatre's main sign above the ticket/control booth, which read "Ride Theatre" in a vintage-style carnival font. Clockwise to that was a funnel cake stand, and next to that the prize counter. Along the wall adjacent to that one was a large neon design resembling the marquee of a carnival game stand. Underneath it was all the carnival-eqsue redemption games, including Skee-Ball, Boom Ball, Roll-a-Ball and a Hi-Striker hammer game in the center. Top Left: The main sign for the Ride Theatre as seen from Clifton Hill. Top Right: The funnel cake stand between the ride theatre and the prize counter. Bottom Left: The prize counter, with the Skee-Ball machines visible along the adjacent wall under the carnival marquee. Bottom Right: Shot of the Games Zone facing the carnival marquee. Entrance to the Game Factory. Continuing clockwise around the Midway's walls would bring you to the Game Factory, with a crooked, askew factory building acting as it's facade provided by an Edmonton company called Art Attack FX. When Dinosaur Park was moved, the Boston Pizza and Sports Zone was built in it's place. These were also accessible from the Midway via a staircase up immediately to the right when you walked in the doors. The Sports Zone used the same tokens as the Midway, housing most of the sports games for the arcade, including pool tables and a bowling alley, and you could walk through the restaurant to get to the area from the Midway. It was under this area that the Game Factory existed in the Midway below, with all the water, utility, and power hookups necessary for the restaurant and arcade above being cleverly incorporated into the factory theme of the lower-ceilinged area. This is where several pinball machines and other miscellaneous games originally resided, and a few originals still reside to this day. Boston Pizza and the Sports Zone, 2002. One of these includes an old western-themed shooting gallery that may have come out of Circus World, or a variety of other locations. The Falls have seen a variety of western-themed shooting galleries over the years, mostly "Bonanza" shooting galleries dating to the 70s. If the Midway's is in fact recycled from another attraction, it stands to reason it's most likely it came out of Circus World, who rented their space from HOCO and formerly operated a similar sized shooting gallery that was removed around this time. It's contents have mostly been updated over the years, but some of the animatronics and props it originally contained include a bear, a drunk bandit, a fox, a snake, a skunk, a coyote, and a cowboy in a covered wagon with a rifle. The Game Factory formerly housed another shooting gallery called Blasteroids, which was a one of a kind custom shooting gallery game by Lazer-Tron. The game was themed to a laser tag-esque practice range bunker, featuring blacklight targets with bright, flashing sensors that moved around on arms. The back corner of the Game Factory is also where you can find the washrooms. Wild West Shooting Gallery, mid-2000's. Blasteroid in the Game Factory, early 2010's. Original Ghostblasters facade as it still appeared in the late 2010's. Located next to the Game Factory underneath the rest of Boston Pizza and the Sports Zone is Ghostblasters, a backlight, interactive laser shooting dark ride by the Sally Corporation of Florida. The ride was a package offered by Sally Corp., and was already installed in four other locations. The Midway's however would be the grandest. Rather than being themed to a regular mansion as was the pre-packaged story of the ride, the Midway's version was themed to a haunted hotel to match the history of the local area. In addition to all the props that came with the ride, several custom ones were made by Sally Corp. for HOCO to match the custom theme. Despite being one story underneath Boston Pizza, it originally had an impressive two story facade with crooked roof peaks, also provided by Art Attack FX. The Midway's logo has genius design, with the individual letter fonts making up the word "Midway" referencing all the areas and attractions originally in the complex, which flies right over most people's heads now that many of said elements have been changed or removed. The "M" is patterned with a design similar to that of the arcade's original carpet, the bowling pin "I" is a reference to the Sports Zone, the old-school lightbulbs on the "D" reference the lights that made up the word "Snacks" above the funnel cake stand, the art-deco font of the "W" is similar to the font of the original Ride Theater's logo, the spooky and slime-covered "A" is a reference to Ghostblasters, and the industrial typeface of the "Y" is a reference to the Game Factory area. The Great Canadian Midway's creative logo. The exterior of the attraction features this logo proudly on a double-sided sign which can be seen from either up or down the Hill. The sign is perched on a large overhang that offers a large covered area to the sidewalk below, calling tourists in through the attraction's massive, slide-up bay doors. On the wall of the building flanking the overhang was originally a sign on each side, each promoting a different ride within. Signs remain in these spots today, however the originals were very different. The one on the downhill side of the main sign was a poster for the Ride Theater, and on the uphill side of the main sign was the exterior signage for Ghostblasters, which included gargoyles, lanterns, and a tall sign showing a photo of the ride and it's logo surrounded by a three-dimensional gothic border. Under this sign was the set of double-doors, and on either side of them the thematic signage continued. On each side was a lenticular poster in a faux-stone box showing images of the attraction that changed as you walked past. These double doors are always unlocked while the Midway is open, but are mainly used when the large bay doors must remain shut in the winter. Left: Ride Theatre's original exterior signage, 2002. Right: Original outdoor Ghostblasters sign, late 2000's. To say the Midway did well (and continues to do well) is an understatement. It became an instant icon of Clifton Hill, it's giant sign becoming synonymous with the street itself. In total it originally provided 60,000 square feet of games, rides, entertainment, and dining across two floors, and was home to over 250 games in total, many of which were kept from the Dazzleland days. These included the ever-popular Wheel Em' In (which had been Dazzleland's most profitable game), the aforementioned Skee Ball machines, Roll-a-Ball and Boom Ball machines, several video games and pinball machines, and the giant Sega Super GT 4-player racing game that was placed in front of the Ride Theatre. There would also be several then-new games however, including large-screen Sega simulator titles like Top Skater, Water Ski, and Prop Cycle, several new coin pushers joining those held over from Dazzleland, Konami's Mocap Boxing, a TsuMo Multi-Game Motion System machine, "The Maze of Kings" Egyptian-themed light gun video game, dancing games, and much more. Large-screen Sega games along the Wendy's wall, 2002. The Sports Zone upstairs even featured 3 linked large-screen Harley Davidson motorcycle simulator games, a 4-player Daytona USA with TV monitors atop it so gameplay could be watched by Boston Pizza bar patrons, a Real Sports virtual sports simulator cage, and several more redemption, video, and pinball games. There was also a second, smaller redemption counter upstairs in the Sports Zone, as well as the aforementioned Cosmic Bowling glow-in-the-dark bowling alley featuring six Brunswick Bowlingo lanes. The alley featured a large, three-dimensional blacklight mural beside it matching the Cosmic Bowling theme. Rare light gun video games Brave Firefighters and Maze of Kings, 2002. Daytona USA simulators, 2002. Above: Sports Zone, early 2000's. Right: Pool tables and Cosmic Bowling, early 2000's. All this safely squashed any chance of the Falls Ave. Complex overshadowing the attractions further up the Hill, but it wasn't for lack of trying. Marvel Superheroes Adventure City would end up being the F.E.C. that replaced the Sheraton's Colonial Shops in 2004. It's unclear exactly when certain elements were planned for the Falls Ave. Complex, and if the attraction's details were planned before or after the Midway opened, but the Midway's influence on Adventure City in at least some form is clear. Shortly after this, the Midway itself would see it's first wave of updates. The first of these would come in the form of a renaming of the Ride Theatre to the "FX Thrill Ride Theatre", which received updated signage outside the Midway. The new signage featured a fiberglass ride vehicle protruding from the wall as if it had crashed through it. The ride vehicle resembled the one you're supposedly sitting in during the events of the ride film, and featured a clown sitting in the car. The theatre would see a massive overhaul in 2005. It would now show "Robots of Mars", a film that itself is now shrouded in a bit of mystery. It was a privately created film licensed to Simex ride systems, available in both a standard 21 minute version and a cut-down, ride theatre version. It's possible a portion of the film which took place before the events of the ride version (and were therefore cut from it) were used as the pre-show on the screen in the attraction's waiting room. This is of significance as both the ride version and the full, unedited standard version of the film with the 21 minute run time are currently considered lost media. It's estimated the film was likely only shown at an extremely small handful of ride theatres the world over, leading to it's obscurity. The Lost Media Wiki doesn't even have it listed on the website despite a limited search existing in YouTube comment sections. Updated theatre signage, early 2010's. Theatre re-themed to"Robots of Mars", mid-2000's. The exterior of the theatre would now be themed to the film, complete with the ride's sign atop a massive flying saucer protruding out of the wall, adorned with flashing lights. The wall itself would now feature a massive mural themed to the film that stretched from the wall Wendy's is along, over the ride's entrance, over the Sega Super GT game, and all the way to the Funnel Cake stand. The mural made several references to the film, the most prominent being the giant painting of one of the sand creatures you escape from in the film over the Sega Super GT Game. Under the flying saucer sat the ticket/control desk, flanked by the attraction's entrance and exit. Fiberglass statues portraying characters from the film, namely an Marty the Martian and "Doc" the robot, stood next to the entrance and exit which were located under giant, glowing tower structures. Art Attack FX was once again called upon to provide the theming for the updated theatre. The impressive theming of theatre during its FX Thrill Ride Theatre days, 2005. Ghostblasters would receive updates as well, with the ending of the ride being changed a few years after it opened. The final battle against "Boocifer" (the attraction's antagonist) in the scene after the "Boo Bomb" is detonated, being removed in favour of a much more elaborate graveyard scene. All the props from the original ending were relocated elsewhere in the ride. The new figures for the scene (as well as additions to the lobby) were produced by an Ohio company called Scarefactory at this time, and the lobby was given new, more hotel-theme-fitting wallpaper featuring a ghost pattern instead of the gothic brick design it opened with. Original Ghostblasters lobby (Top) versus how it has appeared since the update (Bottom). Robots of Mars would be replaced by the "Cosmic Coaster" film in 2007, but the thematic elements would remain as they matched the space theme of the new film, save for Marty the Martian who was moved to the lobby of Galaxy Golf. The Cosmic Coaster film would later outlive the thematic elements outside the theatre (more on that later) but the film would begin a hiatus in 2008 with the theatre showing the "Time Riders" film, hosted by John Cleese. It too would be short-lived, and end up being the last film shown fitting the sci-fi theme of theatre. It ended up being replaced sometime around 2010 by an edited version of Fun House Express with additional shots and footage, now dubbed "Coaster Chaos". This would be the last film shown using the original ride system and theatre layout, somewhat poetically as the original Fun Express, had been the first. The original theatre would drop the word "Thrill" from most of it's branding and usually be referred to as simply the "FX Ride Theatre" in it's final days, it's carnival-themed movie somewhat juxtaposed to the heavy space theming outfront. The Midway would see rapid changes throughout the 2010's. By this point the final stages of HOCO's aforementioned 5 stage plan that began with the Midway had been scrapped in favor of a new redevelopment plan in the wake of massive changes to the entertainment industry. With a different design company (Integrative Design Solutions) doing the groundwork and no amusement park to lead up to anymore, many of the thematic elements the Midway opened with would be removed and replaced in the next decade. The first to go in this less-structured era of direction for the Midway was the funnel cake stand beside the FX Theatre, being replaced with an expanded area of ticket counting machines in the very early 2010s. The expanded area of ticket counter machines can be seen on the lefthand side of this image (2011) in the former location of the funnel cake stand. Strike Rock n' Bowl in it's early days shortly after the remodel, early 2010's. Strike! Rock 'N Bowl opened in 2011 as an expansion/rebranding of the Sports Zone connected to Boston Pizza upstairs. The new 7-lane bowling alley replaced the Bowlingo alley that had previously been upstairs, and the Real Sports simulator was removed (along with the Cosmic Bowling mural) due to the wall it was along being the one knocked out for the expansion. The large-screen racing games that patrons could view from Boston Pizza's dining area were moved to the Game Factory around this time, and the space along the wall filled in with various other games. The FX Thrill Ride Theatre was gutted, the theming removed, and reopened as the "XD Theatre". The new ride was built by motion ride system company Triotech, with the new ride system utilizing individually moving seats rather than the entire seating section being on one moving platform. This allows for a higher rider capacity, more comfortable seating, and guests to be able to switch the motion on or off individually. The ride reopened with the new moniker in 2012, the first film it showed being none other than the Cosmic Coaster. A new, flat, printed sign for the theatre replaced the themed signage outside the Midway, a the giant 4-player Sega GT game previously along the wall outside the theatre was moved into the Game Factory. Left: The XD Theater in the mid-2010's. Right: XD Theater signage which replaced the FX Ride Theatre vehicle sign. The gradual phasing out of many of the games the Midway opened with ramped up around 2014, with the older pinball and video games being the first to go. Other updates came in 2016 when the Blasteroid shooting gallery was removed from the Game Factory, the carpeting for the entire arcade was replaced, and the Safari Adventure film (which briefly replaced the Cosmic Coaster) was replaced by the Wild West Coaster film in the XD Theatre, the entire theatre now taking the name of the latter. Two of the Daytona USA and two of the Sega Super GT machines were also removed, and the giant "Sega Super GT" header would follow suit shortly after. By this point, the integration of the Sports Zone (now Strike! Rock 'N Bowl) as part of the actual Midway had begun to fall away, and the area became steadily less sports-themed and more akin to a second, separate arcade. This was furthered even more by a sign reading "Sports Zone" in the main Midway's Games Zone below located on the wall next to the XD Theatre after the old theatre's theming was removed, however this area always seemed to have a revolving door of randomly themed games save for a couple basketball toss machines. Updated carpeting in the arcade. The "Sports Zone" sign added next to the XD Theatre. In 2018 Boston Pizza was heavily remodeled and much of it's custom location-oriented theming removed as part of an initiative to match HOCO'S franchised restaurants with the standard styles of them found elsewhere in the country. This included the removal of the games against the wall along the walkway through Boston Pizza from Strike! Rock 'N Bowl to the staircase to the Midway. The staircase itself would finally be sealed off entirely when the pandemic hit in 2020. This was likely because you had to walk through the restaurant to get to the bowling alley, and during the pandemic an employee would have had to man the stairwell at all times, carding people for proof of vaccine. It was most likely not the only contributing factor to the decision however, as long before the pandemic, carding people for ID when the upstairs area became 19+ after a certain time had required someone staffing the stairwell during the evening hours anyway since it opened, and was likely a costly endeavor. The same year, Ghostblasters had the large haunted house facade (and gothic signage for it outside the Midway) removed and would be replaced with flat cutout signage. The Game Factory followed suit the following year. The Wild West Coaster was updated as well, now reverting to the name XD Theatre and welcoming back a revolving turnstile of films, starting with the Cosmic Coaster's second return to the Midway in 2022. Several older games from the Dazzleland era continued to be phased out including the original Skee-Ball machines, Roll-a-Ball, the Water Gun game, Boom Ball, Knock Down, Bromley's Rock n' Bowl, Namco's incredibly rare (and now highly valuable) Godzilla Wars Jr., Treasure Falls, Hungry Dragon, Wacky Gator, the last remnants of Sega Super GT and Daytona USA, as well as several more. Former staircase up to Boston Pizza while walled off, 2022. The biggest change in the Midway's history however came in February of 2024, when the entire arcade switched from a traditional token and tickets operation to running on a play card system. This had various impacts on the Midway, the most obvious being it leading to the removal of all of the token action games, many of which were the last remnants of Dazzleland by this point. This included Wheel Em' In, Smokin' Token, Goin' Rollin', Wonder Wheel, Deep Freeze, Simpson's Kooky Carnival, Big Shot, Lite Em' Up, Big Haul, and all the coin pushers save for the more modern "rapid fire" ones that use recycling tokens which never leave the machine. Various new games filled in the space created, including a large number of e-claw electronically-fixed claw machines. It also led to the removal of the ticket counter machines next to the prize counter. One positive to seemingly come out of it however was the re-opening of the staircase from the Midway up to Boston Pizza/Strike! Rock 'N Bowl (now named Strike! Games Zone), perhaps due to the cross-compatible play cards proudly displaying the logos of both the Midway and the bowling alley. Updated Ghostblasters and Game Factory facades after the removal of their 3-dimensional theming. When the Midway debuted the play card system, Bone Blaster Shooting Gallery (which had briefly occupied the front half of the former Fun Factory store space next to Movieland) was moved into the arcade along the Wendy's wall. The gallery was built by Daniel's Wood Land, the benchmark name in shooting galleries, and for good reason. It's incredibly well designed, witty, and worth the money, despite taking up a huge amount of former arcade floor space. The impressive "Bone Blaster! Shootin' Gallery" The Midway has now been entertaining guests for over two decades, three if you include it's past incarnation as Dazzleland. It may be very different than it was when it opened both in contents and concept, but the Midway still offers a wide variety of games for various styles of arcade-goers. The future for the attraction remains unclear, as it has always seemed to and always will be a reflection of larger industry trends, but while the glory days of it's thematic elements and storytelling are gone, several elements such as Ghostblasters, the wild west shooting gallery, the string carnival lights and marquee in the main Games Zone, and an increasingly smaller handful of older games remain. Between Adventure City's even more lackluster attempts at removing it's theming, some of the totally themeless F.E.C.s that have recently opened in the area, and the lack of maintenance at the Skylon Tower's Skyquest (despite its impressive collection of rare and vintage games), the Midway continues to be a stand out location that still rises above the rest.

Theatres, Bowling Alleys, and Miscellaneous This page features a variety of theatre-based attractions including ride theatres, stand-alone animatronic shows with their own theatre, light shows, drive-ins, and movie theatres with some sort of specialty theming or technology. Famous Players' chain of cinemas (now owned by Cineplex) for example spawned a variety of specially themed megaplexes in the late 90's and early 2000's. This page also contains a catch-all for all other miscellaneous attractions which don't belong in a specific category, such as bowling alleys, obstacle courses, laser-tag arenas, roller rinks, stand-alone rides, and more. Niagara Region Bird Kingdom - Niagara Falls Bronto's Adventure Playland - Niagara Falls Cataract Bowl - Niagara Falls Cinema 180 - Crystal Beach Amusement Park, Crystal Beach Cliff Hangers - Niagara Falls Country Jamboree - Crystal Beach Amusement Park, Crystal Beach Daredevil Obstacle Challenge - Marvel Superheroes Adventure City, Niagara Falls Dino Rampage 4D - Niagara Falls Extreme Movie Ride 4D - MGM Studios Plaza, Niagara Falls Fairview Bowling Lanes - St. Catharines FX Ride Theatre/Cosmic Coaster/XD Theatre - Great Canadian Midway, Niagara Falls Get Lost! Mystery Maze - Niagara Falls Good Times Jamboree/The Dancing Bears - Pyramid Place, Niagara Falls Greg Frewin Theatre - Niagara Falls Hillbilly Bear Jamboree - Maple Leaf Village, Niagara Falls Hot Air Fantasy - Marineland, Niagara Falls IMAX Pyramid - Pyramid Place, Niagara Falls Jeff's Bowl-O-Rama - Welland Legend Niagara/Great White Water Picture Show - Pyramid Place, Niagara Falls Meet Mr. Lincoln - Maple Leaf Village, Niagara Falls Niagara's Fury - Table Rock Centre, Niagara Falls Niagara Serpentarium - Niagara Falls Parkway Social - St. Catharines Pla-Mor Bowling Lanes - St. Catherines Skylon Roller Rink - Skylon Tower, Niagara Falls Skyway Drive-In - Fonthill Space Spiral Tower - Niagara Falls Strike! Rock 'N Bowl - Niagara Falls Waltzing Waters - Niagara Falls Zombie Attack - Niagara Falls Theatre (Name Unknown) - National Marine Aquarium of Canada parking lot, Niagara Falls Greater Toronto Area AMC Interchange 30 - Vaughn Bowlerama - Bathurst St., North York (Toronto) Bowlerama - Cedarbrae Mall, Scarborough (Toronto) Bowlerama - Dundas St., Etobicoke (Toronto) Bowlerama - Yonge St., North York (Toronto) Bowlerama - Jane Park Plaza, North York (Toronto) Bowlerama/Kennedy Bowl - Scarborough (Toronto) Bowlerama/Parkway Bowl - Parkway Mall, Scarborough (Toronto) Bowlerama - Overlea Blvd., East York (Toronto) Bowlerama - Rexdale Blvd., Etobicoke (Toronto) Bowlerama - Trafalgar Village, Oakville Bowlero - Brampton Burlington Bowl - Burlington C4 Centre - Eastown Plaza, Scarborough (Toronto) Cinesphere - Ontario Place, Toronto Danforth Bowl - East York (Toronto) Don Mills Bowl - Don Mills Centre, North York (Toronto) Famous Players/Cineplex Colossus - Vaughn Famous Players/Rainbow/SilverCity/Cineplex Cinema - Fairview Mall, North York (Toronto) The 5 Drive-In - Oakville FX Adventure Theatre - Ontario Place, Toronto Laser Quest - Mississauga Laser Quest - Richmond Hill Laser Quest - Scarborough Markham Bowl - Markham O'Connor Bowl - Scarborough (Toronto) Planet Laser - Oakville Playtime Bowl - York (Toronto) The Roller Palace - Warden/Finch, Scarborough (Toronto) Rollerpony - Etobicoke (Toronto) Roller World - Glen Watford/Sheppard, Scarborough (Toronto) Richmond Hill Pro Bowl - Richmond Hill Scooter's Roller Palace - Mississauga SilverCity Cinemas - Brampton SilverCity Cinemas - Mississauga SilverCity Cinemas - Richmond Hill SuSO Skate - Brampton Tour of the Universe/Ride Theatre - CN Tower, Toronto Ultimate Laser Tag - Oakville Webb Bowl - Royal York Plaza, Etobicoke (Toronto) Ride Theatre (Name Unknown) - Sega City/Playdium, Mississauga Lake Huron and Georgian Bay Balm Beach Bowling Alley (and Tavern) - Balm Beach Bayshore Lanes - Midland The Bowling Alley - Owen Sound Centennial Theatre - Joyland Arcade, Wasaga Beach The Dardenella - Wasaga Beach Elmvale Drive-In - Wasaga Beach (Elmvale) Georgian Bowl - Collingwood Gift Bowl - Sauble Beach Great Slide Ride - Blue Mountain Resort, Blue Mountain (Collingwood) Hiway Bowl - Sarnia Knight Haven Bowling Lanes - Penetang Little Bowl - Goderich Marcin Bowl - Sarnia Playland Park Bowling Alley - Playland Park, Wasaga Beach Starlite Drive-In - Grand Bend Giant Slide (Name Unknown) - Grand Bend Trampoline Attraction (Name Unknown) - Grand Bend Ontario - Other Areas AMF Frederick Lanes - Kitchener/Waterloo Ajax 5 Pin Bowling Centre - Ajax Bowlerama - Brookfield Plaza, Peterborough Bowlerama - Chatham Bowlerama - Guelph Bowlerama - Stoney Creek (Hamilton) Bowlerama - Wellington Plaza (later moved to Bayfield Mall), Barrie Bowlerama/C&D Lanes - Woodstock Bowlerama/Echo Bowl - Brantford Bowling on Broadway - Orangeville Captain Andy's River Towne Revue - Boblo Island Amusement Park, Amhurstberg Coldwater Bowling Centre - Coldwater Fleetway - London Hanover Drive-In - Hanover Haunted Theatre - Boblo Island Amusement Park, Amhurstberg Huntsville Bowl - Huntsville Kempview Bowl - Barrie Kingpin Bowlounge - Bingemans Funworx, Kitchener/Waterloo Lakeview Bowl - Market Plaza, Peterborough Leisure Bowling Lanes - Oshawa Lindsay Twin Drive-In - Lindsay Mario's Bowl - Thunder Bay Merivale Bowling Centre - Nepean (Ottawa) Mountain Lanes - Hamilton Muskoka Bowl - Muskoka Muskoka Drive-In - Muskoka Mustang Drive-In - Guelph Mustang Drive-In - London North Crest Lanes - Sault St. Marie Orillia Bowl/Rock n Bowl - Orillia Orleans Bowling Centre (and Striker's Billiards) - Orleans (Ottawa) Oxford Drive-In - Woodstock Partners Billiards and Bowling - North Bay Plaza Bowl - Sudbury Port Elmsey Drive-In - Perth Riverbowl & Billiards - Burk's Falls Skylight Drive-In - Pembroke Skyway Bowl - Hamilton Springwater Lanes - Elmvale Stardust Drive-In - Newmarket Starlight Drive-In - Hamilton Stellar Lanes - Newmarket Strike Point Bowling Centre - Lindsay Sunset Drive-In - 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Stettler Heritage Lanes - Red Deer High River Sunset Drive In - High River High Rollers Bowling - Banff Hillside Lanes - Three Hills HJ's 5 Pin Bowling - Grande Prairie Holiday Bowl - Lethbridge House of Skate - Calgary Innisfail Bowling Lanes - Innisfail Jurassic Laser Tag & Arcades - Drumheller King Pins Bowling & Game Room - Bonnyville K-J Bowl - Edmonton Laser City - Calgary Laser City - Edmonton Laser City South Calgary - Calgary LaZer Runner - Edmonton Leduc Lanes - Leduc Leisure Lanes - Ponoka Lloyd Lanes - Lloydminster Lucky Strike Bowling - Lac la Biche Marina Bowling Center - Cold Lake Millennium Lanes - Okotoks Motor Nights Edmonton - Beaumont Panorama Lanes - Medicine Hat Paradise Lanes - Calgary Parellel Lanes - St. Paul The Pin - Taber Planet Lazer - Edmonton Plaza Bowling - Edmonton Railside Bowl - Red Deer Railside Bowl - Sylvan Lake The Rocket - Viking Rocky Lanes - Rocky Mountain House Rollers Roller Rink - Edmonton Scotiabank Theatre - West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Shamrock Lanes - Airdrie Sherwood Bowl - Sherwood Park (Edmonton) Silver City - West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Smoky Lanes - Girouxville Splitsville Glamorgan - Calgary Splitsville Highfield - Calgary Splitsville Meridian - Calgary SR2 Motion Simulator - Fantasyland/Galaxyland, West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton St. Albert Bowling Centre - St. Albert Striker Lanes - Vermilion Striker's Alley - Rimbey Tabb Lanes & Lounge - Camrose Town of Raymond Drive-In - Raymond Turbo Ride Theatre/Galaxy Quest - Fantasyland/Galaxyland, West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Unchaga Lanes - Fairview Underground Bowling & Rec Room - Hinton Uptown Alley - Fort McMurray Vegreville Bowling Lanes - Vegreville Wainwright Bowling Centre - Wainwright Western Lanes - Wetaskiwin World's Largest Dinosaur - Drumheller Manitoba and Saskatchewan Allan Bowl/Pins & Pints Bowling - Allan, SK Alley Oop Building - Radville, SK Auto Cinema Saskatcheone - Manitou Beach, SK The Biggar Bowl - Biggar, SK Billy Mosienko Lanes - Winnipeg Boissevain and Area Bowling Lanes - Boissevain, MB Bolorama Lanes - Regina, SK Bowlers Lanes - Gimli, MB Broadview Bowl - Broadview, MB Carman 5 Pin Bowl - Carman, MB Carnduff Bowl - Carnduff, SK Chateau Lanes - Winnipeg, MB Coronation Bowling Centre - Winnipeg, MB Cross Road Lanes - Thompson, MB Cut Knife Country Lanes - Cut Knife, SK Dakota Bowling - Winnipeg, MB Esterhazy Bowl Arena - Esterhazy, SK Estevan Bowl - Estevan, SK Foam Lake Bowling Centre - Foam Lake, SK Galaxy Lanes - Melita, MB Glencarin Bolodrome - Regina, SK Golden Mile Bowling Lanes - Regina, SK Gutters Bowling and Game Centre - North Battleford, SK Hepburn Centennial Bowl - Hepburn, SK Hunter's Eastview Bowl - Saskatoon, SK Hunter's Fairhaven Bowl - Saskatoon, SK Jake's Place - Watrous, SK Kemway Lanes - Humboldt, SK Kindersley Bowl-A-Drome - Kindersley, SK LaVerendrye Lanes - Winnipeg, MB Lipton Bowling Alley - Lipton, SK Melfort Bowl - Melfort, SK Melville Bowl Arena, Melville, MB Minnedosa Bowl - Minnedosa, MB Moonlight Movies Drive-In - Pilot Butte, SK Nipawin Bowl - 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Royal London Wax Museum (Niagara) Attraction Type: Wax Museum Location: Niagara Falls, Ontario Years Operational: 1971?-1975 Designer(s): Waxattract , Universal Android Robert Dunham's Waxattract constructed the Royal London Wax Museum in the early 1970's. It replaced the Antique Auto Museum on Falls Ave. (located in the parking garage building attached to the Sheraton Foxhead hotel) when it moved to Clifton Hill and became the Cars of the Greats Museum. The Royal London was themed after the royal family and was a Waxattract built and owned attraction, but was a co-project of sorts, with some of the scenes and figures being created by Bruce Randall's Universal Android. The attraction was also co-owned, likely being Waxattract's first partnership with the Iannuzelli family who Waxattract would go on to build both House of Frankenstein locations for, as well as co-own with them for several years. Details on it's exact opening year a little hazy however. The Dunhams themselves recount that it opened in 1971 just before the first House of Frankenstein on Clifton Hill, which makes sense considering Waxattract shifted their focus to haunted attractions after the House of Frankenstein's massive success and began to move away from the more traditional historical wax museums. 1971 also lines up with the year the Antique Auto Museum closed, adding validity to that being the opening year as there's no record of anything occupying the space in between. That being said, newspaper articles discuss it as a soon-to-open attraction in 1973, however it could be that the publication is referring to a "new" updated version of the attraction or simply it's grand opening for that tourist season, if seasonal. The only style of brochure that has surfaced for the attraction. Due to it's short lifespan, it's quite possible it was the only kind produced. The building was adorned with regal neon signage, and in the front window sat a beautiful recreation of the Queen's royal stagecoach. The Dunham family allegedly had the coach sitting in their home's driveway when it was awaiting it's transfer to the attraction. Despite its gorgeous displays, it faced one problem: at the time, the Western world had no interest in the royal family. The museum was very well received by those lucky enough to experience it, but it simply was not a topic most people were willing to tour an entire museum on. Dunham's Boris Karloff Wax Museum he built and managed was performing much better simply due to its theme, despite being in a much less trafficked area of The Falls, whereas the underperforming Royal London was in perhaps one of the most heavily trafficked areas in the whole country. Dunham took note of this as well, and an attraction was on its way that would change Niagara Falls, and the amusement industry, forever. The lesson of the importance of a horror theme, as well as establishing Waxattract's product quality with the Iannuzellis, would have made the Royal London an important step in the eventual creation of the House of Frankenstein(s), if the attraction did infact debut first. (Left): The Royal London Wax Museum seen in this digitally-enhanced shot from a blurry 1973 8mm film reel. (Right): The Queen's ornate stagecoach that sat in the window. The small building that would eventually become home to the Tower of London Wax Museum as it looked many, many years prior in the 1930's. In 1975, with the Iannuzellis now seeing high returns from the House of Frankenstein(s), as well as Dunham finding success with Castle Dracula and shifting his focus to building attractions in the U.S., the decision was made to close the Royal London Wax Museum. It's collection was sold to the upcoming but ill-fated Tower of London Wax Museum on Clifton Hill, which opened in 1976. It's unknown how much of the collection was purchased by the Tower of London, but if the Royal London Wax Museum had occupied the entirety of the former Antique Auto Museum space, the entire collection likely wouldn't have fit into the small, 1925 building at the front of the Darling Motel property which the Tower of London was built in. The building was two floors and a basement, however the gift shop that had previously existed in the basement remained, meaning the museum only occupied two small floors at the maximum, or one if the motel offices remained upstairs and weren't relocated. Regardless, the less that ended up there the better, as it would suffer a suspicious fire just a few months after it opened, destroying the entire museum. The once glorious stagecoach can be seen charred in the window in photos taken after the blaze, a far cry from how it would have looked rolling out of the Dunhams' driveway. The sad, charred end of the collection and the royal stagecoach in the window of the (former) Tower of London Wax Museum, 1976.

Hollywood/Movieland Wax Museum Attraction Type: Wax Museum Location: Niagara Falls, Ontario Years Operational: 1966 (as Hollywood Wax Museum), 1967-Present (as Movieland Wax Museum) Designer(s): Don Post Studios, Waxattract , Costello Productions In 1965, Welland Securities (Present-day Harry Oakes Company) would tear down the last remaining gatehouse of the Zimmerman estate which had formerly occupied their land. It had been the only remaining Zimmerman estate building on the land save for the stables, which had been gutted, re-enforced and turned into the Welland Securities offices in the Park Motor Inn. This remained Welland Securities' (now HOCO's) offices until Comfort Inn was torn down in 2015 (and the nearly 150 year old stable building with it). The gatehouse was located right on Clifton Hill, and had most recently been home to the short-lived Niagara Gun Museum for the 1965 season only, and a snack bar/gift shop prior to that. The short lived Niagara Gun Museum in the old Zimmerman gatehouse behind the Park Motor Hotel sign, 1965. The brand new attraction in 1966. The over 100 year old building would be demolished in November 1965. After this, Malcolm Howe and Arthur White, who already co-owned the Burning Springs Wax Museum together, leased the land the gatehouse formerly sat on from Welland Securities and would build a pivotal attraction: Movieland Wax Museum. Opened in 1966 in the building now occupied by Wizard's Golf and the Upper Canada Trading Co., the museum originally opened with the name "Hollywood Wax Museum" and cost $500,000 (a whopping amount in 1966) to build. The ribbon was cut by a wax figure of Vincent Price (assisted by the current Mayor Phillip Downie of course) in a ceremony on the 29th of June. The museum was located on the main floor with a unique gift shop called Niagara Souvenirs in the basement, which contained a variety of independent vendors selling various goods. The attraction even went the extra mile and had official license to use Universal Pictures properties, something they probably could have gotten away without in a time before smartphones and YouTube copyright strikes if they really wanted to. It nonetheless helped the attraction's detail and authenticity. Mayor Phillip Downie assists a wax Vincent Price with the ribbon cutting, 1966. All of the original figures in the museum were sculpted by legendary monster mask creator Don Post Studios in Florida. Chances are, if you know anything about Halloween and monster culture from 1950 to the early 90's, you're familiar with a latex mask created by Don Post. However, Post's artistic abilities went far beyond mail-order monsters. The team at the Florida factory, headed by sculptor Pat Newman, created 60 wax figures for the museum. In a tribute to the actress who had boosted Niagara's fame as a honeymoon capital, beside the ticket booth in the lobby was Marilyn Monroe standing over her iconic subway grate, a fan blowing air up her skirt every few seconds. Inside the museum were 45 scenes featuring many stars including Elizabeth Taylor, Bing Crosby, Lucille Ball and Laurel and Hardy. The most impressive figure however was a 12 and half foot tall King Kong figure, the largest wax figure ever made at the time. The news article about his creation can be read here . Tom Burman worked at Don Post at the time, especially on the King Kong figure. His special effects work would go on to change films themselves, lending his work to Planet of the Apes, The Goonies, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and more. Laurel and Hardy, late 60's. Marilyn in the lobby, where she remained until shortly after this image was taken in 1993. Final cosmetic stages of the creation of Kong at Don Post Studios in Florida, 1966. The connection to familiar Halloween masks and the museum went far beyond the design team however. The horror section of famous movie monsters, most of which were characters from Universal Pictures, was entirely comprised of wax casts of the same face and hand molds used to create the original (and now highly collectible) versions of Don Post Universal Monster Halloween masks. The section also featured some basic store-window style continuous animation in the form of Dracula opening and closing his coffin lid, the Hunchback chained to rotating platform, and Frankenstein's Monster on a raising/lowering flip-up operating table. While rudimentary, at the time it certainly would have added to the section's creep factor. Bela Lugosi as Dracula, 1970's. Hunchback of Notre Dame, 1970's. The Mummy, late 60's. John Wayne and Ward Bond in the Hondo scene, late 60's. To coincide with the museum's opening, Howe and White also leased the land from Welland Securities just down The Hill from the driveway into the Quality Inn Fallsway. On this land they constructed the 184 ft. tall Space Spiral Tower, built by Universal Design of Wildwood, New Jersey. The tower was half ride-half observation deck, with a large, circular, slowly spinning observation deck that held 30 riders and rose up the tower. This is exactly where the Fudge Factory now sits, as the store is circular because that was originally the loading area for the tower before it was demolished in 2006. The two attractions prospered instantly, greatly furthering the amusement industry sprouting up in The Falls and the Clifton Hill area specifically. The large and detailed wax museum took the foundations created in the area by the few pre-existing attractions at the time like Tussaud's , the Antique Auto Museum, the Spacearium, and Ripley's , further pushing the boundaries of design and theming. The attraction would be renamed "Movieland Wax Museum" for it's second season in 1967, the name it still holds today. In June of 1968, a storage facility on Stanley Ave. that housed extra figures for the attraction as well as a workshop suffered a fire, destroying several figures. It's not clear which ones were lost in the fire, or if they were new figures which were yet to be installed or original ones that had since been removed. The Wizard of Oz scene, late 60's. On the Waterfront scene featuring Marlon Brando and Eva Marie Saint, late 60's. The first updates would come around the very late 60's to early 70's, when Robert Dunham of Waxattract did some work for the attraction, however it isn't clear what he supplied. On June 14th, 1974, a scene in the attraction proper would catch fire. The museum manager Dalton Howe attempted to put it out with an extinguisher to no success, and then proceeded to lay his life on the line by personally running through the attraction searching for guests who may still be inside, opening fire exits and using a flashlight to see through the thick smoke while staff called the fire department. Nobody was injured in the blaze except the brave manager who was treated for smoke inhalation, and the staff's quick response allowed the fire department to arrive on time and limit the damage to the one scene, however which scene was destroyed or what replaced it isn't clear. Damage for even the one scene was initially estimated to potentially be as high as $25,000 showing just how expensive the figures were. While initially changing very little for the first several years, the attraction would be one of if not the most constantly added to and updated in The Falls from the mid 70's to early 90's, as the world's reignited interest in cinema following the rise of the blockbuster (thanks to films like Jaws and Star Wars) resulted in a golden age of constant new hit movies. Following the popular 1976 remake of King Kong, the large figure became part of the lobby. What's strange is that Marilyn Monroe could still be found as the lobby scene up until 1993. While it's possible Kong only replaced Monroe temporarily, a more likely explanation is that the walls between the final Kong room and the lobby were knocked out, and then put back up in later years, and that neither scene actually moved. Original Kong scene with Fay Wray, late 60's, Derek Costello's company Costello Productions provided certain figures for the attraction at some time during this period, however when or what exactly is unclear. In case you haven't picked up on it by making it to this point in the article (or site as a whole), wax artists often have the curse of anonymity. One figure he's suspected of supplying is the museum's original Darth Vader, as Costello claims to have built several recreations of the dark lord of the Sith over the years, and Niagara only has so many museums that ever would have contained one. The attraction also received minor exterior updates at this point, namely Niagara Souvenirs being renamed "Falls Gift Shops", posters for recent arrivals being added to the faux windows, a new vertical sign above the entrance, and the large Movieland sign being removed from the changing billboard on the roof and relocated to the face of the building. A Belgian Waffle stand was also added to the side of the building facing the driveway into the Park Motor Hotel (later Venture Inn.) Left: The attraction 1976. Right: The updated exterior in 1992. The attraction in 1992 before the remodel (top), and the attraction in 2004 with the Egyptian theme (bottom). The talking Pharoah on the corner. In 1992 Welland Securities became HOCO, who purchased most of the attractions leasing their land including Movieland, the Space Spiral Tower, and the Cliffside Motel, leaving only Ripley's and Circus World as tenants. Movieland was heavily remodeled to keep up with more high-tech and thrilling attractions like the House of Frankenstein and Castle Dracula , and the exterior was given an Egyptian theme. The museum received updated signage, although the by this point famous "Movieland" sign would remain. Large lion statues with glowing eyes were added to the top of the overhang on the exterior, which was now meant to look like an Egyptian temple occupying part of the building. This is when the beloved animatronic fiberglass pharaoh was added on the corner of the building along the sidewalk, just under the overhang. His wise-cracks and hints on what lies inside are a favorite among Clifton Hill visitors to this day. His original voice from 1992 to the mid-2000s sounds a lot like the same voice actor behind the announcer voice that booms out of the House of Frankenstein, although it hasn't been confirmed if it is indeed the same talent. The lobby was remodeled as well. Rather than cameramen filming Marilyn Monroe, they would now be filming an Indiana Jones figure, who lowered up and down on a rope. In the background was a large Anubis statue who's glowing eye opened and closed. A few short years after the lobby remodel, the cameramen were reunited with Marilyn in the museum, and a fogging pit was added underneath Indiana Jones on the rope. Left: The original Indiana Jones scene featuring the cameramen recycled from the Marilyn Monroe scene, mid 90's. Above: Updated scene with the fogging pit. Many of the early movie stars in the hall immediately after the entrance were moved to two large display cases in the middle of the attraction with multiple figures, instead of each one having their own scene. In their original spot just inside the entrance an intentionally scary scene was created to match the popular Indiana Jones series. Many of the figures added since HOCO took ownership were slightly frightening, like an animatronic Jurassic Park Dilophosaurus or a startling Joker scene with a machine gun sound effect. The horror section was also slightly remodeled at this time, to include haunted house props and more modern horror characters like Freddy Kruger. Unlike when it would move to it's current location in 2005, the old location's chicken exit was placed before the horror section, rather than before a true haunted house portion. In fact, there was no true haunted house section, since many of the figures that would end up in the haunted house section of the new location were simply scattered throughout the regular portion of the museum. Many of the figures in the horror section of the original museum after the chicken exit were actually less scary and less animated than the Jurassic Park scene or the lunging alligator encountered earlier in the museum. The snake scene from two different angles. Cocooned mummy and jumping spiders. Corpse on the bed of spikes which fell towards guests. Likely to prevent unsuspecting parents who had no clue what kind of attraction this was dragging their children in and expecting static figures of washed-up movie stars, getting the living daylights scared out of them, then possibly ending up filing complaints with HOCO's customer service department, an intentionally scary scene was put at the beginning. This let people know what they were walking in to: an experience rather than an ordinary museum. There were figures behind plexiglass such as a man upside down in a cocoon thrashing around, a corpse that popped up from the floorboards in a scene full of snakes, a skull which flipped up out of the ground in a scene of rats, a skeleton on a bed of spikes that fell towards you, and a scene with spiders on fishing line "jumping" all over a rotting corpse. As stated earlier, its not known when exactly Costello Productions began designing updates to Movieland, but if Costello hadn't already been for years by the time of the HOCO acquisition, he most likely had a large hand in this remodel. Movieland was his most recent amusement industry project on the Canadian side of The Falls, however his latest project to date is the Haunted House of Wax in Niagara Falls, NY (owned by Peter Stranges who owned the Antique Auto Museum) in 2002, which is allegedly so scary certain props have never even been turned on by the owner due to fear of scaring away customers. The actual horror section was also updated at this time, with characters like Freddy Krueger, Pumpkinhead, Alien, Terminator, and the Crypt Keeper being added to or downright replacing some of the more obscure horror film scenes such as the "Mole People." Perhaps the biggest change to the museum however would be a wax hand casting counter now located in the middle of the attraction between the music stars and the Simpson's scene, where guests could pay extra to have wax copies of their hands made. Above: an alien from the film Mars Attacks added to the Metaluna Mutant scene. Right: a Distortions Unlimited vampire prop which was added to the wall next to the balcony formerly home to the Phantom, now home to various other Distortions ghouls. The Predator. A small souvenir store called the Fun Factory was also added to the side of the Movieland building, facing the driveway into Comfort Inn. It retained the Belgian waffle stand on one side of the store entrance, and added a booth on the other with an animatronic seal and TV screen promoting Marineland. Members of the r/Niagara subreddit (where this site has it's origins) helped with remembering that there were identical others which apparently existed in Maple Leaf Village and the Skylon at the same time. This was likely to drum up some (even then) much needed positive advertising for the rightfully disliked park, in the areas of the city where the tourists actually were, unlike the park itself. The "Sailor Seal" animatronics were designed by Advanced Animations, who had also done Marineland's short lived "Hot Air Fantasy" animatronic show. Fun Factory in 2000. Sailor Seal in 1992. Movieland was moved down The Hill to Circus World's former location in 2005 (along with the Fun Factory which would now contain the wax hand casting counter), and Circus World's owners moved a smaller version of the attraction to the then-popular Victoria Ave. area. Movieland retained all the figures and sets they had at the time of the move, moving them all into the new space and also adding several new scenes. All the scariest elements were put in the new "House of Horrors", a small optional haunted house section at the end of the attraction after the regular horror section. "Ask the Brain", an animatronic fortune telling machine formerly part of the Dazzleland complex, was also moved to the horror section. The House of Horrors would include several new scenes and props including several from major prop studios like Scarefactory, and have a catacombs hallway, a section with a vibrating floor, a crypt hallway as well as a mirror maze. The finale to this section is a shaking electric chair that guests can sit in for a photo-op, or execute their friends with the push of a button. The museum now emptied into the Fun Factory, that had moved down The Hill with Movieland into the former Canada Trading Co. space, although the popular Fantasy Fudge Factory counter from the space's Canada Trading Co. days was retained. This counter would be removed in 2009 when the Fudge Factory got it's own store space, ironically in the former base of the now-demolished Space Spiral Tower. Left: The relocated museum in 2005. Right: The relocated Fun Factory that opened next to the museum shortly after. Cosmic Golf, 2005. Several exterior element were left over from Movieland. In Movieland's old home, Cosmic Golf, a blacklight mini golf was temporarily set up. Two years later in 2007, the golf moved to it's permanent home in the basement becoming Galaxy Golf, and the Niagara Marketplace gift shop that had formerly occupied the basement was moved upstairs. The new store would be a hybrid of the Niagara Marketplace and the old Canada Trading Co. gift shop. While there were now no private vendors and it was all one store like the old Canada Trading Co., a focus was still put on handmade/cultural goods like the market sold. This new store would be named the Upper Canada Trading Co., which contained a Tim Horton's beside it. This was all the second phase in a 5-step plan HOCO was implementing at the time to overhaul their side of the street, but they would shift gears to a new development plan in the 2010's following a variety of changes to the industry. This had little effect on the mini golf however, which was re-themed to Wizard's Golf in 2014. Former location of the original Movieland today. While the original Movieland building still stands today, the attraction itself has continued to prosper and expanded down the street, receiving all-new, grand signage with the move. The newer location features a front window which was originally home to scene depicting a wax figure making wax figures, but this was quickly replaced the following year with an Ocean's Eleven scene. The new lobby featured the same Egyptian theming and expanded on it further, retaining all the same elements but adding Bresnan Frasier in "The Mummy", the pop-up skull relocated from the old entrance hallway, and Lara Croft. Indiana Jones lowering on the rope made the move aswell, however a snake pit with a cobra rising out of it replaced the fogging well. The pharaoh made the move too, now accompanied by a talking snake that slid out of a "secret" hatch in the ceiling that opened and closed. The Egyptian theming has since been entirely removed from the lobby proper however, with the half of the space containing Brendan Frasier, Lara Croft and Anubis first being replaced in 2009 with a Pirates of the Caribbean scene. Brendan Frasier and Lara Croft were added to a condensed Egytptian scene in the half with Indiana Jones over the cobra pit, however the scene was replaced with Katy Perry in 2015. The iconic pharaoh on the corner of the space remains, however the snake's heavy Middle-Eastern accent has been changed for obvious reasons to a British woman's voice. The front window scene was changed to Heath Ledger's Joker in 2013, and Katy Perry was quickly replaced with Taylor Swift in 2016. The Pharoah and the snake in place in the newer location. Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft in the lobby. Note the stone lion relocated from the original location's facade in the background.. Indiana Jones in the newer location down The Hill. Relocated Frasier and Jolie to the Indiana Jones scene. Updated lobby and Bone Blaster in 2023. The interior of the current location would also see a variety of changes over the years such as the Crocodile Dundee scene being replaced with a recreation of the set from the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and the Jurassic Park Dilophosaurus scene (which had seen better days) being replaced by The Rock and a hippo from the 2016 Jumanji. The entire attraction would be remodeled in 2019 when the Fun Factory store the attraction exited into was removed. The front half of the former store space became the Bone Blaster Shooting Gallery, with the back half becoming a large superheroes room. A section of the lobby wall behind the former Pirates of the Caribbean scene was knocked out in favor of a large, open exit to this area that allows people to gaze in at the heroes. The House of Horrors (now renamed the Horror Chamber) was also heavily remodeled at this time to be more movie-oriented, now featuring the relocated Alien figure in a large Alien scene that replaced the vibrating floor section, the crypt, and the mirror maze. Pennywise also replaced a scene formerly at the end of the mirror maze containing a zombie girl. A small but historically significant change to also come with this remodel was the removal a taxidermy moose in the Dr. Doolittle scene, that had actually originally come from the "Road to Utopia" scene present in the attraction on opening day and was once ridden by a figure of Bob Hope. The moose was replaced with a large stuffed bear. The moose in the Dr. Doolittle scene before it's removal. As the landscape of cinema constantly evolves, Movieland has had a long history of staying relevant, up to date and fresh while (mostly) staying true to its spirit, even retaining several older scenes. Several opening day Don Post figures remain in the attraction today, including Laurel and Hardy, Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, the Wizard of Oz characters, The Creature From the Black Lagoon, The Mummy, Frankenstein's Monster, and the famous giant King Kong. The original figures will celebrate their 60th birthday in 2026, along with the historic attraction itself.

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Nightmares Fear Factory Attraction Type: Haunted Attraction Location: Niagara Falls, Ontario Years Operational: 1984-Present Designer(s): Robert (Bobber) Gibbs, Frank La Penna The earliest roots of Nightmares actually date all the way back to 1966, across Lake Ontario from the Niagara Region. A charity organization which Robert "Bobber" Gibbs belonged to opened a seasonal Halloween spook house which ran for the days leading up to Halloween in an old farmhouse in Oshawa, and the following Halloween moved to a farmhouse in Whitby. Keeping the concept's further potential in mind, he would revisit it for the 1980 Halloween season and open a seasonal haunt of his own as a business, this time in an old farmhouse in Markham on the North-West corner of Warden/Steeles, literally across the street from Toronto's Scarborough borough. It would be named "13 Rooms of Terror", as it moved through thirteen rooms of the renovated house, each with a different theme or scare, and would be open for all of October. The location closer to the City made the haunt even more popular than Gibbs' setups in the 60's, and it would return in the same location the following year since Gibbs owned the building. The intersection of Warden and Steeles today as seen on Google maps, with a large business plaza now sitting where Gibbs' old farmland and once sat. It would prove to be so popular that Gibbs began to contemplate the profitability of turning his ideas into full blown haunted attractions, and he would do just that in 1982. Gibbs would open his first permanent haunted attraction as a concession at Prudhomme's Landing, an amusement park in Lincoln on the shores of Lake Ontario, just inside the Niagara Region. The "Haunted House" would again remodel the bones of an old home, renovating the old Prudhomme house (the family which the land was named after) that stood on the land and predated the park. This sign was all that remained of the Haunted House after it was eventually demolished in the 1990's. This photo was taken in 2011, nine years after the park was abandoned. The thing the Haunted House was known for (as all Gibbs' subsequent attractions would be) was that the actors actually touched guests, poking and prodding them in the pitch darkness and grabbing their ankles as they walked past. The attraction was notoriously scary, and quickly became a rite of passage for Niagara Falls teens. It's extreme nature and the live actors' dedication to intensity provided an unrelenting experience through the twisting corridors of the old building. Despite the aging structure and maze-like nature of the attraction, Gibbs always had a strong mind for safety, stating "What I want is a safe place that looks terrible" in the initial proposal to the planning committee of Lincoln. This ahead of it's time thinking wouldn't become widespread in the haunted attraction industry until the tragic 1984 Haunted Castle fire at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey which killed 8 teenagers. Perhaps if Six Flags had been thinking like Gibbs, it could have been avoided. The live actors actually touching and poking guests was both ahead of it's time and a relic of it. While it's trendy for many haunted attractions today to have guests sign waivers before actors physically interact with them to hype up the fear, and it was perhaps something that occurred without any thought to the matter in haunts of the 70's, The Haunted House fell somewhere in the middle. The era it existed in and the identity of the attraction made it completely unexpected, as no other permanent haunted attraction in the area at that time had actors physically interact with guests, yet it wasn't at a time when guests would be likely to turn around and sue for profit as they'd be more likely to today. Nightmares would take this same concept and push it even further, creating a successor to the Haunted House. Nightmares would open in 1984 on the first floor of the mall portion of Maple Leaf Village in Niagara Falls, Gibbs' first haunted house in a space he was able to completely design from scratch. It would be a start to finish, relentless assault on the senses. The rooms and mazes in the attraction were lit only by small red lights high on the wall close to the ceiling. As guests made their way through each area, the lights were their only guide through the illusions, strange sensations, jump scares, and being grabbed by the actors. Not only that, the rooms and corridors were able to switch and change, trapping guests in dead ends and forcing them to walk in circles. Perhaps the most memorable feature of Nightmares was "Tommy the Tongue", a wet sponge on the end of a pole in the darkness which would "lick" guests' faces. The main scare in the attraction however was the goalie mask sporting actor who would chase guests around, and be one of the only seen elements in the attraction. For guests to be rescued from this nightmare, they had to yell "Nightmares", admitting defeat. The scares would stop and the staff would lead you out a "chicken exit", giving you a souvenir card of shame stating so. The Maple Leaf Village mall sandwiched between the two hotels on Falls Ave., with the amusement park in behind, 1980. The attraction offered a totally different experience from other haunted attractions at the time, being focused almost entirely on psychological horror instead of physical sets and props. While there were illusions and disorienting mazes in other attractions like Castle Dracula , The Haunted House on Clifton Hill (unrelated to Gibbs' attraction), and the Maple Leaf Village amusement park's Mysterious Mansion, the charm of Nightmares was that you, the guest was left to fill in the blanks as to what was after you in the darkness, hence the name. While it wasn't necessarily better than the immense detail, scenery and storytelling in other attractions, it was certainly different, and stood out in almost an apples-and-oranges kind of sense. Original green card from Nightmares. The rite-of-passage aspect of the Haunted House at Prudhomme's was also now marketed as a challenge at Nightmares, with colour-coded cards being given to anyone who completed the attraction. The colour on the card you received indicated how brave you were during the experience, with guests who barely scraped by receiving a pink card, guests who were visibly frightened receiving an orange card, guests who only appeared occasionally startled receiving a green card, and only a completely unflinching, unbothered guest receiving the coveted blue card. This was a genius move on Gibbs' part, as it secured repeat patronage as guests tried to memorize and predict the jump scares inside in an attempt to stay stonefaced during the attraction. With clever live actors however, this was easier said than done. Gibbs would operate Nightmares and the Haunted House simultaneously during the 1984 season, with the Haunted House's operations being transferred to Prudhomme's Landing themselves in 1985 so Gibbs could focus on Nightmares. Nightmares' popularity led to it receiving a direct sequel shortly after it opened, right next door. The attraction moved to a larger space on the third floor of the mall to accommodate the addition. The new attraction, Nightmares II, would be a progression of the original with the same kinds of scares, however if it was a separate ticket or just an expanded area of the pre-existing walkthrough is unknown. This would be quickly followed up once again with Nightmares III - The Black Journey, a hybrid between a haunted house and an obstacle course. All three attractions would have the card level system. The most notable feature of Nightmares III was the very first room. Guests would enter, the room would seal off behind them, and they would be left there for 10 minutes in pitch darkness and silence, feeling around the walls without even a red light on the wall to give them a sense that this was supposed to be happening. This apparently seriously freaked people out, and understandably so. Some guests allegedly even thought they had somehow wandered into a backstage area between the walls and were sent into a panic. A small hatch along the bottom of the wall opposite to the side of the room you entered through would eventually open near the floor, and guess would have to crawl through the claustrophobic tube-like tunnel to the next area, all in pitch darkness. They would then have to navigate a series of psychologically and physically demanding obstacles of a similar nature, with various degrees of lighting. It was elements like this that were beginning to gain the Nightmares brand fame, as the extremity of the psychological torment was revolutionizing the industry. New attractions had started implementing similar features as early as the year after Nightmares opened, with Screamers also opening on the third floor of Maple Leaf Village in 1985 after an ex-Nightmares employee had a dispute with Gibbs so decided to start his own attraction. Glow-in-the-dark pins from the attractions. Screamers, "Where Nightmares Become Reality", 1995. One of the most obscure and undocumented aspects of Nightmares however would also be one of its most important, as it affected not just the haunted attraction industry, but also the world of mini golf. "Nightmares Fore" opened as the fourth and final installment in the Nightmares brand, also on the third floor of the mall. It was a blacklight miniature golf course with horror theming, one if not the first blacklight mini golf courses. It was also the first with a horror theme, a popular theme for blacklight miniature golf courses today. A similar concept named "Monsterland Golf" was in the planning stages just a couple years earlier by Robert Dunham's Waxattract/Enter-Tech company, and would have used animatronic figures created from the same molds used to create the figures in The House of Frankenstein and Castle Dracula locations. Unfortunately Dunham passed away in 1985 before the attraction made it to the actual development stages, and it would never see the light of day. It's unclear if Gibbs knew about Monsterland, where it was planned to be located, or if the space it was meant for somehow evolved into Nightmares Fore. No photos, footage, or promotional material from the attraction have surfaced aside from a mention on the completion cards from Nightmares III. Nightmares III completion card mentioning the cleverly-named "Nightmares Fore." Allegedly the attractions grew a little stale from their original glory over the years as actors got less creative, employees began to give the colour-coded cards out at random to anyone who completed the attractions, and other attractions such as Screamers were doing similar things. Maple Leaf Village would begin a rapid, somewhat planned demise beginning in the early 90's. Several tenants began to leave, with the amusement park behind the mall closing in 1994, and the mall itself eventually closing in 1996 to become Casino Niagara. The heavy-duty wiring and power hookups the mall had for its many arcades, restaurants, and attractions were actually specifically designed for the mall to one day become a casino if it had to. Nightmares cleverly saw the writing on the wall back in '93, and Gibbs would begin plans to move the attraction to Victoria Ave. By the time the attraction moved, the total chicken count between Nightmares I, II, and III was allegedly up to 43,610. The new attraction would combine the elements from all three of these attractions and turn them into one, two-story, mega attraction. The attraction on Victoria Ave., 1996. The building on Victoria Ave. which Nightmares would move to would be the building formerly home to the original Castle Dracula from 1974 until it moved to Clifton Hill in 1977. The building dated back much further than that however, originally being constructed as a Bell Telephone office building and eventually becoming home to the Canadian Corps in the 1960's. It's unknown what the building was from 1977-1993, photographs from the early 80's show it seemingly abandoned, however a news article about Nightmares taking the structure over mentions something called "Plantation" formerly being there, presumably a restaurant that occupied a small portion of the space. Nightmares would have you believe the building was formerly the "Cataract Coffin Factory", which while great storytelling, isn't true despite a majority of tourists actually believing it. Being the former home of Dracula however is surprisingly fairly close to that, so perhaps there is some tounge-in-cheek truth to it after all. This is where things get a little hazy. Frank La Penna owned the building and allegedly provided Gibbs with roughly $80,000 of renovations. The building itself had notoriously been an issue with several of its past occupants. The Canadian Corps moved out due to the absolutely massive, old building being much too large and costly to maintain. One reason Castle Dracula was sold off by it's creators and moved to Clifton Hill was due to how expensive it was to heat the building, and difficult to run power through it. It's unknown when exactly La Penna came into possession of it, the state it was in, or what was there most recently (as mentioned above) by the time Nightmares moved in. Some sort of financial dispute arose between Gibbs and La Penna, with La Penna eventually coming out on top and owning the Nightmares business itself by 1994. It's unknown if the attraction operated at the Victoria Ave. location for the 1993 season under Gibbs or remained closed while the dust was settling between the two parties. The attraction apparently opened for Halloween night 1993, but due to a massive snowstorm that night, only saw 10 guests. La Penna would continue to build upon the attraction once it was his. The earliest evidence of the attraction actually in operation on Victoria Ave. full time isn't until 1994. Frank La Penna posed lurking in his attraction, 1994. Whatever occurred wouldn't deter Gibbs however from being in the haunted attraction industry, and he would open the Scares 'n Dares Haunted Warehouse up in Wasaga Beach in 1994, occupying a former section of the Playland Arcade there which was walled off for the attraction. The section of the building was at the back of the arcade and was originally constructed as the bowling alley and expanded arcade area for Playland Park in a 1950s expansion to their penny arcade. The bowling lanes had since been removed and were replaced with various games before Gibbs moved in, leaving the area looking like a warehouse, likely where it got it's name. It's unknown how similar to Nightmares the experience was, however it would move across the street to a former gift shop when the section of the arcade building it was in was torn down, dropping the "Haunted Warehouse" portion of the name. It eventually became "Nightmares Wasaga Beach" in 1997, a direct version of the Niagara Falls attraction done in the same style, which would last until 2005. Scares 'n Dares Haunted Warehouse (above, 1994) and it's later incarnation as Nightmares Wasaga Beach as seen on the righthand side of this image. (right, late 90's) Back in Niagara Falls, La Penna's "new" Nightmares was kicking things up a notch in an attempt to stay relevant in the face of similar attractions which had sprouted up since the original opened in 1984. The attraction would initially still operate on a completion card system, however only a "Chicken" and "I Survived" card would be given out instead of the colour-coded bravery scale. Yelling "Nightmares" to be rescued from the experience was also a feature held over. The Nightmares building itself is located on a slight hill, so at the front along Victoria Ave., the first floor is level with the ground, whereas around the back of the building, the first floor would be a sort of underground basement, and the second floor is level with the ground. The front half of the first floor was occupied by Frank's Steakhouse for years, a popular local restaurant (that would later expand out the side of the building), and the back half of the first floor was home to the lower level of Castle Dracula during its tenure there. You entered Castle Dracula through a door on Victoria Ave., then were immediately greeted with a stairs up to the lobby, gift shop and arcade on the second floor, exactly where the Nightmares lobby is today. Upper portion of the coffin display in it's original colours, early 2000's. Lower portion of the coffin display as it originally appeared, 1990's. The head has since been removed. Nightmares however doesn't take you down to a lower level on the first floor, only occupying the top two floors of the space. It remains a mystery if the former lower level of the original Castle Dracula exits abandoned under Nightmares, but the less exciting reality is that it probably became an expanded area of the restaurant years ago. Frank's eventually became Carlos O'Brien's, which was what it was at the time Nightmares moved in. The restaurant has since been "The Wild Mushroom", and later underwent major renovations to become Weinkeller currently. Like Castle Dracula before it, guests enter Nightmares through a door on Victoria Ave., however it's now under a giant gothic stone facade complete with a massive fiberglass Grim Reaper with glowing eyes which was added in late 1998. After passing a coffin display in the front window, guests traverse upstairs to the lobby and gift shop. Live screams of guests were originally broadcast on speakers both in the lobby and outside the attraction, however this was eventually discontinued, assumingly due to the fact guests likely let an array of expletives out while being scared senseless. After buying your ticket, you then venture upstairs to the top floor and begin your journey... The attraction now features the aforementioned story of being the abandoned coffin factory, originally deemed the "Cataract Casket Company" but later changed to "Cataract Coffin Company" at some point early in the location's life. Nightmares has fully embraced this, officially becoming "Nightmares Fear Factory" in the late 90's. In a genius way to provide story and a theme to an attraction based almost entirely on pitch darkness and psychological terror, the majority of it's storytelling exits in its promotional material. No brochures from the attraction feature photos of the interior, and photography/filming is forbidden. It's also never discussed what's inside, and the story that the building is haunted and was formerly a coffin factory never deviated from, even to the press. This has created a cloud of mystery around how exactly the contents of the attraction have changed around over the years since the move, if at all. In one of the only pieces of media discussing the attraction as *not* being a real haunted factory, the 1994 newspaper article on the attraction moving to Victoria Ave. provides some insight into the creation of the scares. La Penna was a contractor, not a haunted attraction designer or amusement operator, but apparently had a blast reworking the attraction and seeing how extreme he could take things. "I Survived" and "Chicken" cards from the late 90's. Several elements have been kept from the original Nightmares attractions in Maple Leaf Village, including the red guiding lights, the crawl-through tunnel, Tommy the Tongue (although he is now nameless), and the dead-end room, although they don't leave you in there as long as it's original incarnation. New additions included bars which actors hit electrified poles on to create sparks, a room with inflatable walls that close in on either side of you, and most famous of all: the car. The original lobby, later remodeled in 2008 to include more room for merchandise as the attraction's fame grew. Nightmares features a car bumper and headlights on the wall beside guests at one point in the attraction, with a camera located directly above that takes a photo at the exact moment the headlights turn on and an unbelievably loud car horn blares. The photo of you and your friends in a raw state of petrified horror can be purchased in the gift shop. This gimmick was always popular dating back to the location's opening in the 90's, however following the rise of mainstream social media in the late 2000's, it absolutely exploded. This simple effect, used in dark rides as far back as the 1950's, took the already popular attraction and propelled it into the international spotlight when coupled with the hidden camera and the power of the internet. When the photos began circulating online, so did the tales of the intensity of the attraction, as well as people's stretched truths and misconceptions of what they had just been through. Tales of the attraction as well as it's story of being located in a former coffin factory spread like wildfire, and people started travelling to The Falls for the attraction alone, something a haunted attraction hadn't accomplished since The House of Frankenstein and Castle Dracula opened back in the 70's. A group captured by the "Scare Cam" in the early 2000's. Wallpaper has since replaced the mural backdrop to these iconic photos. It may have been years ahead of it's time and taken a while to reach the fame it has, but at every turn, Nightmares ended up being savvy to trends and technology the same way Niagara's other iconic attractions were in the eras when they debuted. This has secured it as a mainstay Niagara Falls classic, a well-deserved spot for an attraction who's roots lie not in a haunted coffin factory, but a humble, charity-run Halloween haunted house in an Oshawa farm field in the 1960's. The attraction as it appears today. The reaper lost his scythe around the turn of the millennium, but finally gained it back in 2019.

Castle Dracula Wax Museum/Dracula's Haunted Castle Attraction Type: Haunted Attraction Location: Niagara Falls, Ontario Years Operational: 1974-1976 (Victoria Ave. location), 1977-Present (Clifton Hill location) Designer(s): Waxattract , Gianfranco Avignoni Cover of the original fold-out brochure for the attraction, mid-70's. Castle Dracula needs no introduction. It's been an icon of the Niagara Falls tourism landscape for generations, but while it's impact in Niagara Falls is clear, it's impact on the greater amusement industry worldwide has been completely overlooked, until now. In 1974, after the massive success of the House of Frankenstein locations, Robert Dunham, the creative genius behind the Waxattract company, wanted to do something much more scary than he already had: Castle Dracula. This attraction he would own, and to set it apart, it would have to be even more thematic and technologically advanced than Dunham's previous attractions. To say the least, it delivered. It was originally located on Victoria Ave. in an old Bell Telephone office building, which had since become a Canadian Corps building, and then been abandoned. This is the building Nightmares Fear Factory now occupies. Nightmares would have you believe the building used to be the "Cataract Coffin Factory", which (while great storytelling), isn't true, however being the former home of Dracula is the next best thing, and a pretty good story itself. It opened on June 1st, 1974, to rave reviews. Very little was documented about this original location, but most of what was comes from a thankfully very detailed newspaper clipping about its opening week. According to the article, Castle Dracula was quite a spectacle to behold when it opened, and took the House of Frankenstein concept, and (to quote Spinal Tap), turned it up to 11. Castle Dracula was themed floor to ceiling. The halls were covered in stucco rock, made to look like twisting caves between castle archways, and blacklight stalagmites hung from the ceilings. It would use many of the same sculpts as the figures in the House of Frankenstein locations, and while containing many of the same scenes such as all the classic movie monsters, "The Room of Rats", "The Attic Ghost", the Medieval Torture Chamber, and more, the overall list of scenes would vary even more than the two House of Frankenstein locations varied from each other. The scenes were also usually presented in a much scarier way than in the House of Frankenstein locations. For example, The Room of Rats in both House of Frankenstein locations depicted a man lying in bed being devoured by rats, his chest slowly rising up and down. The Room of Rats scene in Castle Dracula however was an even more gruesome depiction: a dying man chained to the floor of a cell, being devoured by rats crawling up his body and on the the walls around him. Former Bell Telephone building later home to the original Castle Dracula, early-70s. The "Room of Rats" as it appeared in The House of Frankenstein (left), and as it appeared in Castle Dracula (right) at the later Panama City Beach, Florida location. While neither appear to be enjoying themselves, the victim in Castle Dracula doesn't have accommodations quite as nice as the one in The House of Frankenstein, and certainly isn't there of his volition. In addition to scarier scenes and storytelling, it was also even more technologically advanced. The Seance room now had a projected recording of a talking face inside the crystal ball instead of a simple glowing light, but the projection technology wouldn't stop there. Many peoples' fondest memory of the Castle Dracula locations is the Lightshow room with Quadraphonic Surround Sound. The newspaper article interviews Dunham who talks about the Lightshow, which required an operator to control. He says that 50 projectors throw special effects on a 96 foot screen, the finale of the attraction. It was a massive room with a horseshoe shaped screen around three of the walls, with the pathway guests would walk along being akin to a line across the top of the horseshoe. Behind the screen was a lighting rig of various spotlights, projectors, moving lights (like fire or falling snowflake effects), and silhouettes. The operator would talk into a mic to the guests in horror characters' voices, able to actually interact with the guests in real time, and provide a customized show to each guest using the switchboard. The operator booth was behind a two-way mirror located behind the guests, facing out into the room so the operator could see how the show they were putting on looked, and adapt to guests' reactions better. Lightshow operator Jesse Dodd at the switchboard of the Lightshow in the later Florida location, 1977. The Lightshow in the original Niagara Falls location would have used similar equipment. Notice the reel-to-reel tape at top left. The technological improvements wouldn't stop at lighting and audio technology however, as the attraction featured yet another first, this time in the world of animatronics; the Monster Mash. The Monster Mash was a fully animatronic band of monsters singing Bobby Pickett's song "Monster Mash", with Frankenstein's Monster on vocals, The Wolfman on guitar, The Mummy on drums, and Dracula at the piano. It was also incredibly advanced in movement for the time, capable of movements not seen in other animatronics until the end of the decade. Unfortunately, it was in the dark hallways of the actual attraction, not the lobby or window, so photos or video have yet to surface of this historic band, and given camera quality at the time, likely never will. Former location of the original Castle Dracula across Victoria Ave. from Maple Leaf Village, early-80's. The Dracula building is circled here in red. See the shorter building expansion next door to the right with "Frank's" painted on the roof. The attraction was three floors. The building itself is located on a slight hill, so at the front along Victoria Ave., the first floor is level with the ground, whereas around the back of the building, the first floor would be a sort of underground basement, and the second floor would be level with the ground. The front half of the first floor was occupied by Frank's Steakhouse, a popular local restaurant (that would later expand out the side of the building), and the back half of the first floor was home to the lower level of Castle Dracula. You see, while you entered Castle Dracula through a door on Victoria Ave., you were immediately greeted with a stairs up to the lobby, gift shop and arcade on the second floor. An actor in a Dracula mask roamed on the sidewalk outside, a tried-and-true technique that had been drawing major crowds to Dunham's House of Frankenstein. Just like the House of Frankenstein locations, the gift shop would be mostly horror themed selling Aurora Monster Models, monster merchandise, toys, collectables, and plenty of custom Castle Dracula merchandise. This included T-shirts, cups, pins, mugs, postcards, goblets, statues, coin banks and more. These items, especially the banks, fetch a high price now from both vintage monster memorabilia collectors and vintage amusement memorabilia collectors. Waxattract would also sell their masks and latex hands at the Castle Dracula locations, just as they had at the House of Frankenstein(s). These were made from the same molds as the figures in the attraction, meaning you could go home dressed as an authentic Castle Dracula monster. A souvenir Dracula coin bank purchased from the attraction's gift shop in the mid-70's. After you bought your ticket and started on your actual journey into the attraction, you immediately went down to the lower level behind the steakhouse. This lower level was an incredible feat of design that still hasn't been done in another haunted attraction to this day, not even the subsequent Castle Draculas. A pool company was brought in to reinforce all the walls of the foundation with sealed concrete, turning the entire basement into "The Swamp"; a massive watertight fish tank with a twisting hallway running through the middle. Along this hallway were huge windows into various underwater horror scenes, such as the Creature from the Black Lagoon and Davey Jones Locker. All the scenes in The Swamp were connected between each other, for the room's large fish population to freely swim around, including 3-foot long Carp. "The Exorcist" scene after the attraction later moved to Clifton Hill. This image was taken in 2022 after the scene's animation and effects had long since been shut off, and the scene marker placed directly on the bed. After guests' journey through The Swamp they would come back upstairs to the level at which they began, where most of the attraction was located (including The Monster Mash), and from there head up to the top floor containing a handful of scenes as well as the Lightshow. Afterwards they would come down a staircase into the lobby. Some of the new scenes not present in the previous House of Frankenstein locations would include "The Black Hole of Calcutta", "The Human Fly", "Dracula's Wine Cellar" (where a circulating pump poured fake blood out of a draining corpse into one of Dracula's wine barrels), and "The Exorcist", where a young girl would appear to sit up and begin levitating above her bed while a priest waved a cross in the air chanting "The power of Christ compells you!" to no avail. The face of the little girl was actually a cast of Dunham's youngest daughter Debbie's face, who was 8 years old at the time. The attraction was ahead of it's time and spectacular at every turn. The newspaper article also says that the opening weekend saw 500 visitors, and that the attraction took almost an hour to fully experience. An article discussing the opening of the later Myrtle Beach location in 1975 claims Dunham's Niagara location drew 200,000 guests it's first year, but apparently it wasn't enough. You see despite being incredibly well received, it wasn't without its issues, as the attraction's complexity would be a double-edged sword. The pool company who poured the concrete for The Swamp did a less than stellar job, and leaks were an issue from day one. This would cause the water (and fish) to eventually be removed halfway through the location's lifespan, being replaced with shimmering light effects to simulate water. The Monster Mash was also problematic, requiring constant maintenance due to the amount of moving components and servos. Robert Dunham's son Fred was usually the one to do the painstaking maintenance on the band to keep it running to its full potential. There was also an issue with the attraction's location. Victoria Ave. between Clifton Hill and the Fallsview district is somewhat highly trafficked, but Victoria Ave. in the other direction, while still considered part of the Clifton Hill district until Bender St., gets much less foot traffic, even to this day. It still swells with people on a Summer weekend, but nowhere near the levels of the rest of the Clifton Hill area. With a fairly simple exterior and lack of visibility from down the street, the original Castle Dracula simply failed to pull tourists away from the other areas, despite the positive press and lasting effect on the wider amusement industry. Photo of the City of Niagara Falls taken from atop the Oneida Tower in 1975, with the top of "Castle Dracula Museum" and Frank's Steakhouse visible along Victoria Ave. at the bottom left. After the American locations of Castle Dracula were open and running smoothly by 1977, Dunham would move on from opening new Castle Dracula locations to work on other projects. Back in Niagara Falls, despite the version of the attraction there being the most advanced, it was still failing to pull people in the same way that the U.S. locations were due to it's distance from the Hill. Dunham sold the attraction in 1977, and it moved to its current home on Clifton Hill. This took up the entire plot of land formerly occupied by the historic Darling Motel, which contained the doomed Tower of London Wax Museum that had suffered a massive fire the previous year. What remained of the Motel's cabins were demolished, so all that was left was the two story circa-1950's motel building running along the back of the property, and the former wax museum, gift shop and offices building at the front of the property facing Clifton Hill. The front building was severely burnt out by the wax museum fire, and had sat abandoned for several months. It's unknown what the extent of the damage inside was, but the circa 1925 structure (which originally served as the offices, gift shop and restaurant of the motel) was apparently saveable. The same building in the 1930's as the Darling Cabins (left), 1960's as the Darling Motel (center), and 2023 as Castle Dracula (right). A new structure was built connecting the two in the middle, to create one long building running from the front to the back of the property. The charred castle turrets of the Tower of London Wax Museum were repurposed from the Queen's to Dracula's. Red glowing windows and gothic peaks were added to the towers, and the castle was now painted bright white. The top floor of this rebuilt and now conjoined structure became the actual walk through museum, with the first floor being the large gift shop and game room. The basement seems to have become some sort of additional gift shop/game room space. Its also not known if the attraction followed the same path in the building it does today, as it may have used part of the main floor or basement, or let out in either place. Currently, the whole attraction is upstairs with the exit being right next to the entrance in the lobby. Newspaper clippings from the Niagara Falls Review showing the castle turrets being constructed around the pre-existing Darling Motel building for the Tower of London Wax Museum (left,1975), and the towers being remodeled into castle peaks for Castle Dracula (right,1977). The fact that Castle Dracula is the bare bones of the old Darling Motel (and Reinhart's Riverhurst Inn before that) makes it the oldest structure on the Hill, dating to 1925, which much to my surprise is a fact seen nowhere on the internet. Looking at old construction photos or even the building on Google Maps however absolutely confirms this, as from above you can clearly see the shells of the old buildings at the front and back, connected by new structure in the middle. Take a ride on the Skywheel and look down, and this is even more apparent. Shot of Clifton Hill taken from the Skywheel showing the Castle Dracula building. The former office/restaurant building of the Darling Motel is highlighted in red, with the former motel room block at the back of the property highlighted in blue. Newer structure built in 1977 connects the two. The castle design of the new building obviously took heavy inspiration from the U.S. locations despite Waxattract having no involvement. It's unknown what was brought over from the Victoria Ave. location, but it's likely that the Lightshow and The Monster Mash never made the transition, as their mentions were dropped from subsequent brochures. It's also not known what happened to the figures and scenery not included in the sale. One Redditor remarked on one of my history posts there that they were employed at the Victoria Ave. Days Inn in the early 90s, which happens to be next door to the location of the original Castle Dracula location. They said a basement storage room just off the parking garage contained a bunch of figures from "some old horror attraction" that the hotel owners had acquired at some point, but never did anything with. It's unknown if these were infact the unnaccounted for Castle Dracula figures who didn't make it to Clifton Hill, but it's a likely possibility. With the vast amount of horror attractions or wax museum chambers of horror that have existed in The Falls over the years however, there's also a variety of other places they could have come from, including the "Haunted House" attraction that repurposed the Boris Karloff Wax Museum, or possibly Tussaud's, the House of Frankenstein, or Movieland, all of which underwent major renovations around that time Entrance of the Clifton Hill location, 1979. The mystery display was located under the word "Chilling" on the sign above. The newer Clifton Hill location also originally featured a small windowed area with windows on three sides. It faced Clifton Hill and contained a scene, although what exactly (an old news article about the attraction simply calls it a "window corpse") or if it was previously in a window facing Victoria Ave. in the original location, is unknown. There was also a lobby display of some sort above a bench near the attraction's entrance. A new scene remains there today, but the original display or if it too was displayed in the Victoria Ave. lobby is also a mystery. Outside the attraction, Bach's "Toccata and Fugue", known much better as Dracula's theme, played over loudspeaker, alternating between that and Bobby Pickett's "Monster's Mash Party", the B-side track to "Monster Mash". These may have been in place at the original location as well, and evidence points to at least "Toccata and Fugue" being played outside there, due to it also being played outside Dunham's other locations in the U.S. While significantly less impressive than the original, the attraction performed much better thanks to it's new Clifton Hill location, where it remains to this day. The original exterior of the Clifton Hill location, 1977. It was originally brought to Clifton Hill by three brothers named Mario, Victor and Cosmo Menechella, who purchased the attraction from Dunham. The Menechellas gave the attraction plenty of love, completing a $60,000 facade remodel in 1982 that saw the addition of the giant, iconic, vampire skull mouth in front of the lobby's entrance, the front display window area next to it being removed at this time (this is the open space to the right of the face today). It was designed by artist Gianfranco Avignoni, as were many of the other new monsters incorporated into the facade above. The original gift shop and games room was also replaced with The Hill Family Restaurant. They opened up the basement (whatever it contained) right to the street (instead of being accessed from inside), and the original staircase downstairs to the former Darling Motel's gift shop could now be entered from just outside the attraction's lobby. They also painted a stained glass window of Dracula on one of the castle towers. The updated castle exterior in 1983. Notice the blood running down the walls, dripping out of the windows, along with the creature coming out of the wall above the former location of the window display. Both these short-lived features were removed the following year. The original face entrance was much scarier than the current one. It seems it may have been scaring more people away than bringing them in, as just two years later in 1984, the face was completely overhauled by Avignoni to be less scary, as it remains today. It was when the face was remodeled that many more changes would come to the castle. A plywood box containing a light inside with the letters "Thriller" and Michael Jackson's face cut out of it was placed on the outside of the castle, covering the old stained glass painting. A Michael Jackson figure ended up being placed in one of the pre-existing scenes to create a "Thriller" scene. The entire castle was repainted dark grey, and the twisting tree trunks of the giant face now extended up the walls with twisting vines. A variety of fiberglass skeletons, skulls, and heads protruded from the facade (replacing the monsters), and a new, small exterior window was added up high on the wall, although what it contained (if anything) isn't clear. The Hill Family Restaurant was also replaced with a Howard Johnson's Restaurant franchise. Around this time, in the mid-late 80s, local voice actor Lyall Cousins provided a new dialogue recording dubbed over Bach's "Toccatta and Fugue" that had already played outside the attraction. Scans of a 1980 brochure used for the majority of the Menechella years. Updated, dark-grey facade in the late-80s. A skeleton sitting on the branch of the tree has replaced the monster coming out of the wall. The lobby scene as seen in 1991. A large number of figures from elesewhere in the attraction seem to have already been displaced and dismembered shortly prior to this photograph. The Menechellas went on to become big in the hotel industry in Niagara Falls, and shifting their focus, the attraction changed hands to its current owners sometime around 1991. At that time the lobby scene was a hunchbacked man leaning over a woman in a stockade vomiting recirculating water into a barrel. The figures definitely appear to be Waxattract originals, however if they were original to the lobby or relocated from elsewhere in the museum like the bits and pieces of other characters surrounding them is unknown. The owners who purchased the attraction from the Menechellas wouldn't update a thing for the entire tenure of their ownership from 1991-2023, but on the other hand, didn't maintain the original scenes either, leaving them to fall into disrepair. Noticeable problems began essentially immediately in the mid-90s, when the words "Wax Museum" on the sign were painted over and replaced with the words "Haunted Castle", as some of the scenes inside had been turned off or removed by that point. At that time the Howard Johnson's was replaced with a jewelry store named "Colonade", and the entrance to whatever was in the basement was sealed off and replaced with signage. The basement remains abandoned to this day. Eventually in 1997, the jewelry store became a generic gift shop, and the attraction's original sign would be replaced entirely with the one that remains today, renaming the attraction to "Dracula's Haunted Castle." The voiceover remained as well, but the other song that originally played outside, "Monsters' Mash Party", was replaced with a medley of horror movie themes. When the 1997 updates occurred, it seems things inside really started to go downhill, and by the 2010's, the attraction was quite literally a shell of it's former self. Some of the few lit scenes which remained in the museum by the 2010's. Clockwise from bottom: "The Druids" although their victim's still-beating heart they once held has been replaced with a baseball bat, "Rosemary's Baby" (sans-rocking effect and dialogue), and "Dracula's Wine Cellar" with the circulating blood shut off. Only 7 to 13 (depends which day you went) of the original 40 or so that made the move to Clifton Hill were still lit by the 2020's, and none of them were still functional. A majority of the old scenes were still sitting in complete darkness, and remained full of artwork, props, and usually the figures and animatronics. Some figures were relocated to the backgrounds of the few scenes that remained lit as well as to the lobby, with a female vampire in a coffin replacing the woman in the stockade in the early 2000's. Most of the scenes that were emptied out were repurposed for the attraction's one scare actor (plainclothes guy with a clapperboard, sometimes sitting in a Lazyboy) to jump out from. Since the attraction was in a similar state since consumer cameras became higher quality and readily available on smartphones in the late 2000's, it's made it very hard to document what the attraction would have looked like in its incredible glory days. No guide book for the Castle Dracula locations has surfaced like the one for the House of Frankenstein, and also unlike that attraction, the American counterparts to use as a reference are long gone. "The Wax Workshop" (above) that was a bit of a running joke in the Waxattract attractions, as it appeared under flash photography in the early-90s. (Right) The same scene in 2023, the wax maker now missing his head like his victim. Michael Jackson haunts a graveyard once home to an unkown scene amongst several other displaced ghouls from elsewhere in the attractiion. Could "B.F.D." on the old tombstone prop seen in the bottom-right be the initials of a member of the Dunham family? This was tragic considering the amount of artwork and history still contained within the building, not to mention the countless secrets behind what was originally where, how things worked or were constructed. These were all important parts of Niagara's amusement history as well as wider amusement history as a whole. These deserved to be seen and enjoyed by regular guests and enthusiasts alike, not to mention experienced as they were meant to. Worst of all, by 2023, there were spots where you could see through the wall to the daylight and leaks in the roof, especially in the nearly century old front section of the structure that was formerly the Darling Motel offices. Using a flashlight it was easy to see open backstage areas formerly used for the animatronic control centres, and unlit former scenes full of garbage with signs of mold. Without a flashlight, it was actually hard not to stumble into these areas in the pitch darkness. The building was becoming a serious hazard not just to guests, but to itself, as it was becoming a major fire risk. A figure dressed as Santa Claus that somehow wound up inhabiting the attraction's first scene by the late 90's. (Above): An old scene, walled off on one of it's two sides, decayed beyond recognition and full of garbage. The artwork to the right is where the scene was walled off on one side using an old artwork panel from another scene flipped to face inward. It's unknown if all these figures were original to this scene or moved here for storage. This was located directly after the small set of steps where you leave then section housed in the former Darling Motel offices and enter the structure built in 1977. (Top right): an emptied out former scene featuring a never-ending hallway background. (Bottom right): The former Mummy scene emptied out and home to nothing but a mop bucket. Notice the old employee access connection to the former never-ending hallway scene on the left. These scenes were located in the hallway running along the side of building adjacent to the Thriftlodge. And then, miraculously, eagle-eyed visitors to Clifton Hill in 2024 would notice something, the giant, faded sign high above the building would be repainted for the first time in nearly 50 years. Castle Dracula had new owners. The attraction received it's first updates of any kind since the 1997 updates to the exterior, and the first interior remodel in the attraction's history. Unfortunately, filming and photography is not allowed, so if you want to see the updates to the attraction, you'll have to make a voyage to Niagara Falls, or if you're not able to, watch the low quality footage in this video recorded by a YouTube channel which is unaffiliated with this website. A rundown however is as follows: the effects this remodel has had on the attraction, although majorly positive, are a bit conflicting. Updated facade and repainted sign in 2024. This bold sign stands out more than anything on the Hill except perhaps the Skywheel. On one hand, the new owners obviously care very deeply about this place, that's plain to see. They obviously sunk some serious cash in to the structural work on the building alone. Gone is the daylight and rain coming in through the roof, it now feels more solid and put together, as if the place could easily last another 50 years, which couldn't be said before. The remodel is gorgeous, the place is now as spotless and professional as it would have been on opening day. On the other hand about 90% of those original figures, scenes, props, animatronics equipment and more that had been sitting in darkness for 30 years were completely removed. Now to be fair, as you've seen from the images above, there wasn't much left of many of these props to begin with, as over 30 years of neglect had not been kind to their sculpted faces, peering at visitors from the pitch darkness who were unaware they were even still there. Despite that, these were genuine works of art and pieces of amusement history, decayed and dusty the same way an artifact from a tomb would be, but of value nonetheless. What happened to the figures that were removed is currently unknown, but if you know where to look and what to look for, you'll find plenty of original elements still hanging around. Make no mistake, the presence of the Dunham and Menechella families can still be felt throughout these halls. Almost entirely unchanged is the lobby, save for a new zombie display above the bench replacing the hunchback and vampire bride (more on them later.) Outside the attraction, the iconic horror movie themes that have been a staple sound of Clifton Hill for 25 years remain, however Mr. Cousins' late-80's Dracula dialogue set to "Toccata and Fugue" beckoning you inside has been replaced with a new Dracula script. The new script is as bold and commanding as the old one had once been back when the recording was new, and does a fantastic job of demanding attention. Sadly however, Toccata and Fugue is absent from the new recording, marking the first time in the attraction's history since 1974 that Dracula's music isn't present at his own attraction. The long-painted-over Michael Jackson "Thriller" lightbox has also been removed, for a plethora of understandable reasons. Inside the actual halls of the attraction, the changes are even more apparent. New zombie display in the lobby. This figure is a great example of the detiail on the new props. While the attraction follows roughly the same path that it has since it moved to Clifton Hill in 1977, several walls have been knocked out or removed. While this has completely eliminated the locations of certain former scenes, it's also opened up certain scenes that haven't seen the light of day since the mid-90's, along with limited elements of their original artwork and scenery. Both the front hallway and the hallway that formerly ran along the back of the building have been majorly overhauled. Whereas the back hallway was formerly straight with scenes on each side, the hallway now zigzags through the space formerly occupied by the scenes on the left, with scenes only on the right hand side. One cool little easter egg is a giant Dracula face painted on the wall of this hallway that was formerly the background of one of the removed scenes. This old depiction of The Count matches the one found on the original sign that was removed in 1997. The infamous squishy floor room, which hadn't had it's foam flooring replaced since 80's and was more akin to a carpet placed over a hole in the floor, has also had the floor boarded over. The attraction is filled with several elements noticeably absent from it for 30 years including a variety of torture chambers, a mirror maze, and a live actor who's actually both in costume and dedicated to their role. The hunchback, vampire bride, and the guards retrofitted with the Halloween masks from the lobby display have been relocated inside the attraction again as they originally were, whereas the barrels from the former "Dracula's Wine Cellar" scene appear to have been repurposed in a scene depicting a pirate ship. A small handful of other long-lost props are visible again, sometimes in the backgrounds of larger scenes. The iconic exit staircase still remains. Highlights include two formerly walled off scenes that have been opened up and turned into a walk through a haunted forest, a circular torture chamber area that is now visible again albeit occupied by Dracula's Bride, and most of all, the retention of the beautiful exit staircase through the blacklight rock cave. There's much to be said for the new props however as well. While the original props were incredibly advanced for their time and would likely still resonate with visitors even today, they were also the first of their kind, and restoring half-a-century old animatronics running on 1974 wiring and technology that had been neglected for 30 years certainly wouldn't be a cheap or easy task. It's pretty easy to see why the new ownership opted for mostly new animatronic props, and the ones they chose certainly fit the bill. One thing that struck me as an enthusiast, is apart from one or two more popular offerings from the legendary Distortions Unlimited, several of these props look to be either unique or at the very least not often seen in other haunted attractions. Everything you'd expect is here: a werewolf, bat-winged vampires, screaming torture victims, an executioner with his axe, and an inmate in an asylum; all things you also would have encountered in the attraction back in 1974, all animatronics which this attraction grandfathered over 50 years ago. It's fitting then, that on that anniversary, this technology comes home to one of the places it began. Castle Dracula now joins The House of Frankenstein as being an evolved version of it's former self, once again the lively home of it's titular monster, and no longer it's tomb. Castle Dracula can currently be compared to where The House of Frankenstein was in the early 2000's: heavily remodeled, with just enough original elements preserved to retain the spirit of the original. In fact, despite the mass exodus of original scenery, one could argue the Castle Dracula that exists now is more true to the spirit of the original than the decrepit state it was formerly in, regardless of what original elements may have existed behind walls. The same can't really be said anymore for The House of Frankenstein. Following the most recent remodel removing the majority of the remaining original props there, and the immersion break caused by the entrance to the new rooftop Frankencoaster overtaking the old start of the attraction, it's somewhat of a different concept from it's original state save for increasingly few elements. It's still a fantastic attraction nonetheless, but if you want Niagara's closest experience to a preserved, maintained and evolved version of a classic and historic attraction, look no further than Castle Dracula. With the American Castle Dracula locations long gone, it appears much like Dracula himself, the castle can only survive as long as it has it's home soil, and it looks like it has risen from the dead and isn't going anywhere soon. The Count has reclaimed the right to the neon saying on the front of the building: "This is THE ONE!"

Putt Putt Golf & Games/Jungle Putt Attraction Type: Miniature Golf Course Location: Niagara Falls, Ontario Years Operational: Late 1980's-1994 (as Putt Putt), 1994-mid 2010's (as Jungle Putt) Designer(s): Putt Putt, Amusement Products Canada's first officially franchised Putt Putt (the American chain of miniature golf courses responsible for popularizing the game in the 1950s) was located at 7280 Lundy's Ln., next to the Days Inn hotel (now Falls Inn.) It was located where the gravel lot is now on the East side of the building. It opened as a licensed franchise of the Putt Putt chain sometime in the late 1980s, with a Dairy Queen, large children's playground, and an arcade. Putt Putt actually differs from traditional miniature golf due to its unique ruleset, such as all greens being par 2, and players completing a hole before the next member of their group takes their first putt. The attraction actually featured two 18-hole courses, for a combined total of 36-holes. Jungleland's elephant in the winter 1985. Could this be the same one that ended up at Putt Putt? 1993 newspaper advertisement for the attraction. It remained a standard Putt Putt course until 1994, when the jungle animal statues were added. The animals were part of the "Jungle Kingdom" line by Amusement Products out of Tennessee, who also did the figures for Waxattract 's original Jungleland Golf location on Victoria Ave. where it becomes Ferry. While the fiberglass statues were available as optional franchisee additions for Putt Putt locations in the 80s and 90s, it's quite possible the figures came from Jungleland after it's closure the same year. It's also possible that Niagara Go-Karts located off the QEW received the Jungleland statues, as they have the same figures albeit painted in different colors, which seem sort of out of place in their mini golf. The year the Victoria Ave. Jungleland closed, the Tivoli Miniature World, an outdoor miniatures garden, moved to the Jungleland plot from Prudhomme's Landing, and a large sign reading "Miniature World" was built. Ironically, in 1995 the garden was returned to being a miniature golf course, now titled Tivoli Miniature Golf, and the giant sign changed to "Miniature Golf". It would later close in 1996, with the giant sign being sold to Putt Putt, which ironically may have got the statues which were once part of Jungleland that also formerly occupied the site the sign came from. Putt Putt/Jungle Putt's elephant on top of a rock cave built when the course gained the jungle theme. This faced the road and became the course's centerpiece. The course was on life support by the late 2000s, operating very sporadically. It was around this time that it was renamed Jungle Putt, likely ending the official Putt Putt franchising. The DQ closed around that time and was replaced with a string of several take out and ice cream places over the years, each with varying degrees of success. The arcade was also severely decreased in size, with only a small room containing a handful of machines remaining. Sometime around 2014 or 2015 the course saw its last player, and became abandoned shortly after. In 2016, a fire deemed arson broke out in the arcade, resulting in damages that required the entire ice cream/arcade building to be demolished. It was at this time that the property owner decided to demolish the whole course. The animal statues were auctioned off to various buyers, none of which have since resurfaced. Evolution of the Miniature World/Miniature Golf sign. The sign at Tivoli Miniature World (top left), Tivoli Miniature Golf (top right), and Putt Putt/Jungle Putt (bottom left.) (Above): The course layout seen from a satellite image taken shortly after the fire. (Left): The arcade in the back half of the building during the final minutes of the blaze.