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- Home | Amusement History
Rekindling Memories & Smiles The Only Digital Museum of its Kind View History Pages Button About Welcome to Canadian Amusement History. We're an online museum with the goal to serve as a historical resource on the rich, often untold history of the amusement and attractions industry in Canada. Here you will find written history, links to our documentary series, image and video galleries, current news relevant to historic attractions still in operation, and more. While this site attempts to comprehensively archive and collect information on attractions nationwide, our focus is on the Niagara Falls area due to it's tourism landscape being unlike any other on Earth. From your local mall arcade to amusement parks, haunted attractions to themed restaurants, mini golf courses to animatronic shows, and every kind of amusement attraction in between, you'll be able to find information on it here. We hope we can help you discover a lost memory, relive a fond one, learn something new, or find a photograph of something you thought you'd never see again. Don't see something you've been searching for? Feel free to contact us using the contact form below. Recent Updates History Page Updated: Castle Dracula 2024 Remodel The history page for Castle Dracula/Dracula's Haunted Castle has been updated following a 2024 remodel and change in ownership. This attraction has truly risen from the dead like The Count himself. New Documentary Video: The History and Abandonment of Castle Village Enchanted KIngdom With several explore videos of this park already on YouTube, I noticed none dive into it's incredible history. Join us as we not only explore what's left of this beautiful park, but also share it's amazing story. History Page Added: Wizard's Castle Arcade (and Affiliate Chains) Main history page added for the Wizard's Castle Arcade chain. The story of Canada's largest, beloved, and sorely missed mall arcade chain, including a list of confirmed former locations. This also serves as the main history page for all other chains and arcades owned by the Wizard's brand, including Sky Games, The Games, and Games Maximus. Site Launch: Welcome Welcome to all, whether you were searching for this website, something on it, or stumbled upon it by accident. A handful of special feature articles and a good chunk of the history pages are up, mostly for Niagara Region attractions, with several more on the way. There will also be more added to the photo gallery section as time goes on and the website's massive historical photo collection is sorted. We're excited to grow the website with you and see where this goes! Never Miss a Site Update Enter your email Subscribe Thanks for subscribing! About the Author I grew up in Southern Ontario visiting Niagara Falls often. The attractions in the area (as well as those elsewhere in the province) gave me the desire to pass on the joy they bring and pursue thematic amusement design as a career from an early age. The landscape of attractions in Niagara Falls began to shift along with the rest of the amusement industry as a whole starting in the late 2000's. By the mid-2010's, I found myself curious about the history of attractions I remembered from my childhood, ones before my time, and ones across the country, only to find it existed nowhere online except for clues scattered to the corners of the internet and public library archives. Not only that, the stories I began to uncover were more interesting than I ever could have imagined. I would occasionally post my findings on social media and various forums, and quickly learned I was not alone in my curiosity. This site and mini-documentary series are the culmination of over a decade of searching through old photographs, tourist home videos, business records, government databases, public libraries, newspaper archives and peoples' recollections. This is my love letter to the places that inspired me, and I feel it's my duty to make sure these incredible stories of incredible attractions get told instead of lost to time. - Alex Crew, Canadian Amusement Historian Contact First Name Last Name Email Message... Submit Thanks for submitting!
- Sculpting Memories: The Waxattract Story | Amusement History
Sculpting Memories The WAXATTRACT Story Waxattract was the leading wax figure and animatronics design firm in Canada from the early-1960's to mid-1980's, and were fittingly based in Niagara Falls, ON. The company was owned by (and entirely comprised of) the Dunham family, with Robert Dunham founding the company sometime in the early 60's. His wife Betty as well as their eight children would all go on to become involved in the family business in some way as the company grew, and together they achieved several firsts and milestones in the amusement industry. The company's most popular attractions, and most groundbreaking, were their revolutionary haunted attractions which redefined the industry not just in Niagara but as a whole, and become an integral part of Clifton Hill's development and growth. Mid-70's business card featuring the only documented instance of the company's logo. A Canadian Amusement History Special Feature Robert Dunham was a painter who first branched into the amusement industry at Crystal Beach Amusement Park in Fort Erie, where he constructed Fantasy Land, a walkthrough fairytale and folklore attraction, under the ballroom sometime around 1960. The attraction was a labyrinth of twisting halls past various scenes of animated fairytale and fantasy characters, brought to life using continuous animation similar to department store window displays at Christmas. 1964 newspaper ad for Dunham's painting services. It was run by Dunham as a concession, but he noticed something while running the attraction. Families were flocking into Laff in the Dark, a haunted house dark ride attraction across the pathway from Fantasy Land, while Fantasy Land remained less than popular. That being said, Laff in the Dark was built way back in 1935, a package ride by Travers Engineering, and the extent of the scenes contained within were plywood cutouts with a flood light on them, or noisemakers on the ground which your ride car rolled over. Fantasy Land on the other hand contained scenes with multiple full 3D figures, dynamic lighting, and recorded sounds. Despite Fantasy Land being the much more detailed attraction, and family oriented, Laff in the Dark proved more popular since it was the parents spending the money, not the children. Parents would drag their hesitant children into the dark ride, have a good laugh, and then the children who felt they had braved the attraction would want to return. It was also popular with all age groups, including teenagers and adults without children, whereas Fantasy Land was not. He took note of the impact a horror theme had on an attraction, and remembered it for his future endeavors which would change Niagara Falls forever, but in the meantime, branched further into the amusement industry with other projects. Fantasy Land's castle entrance under the dance hall, sandwiched between the Bowl-O-Matic bowling alley and Crystal Beach Wax Museum, the latter which Dunham may have later had a hand in (see below). The first of these would be Waltzing Waters , which he built for local businessman Arthur White in the then-new Seagram Tower complex (later Royal Tower, Heritage Tower, Panasonic Tower, Minolta Tower, and most recently Tower Hotel.) Waltzing Waters was a computerized dancing fountain that was synchronized to music, and even lights at night. A switchboard operator controlled the show, making it customizable so no two performances were exactly the same, encouraging return customers. The attraction came at a time when computers were in their infancy, and was a smash hit. It was the third bonafide amusement attraction to open in the Falls proper only behind Louis Tussaud's Wax Museum and the Antique Auto Museum, and the first in the up-and-coming Fallsview district. Early 70's Waltzing Waters postcard. In 1966, Arthur White and his business partner Malcolm Howe commissioned Dunham to add to the Burning Springs Wax Museum that had also opened in the Seagram Tower complex in 1963. A basement level of the museum was constructed underneath the pre-existing two floors, featuring a Chamber of Horrors that brought the museum's total number of scenes from 33 to 50. It breathed fresh air into an attraction that was already becoming tired within mere years of opening, with the thrilling new addition being remembered as one of the most specifically terrifying horror sections to ever exist in a Niagara wax museum. This was Dunham's first confirmed wax museum contract, and the first job with a horror theme. It's also possible, while not confirmed, that he may have been in involved in the addition of a Chamber of Horrors to the Crystal Beach Wax Museum around the same time, which was also owned by White and coincidentally located directly next door to Fantasy Land under the ballroom. Just a year later in 1967, the Ricci family who owned the Oakes Hotel across the street from the Burning Springs commissioned an entire museum from Dunham, one that he would also manage. This would be the legendary Boris Karloff Wax Museum, which opened under the name "Niagara Wax Museum of Fantasy" before being changed to it's better-known name the following year after receiving the official license from Karloff himself shortly before the actor's death. Horror sections or Chambers of Horror in wax museums were nothing new, however this was the first entirely horror themed wax museum. Left: May 1967 newspaper ad promoting the museum's grand opening. Very little is known of this early incarnation of the museum. Right: Early 70's brochure for the museum with it's better-known name. Notice the vast artistic style difference between the Dracula figures seen in the 1967 print ad and the 70's brochure, making details surrounding the first year of the museum even more strange. Despite the horror theme, it was still truly a wax museum, not a haunted attraction. What limited photos exist in the brochures show it being fairly well-lit, and describe many non-horror scenes like Charlie Brown, MLK, Santa, Lincoln and Snow White. While there was a large amount of animation, it was done in the same style of the animatronics in Fantasy Land, but Waxattract's animation of horror figures would become much more advanced in the years that followed. It's heavy animation, lighting effects, sound design, and unique theme made it a massive success however, and it's remembered fondly by both locals and those who only visited the Falls once or twice. Dunham was right about the horror theme as braving his new attraction became a rite of passage, and the memories of (at the time) children who it terrified are only eclipsed by the memories of children and adults alike who fell in love with it. More sights from the 70's brochure. As this was happening, other operators in the area were taking note, and Waxattract was asked to do work for the biggest attractions in the Falls at the time, namely Movieland and Tussaud's. Dunham also did design consulting for the Niagara Belle ferry boat, which up until the 2020 pandemic, still took passengers on tours of the region. The majestic Niagara Belle when it was still providing tours in the late 2010's. Dunham was honing his craft, and opened another attraction of his own, the Royal London Wax Museum , in 1971. It replaced the Antique Auto Museum on Falls Ave. when it moved to Clifton Hill and became Cars of the Greats. 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. The building was adorned with neon signage, and in the front window sat a beautiful recreation of the Queen's royal stagecoach. 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. The Boris Karloff Wax Museum was performing much better simply due to its theme, despite being in a much less trafficked area, 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. Left: The Royal London Wax Museum's neon-clad exterior in grainy 1973 footage. Right: The Queen's royal stagecoach that sat in the window as it appeared in 1976 after being moved to the Tower of London Wax Museum (see below). 1971 postcard. The highly complex Seance scene. This featured a levitating table, moving objects, and compressed air blasting at the guests. This brings us to one of the most pivotal attractions in the landscape and history of Clifton Hill: The House of Frankenstein . The attraction was built in a second story added on to the pre-existing restaurant and gift shop of the Iannuzelli family's Hilltop Motel, and ran by the motel owner's brother Joe. Waxattract developed the attraction, and went partners with the brothers in ownership as well, as they had previously done with the Royal London. Dunham had learned from Fantasy Land and The Royal London, or more specifically, the success of the Boris Karloff. Rather than being a museum, it would showcase various wax horror scenes from film and history in a much scarier way, somewhat similar to the haunted house dark rides or haunted fun houses at carnivals and amusement parks, but at the same time, not similar at all, in fact lightyears ahead. I believe it to be one of the most important attractions in amusement history, rivaling the Pretzel Dark Ride, the Enchanted Tiki Room, and Chuck E. Cheese's in historical significance, yet totally overlooked by historians. From what I have been able to gather after years of research, it was the first instance of programmable animatronic figures outside of California's Disneyland, even beating out Disney World in Florida by a few months. It was simultaneously more than a wax museum and more than a haunted house, one could say it was the first modern walk-through haunted attraction, today an over $300 million USD a year industry. Waxattract would even self-produce latex monster masks and hands cast from the same molds as the figures in the attraction for sale in the gift shop. It was a combination of multiple age old concepts into something totally new. The House of Frankenstein was packed with scenes and took the detail, storytelling, and walk through nature of a wax museum, combined it with the scare factor and startling nature of a dark ride, and sprinkled in the illusions, floor tricks, and mazes of a funhouse. The cherry on top of it all was Waxattract's technology. By now, Waxattract was an entire family business, with Dunham's wife Betty doing all the costumes and seamstress work for the figures. They had 8 children, all of which would go on be involved in the family business in some way, their eldest son Jeff being the computer and programming mastermind, their son Fred becoming the main sculptor for the figures and painter of the props and backgrounds, their sons Brian and Chris handling the construction and carpentry for the attractions, and Robert himself well-versed and highly involved in all aspects. The Dunhams would pull off some incredible special effects that would still be considered impressive today. The Grotto, where amidst the corpses and circling bats guests would hear their own voices' echo chase them down the hallway, achieved via hidden microphones and a stereo system. This allegedly sent many guests running back out the entrance. Collage from an opening year souvenir guide book. Before this, dark rides and funhouses used on/off switches that would trigger a one time action for startling animatronics, or use continuously running motors for displays, as had department store windows during the holidays. However none of these were programmable, at best, you could install a timer that let a motor run for a set amount of seconds, then shut off. It was systems like these which the figures in Dunham's Fantasy Land and Boris Karloff Wax Museum had run off as well. Up until now, electronically controlled and programmable figures with dynamic movements had been exclusive to the Disney company, who by this point were using room-sized computers to run digitally controlled figures. Waxattract's system however used analog signals recorded on simple reel-to-reel Q4 tape rather than massive computers to control the figures, much more affordable and accessible for attractions, and eventually became the industry benchmark. Chuck E. Cheese's wouldn't open their first store and kick off the animatronics + pizza trend until 1977. Creative Engineering, who would go on to be responsible for rival chain Showbiz Pizza in the 80's, wouldn't begin inventing animatronic figures for theme parks until the mid-late 70's, nor would future animatronics manufacturers like Sally Corp or AVG. The Dunhams' invention and it's debut in the House of Frankenstein predate them all, cracking the code and effectively birthing the animatronics industry. Going through an opening year guidebook for the attraction, you see how certain scenes couldn't even be possible without the programming system, and if you've seen many of the same scenes still present in the later Lake George location, it becomes even more apparent. Lighting, sound, and specific movements all come together to tell a story, groundbreaking for 1971. Nobody could have expected what awaited them when they walked into the House of Frankenstein. More can be read about this incredible attraction here on it's history page. In another first, there was even a live actor in a Frankenstein suit outfront (usually one of Dunham's sons in the early years) who would stand perfectly still until a crowd was gathered around, then suddenly lunge forward to incite a large scream from the crowd. The commotion would draw more people to the doors of the attraction, and was a great example of Dunham's genius marketing, a reocurring theme you'll see on this page. The Phantom of the Opera plays his frantic music from his pipe organ, one of the few original figures still located in the attraction as of 2024. The original Frankenstein scene, located towards the end of the attraction. This featured a massive Jacob's Ladder device with real electricity, and the Bride of Frankenstein (just out of frame) who was wearing Betty Dunham's wedding dress. The House of Frankenstein tore Clifton Hill apart, and sent shockwaves through the industry. If Tussaud's had began the ball rolling 12 years earlier in 1959, the House of Frankenstein was the moment everything fell into place for the identity of Clifton Hill. Waxattract's brilliant artistry, figures, sets, paintings and technical wizardry amounted to an incredible experience. Photos of Clifton Hill in the 1970's shows lineups down the street to even get into the lobby. Soon after the massive success of the House of Frankenstein, Dunham partnered with the Iannuzellis on a second location in the tourist town of Lake George, NY, which opened in 1973. Many of the figures were made from the same molds and sculpts as their Niagara counterparts, however the list of scenes contained within varied slightly. Waxattract and the Iannuzellis would continue to own the attractions as a partnership until the Iannuzellis, seeing their success, wanted to buy them outright, which Dunham eventually agreed to for the right price. But by 1974, Dunham already had his sights set on building a second haunted attraction in Niagara Falls: Castle Dracula . The House of Frankenstein in Lake George, still operating today. The original Castle Dracula seen at the bottom of this 1976 image taken from the Oneida tower. By now however, Dunham wanted to do something much more scary than he already had. To set it apart, it would have to be even more thematic and technologically advanced than the previous attractions, and it delivered. It was originally located on Victoria Ave. in an old Bell Telephone office building. It opened on June 1st, 1974 to rave reviews, with it's original full name being "Castle Dracula: Witchcraft and Black Magic", although it was also referred to as simply "Castle Dracula Wax Museum" in some media. Very little was documented about this original location, but by what accounts do exist, Castle Dracula was quite a spectacle to behold when it opened, and expanded on the proven haunted attraction concept established in the House of Frankenstein(s). 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 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. 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, which consisted of 50 projectors throwing special effects on a 96 foot U-shaped screen on three walls of a massive room, the finale of the attraction. 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. Exterior of a 1974 fold-open brochure. The technological improvements wouldn't stop at lighting and audio technology however, as the attraction featured yet another first in the world of animatronics; the Monster Mash, which was a fully animatronic band of monsters singing Bobby Pickett's song of the same name. By every shred of surfaced evidence, it was the world's first animatronic full musical band outside of a Disney park. 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. The attraction was three floors, with guests taking a staircase up to the lobby on the second floor immediately upon entering. While a separate restaurant occupied the street-facing side of the lower level, the back half of this level was part of the attraction, and was underground as the building was built atop a natural slope towards Victoria Ave. 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 Dracula locations. 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 fishtank 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. This would be guests' first introduction to the attraction. 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. The Exorcist scene as it appeared lit but not functioning in 2023, 46 years after the attraction's eventual move to Clifton Hill. The face of the animatronic of the possessed girl in the Exorcist scene was actually a cast of Dunham's youngest daughter Debbie's face, who was 8 years old at the time, and Fred Dunham recalls several casts of him and his siblings' arms and limbs being used to build figures. The attraction would end up being a highlight of Waxattract's achievements, ahead of it's time and spectacular at every turn. It would go on to influence the company's direction over the following years in more ways than one. Despite drawing over 200,000 visitors in its first season and 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. With the original Castle Dracula location in Niagara initially doing well, the Dunham family's Waxattract company closed the Royal London Wax Museum, selling off the collection to the ill-fated Tower of London Wax Musuem on Clifton Hill and setting their sights elsewhere. The first project Robert Dunham was involved with down in the States wasn't an amusement attraction at all, rather, he became co-owner of the Myrtle Beach Speedway, a dirt NASCAR track which he helped redesign and pave in 1974. Several up-and-coming stars raced at the track when they were young including Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt. Meanwhile, Dunham was creating his first amusement attraction in the area, the second Castle Dracula, which would open on March 14th, 1975 on Ocean Blvd., Myrtle Beach's main strip near the beach. It would take heavy inspiration from the attraction here in Niagara, building on the concept even further, while dropping elements that had proved problematic. It contained mostly the same scenes, with the returning ones sometimes improving on their past versions. This 1975 photo of the finishing touches being put on an unknown scene in the Myrtle Beach location may be the only photo of the master himself at work. The Swamp basement level featured in the Niagara location was done away with completely, with the Myrtle Beach location only being two levels. The facade was a massive castle with four 60 ft. turrets, a moat, a window with three changing images on it, three drawbridges in, and adorned with two gargoyle statues. The middle drawbridge led to a scene of Dracula standing at a coffin someone was trying to escape from, similar to the ones in the lobbies of the House of Frankenstein locations. You could go either left into the gift shop or right into the arcade/lobby, with the rooms being connected behind the scene. This made for a much grander facade and entranceway, pulling you down the street and then into the building. The impressive Myrtle Beach location, 1975. The Dracula lobby scene immediately inside the building. The Monster Mash was also retooled into a quartet of singing head busts with projected holographic faces. To achieve the effect, the faces were projected onto the heads, which had faces in the characters' likenesses sculpted inwards rather than outwards. It served as a lobby display rather than part of the attraction, to prevent bottlenecking along the attraction's path due to guests watching the show. The Lightshow in this location is also the only one with mention of a dancing fountain (similar to the company's Waltzing Waters attraction) in the Lightshow room in an old brochure, which was located in the large open space in the middle of the room. It's unknown if the Niagara location had this as well, as the Lightshow room there had the same layout and would have had space, but proof is yet to surface. The arcade also contained a stage for a live magic show, another feature it's unclear whether the Niagara location had. In a news article from four days before the location opened, it states that it had over 50 scenes and over 100 figures, with many having a $16 USD (over $93 USD when adjusted for inflation) pair of imported, glass, Czechoslovakian surgical eyes for the highest realism. It's unknown if the same imported eyes were used in figures in the Niagara location, but upon inspection it appears to be the case. A first for either location was an animatronic Dracula figure with a projected talking face, the face belonging to Dunham himself in Dracula makeup. Projected faces on an animatronic figure is something even Disney wouldn't implement in their attractions until 2014, nearly 40 years later, a true testament to how advanced the attraction was for the time. Another cool feature mentioned in the news article is that the height of the windows into each scene was dependent on how gruesome it was, with more bloody and disturbing scenes having higher windows so parents could choose whether or not they wished to lift up their children to show them. "The Room Rats" in the Myrtle Beach location, where a prisoner chained to the wall is eaten alive. The attraction cost roughly half a million dollars to build, and revolutionized Myrtle Beach's amusement industry similar to the way that the House of Frankenstein and original Castle Dracula influenced Niagara Falls. Unfortunately, on August 12, 1975, just two days shy of the attraction's five month anniversary, someone tossed a cigarette butt into the "Night Stalker" scene of a vampire getting impaled through the heart on the second floor, and the attraction went up in flames around 10:30 P.M. Roughly 1,000 people crowded the street and watched the Castle burn. The entire attraction was thankfully rebuilt from the ground up in time for the next tourist season in 1976, with only minor changes made in the new version. The biggest change would come in Plexiglass now covering the windows into almost all of the scenes instead of just a handful of them, something that would continue to be implemented in all subsequent attractions to prevent a similar incident. It would remains as popular as it's first year, becoming the focal point of the strip. Firefighters fighting the flames engulfing the castle, 1975. The Castle was heavily involved in the local community, in common Robert Dunham style. In addition to sponsoring sports teams, they also sponsored race cars (many of which fittingly raced at Myrtle Beach Speedway), leant props out for use in a charity haunted house free of charge, sent their resident magician to local schools and charity events, and even pledged the entire remaining amount of $412 for a local citizen's band radio club telethon to reach it's $3000 goal in 1977. Speaking of radio, they ran a frequent radio ad in the Myrtle Beach area, and even shot a television commercial at some point in the 70's. According to those who worked on it, the commercial featured someone in a Gorilla suit at some point. It most likely aired on public access or local affiliate TV stations before/just at the dawn of VCRs, meaning off-air recordings of the commercial by the public likely don't exist. It remains an extremely obscure piece of lost media, with neither the TV or radio spot even having a page on the Lost Media Wiki or mention on their forums. The Myrtle Beach strip in the early 80's with the rebuilt castle standing tall in the center. Waxattract was also asked to redesign a local amusement park in Myrtle Beach, which had begun as a Wild West park and most recently had been rethemed to Pirateland. Dunham redesigned the park as a nautical themed park called Magic Harbour, complete with a Haunted Shooting Gallery utilising infrared target-activated characters made out of the same sculpts and molds as the figures in the House of Frankenstein and Castle Dracula locations. The park also contained The Hound Dog Revue/Country Dog Jamboree, Waxattract's second full animatronic show after the Monster Mash. The only known photo of The Hound Dog Revue. The Panama City Beach castle located on the main strip. The genie statue seen faintly to the right was unrelated to the castle, and from a neighboring attraction. With business already booming at two Castle Dracula locations, Waxattract would spread the influence of Niagara Falls and Clifton Hill further with the third Castle Dracula in Panama City Beach, FL. It was located on the main strip facing the ocean with the same facade as the Myrtle Beach location. The attraction would be even more toned down from the previous locations, and while having a two story facade and drawbridge entrance identical to the Myrtle Beach location, would actually only be a one story building behind it. It had a much larger footprint than the other buildings however, allowing it to still contain most of the same features within. That being said, the Lightshow was scaled down somewhat, becoming a hexagonal mirrored room with mirrors on five sides and an entrance/exit on the other. The mirrors were all two way, with the projection effects being projected on the glass rather than a screen. Left: Jesse Dodd operating the Lightshow at the PCB location, 1977. Note the 8-Track tape control system in the back right. Waxattract had updated their reel-to-reel tape animation system to running on 8-Track by this point, and all the animatronics in the attraction would have had an 8-track control box. Right: The Dracula figure in the main Dracula scene inside the PCB castle, where he cast no reflection in his mirror. The same scene was prevalent in all the Castle Dracula locations. This rare close-up offers a glimpse into the high level of detail on the figures, and comes from a 1983 news report from inside the attraction, making it the only location to have interior footage of it's glory days to surface so far. 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 which 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 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 was apparently savable, and was connected with the structure at the back of the property to make one building taking up the entire plot of land which would be large enough to house the relocated attraction. Only a fraction of the original scenes would make the move however, with the Lightshow, Monster Mash, and Swamp area being left behind. The now-iconic Clifton Hill location as it originally appeared following it's move from Victoria Ave. This image circa early 80's. After the Castle Dracula locations were constructed, Waxattract began creating a portable version of their haunted attraction concept for travelling carnivals and small amusement parks. While it's not clear how many were produced, how large they were, or where they ended up, one was likely located on Sportland Pier in Wildwood, NJ. Several people remember a temporary attraction there called "The Boris Karloff Wax Museum" (a name Dunham had the rights to) which only lasted one season, and remember identical scenes as those found in the House of Frankenstein and Castle Dracula locations. That particular attraction likely received the older Boris Karloff name due to the name "Castle Dracula" already being taken in Wildwood by an unrelated attraction, and the House of Frankenstein name belonging to the Iannuzellis. To give an idea of how advanced the animation in these portable attractions was, they apparently contained a Dracula figure capable of raising his "wine" glass, moving his mouth to a line of dialogue, opening it, pouring fake blood out of the glass into his mouth (which was recirculated into the glass via funnel and pump), and then continuing dialogue. This was miles ahead of what major theme parks are doing even to this day, meaning on a carnival midway or in a small park in the 70's, it would have been even more impressive. The temporary (and temporary-looking) Castle Dracula overlay of Lake George's Movieworld Wax Museum in 1982. It's likely Waxattract had little to no involvement in this location. Then there's the mystery of the Movieworld Wax Museum in Lake George, NY, which bears more than one connection to Waxattract, including briefly becoming a Castle Dracula for the 1982 season only. Movieworld opened in 1978 and was owned by the Iannuzzelli family who Dunham had co-owned the House of Frankenstein locations with, bearing striking resemblance to Niagara's unrelated Movieland. There's even public records of a land development proposal submitted by Dunham and the Iannuzzellis for an unnamed development on Canada St. (the street both Movieworld and the House of Frankenstein are located on) in 1977, five years after the House of Frankenstein would have already opened. Despite these connections, the figures in Movieworld beared zero resemblance to Waxattract's other works, with some evidence even suggesting that Don Post Studios, who had constructed the initial batch of opening day figures for Niagara's Movieland, was involved in the project. Members of the Dunham family also recall no involvement in the project. Regardless of the museum's origin, it was briefly renamed "Castle Dracula Wax Museum" for the 1982 season only, receiving a temporary exterior sign, before reverting back to Movieworld the next year, as it would remain until it's closure in 2000. The sole advertisement that has surfaced for the attraction during its tenure as Castle Dracula touted it as "the finest collection of monsters and movie stars", hinting that perhaps the rebranding was more of a name change than a remodel, and it was simply always just Movieworld with either an expanded or rerouted horror section. It's likely this was done to cash in on the success of the Waxattract Castle Dracula locations, with the Iannuzzellis seeing the House of Frankenstein locations draw in far more people than Movieworld and wanting to give it the same appeal, something Movieworld allegedly struggled with right up until it's closure. By 1982 Waxattract had long moved on from building new Castle Dracula locations, and the Dunhams themselves have claimed no involvement. As of writing this, no proof of Waxattract being involved in this attraction has surfaced aside from the land development proposal, and the connections were likely a coincidence. 1982 tourist book advertisement for the Lake George Castle Dracula, utilizing the same quote from Bram Stoker's novel that the official locations did in their advertising, including a strikingly similar logo. This ads even more confusion to the mystery of this attraction and it's true ties (or lack thereof) to the other locations. Around 1977 or 1978, Waxattract would create the Jungleland Miniature Golf course in Niagara, located on Victoria Ave. at the bend where it becomes Ferry St. (the lot currently occupied by the Courtyard Marriott and the Starbucks plaza.) The fiberglass animal statues were imported from Amusement Products in Tennessee, being their popular "Jungle Kingdom" line of figures that were purchased by many courses from the mid 70's-early 2000's. The Dunhams built the large volcano however, as well as the course itself. In another genius marketing move, Dunham charged $3.50 for a play all day pass. The idea was that after an expensive outing in Niagara Falls, families would see the $3.50 play all day pricetag and think it was a steal. The reality of course, is that no matter how good a miniature golf course is, the amount of players (especially families with young children) who are going to play more than one round is an extremely low number, so players would rarely stay for more than a single round of golf anyway, freeing up course space and equipment for more potential customers. It was genius, and a total money maker. Despite the fact most people only played one round, the course was so busy that there were often times lineups to even wait for a putter to become available to play the course. Left: Bobby Mergl lines up a putt at the Big and Little Brother Golf Tournament held at the Victoria Ave. Jungleland course, 1986. Right: The course's elephant in the winter, 1985. Waxattract wasn't involved in the second Jungleland location however, selling the Victoria Ave. location to Herbert Cowan at the end of the 1980 tourist season. He initially changed the course to a standard one-round play system, but after the course didn't perform nearly as well as when Dunham owned it, he reverted back to the play all day pass system. Cowan would go on to build the second, more challenging course on Murray Hill in the Fallsview District sometime in the mid-80's. Low resolution image of the coin-operated Barbershop Quartet machine at Waxattract's studios. Shortly after Jungleland opened, Waxattract became the designers for the upcoming Many Worlds of Jules Verne theme park planned to be out near Marineland. However, after the company who was to own the park, G&A Holdings, ran out of capital, the project was dead in the water and unfortunately never left the planning stages. It's unclear what attractions Dunham was planning for the park, but copyright filings show it would have included an Arby's fast food restaurant somewhere in the premises. The only aspect originally planned for the park to make it to production was The Barbershop Quartet, a miniature, animatronic, coin-operated barbershop quartet machine. According to the copyright database it began life during planning as "The Doggone Quartet", and was likely to feature singing dogs that were to be the park's mascots, but were changed to human barbers after the park was halted. It was produced, but it's unclear if it was ever installed in another attraction instead. While this was happening, it showed a shift in Robert Dunham's work away from museums, wax figures, and exhibits, and even more into the field of animatronics. In the late 70's, Waxattract rebranded as Enter-Tech, "Entertainment Technology in Motion", a division of Waxattract. At this time they would move from their former studio in a warehouse just off Portage Rd., to an industrial plaza on Thorold Stone Rd. The newly branded Enter-Tech would usher in a wave of animatronics being a Clifton Hill area staple, even more so than they already had as Waxattract. Cover of an early-80's Enter-Tech trade show pamphlet. An animatronic mouse character plays the piano at the entrance to Circus World, which looks identical to Enter-Tech's work (more on that later.) In 1979, Enter-Tech as well as other local firm Costello Productions were separately involved in different aspects of Circus World, an arcade and gift shop that also included a hybrid attraction that was a mix between a circus museum and a funhouse. There was also an impressive shooting gallery at the front of the arcade named the Tombstone Saloon, as well as an animatronic, piano playing mouse outside the museum next to something in a circus wagon. It's unknown what party did what exactly for the attraction. It's possible the Tombstone Saloon was a Dunham creation due to them being involved in the shooting gallery in Magic Harbour, but it's also possible it was an off the shelf "Bonanza" shooting gallery that was popular at the time (Niagara had at least 3 others at one point in time.) In 1979, Pyramid Place, an outdoor amusement park and indoor mall, opened in the former Niagara Wire Weaving factory at Fallsview and Robinson. The mall's main attraction was "The Legend Niagara", an Enter-Tech attraction of massive proportions. It was a multi-media museum with animatronic figures and displays discussing Niagara's history. The museum was a pre-show of sorts for the star attraction: a giant theatre with a wraparound film screen high above on the wall. Beneath it were multiple animatronic figures hidden behind scrim screens around the guests. A film about Niagara Falls' history played on the screen above, and when it discussed certain key points, the matching animatronic scenes would come to life to synchronize with events taking place in the film. The attraction was incredible, and was updated the next year as "The Great White Water Picture Show" with a new film, and the animatronics reprogrammed to match the new movie. The Dunhams sold the attraction in 1981, and a company called Landmark Entertainment would take over, slightly remodling the attraction. Fred Dunham also painted a large Disney advertisement mural in Pyramid Place, likely in the mall along the outside wall of the theatre. Newspaper ad for the Great White Water Picture Show. These low-quality images may be the only surviving stills of the film. It should be noted the theatre full of guests at the bottom-left is the IMAX Pyramid, not the Great White Water Picture Show. Maple Leaf Village, Niagara's well-missed tourist mall and amusement park, was home to another Enter-Tech animatronic show, the now-obscure "Hillbilly Bear Jamboree". The show was "run" by Big John, a banjo-playing Panda bear on a side stage. Other characters on the main stage included the dim-whitted Leroy (also on Banjo), Harry Harmonica, Beverly Bear on the fiddle, Jug Head, a chicken, and the tiny Hooter the owl, who would introduce and close each show. There was also a larger bear at the center of the main stage with a guitar. It's possible this may have been "Big John" and the panda bear was a separate character either out front or on a side stage, but a newspaper article about the attraction which contains some of the only documentation of it, shows a photo of the Panda bear with the caption saying he was Big John. Left: The panda bear proclaimed to be "Big John" in a 1982 newspaper article. Above: A rare photo of The Hillbilly Bear Jamboree courtesy of the Dunhams' personal archives. A still from a 1982 commercial for Maple Leaf Village, which contains the only known footage of the Hillbilly Bear Jamboree. Unfortunately, after only two or three years operating at the mall, the computer equipment was stolen from the attraction. It would have been a huge heist at the time both literally and figuratively, as the equipment wouldn't only have been extremely valuable, but also extremely large and heavy in 1982. Afterwards, the Dunhams turned the space into an animatronic Lincoln show similar to the ones at the Disney parks, titled "Meet Mr. Lincoln". Lincoln would get up from his chair, appear to walk forward, and deliver the Gettysburg address (via Robert Dunham's voice acting.) This attraction is incredibly obscure however; no photos, videos, newspaper clippings, advertisements or other mentions of it exist outside it being listed in a 1984 Maple Leaf Village store directory. There was also a Dare Devil Gallery in Pyramid Place's IMAX Pyramid by the mid-1990's. Enter-Tech created an exhibit attraction in The Falls entitled Dare Devil Gallery sometime in the late 70's/very early 80's, evidenced by it's mention in an early 80's Enter-Tech brochure's project portfolio. According to newspaper articles the attraction moved from its home on Stanley Ave. to the former Burning Springs Wax Museum building for the 1991 season only. It's unknown if the attraction ceased to exist after that point and the naming is simply a coincidence, or if a downsized version infact became Pyramid Place's Dare Devil Gallery. Another obscure attraction listed in the same brochure is "Ocean World". There's several theories as to what this could be. It may be referencing the few animatronic figures and fiberglass statues that could be found in the National Marine Aquarium of Canada which opened in 1971. The attraction had a rocky history of ownership and rebranding, so it's possible this simply could have been it's name at the time the brochure was created. While there's currently nothing explicitly tying Waxattract to the Aquarium, they did some work on other attractions owned by the Aquarium's original developers, so it's a possibility they did the thematic work for this attraction as well. An animatronic toucan from the brochure in question. It's unknown if this figure ever made it into an attraction or was simply a proof-of-concept. By 1980, Waxattract/Enter Tech were allegedly producing around 60 animatronic figures a year for various clients, with sales upwards of $1 Million annually, or over $3.7 Million today when adjusted for inflation. By this logic, it stands to reason there's probably a large handful of attractions/installations the company worked on that have since gone undocumented. With so many attractions under their belt, several of which were high-profile money makers, the company name was steadily turning more and more heads in the industry. Between and the company's incredibly advanced technology, highly detailed artistry, thematic design skill, and proven ability to push the boundaries time and time again, potential high-profile clients were beginning to take note, and the small Canadian company was finally positioned to become a global giant in amusement design. The All Star Mouse Revue featured prominently in the early-80's Enter-Tech brochure. The band was comprised of parodies of famous musicians, hence the "all star" theme. From left to right: "Victor B. Mouse", "Elvis Mouse", "Ringo Mouse", "Dolly Mouse", and "Louis Mouse." In the early-80's, Enter-Tech had allegedly entered into a contract with fast food chain Pizza Pizza to supply all the animatronic stage shows for a planned chain of arcade pizza restaurants across Canada, with a starting 15 locations that could expand to more in the future. The show was to be "The All Star Mouse Revue" featuring the new chain's would-be mascot mice. The piano player for this band appeared to be of the same design as the company's Circus World mouse seen earlier on this page, likely being the inspiration for the band. The production, including the parts, research, and development, would have been a huge and expensive undertaking for Enter-Tech, not to mention time consuming. That being said, when completed, it would have been extremely lucrative and open even more doors for the company. The first show was built, programmed, and delivered, with several more already in production. Pizza Pizza missed their second payment however... Meanwhile, a planned pizza parlor chain of similar nature, this time with 20 planned locations in the U.S., caught wind of the show and wished to commission 20 for their chain instead. However, weary of Pizza Pizza taking legal action against Enter-Tech for breaking contract and selling the characters and show to another company, Dunham kept hope that Pizza Pizza's second payment would eventually arrive. It never did, and upon Dunham's inquiring, the fast food giant supposedly claimed to have no clue who Enter-Tech were and hold no record of the shows being commissioned or even delivered, or apparently the planned restaurant chain at all. Not to go down the conspiracy theory road (this is simply speculation based on industry trends at the time), but it's possible that what happened is with the arcade industry recently posting it's first sales decrease in history in 1983, and other restaurant chains of the same concept going belly up after expanding too quickly, Pizza Pizza got cold feet and thought it easier to sweep the whole thing under the rug rather than front the costs to properly backpeddle. By this point it was too late for Dunham to sign with the company from the States instead, and the financial loss from the costs of production of the Mouse Revue shows forced the mighty Enter-Tech/Waxattract into bankruptcy. Fred (Left) and Jeff (Right) Dunham build one of the mouse figures, 1980. This newspaper article on the company features the only-mid production photo from inside Waxattract/Enter-Tech's studios to surface, offering a glimpse into the complexity of the figures. A few days later, Robert Dunham suffered his first heart attack. He would survive and begin to rebuild the company, now focusing on Monsterland Golf, an indoor blacklight miniature golf course featuring animatronic horror figures made from the same sculpts and molds used in the House of Frankenstein and Castle Dracula locations. It was an idea he apparently had for a while, as the copyright was filed way back in 1979 when Jungleland's was. It would have been revolutionary for 1985 if completed, as this was likely before Nightmares Fore opened, and not only would have been both the first blacklight and horror themed mini golf, but also the first interactive one, where obstacles you hit and cups you sink trigger effects on the course. This is a concept that even today is considered revolutionary, and is just starting to become wide-spread in the industry. Unfortunately, it never got passed the planning stages, and on March 11th, 1985, Robert Dunham would suffer another heart attack and pass away at the young age of 55. The industrial plaza on Thorold Stone Rd. formerly home to the final location of Waxattract/Enter-Tech's studios as it appears today. Legendary attractions in both Niagara Falls and across North America were literally created from this building. It was a huge loss to Niagara Falls and the wider industry. Some of Enter-Tech's final projects to actually be completed would be an animatronic Pioneer museum in P.E.I., a talking and drinking W.C. Fields for a bar in the States, and an animatronic salmon puppet built for the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, which would travel around to classrooms giving presentations via a professor with a microphone hidden out of sight of the children. Perhaps no company in the history of the Canadian amusement industry has had a higher volume of attraction output, especially abroad in the U.S., which makes the outstanding quality of those attractions and the fact that one family was creating them rather than a giant crew of employees, all the more astonishing and impressive. Many of the attractions they worked on would become iconic in their respective locations, and even the few that fell through the cracks of history are remembered fondly by those who experienced them. Who knows what else Dunham would have come up with, invented, or built in Niagara and abroad if given more time. One thing is for certain, his legacy, and the joy he brought to millions in his short time, will live on forever in Niagara Falls and the amusement industry as a whole, even if people may not know him by name. The joint efforts of the Dunham family gave fond memories to millions of people who walked through the halls of their museums and haunted attractions, watched the spectacle of their shows and animatronics, or were immersed by their designs in their themed attractions. Art in general often bears the curse of anonymity, and often goes uncredited, especially in the amusement industry. Despite being a knowingly thankless line of work, that doesn't mean the artists and designers who bring an experience to life don't deserve credit for the smiles they create. The strongest kind of example is with a company such as Waxattract, who sculpted memories for those lucky enough to experience their attractions, and the many who continue to experience the handful of them still operational today. Thanks for Reading Written by Alex Crew A list of confirmed and suspected projects Waxattract were involved in can be viewed on the company's main History page in the "Artists and Designers" section of this website. If able, be sure to visit The House of Frankenstein locations in Niagara Falls, ON and Lake George, N.Y., and Castle Dracula (now named "Dracula's Haunted Castle") in Niagara Falls, ON. These are the last confirmed Waxattract attractions in existence. Although it's undergone minor updates, The House of Frankenstein in Lake George, N.Y. remains the most unaltered and best surviving example of Waxattract's work. This article has been made possible by members of the Dunham family who took the time to give interviews and share this incredible story. A huge thank you to Debbie Piccirillo and Fred Dunham for sharing the story of their father's company and everything they themselves contributed to the family business.
- Photo/Video Archive | Amusement History
Photo and Video Archive Welcome to the Canadian Amusement History archives. This archive is the result of over a decade of searching through old photographs, tourist home videos, public libraries, newspaper archives, advertising, and more. Here you'll find images and footage of both former attractions and ones that have changed over the years. You can also find old postcards, brochures, guide books, newspaper articles, commercials, and more. All sources are provided when applicable. This section will always be a work in progress. Due to the scope and size of our personal archive collection, the entirety of it will never fully be featured here, so if you're after something you don't find here, please contact us as we might have it in our collections! All Photo Galleries All Video Galleries Lost Media
- Amusement and Theme Parks | Amusement History
Amusement and Theme Parks Niagara Region Many don't realize that amusement parks and theme parks are actually two different things. A theme park is themed to one or several subjects, and may or may not contain any actual rides. An amusement park however always contains rides, but has either little or no theming. With several evolving into one another over the years, both are listed on this page for convenience. Canadia - Niagara Falls Crystal Beach Amusement Park - Crystal Beach Indian Village - Niagara Falls Maple Leaf Village - Niagara Falls Marineland - Niagara Falls Prudhomme's Landing - Lincoln Pyramid Place - Niagara Falls Skylon Indoor Amusement Park - Niagara Falls Storybook Land - Niagara Falls Tivoli Miniature World/Miniature Golf - Lincoln (Later moved to Niagara Falls) Tower View Amusement Park - Niagara Falls Greater Toronto Area Canada's Wonderland - Vaughn Centreville Amusement Park - Toronto Cullen Gardens and Miniature Village - Whitby Fantasy Fair - Woodbine Centre, Etobicoke (Toronto) Ontario Place - Toronto Sunnyside Amusement Park - Toronto Lake Huron and Georgian Bay Castle Village Enchanted Kingdom - Balm Beach/Midland Dinosaur Valley - Wasaga Beach Grand Bend Amusement Park - Grand Bend Playland Park - Wasaga Beach Sauble Beach Fun World - Sauble Beach Ontario - Other Areas Boblo Island Amusement Park - Amherstburg Santa's Village - Bracebridge Storybook Gardens - London Storyland - Renfrew Wild Zone - Wheels Inn, Chatham Alberta Barney's Adventure Park - Drumheller Calaway Park - Calgary Fantasyland/Galaxyland - West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Funland Amusement Park - Drumheller Heritage Park - Calgary 1920s Midway & Exhibition - Fort Edmonton Park, Edmonton Whitemud Amusement Park - Edmonton Manitoba and Saskatchewan Kiddieland - Regina, SK Playland - Grand Marais, MB Sunset Park - Regina, SK Tinkertown Family Fun Park - Springfield (Winnipeg), MB British Columbia (and Northern Canada) Bedrock City/Dinotown - Chilliwack Bedrock City - Kelowna Cultus Lake Adventure Park - Cultus Lake Dyck's Dinosaur Park - Maple Ridge Fantasy Gardens/Fantasy Garden World - Richmond Happyland/Playland at the PNE - Vancouver Rattlesnake Canyon - Osoyoos Quebec Belmont Park - Montreal La Ronde - Montreal Mega Parc - Galeries de la Capitale, Quebec City Le Village du Pere Noel (The Village of Father Christmas/Santa's Village) - Val-David Atlantic Canada (East of Quebec) Atlantic Playland/Atlantic Splash Adventure - Lucasville, NS Axtion - St. John's, NL Crystal Palace - Champlain Place, Moncton, NB Magic Mountain - Magnetic Hill (Moncton), NB Magic Valley Fun Park - Greenhill, NS Rainbow Valley - Cavendish Beach, P.E.I. Sandspit Cavendish Beach - Cavendish Beach, P.E.I. Shining Waters Family Fun Park - Hunter River (Cavendish Beach), P.E.I. Upper Clements Park(s) - Upper Clements, NS
- Themed Restaurants and Bars | Amusement History
Themed Restaurants, Bars, and Stores Niagara Region Themed dining and retail can come in a wide variety of both themes and levels of theming. While most stores and restaurants from the 80's-early 2000's had some sort of unique decoration and style, a truly "themed" dining or shopping experience is defined as one where the theming goes beyond just simple decor, being the core identity and draw. These themed establishments are immersive experiences, with themes ranging from popular brands to the depths of the jungle. Animatronic arcade/pizza restaurants are not listed on this page as they are technically Family Entertainment Centres containing several attractions, and can instead be found here . Boston Pizza Clifton Hill (and Sports Zone) - Niagara Falls Beefeater/Coachlight Restaurant (and Jolly Brewer)/Ruby Tuesday's - Honeymoon City Motel/Travelodge, Niagara Falls Coca-Cola Store - Falls Ave. Complex, Niagara Falls Fun Factory - Movieland Wax Museum, Niagara Falls Hard Rock Cafe - Falls Ave. Complex, Niagara Falls Harley Davidson Store - Niagara Falls Hershey's Chocolate World - Falls Ave. Complex, Niagara Falls Julio's Pizza and Spaghetti Factory Plant One - St. Catherines Julio's Pizza and Spaghetti Factory Plant Two - St. Catherines MGM Studios Store - MGM Studios Plaza, Falls Ave. Complex, Niagara Falls Mr. Fantastic's Candy Laboratory - Marvel Superheroes Adventure City, Niagara Falls Planet Hollywood - Falls Ave. Complex, Niagara Falls Rainforest Cafe - Falls Ave. Complex, Niagara Falls Terrace Cafe/Kelsey's Clifton Hill - Park Motor/Venture/Comfort Inn, Niagara Falls Turf 'n Surf - Niagara Falls WWE Niagara Falls - Falls Ave. Complex, Niagara Falls The Yard/Rathskeller Pub/Rumors Nightclub - Park Motor/Venture/Comfort Inn, Niagara Falls Greater Toronto Area The Disney Store - Eaton Centre, Toronto The Disney Store - Fairview Mall, North York (Toronto) The Disney Store - Scarborough Town Centre, Scarborough (Toronto) The Disney Store - Square One Shopping Centre, Mississauga The Disney Store - Vaughn Mills, Vaughn The Disney Store - Yorkdale Shopping Centre, North York (Toronto) Frankie Tomatto's - Markham Hard Rock Cafe - Toronto Lime Rickey's - Eaton Centre, Toronto Lime Rickey's - Sussex Centre, Mississauga Lime Rickey's - Yonge/Eglington, Toronto The Old Spaghetti Factory - Toronto The Organ Grinder - Toronto Planet Hollywood - Toronto Rainforest Cafe - Scarborough Town Centre, Scarborough (Toronto) Rainforest Cafe - Yorkdale Mall, North York (Toronto) Ontario - Other Areas The Disney Store - Georgian Mall, Barrie The Disney Store - Lime Ridge Mall, Hamilton The Disney Store - Masonville Place, London The Disney Store - Rideau Centre, Ottawa The Disney Store - Upper Canada Mall, Newmarket Hard Rock Cafe - Ottawa Alberta Cafe Orleans - Bourbon Street, West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton The Disney Store - CrossIron Mills, Rocky View The Disney Store - Kingsway Mall, Edmonton The Disney Store - Market Mall, Calgary The Disney Store - South Centre Mall, Calgary The Disney Store - West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Fantasyland Nightclub - West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton The Fossil Shop - Drumheller Hard Rock Cafe - Bourbon Street, West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Hard Rock Cafe - Calgary Julio's Barrio - Calgary Julio's Barrio (82nd Ave. NW location) - Edmonton Julio's Barrio (WEM location) - Bourbon Street, West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Jungle Jim's - Bourbon Street, West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton The Old Spaghetti Factory - Bourbon Street, West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Planet Hollywood - West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Manitoba and Saskatchewan The Disney Store - Polo Park Mall, Winnipeg, MB British Columbia (and Northern Canada) The Disney Store - Guildford Town Centre, Surrey The Disney Store - Metropolis at Metrotown, Burnaby The Disney Store - Pacific Centre, Vancouver Hard Rock Cafe - Hard Rock Casino, Coquitlam Hard Rock Cafe - Vancouver Hard Rock Cafe - Victoria Hard Rock Cafe - Whistler Planet Hollywood - Vancouver Rainforest Cafe - Metropolis at Metrotown, Burnaby White Spot Dinersaurus - Bedrock City/Dinotown, Chilliwack Quebec Hard Rock Cafe - Montreal Planet Hollywood - Montreal
- House of Frankenstein 1971 Tour | Amusement History
1971 "Tour" A Canadian Amusement History Special Feature This "tour" through the House of Frankenstein as it would have been the year it opened is made possible by an old souvenir guide book provided by Donald Deveau, as well as countless recounts of former staff and guests. A huge thank you to members of the Dunham family of the Waxattract company who's artistry, creativity, and passion built the attraction, and were kind enough to share information that also made this article possible. Here you'll see just how impressive the original version of this attraction remains today, but keep in mind this was over a whopping 50 years ago. "Come in... and 'kill a little time' with us..." Guests were met with terror before even entering the building, which was a large gothic manor, complete with an imposing clock tower featuring a working clock. The originally grey and red building stood out on the street, and strobe lights flashed in the second-story faux windows to simulate lighting inside bringing the titular Monster to life. A large Frankenstein's Monster head sign flashed red as it was struck by a large neon lightning bolt, and a live actor playing the character roamed under an awning, weeding out the weak before they were even able to near the doors. After passing the Phantom of the Opera in the front window and the skeleton escaping his coffin in the lobby (as well as a display of antique guns, apparently), guests would purchase their ticket and enter a door next to the counter. The Monster outside was terrifying to some, and a great photo-op for thousands of others who got their photo taken with the Monster. A portion of "The Grotto". The echo effect apparently sent several guests running straight back out the door. "The Comte De Lorge" glares menacingly from his cave-like prison. Guests would immediately find themselves in "The Grotto", with cave rock walls and the sound effects of a vast cave. They would soon come to an opening of mummified corpses, stalagmites, and circling bats. There was also an echo effect, where guests would actually hear their own voice's echo seemingly chase them down the hallway. This was achieved via microphones hidden in the stucco rock cave walls and a surround sound audio system with heavy reverb. Sent running by the sound of their own voice, guests would be met with perhaps the most gruesome and detailed area in the museum: the torture scenes. The "Comte De Lorge", imprisoned in the Bastille and forgotten about for over 30 years, raised his head and outstretched his arms in desperation at the sight of another human being. The massive "Medieval Torture Chamber" was next: a large room-sized scene with prison-bar walls on three sides that guests would walk around. Many met their bitter end in the torture chamber as guests looked on in horror. There was a flaying alive where a victim's skin was ripped off their body, a branding with a hot coal between tongs, a hanging by the thumbs, the stocks, a bed of nails where heavy stones were lowered into the victim via pulley, an "Iron Maiden", a man with his head in a cage of hungry rats, a man chained to rotating platform, and the infamous Rack stretching a victim in two, among several other unfortunate ends. The next scene was originally various artifacts likely tying into a torture or punishment theme, however this scene didn't last long (as even evidenced in the guide book by: "This scene will be changed and added to over time.") It's likely this was quickly replaced with one of the torture scenes later found in the Lake George location or the Castle Dracula attractions, such as the Druid sacrifice. Next guests would discover "The Forgotten Prisoner", a writhing skeletal figure chained to the wall of his cell, and then pass the "Barrel Drowning" where a man was dunked in and out of a barrel, an always lethal precursor of sorts to waterboarding. Next guests would enter the modern crime and punishment area, where very real, still relevant horrors held domain. The uncaught "Machete Murderer" of California showed off his collection of severed heads (and machete), "Charles Manson" attempted to escape his straight jacket, loud starling machine guns echoed from a recreation of the "St. Valentine's Day Massacre", and the "Boston Strangler" peered menacingly at guest's necks. Guests would also see the "Bird Man of Alcatraz", "Jesse James", "Wyatt Earp" in a violent shootout at the OK Corral, "Bonnie and Clyde", and "Sherlock Holmes" discovering a cadaver. A postcard of the torture chamber from the later Lake George location with the lights on. Many, if not all of these figures would have been created from the same sculpts and molds as those in the original Niagara location. To give an idea of the size of this area, only about half of it's contents can be seen in this image. The "Barrel Drowning" (left), "Wyatt Earp" about to draw his gun at the infamous Doc Holiday OK Corral shootout (right) "Sherlock Holmes", although the frightening scene he's examining unfortunately can't be clearly seen in this image. The "Electric Chair" scene as it appeared up until 2020 in the Lake George location. The original victim has since been replaced with an off-the-shelf prop. "Canada's First Hangman" was next, a death row prisoner himself who volunteered to do the dirty work for the government in exchange for his life. He operated a detailed gallows which guests also activated. On the same note of gruesome punishments, the half-eaten remains of a man being devoured by hungry ants protruded from the sand in the next scene: the "Ant Torture", which was uncomfortably located at eye-level. The punishments were rounded out by the towering, famous Guillotine scene which gained the attraction fame, a witch burning where a judge sentenced a screaming woman to be burnt at the stake (complete with fake flames), and "The Axe Man" sharpening his axe at a grinding wheel in front of his next victim. Fittingly bridging the gap between fiction and reality, the last scene in the crime and punishment area (or first scene in the fiction section, if you look at it that way), was Jack the Ripper gruesomely "ripping" his victim with his blade. In Lake George, "The Axe Man" scene is known as "A 17th Century Beheading", where it's still located today. It's likely this scene is identical to it's long-removed Niagara counterpart. Sometime around this point in the attraction, guests would ascend to the second floor. The present-day staircase up has a scene on the landing halfway up the staircase, however the staircase up and the staircase down may have been reversed at some point since the attraction opened (see main article on the attraction.) If this was indeed the original stairs up, which scene would have been on the stair landing, or if it was listed in the guide book off which this "tour" is based, isn't clear. That being said, the next scene after Sherlock Holmes was the Electric Chair, which the U.S. had only discontinued use of 8 years prior to the attraction's debut. Guests activated it at the push of the button, for an added sense of unease and remorse. The incredibly realistic effect featured the man jolting around in the chair and screaming wildly, accompanied by stobe lights and real carbon arcs causing smoke. The "Ant Torture" "The Guillotine" in 1998 shortly after it's made a cut. This remains one of only two original scenes in the attraction today. "Jack the Ripper" plunges a knife into his victim in a claustrophobic London abbey. By now guests were certainly upstairs if they had not already been for several scenes, and the Phantom of the Opera sat playing his organ, his wild and frantic music playing through the hall. Next the "Mutant", man's possible future if it continues its self-destructive path, gobbled on human flesh in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Next was the "Witch of Endor", followed by Poe's "Pit and the Pendulum" torture device, where the endlessly swinging pendulum blade cut a seemingly ever-deeper gorge in a victim's stomach. The next scene was perhaps one of the most impressive: "The Seance." Three people sat a table along with a medium and her crystal ball. Upon activation, the ball would begin glowing as the table began to float. Items in the room began to violently move and bang on their own as the lights flickered, air cannons blasted at guests, and air-powered ankle whips along the bottoms of the walls tickled at guest's feet (these were later relocated earlier in the attraction when the scene was removed.) Clockwise from left: The "Phantom of the Opera" (above) plays his pained organ music. Along with the aforementioned Guillotine, these remain the only two original scenes in the attraction. Timelapse shot of the "The Pit and the Pendulum" scene swinging (top right), and the popular "Seance" room (bottom right). "The Edinborough Body Snatchers" Running scared away from the spirits summoned by the Seance, guests found themselves face to face with the "Edinborough Body Snatchers" robbing a grave. The next classic film monster guests would encounter would be "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". Guests would then find themselves in the "Crypt", and then in "Hell" itself. Exiting a taste of damnation, guests would find "Edgar Allan Poe" reciting and scribbling his horror works on a page. Next was the "Twilight Zone": a mirror maze lit with strobe lights and the familiar black-and-white stripe pattern from the series of the same name painted on the floor. Exiting the mirror maze guests encountered Count Dracula himself, who slowly transformed into a bat via a light and mirror trick. Another classic film monster immediately followed: The "Creature From the Black Lagoon" in his swamp. In a welcome (yet still distributing) break for humans, the next scene featured the "Death of a Vampire", impaled with a stake through the heart, taking it's last gasping breaths. Guests would witness the godfather of horror himself at work in the "Edgar Allan Poe" scene. The vampire Count Dracula (left) who would seem to transform into a bat at your very eyes. But fear not, after a quick journey through the swamp to meet the Creature from the Black Lagoon, guests would witness the "Death of a Vampire" (right) via a stake through it's heart. The next scene was "The Attic Ghost": the supposed ghost of a bride killed by her jealous lover, who is then sentenced to spend eternity being haunted by her. The ghost herself was a hovering animatronic figure with a glowing head. After escaping the ghost, guests would walk past "The Room of Rats", where a man lay on a bed being eaten alive by rats, his chest slowly rising and falling. They would then find themselves face to face with the "Wolfman", who came lurching around a corner to grab them. Dodging the Wolfman's grasp, guests would flee into the Mummy's tomb, where the Mummy would slowly open his sarcophagus to rejoin the living. The next scene was a bit of comic relief, the House of Frankenstein "Wax Workshop", where a mad wax maker dunked a severed human head into a vat of wax in a supposed explanation of how the attraction's wax figures were really made. It's safe to say the actual Waxattract studios were probably a much more friendly place. A man hopelessly devoured alive in "The Room of Rats." (Above): The original "Wolfman" in 1998 shortly prior to it's replacement four years later. This blurry VHS capture between strobe flashes has been digitally enhanced to show as much detail as available. (Left):"The Wax Workshop" ("No Admittance") offers some comic relief to the attraction. Narrowly avoiding becoming permanent residents of the House of Frankenstein, guests then found themselves on the "Strange Planet", a room with a squishy floor and trippy music playing. Countless blacklight eyes peered from the darkness, as well an animatronic figure of Metaluna Mutant from "This Island Earth". Returning to Earth, guests now walked past a graveyard featuring "The Undead" corpses rising from their graves. Next was the mad "Dr. Jekyll", who would transform into the evil "Mr. Hyde" at the press of a button via the same mirror trick as the Dracula transformation. A more natural scare, a massive "Gorilla" would be the next scene guests encountered. "The Undead" rise from the graveyard. "Dr. Jekyll" (left) and his transformation into the hideous "Mr. Hyde" (right). 2016. The scene's push button had already been modified several years prior to these photos to activate a corpse which slams into the plexiglass. The Doctor's transformation remained operational in some form in the background until it was shut off in 2018. Doctor Frankenstein and his assistant peer over their creation just prior to resurrecting the Monster. The giant Jacob's Ladder effect as well as The Bride of Frankenstein are just out of frame. Could this be the dress in question? By the point this capture was taken, the figure had already been moved to the lobby display, and then laid down elsewhere in the attraction. It didn't sport this dress in the lobby rather wearing a large sheet, however it may have been underneath the entire time. The figure was sadly removed from the attraction except for the head in 2019. The final scene in the attraction would be "Your Host" (a grotesque hooded man) saying goodbye, giving you an invitation to return, and showing you the door. If the up and down staircases have been reversed at some point in the attraction's lifespan (as mentioned earlier), it's possible this scene was the one on the stairs landing. Guests would descend the stairs back to the first floor and come out in the gift shop, where they could buy a variety of monster themed and House of Frankenstein branded merchandise, as well as masks and latex hands of authentic House of Frankenstein monsters made from the same molds as the characters in the attraction. Finally guests would reach the laboratory of Dr. Frankenstein himself. The doctor stood in front of a wall of elaborate machinery, his Igor-esque lab assistant at his side. In front of them was an operating table parallel to the window into the scene, and on it was "Frankenstein's Monster". Standing in the corner with a look of horror on her face was the Bride of Frankenstein, already brought to life, awaiting her future husband's re-awakening. The dress worn by the Bride was actually Betty Dunham's wedding dress, and it would manage to remain with the figure until she was removed from the attraction (save for the head) in 2019. Above the operating table the Monster lay upon was a massive Jacob's Ladder device in a ray gun suspended from the ceiling, pointed at the table. The Jacob's Ladder used actual electricity, and was a highlight of the attraction. At the push of a button, the Doctor and his assistant would flip the switches and levers, causing the Jacob's Ladder to intensify from it's resting state. As strobe lights illuminated the room, the Bride would scream in horror as the Monster would sit up on the table and turn it's head to look at the guests. The impressive scene was a fitting climax for an equally impressive attraction. "Your Host" finally shows you to the door. The collage featuring (top to bottom) "The Garrote" execution, "The Grotto", the lobby coffin display, the "Witch Burning", "The Mummy", a portion of the "Medieval Torture Chamber", "Canada's First Hangman", "The Machete Murders", The Bird Man of Alcatraz", Metaluna Mutant in the "Strange Planet" room, the mysterious ape-man, and the giant "Gorilla". It's likely there were more scenes featured in the attraction that simply weren't listed in the guide book. Some can even be seen in a collage of images at the end of the book, such as the Garrote wire execution and a scene with a hairy ape-like man popping out from behind something. It's possible this was some sort of "Planet of the Apes" scene. The same collage also features a photo of what's presumably the Gorilla scene, however the figure looks strikingly similar to one in the Lake George location which held a Barbie doll and was placed in a miniature set to give it the appearance of King Kong. It's unclear in the photo of the gorilla figure if he's holding a Barbie doll or something else due to the image quality, but if he is, it's possible this is either infact not the Gorilla scene but rather an unlisted Kong scene, or that this is the Gorilla scene simply named that for copyright reasons, however the former would be more likely. The attraction's original brochure also mentions more scenes absent from the book like the "Mysterious Motel", the "Iron Lady", and the "Snake Pit"'. It's also possible that several of the other scenes originally found in the later Lake George location ("The Hatchet Man", "The Bathtub Murder", "The Grim Reaper", "The Price of Infidelity", "The Zombies", etc.) were also originally in the Niagara one, however the two attractions weren't exact carbon copies despite being nearly identical Needless to say, the attraction was incredible and years ahead of it's time in technology, special effects, and concept. It's not hard to see from this description of the experience why it had the impact it did. Click here to return to the main House of Frankenstein page and read more about the attraction's impact on Niagara Falls and the greater amusement industry, as well as how the attraction has changed over time.
- British Columbia (& Northern Canada) | Amusement History
British Columbia (and Northern Canada) This page specifically covers British Columbia, however the Northern provinces of Yukon and the Northwest Territories are included on this page as well due to their extremely small number of attractions. All attractions are/were located in B.C. unless otherwise stated. Amusement and Theme Parks Bedrock City/Dinotown - Chilliwack Bedrock City - Kelowna Cultus Lake Adventure Park - Cultus Lake Dyck's Dinosaur Park - Maple Ridge Fantasy Gardens/Fantasy Garden World - Richmond Happyland/Playland at the PNE - Vancouver Rattlesnake Canyon - Osoyoos Arcades, Mini Golf and F.E.C.s The Adventure Zone - Granville Island Kids Market, Vancouver Ballie Bear Amusement - Parker Place Mall, Richmond Bear Creek Park Mini Golf - Bear Creek Park, Surrey Bonker's - Vancouver Bumble Bee - Scott Rd., Surrey Captain George's - Springer/Lougheed, Burnaby Central City Fun Park - Surrey Choice Billiards - Surrey CHQ - Metrotown Mall, Burnaby Chuck E. Cheese's - Langley Crossing Shopping Centre, Langley Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater - Burnaby Circus Circus (Circuit Circus?) - Vancouver City Centre Park Mini Golf - City Centre Park, Victoria Coin City Arcade - Vancouver Creston Mini Golf - Creston Cue's Game Room - Penticton The Den Arcade - Robson St., Vancouver District Billiards - Kelowna Doc's Golf Centre - Penticton East End Billiards - Vancouver Electrafun - Cameron St., Burnaby Energyplex Entertainment Centre - Kelowna eSpot - Richmond Family Adventure Zone - Whistler The Family Fun Centre - Kingsway St., Burnaby Flintstone Mini Golf - Bedrock City, Kelowna Flintstone/Dinotown Mini Golf - Bedrock City/Dinotown, Chilliwack Fraser Valley Billiards - Abbotsford The Fun Centre - Harewood Mall, Nanaimo The Fun Factor Centre - Kamloops Funtasia Family Fun Park - Fairmont Hot Springs The Games Room - Victoria Giggle Ridge Mini Golf - Cultus Lake Adventure Park, Cultus Lake The Goose - Yates St., Victoria Gull's - Yates St., Victoria Hi-Knoll Driving Range & Minigolf - Surrey House of Pool - New Westminster (Burnaby) Huggie Bear's Pizza Circus - Hillside/Quadra, Victoria James Street Billiards - Duncan James Street Game Room - Nanaimo Johnny Zee's - Capitol 6, Victoria Johnny Zee's - Esquimalt (Victoria) Johnny Zee's - Langford (Victoria) Johnny Zee's/Hugo's/King Kade - Shelbourne St., Victoria Johnny Zee's - University Heights Mall, Victoria Jonhhy Zee's - Station Square Metrotown, Burnaby Kamloops Billiard Club - Kamloops Kelowna Driving Range and Mini Golf - Kelowna Ladner Arcade - Vancouver Laser Illusions - - Brentwood Town Centre/The Amazing Brentwood, Burnaby Laser Illusions - Richmond Centre, Richmond Lester's - Kingsway St., Burnaby Lion's Lair - Vancouver LocoLanding Adventure Park - Penticton Long Beach Golf Course Mini Putt - Long Beach Golf Course, Tofino Lord Nelson's Arcade - Lansdowne Centre, Richmond Lukie's Mini Golf - Sicamour Master Billiards - Coquitlam Marsten Billiards & Snooker Club - Vancouver Metro Cafe Billiards - Vancouver McArthur Island Mini Golf - McArthur Island Park, Kamloops Mini Golf - Christina Lake Miracle Beach Adventure Golf - Black Creek Movieland Arcade - Granville St., Vancouver Mr. Tubbs Ice Cream Parlor - Tillicum Rd., Victoria Pacific Adventure Golf - Vancouver Paradise Mini Golf and Fun Park - Parksville Pacific Pool and Snooker Club - Surrey Peacock Billiards - Victoria Pie in the Sky - Kingsway St., Burnaby Play Abby - Abbotsford Playdium - Metropolis at Metrotown, Burnaby Playland Arcade/Fun Centre - Playland at the PNE, Vancouver Porter Creek Billiards - Whitehorse, Yukon Putters Mini Golf Course - Powell River Q1 Billiards - Richmond Quazar's - Government St., Victoria Raceway Go-Karts & Mini Golf - Prince George Rack & Rally Social Club - Port Alberni Rattles nake Canyon Arcade - Rattles nake Canyon, Osoyoos Rattlesnake Canyon Mini Golf - Rattles nake Canyon, Osoyoos Riptide Lagoon Adventure Golf - Parksville Rollerland - Vancouver Roll 'N Stones Fun Centre - Penticton Rusty's Sports Lounge - Kelowna Salmon Arm Go-Karts & Mini-Golf - Canoe Salmon Arm Waterslides Mini Golf - Salmon Arm Scandia Golf & Games - Kelowna Scotch Creek Family Fun Centre - Scotch Creek Sneaky Pete's Pool Cafe - Vancouver Soho Bar & Billiards - Vancouver Star Snooker Club - Richmond Strike Zone Mini Golf - Strike Zone Bowling & Mini Golf Centre, Prince George Stargate 5 - Richmond Square Mall/Richmond Centre, Richmond Sweet Escape Mini Golf - Playland at the PNE, Vancouver Top 147 Snooker - Richmond West Coast Mini Putt - Richmond Wizard's Castle - Richmond Square Mall/Richmond Centre, Richmond Wizard's Castle - Rutherford Village, Nanaimo Wonderland/Castle Fun Park - Abbotsford Arcade (Name Unknown) - Craigflower/Dominion, Victoria Arcade (Name Unknown) - Douglas/Boleskine, Victoria Arcade (Name Unknown) - Northbrook Mall/Brooks Landing, Nanaimo Dark Attractions, Wax Museums and Exhibits Gastown Wax Museum - Vancouver Glass House - Playland at the PNE, Vancouver Haunted House - Playland at the PNE, Vancouver Haunted Mansion - Playland at the PNE, Vancouver Jurassic Exhibit - Bedrock City/Dinotown, Chilliwack Royal London Wax Museum - Victoria Specialty Hotels and Gift Shops Theatres, Bowling Alleys and Miscellaneous Best Western Coquitlam Inn - Coquitlam Alder Alley - Aldergrove Beaver Valley Lanes - Fruitvale Big Country Lanes - 100 Mile House Black Diamond Bowl & Billiards - Prince George Brechin Lanes - Nainamo Canyon Lanes - Boston Bar Capri Valley Lanes - Capri Centre, Kelowna Cariboo Bowl - Williams Lake Castle Bowl - Castlegar Chillibowl Lanes and Pool Hall - Chilliwack Codes Country Lanes - Courtenay Commodore Lanes - Vancouver Copperhill Lanes - Princeton CR Bowling - Campbell River Dell Lanes - Surrey Duncan Drive-In - Duncan Duncan Lanes Bowling Centre - Duncan Falcon Lanes - Kamloops Galaxy Bowl - Abbotsford Glenmerry Bowl - Trail Golden Bowling - Golden Grandview Recreations/Grandview Lanes - Vancouver Kingpin Bowling Centre - Yellowknife, Northwest Territories Kingpin Lounge - Hope King Pins Bowling - North Vancouver (Vancouver) Kobau Lanes - Osoyoos Lakeside Bowling - Salmon Arm Langford Lanes - Langford Laser City Fun Centre - Victoria Laserdome Plus - North Vancouver (Vancouver) Legacy Drive-In - Victoria Lincoln Lanes - Vernon Mackenzie Bowling - Mackenzie McCurdy Bowling Centre - Kelowna Merrit Bowling Centre - Merrit Miracle Lanes - Sidney Park Drive-In Theatre - Prince George Pinheads Bowling - Grand Forks Planet Lazer - Kelowna Planet Lazer - New Westminster (Burnaby) Planet Lazer - Richmond Planet Lazer - Surrey Pleasant Valley Plaza - Houston PoCo Bowl - Port Coquitlam (Coquitlam) Rev Bowling Lanes - Quesnel Revs Bowling - Burnaby Revs Maple Ridge - Maple Ridge Rainbow Lanes - Port Alberni Romano's Runaway Lanes - Creston Sandcastle Bowl - Surrey Scottsdale Bowling Lanes - Surrey SilverCity Riverport Cinemas - Richmond SilverCity Victoria Cinemas - Victoria Smithers Bowl - Smithers Splitsville Nanaimo - Nanaimo Splitsville Riverport - Richmond Stardust Roller Rink - Richmond Starlight Drive-In Theatre - Enderby Strike Zone Bowling - Strike Zone Bowling & Mini Golf Centre Sunset Lanes - Parksville Terrace Bowling Centre - Terrace Twilight Drive-In Theatre - Langley Township Valley Alley Bowling Centre - Invermere Village Lanes Fun Centre - Chase West Kelowna Lanes (and Whiski Jack's Pins & Pints) - Kelowna Zone Bowling - Coquitlam Themed Restaurants, Bars and Stores The Disney Store - Guildford Town Centre, Surrey The Disney Store - Metropolis at Metrotown, Burnaby The Disney Store - Pacific Centre, Vancouver Hard Rock Cafe - Hard Rock Casino, Coquitlam Hard Rock Cafe - Vancouver Hard Rock Cafe - Victoria Hard Rock Cafe - Whistler Planet Hollywood - Vancouver Rainforest Cafe - Metropolis at Metrotown, Burnaby White Spot Dinersaurus - Bedrock City/Dinotown, Chilliwack Water Parks and Attractions 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
- Tower of London Wax Museum | Amusement History
Tower of London Wax Museum Attraction Type: Wax Museum Location: Darling Motel, Niagara Falls, Ontario Year(s) Operational: May-September 26, 1976 Designer(s): Waxattract , Universal Android The Tower of London Wax Museum was perhaps one of (if not) Niagara's shortest lived attractions. That being said, it sits in a uniquely important spot in history due to being closely intertwined with both the House of Frankenstein and Castle Dracula in unique ways. It opened in late spring of 1976, purchasing a portion of the collection of the former Royal London Wax Museum on Falls Ave., which had closed in 1975. The Royal London was a Waxattract -built attraction co-owned between Waxattract's Robert Dunham and the Iannuzelli family, who owned the Hilltop Motel that they would commission Dunham to build the House of Frankenstein atop less than a year after the Royal London opened. The Royal London had also featured figures and scenery from local artist Bruce Randall and his Universal Android company as well. The attraction's sign, 1976. (Top): The building later home to the Tower of London as it appeared before the museum. (Bottom): The building being remodeled into a castle for the new attraction. (Right): The royal stagecoach in the attraction's front window, 1976. The Tower of London would utilize the circa 1925 building at the front of the Darling Motel plot on Clifton Hill. The building had housed a restaurant on the main floor as well as the motel offices (and cabin court offices before that) on the second since it's construction. The basement had later been dug out to add a gift shop below. The motel was formerly owned by the Reinhardt family, but was purchased by the Cade family in 1976. It's unknown how much of the structure was used for the new wax museum. The basement gift shop remained, and the restaurant was removed for the entire first floor to become museum space, however if any museum existed in the former motel offices upstairs and the offices relocated remains a mystery. Even if it did occupy two floors, the collection in the museum likely wasn't the entire contents of the Royal London, as the space that attraction occupied had been much larger. The building was remodeled to feature a castle facade, complete with turrets and archways. On September 26th, 1976, just a few months after the attraction opened, flames were seen coming from the side of the building in an alleyway between it and the Niagara Clifton Motel, which was promptly evacuated. Shortly after the flames erupted at 1 A.M., a large explosion blew the front window of the attraction out completely, sending broken glass sailing across the street. Fire Sgt. Raymond Crown remarked that "It was a good thing nobody was walking past or they would have been killed." One firefighter even had to be hospitalized and taken off the scene on a stretcher for smoke inhalation while battling the blaze. During the fire, firefighters also apparently had to fight off local teenagers who kept trying to dart in the front window to steal fake jewels off the figures in the lobby. Imagine running into a building engulfed in flames to steal a plastic crown jewel? The power of realistic figure design I suppose. Flames shot 25 feet into the air in a two-alarm fire that completely gutted the building, however the firefighters' quick response prevented the historic 1925 building's structure from being lost. (Left): A firefighter gets removed from the scene of the blaze on a stretcher. (Right): The Queen peers with melancholy from her once-royal, now smoldering stagecoach in the aftermath of the fire. Astonishingly, the structure could be saved, and after the fire was put out, the building was boarded up and left abandoned for the remainder of the year and into early 1977. The fire was deemed extremely suspicious, with detectives heavily hinting the explosion which accelerated the fire was the deliberate result of some sort of propellant, however nothing ever publically materialized of this. Damage was estimated at $250,000, with $150,000 of that coming from the contents alone. The owners said they were insured and initially said they planned to rebuild, but unsurprisingly, they eventually decided to sell the land instead. Take all that information as you will and come to your own conclusions, but there are rumors floating out there. Even more surprising than the structure's survival is the survival of the plywood castle facade and towers. It was this that would serve as the basis for Castle Dracula's iconic castle facade once the attraction would move there in 1977 from it's original home on Victoria Ave. It was when Castle Dracula moved in that the Darling Motel closed. What remained of the motel's historic cabins were demolished, so all that was left was the two story motel building running along the back of the property, and the former Tower of London building at the front of the property facing Clifton Hill. A new structure was built connecting the two in the middle, to create one long two story building running from the front to the back of the property. This can be clearly seen from satellite images as well as from the Skywheel looking down. The castle being remodeled in early 1977. The fact that Castle Dracula's bones date back to 1925 is shocking enough, but when coupled with the fact that the building has survived a raging fire as well, it becomes downright unbelievable. There's a poetic irony to the building being filled with relocated Waxattract figures from a defunct nearby attraction during the Tower of London's short run, and the exact same thing happening again when the building was resurrected as Castle Dracula, the Waxattract figures from the original incarnation of that attraction being relocated there. We can only hope the building, (which has finally received a renovation after years of neglect due to Castle Dracula's new owners), lasts for a second century. The castle as it appears today, no longer home to the Queen, but to the Count.
- Alberta | Amusement History
Alberta Home to two of Canada's largest cities and several other medium-sized ones, as well as popular tourist areas in Banff/the Rocky Mountains and Drumheller. Drumheller's Dinosaur Valley contains a large amount of fossils, leading to several dinosaur-themed attractions in the area. The largest contributor to Alberta's amusement industry however is Edmonton, containing a variety of attractions, most importantly the sprawling West Edmonton Mall which was once the largest in the world. Amusement and Theme Parks Barney's Adventure Park - Drumheller Calaway Park - Calgary Fantasyland/Galaxyland - West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Funland Amusement Park - Drumheller Heritage Park - Calgary 1920s Midway & Exhibition - Fort Edmonton Park, Edmonton Whitemud Amusement Park - Edmonton Arcades, Mini Golf and F.E.C.s Apple Creek Arcade - Rocky View Ardmore Golf Mini Putt - Ardmore Golf & Country Club, Ardmore Bullwinkle's Family Food 'n Fun - Edmonton Bullwinkle's Family Food 'n Fun - Macleod Trail S., Calgary Cactus Coulee Fun Park - Drumheller Canada Golf Card Mini Golf - Canada Golf Card Driving Range & Mini Golf, Edmonton Century Billiards - Edmonton Chalks Billiards - Bannister Rd. SE, Calgary Chill Billiards - Macleod Trail SE, Calgary Chuck E. Cheese's - Macleod Trail, Calgary Chuck E. Cheese's - 19th Ave. NW, Edmonton Chuck E. Cheese's - 137th Ave., Edmonton Chuck E. Cheese's - 32nd Ave., Calgary Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater - 34th Ave., Edmonton Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater - 20th Ave., Calgary Circuit Circus/Newplay - West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Circus Circus - Capilano Mall, Edmonton Circus Circus - Kingsway Garden Mall, Edmonton Circus Circus - Northgate Mall, Edmonton Circus Circus - Southgate Mall, Edmonton Command HQ - Calgary The Corner Pocket - 50th Ave., Red Deer Cosmic Corral - North Hill Mall, Calgary Crystal Ridge Mini Golf - Crystal Ridge Golf Club, Okotoks The Cutoff - Edmonton CyberMind V.R. Centre - Calgary Deb's Greenhouse Mini Golf - Deb's Greenhouse, Morinville Delta Billiards - Edmonton DINOS Centre - Innisfail Discovery Zone - Gateway Blvd., Edmonton Dragon's Tale - West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Easy Street - Chinook Center, Calgary Easy Street - Sunridge Mall, Calgary Electronic Avenue - Whyte Ave., Edmonton Evergreen Golf Centre - Lethbridge Fantasyland/Galaxyland Arcade - Fantasyland/Galaxyland, West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Fort Edmonton Park Mini Golf - Fort Edmonton Park, Edmonton Fuddrucker's - Gateway Blvd., Edmonton Game World - Calgary Ganges - Northmount Dr., Calgary Golfuture - Calgary Golf World - Peace River Gravity Zone - Calgary Hi-Spot - Edmonton Hooplas Family Entertainment Centre - Medicine Hat Hornbrook Hollow's Funhouse - Grande Prairie Huggy Bear Arcade - Market Mall, Calgary Infinity Play - Fort Rd. NW, Edmonton Lakeside Go Karts & Mini Golf - Sylvan Lake Laser Illusions - Calgary Eaton Center, Calgary Laser Illusions - 8th Ave. Mall, Calgary Laser Illusions - Londonderry Mall , Edmonton Laser Illusions - Marlborough Mall, Calgary Laser Illusions - Southcenter, Calgary Lil' Jay's Family Arcade - Canal Ave., Strathmore Metropolitan Billiards - Stony Plain Rd., Edmonton Mikes Billiards and Arcade - McKnight/Edmonton Trail, Calgary Mike's Family Billiards - 32nd Ave. NE, Calgary Miniature Golf/Arcade - Whitemud Amusement Park, Edmonton Mini Golf - Elkwater Mini Golf - Rocky Meadows Country Getaway, Bonnyville Mini Links - Grande Prairie Monster Mini Golf - Calgary Monster Mini Golf Edmonton - Edmonton Mo's Billiards - 102nd Ave., Lac la Biche Mulligans Island Mini Golf - Calaway Park, Calgary Oasis Greens Golf Centre - De Winton Par 57 - Calgary Playdium - West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Pockets 96 - 4th Ave., Wainwright Power Players - Center St., Calgary Professor WEM's Adventure Golf - West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Puttz Miniature Golf - Lethbridge Pysanka Putt Putt - Vegreville Red's/Ed's/Rec Room - West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Rundle Mini Golf & Paddle Boats - Rundle Park, Edmonton River Bend Mini Golf - River Bend Golf & Recreation, Red Deer Sexsmith Mini Golf Course - Sexsmith Sharks Billiards - 100th St., Peace River Sharks Club - South Ave., Spruce Grove Southern Fun - 7th Ave., Calgary Starcade - 118th/97th., Edmonton The Sticks - 44th St., Lloydminster Stone Creek Adventure Golf - Calgary Tee to Green - Calgary Three Ring Circus - 8th Ave. Mall, Calgary Top Shots Billiards - 66th St. N., Edmonton WinSport Mini Golf - Calgary Wizard's Castle - Bower Mall, Red Deer Wizard's Castle - Capilano Mall, Edmonton Wizard's Castle - Chinook Centre, Calgary Wizard's Castle - Circle Park Mall, Calgary Wizard's Castle - Deer Valley Centre, Calgary Wizard's Castle - Heritage Place Mall, Edmonton Wizard's Castle - Kingsway Garden Mall, Edmonton Wizard's Castle - Lloyd Mall, Lloydminster Wizard's Castle - Londonderry Mall. Edmonton Wizard's Castle - Market Mall, Calgary Wizard's Castle - Marlborough Mall, Calgary Wizard's Castle - Millwoods Town Centre, Edmonton Wizard's Castle/Newplay - West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Wizard's Castle - Northgate Mall, Edmonton Wizard's Castle - Park Place Mall, Lethbridge Wizard's Castle - Red Deer Wizard's Castle - Southcentre Mall, Calgary Wizard's Castle - St. Albert Centre, St. Albert Wizard's Castle - Sunridge Mall, Calgary Wizard's Castle - University of Alberta Hub International Marketplace, Edmonton Video Gym - Southgate Shopping Centre, Edmonton Arcade (Name Unknown) - Bonaventure/ 94th, Calgary Arcade (Name Unknown) - Bonnie Doon Mall, Edmonton Arcade (Name Unknown) - 8th Ave SW, Calgary Arcade (Name Unknown) - 82nd St., Edmonton Arcade (Name Unknown) - 82nd/132nd Ave., Edmonton Arcade (Name Unknown) - Milbourne Mall, Edmonton Arcade (Name Unknown) - Northwoods Mall, Edmonton Arcade (Name Unknown) - 90th/132nd, Edmonton Arcade (Name Unknown) - 118th Ave., Edmonton Arcade (Name Unknown) - 127th Ave., Edmonton Arcade (Name Unknown) - Stephen Ave. , Calgary Arcade (separate from above, Name Unknown) - Stephen Ave. , Calgary Arcade (Name Unknown) - Stony Plain Rd./151st, Edmonton Arcade (Name Unknown) - TD Square/The Core, Calgary Arcade (Name Unknown) - Thorncliffe Shopping Centre, Edmonton Arcade (Name Unknown) - Westmount Mall, Edmonton Mini Golf (Name Unknown) - Nose Hill/Stoney Trail NW, Calgary Dark Attractions, Wax Museums and Exhibits Canadian Wax Gallery - Banff Crystal Labyrinth - Dragon's Tale, West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Fantasyland/Galaxyland Express/Monopoly Railroad - Fantasyland/Galaxyland, West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Fort Edmonton Park Funhouse - 1920's Midway & Exhibition, Fort Edmonton Park, Edmonton Haunted Hotel - Calaway Park, Calgary Lazer Maze - West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Merlin's Haunted Laboratory - Fantasyland/Galaxyland, West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Museum of Fear and Wonder - Bergen Quirks in the Works - Fantasyland/Galaxyland, West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Sea Life Caverns - Marine Life, West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Specialty Hotels and Gift Shops Best Western Plus Port O'Call - Calgary Deerfoot Inn & Casino - Calgary Douglas Fir Resort - Banff Dino's RV Nest/Dinosaur RV Park & Cabins - Drumheller Fantasyland Hotel - West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Holiday Inn Lethbridge - Lethbridge Theatres, Bowling Alleys and Miscellaneous The Alley - Fort McMurray Ambassador Bowling Centre - Lacombe The Banquet - Edmonton The Banquet - Fort McMurray Ben's Bowling & Billiards - Brooks Blue Star Bowling Lanes - Peace River Bonnie Doon Bowling Lanes - Edmonton The Bowl 5 Pin 10 Pin House - Olds The Bowling Alley - Valleyview Bowling Depot - Calgary Bowling Stones Ten Pin Entertainment Centre - Grande Prairie Bowl Valley - Banff Bronx Bowl - Edmonton Chinook Bowladrome - Calgary Chinook Lanes - Pincher Creek Cochrane Lanes - Cochrane Deep Sea Adventure - West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Ed's Bowling - West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Edson Bowl - Edson Enilda Bowl - High Prairie Fatboys Bowling - Hythe Fort Lanes Bowling - Fort Saskatchewan Galaxy Bowling & Pizza - Park Meadows Mall, Lethbridge Gateway Lanes - Edmonton The Gutter - Red Deer Heartland Bowling - 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 Themed Restaurants, Bars and Stores Cafe Orleans - Bourbon Street, West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton The Disney Store - CrossIron Mills, Rocky View The Disney Store - Kingsway Mall, Edmonton The Disney Store - Market Mall, Calgary The Disney Store - South Centre Mall, Calgary The Disney Store - West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Fantasyland Nightclub - West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton The Fossil Shop - Drumheller Hard Rock Cafe - Bourbon Street, West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Hard Rock Cafe - Calgary Julio's Barrio - Calgary Julio's Barrio (82nd Ave. NW location) - Edmonton Julio's Barrio (WEM location) - Bourbon Street, West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Jungle Jim's - Bourbon Street, West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton The Old Spaghetti Factory - Bourbon Street, West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Planet Hollywood - West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton Water Parks and Attractions 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
- Playmate Exhibits | Amusement History
Playmate Exhibits Attraction Type: Exhibit Location: Drake Hotel and Bar, Niagara Falls, Ontario Years Operational: 1975-late 1970's Designer(s): Costello Productions One of Niagara's most obscure and downright bizarre attractions (both of which are really saying something) was the Playmate Exhibits, a sex museum (yes, you read that correctly) located in the Drake Hotel and Bar at 5677 Victoria Ave. It opened in 1975 on the ground floor in what was formerly additional bar space, and was designed by Costello Productions. With so little information available on this attraction, it's hard to say what it actually contained or how risqué the scenes depicted really were, however the sole brochure that has surfaced for the attraction touts it as "Sex at its Funniest!" It's likely the attraction was relatively tame in actuality, as it didn't cause much of a splash or uproar of any kind in the city, and quickly faded into obscurity. While the attraction certainly seems like a strange choice of subject to build a museum on, here is some background information that may explain this bizarre museum's existence. The museum can be faintly seen in the middle of this image of Victoria Ave. in 1977, with large "Playmate Exhibits" signs on the roof and front of the Drake. The Drake Hotel and Bar in the 1960's. The Drake Hotel and Bar opened in the early-60s after it took over the 1950s-era Grey Griffin Inn, and by the 70s had become a favorite watering hole with both travelling bikers and the local bar crowd. It was also infamous for not checking ID and serving alcohol to minors, which made the bar especially popular with teenagers, boys specifically. Fun side note: they had a "Pong" machine in the bar the year it released in 1972, making it perhaps the first video game in the Falls. Niagara Falls is also known as the "Honeymoon Capital of the World", and while this persists today mostly in the form of expensive and exclusive high-end experiences, it was a lot more budget back in the 70s, with most honeymoon offerings at the time being more of the heart-shaped tub and coin-operated shaking bed variety. Al Reid owned the Drake Hotel and was apparently quite the character himself. When your business is popular with bikers and rowdy teenage boys, and also located in the world's most popular spot for honeymooners and newlyweds, adding a comedy museum about sex somehow starts to seem like a logical option. While maybe looking good on paper, it's safe to assume the attraction didn't perform very well. The lack of documentation, people who remember it, and even promotional material point to it being a commercial flop. While being always popular with honeymooners, Niagara Falls (especially the Clifton Hill area) always has been and will be a predominantly family destination, which probably explains why the museum didn't last. The location also couldn't have helped, as Victoria Ave. between Clifton Hill and Ferry Rd. is usually busy with tourists, but Victoria Ave. in the other direction, although still technically part of the Clifton Hill area until Bender St., is substantially less trafficked. This is the same problem the original Castle Dracula location on Victoria Ave. faced, which opened a year earlier just a few doors down. Castle Dracula couldn't last in its original spot despite being a spectacular attraction that changed the area and the greater amusement industry as whole, whereas the Playmate Exhibits, obviously, was not. In the attraction's defense it was probably witty, humorous, and (if the other Costello Productions works are any indication) incredibly well designed/put together. The problems with the museum likely lay more on the business and concept side of things. While Castle Dracula still had the impact to move to Clifton Hill proper in 1977 (albeit downsized), the Playmate Exhibits would never rise from the dead like the Count did, and closed in 1979 when Reid sold the hotel. The former museum space was converted back to more bar space, and the Drake itself closed in the mid-80s when it was converted into Big Anthony's restaurant, named after Tony Parisi, the wrestler who bought the building from Reid. The hotel remained upstairs, now under a different name. This is likely when the room expansion was out the back of the building was added, making the hotel portion entered off Ellen Ave. around the back. The building is currently home to Virsa Fine Indian Cuisine on the first floor (after being a variety of restaurants over the years) and the hotel portion is named The Falls Family Lodge. Virsa Fine Indian Cuisine along Victoria Ave. and the Falls Family Lodge in behind occupying the building today.
- Quebec | Amusement History
Quebec Comprising the top half of the Quebec City-Windsor corridor that runs through Quebec and Ontario containing the majority of Canada's residents, lower Quebec is particularly well-populated with attractions. The province also contains many vacation resorts in areas such as The Laurentians, fueling it's tourism industry. Bowling Alleys (Salons de Quilles) are extremely popular in Quebec as well. Amusement and Theme Parks Belmont Park - Montreal La Ronde - Montreal Mega Parc - Galeries de la Capitale, Quebec City Le Village du Pere Noel (The Village of Father Christmas/Santa's Village) - Val-David Arcades, Mini Golf and F.E.C.s Amusement Casino - St. Laurent Blvd., Montreal Amusements L-Z - S aint- Catherine St. W. , Montreal Amusement 2000 Plus - Blvd. Saint-Martin O., Laval Bar Billiard Blou - Boul. Henri-Bourassa, Quebec City Bar Billard le Huit - Bd. Greber, Gatineau Bar Billard Micky's - Chem. de la Riviere-Cachee, Boisbrand Bar Billard Notre Dame - Notre-Dame St. W., Montreal Bar Billard Scoop - Mont-Royal Ave. E., Montreal Bar Billard Super 8 - Boulevard Maloney E., Gatineau Bar Billard Terminus - Rue Jean-Proulx, Gatineau Bar Flush Billard - Bd. Cartier, Beloeil Bar Le Shooter - Rue King E., Sherbrooke Bar Salon Billard De Cowansville - Rue de la Riviere, Cowansville Bar Snooker Billard - Blvd. Laurentien, Montreal Bar Sporalie Billiard - Bd. de l'Ormiere, Quebec City Belleys Billard - Notre-Dame St. E., Victoriaville Billiard Centre-Ville - Rue Racine E., Chicoutimi Billard Des Pro - Boulevard des Laurentides, Laval Billard L'Effet/Dooly's - Av. de l'Hotel-Dieu, Sorel-Tracy Billard Exclusif - Ch. de Chambly, Longueuil Billard Fats - Saint-Cathereine St. W., Montreal Billiard Lounge L'Abasie - Rue Fusey, Trois-Rivieres Billard Maximum - Bd. Cousineau, Saint-Hubert (Longueuil) Billard Shooters - Sources Blvd., Pierrefonds (Pointe-Claire) Billard Stixx - Rue de la Place du Commerce, Brossard (Longueuil) Billard Terminus - Rue Jean-Proulx, Gatineau Billiard Vegas - Place Levis, Levis Bogeys Billard - Boul. Cremazie E., Montreal Le Casino/Amusements 2000 Plus - S aint- Catherine St. W. , Montreal Casino Royale - Saint-Catherine St. W., Montreal Centre d'amusements Palais - Avenue du Parc, Montreal Centre d'amusement Place Jack - Decarie Blvd., Montreal Club de Billiard L'Impact - Boulevard Sir Wilfred Laurier, Mont-Saint-Hilaire Cristal Billard - Boulevard Jean-XXIII, Trois-Rivieres Crystal Palace - S aint- Catherine St. W. , Montreal Cybermind V.R. Centre - La Ronde, Montreal Daniel Amusement - S aint- Catherine St. W. , Montreal Dooly's - Bd. Talbot, Chicoutimi Dooly's - Le Promenades de Levis, Levis Dooly's - Rue Daniel-Johnson O., Saint-Hyacinthe eSidze Billiards - Rue des Chenes O., Quebec City The Flix Billard - Rue Court, Gatineau F orum Amusements - S aint- Catherine St. W./Fort , Montreal Fun Plaza - Belmont Park, Montreal Generation Golf - Mirabel Glo-Golf Aventures - Coaticook Golf Dorval Mini-Putt - Dorval (Pointe-Claire) International Billard - Rue Saint-Dominique, Jonquiere International Centre d'Amusements - S aint- Catherine St. W. , Montreal Jeux Electroniques - La Ronde, Montreal Johnny's Bar Billards - Pierrefonds Blvd., Pierrefonds (Pointe-Claire) Joliette Arcade - Rue Lajoie, Longueuil Kahnawake Mini Putt - Kahnawake L'arcadium 268 - Saint-Catherine St. W./Bleury, Montreal Livrpool Bar - Bd. Harwood, Vaudreuil-Dorion Metamorphia - S aint- Catherine St., Montreal Mini-Golf Lac Des Pins - Franklin Mini Golf La Minerve - Les Laurentides Regional County Municipality MiniGolf Victo - Victoriaville Mini-Putt Baie-Saint-Paul - Petit-Riviere-Saint-Francois Mini-Putt Beauport - Quebec City Mini-Putt De Gatineau - Gatineau Mini-Putt De L'amiante - Black Lake Mini-Putt Lac-Delage - Lac-Delage Mini-Putt Shawinigan-Sud - Shawinigan-Sud Mini-Putt Valleyfield - Salaberry-de-Valleyfield Mini-Putt Vanier - Quebec City Montreal Amusements - Montreal La Perie Noire - Mont-Laurier Putting Edge Centropolis - Laval Putting Edge Downtown - Montreal Restaurant Mini-Golf - Prevost Putting Edge Spheretech - Montreal Resto Billard Snooker La Bande Au Coin - Rue Green, Saint-Lambert (Longueuil) Rigolfeur - Saint-Jerome Rigolfeur De Gatineau - Gatineau Rigolfeur Ste. Julie - Sainte-Julie Salon de Billard Heriot - Rue Heriot, Drummondville Salon de Billiard Loretteville - Rue-Louis IX, Quebec City Salon de Billiard Le Triangle - Place Laval, Quebec City Le Skratch Laval - Bd. Cure-Labelle, Laval The 755 - Rue Vachon, Trois-Rivieres Shery's Amusements - Cote-Saint-Luc Rd., Montreal Silver Amusements/Palais du Vidéo - St Laurent Blvd., Montreal Spot Billiard - Rue St Germain E., Rimouski S T Amusements - Les Terrasses/Montreal Eaton Centre, Montreal Video Palais Amusements - S aint- Catherine St. W./Drummond , Montreal Village DunnD's/Minigolf Chelsea - Chelsea Zone 15 - Laval Arcade (Name Unknown) - Alexis Nihon, Montreal Arcade (Name Unknown) - Complexe Desjardins, Montreal Arcade (Name Unknown) - Concordia University Shops, Montreal Arcade (Name Unknown) - Cote-des-Neiges (later moved to St. Laurent Blvd.), Montreal Arcade (Name Unknown) - Peel Subway Station, Montreal Arcade (Name Unknown) - Place Bonaventure, Montreal Arcade (Name Unknown, seperate from above) - Place Bonaventure, Montreal Arcade (Name Unknown) - Promenade de Gatineau, Gatineau Arcade (Name Unknown) - Saint-Catherine St. W./Guy, Montreal Arcade (Name Unknown) - Saint-Catherine St. W./University, Montreal Arcade (Name Unknown) - Station Gare Centrale, Montreal Dark Attractions, Wax Museums and Exhibits Flight to Mars - La Ronde, Montreal Grand Orient (Salem Aleikum) - La Ronde, Montreal Haunted House - Belmont Park, Montreal Laff-in-the-Dark - Belmont Park, Montreal Lost River - Belmont Park, Montreal Magic Carpet - Belmont Park, Montreal Le Moulin de le Sorcerier (Witch's Mill) - La Ronde, Montreal Musee de Cire - Quebec City Musée Grévin - Montreal Eaton Centre, Montreal Specialty Hotels and Gift Shops Hotel Valcartier (and Hotel de Glace) - Valcartier Vacation Village, Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier Theatres, Bowling Alleys and Miscellaneous Anik Bowling Hall - Gatineau Atelier Quilles Trois-Rivieres - Trois-Rivieres Bool - Saguenay Boule-O-Drome - Levis Bowling and Billard Lounge Sher-Mont - Sherbrooke Bowling Automatic Valois Lanes - Pointe-Claire Bowling G Plus (Rue Bannantyne location) - Montreal Bowling G Plus (Grenet St. location) - Montreal Bowling G Plus (Rue Saint-Jacques location) - Montreal Bowling G Plus (Rue Saint-Zotique E. location) - Montreal Bowling G Plus (Shevchenko Blvd. location) - Montreal Bowl-O-Drome - Pierrefonds (Pointe-Claire) Centre De Loisirs Joseph Niro - Chicoutimi Centre de Quilles 440 - Laval Centre de Quilles St-Luc - Alma Centre Recreatif Stanstead - Stanstead Cinema Starcite - Gatineau Cine-Parc Belle Neige - Val-Morin Cine-Parc Cine dans L'Pre - Baie-Saint-Paul Cine-Parc Oroford - Sherbrooke Cine-Parc St.-Hilaire - Mont-Saint-Hilaire Cooperative de Solidarite du Quillorama de la Minganie - Havre-Saint-Pierre Le Croquenotes (Wolf Pack 5) - La Ronde, Montreal Le Dallo Bowling Alley - Chicoutimi Darling Bowling - Montreal District 1 Lasertag - Longueuil District 1 Lasertag - Mirabel Drive-In Saint-Eustache - Saint-Eustache La Grosse Quille - Dolbeau-Mistassini Kingpin Bowling Alley - Sherbrooke Laser Action - Mascouche Laurentian Lanes - Montreal Le Marshall Billard, Bowling, Bar - Quebec City Pro-Quilles - Plessisville Quilles Loisirs Normandin - Normandin Quilles Moderne - Montreal Quilles Princeville - Princeville Quilles St-Gregoire - Becancour Quillorama Frontenac - Quebec City Quillorama Granby - Granby Quillorama Marieville - Marieville Quillorama Richmond - Richmond Royaume Des Quilles - Granby Saint-Pascal Bowling Room - Quebec City Salle de Quille Beloeil - Beloeil Salle de Quille Black Lake - Black Lake Salle de Quille Danis - Gatineau Salle de Quille Fleury - Montreal Salle de Quille King Pin De Buckingham - Gatineau Salle de Quille Le Riverain - Sainte-Catherine Salle de Quille Masson - Gatineau Salle de Quilles Paris - Gatineau Salon Nord-Quilles - Sept-Iles Salon de Quilles Bellevue Enr. - Quebec City Salon de Quilles BG Laval - Laval Salon de Quilles Centre Domaine - Montreal Salon de Quilles Champion - Greenfield Park (Longueuil) Salon de Quilles L'Entracte - Beloeil Salon de Quilles Fortin-Tremblay - L'Ascension-de-Notre-Seigneur Salon de Quilles Greber - Gatineau Salon de Quilles Horizon - Quebec City Salon Quilles Lac St. Charles - Lac-Saint-Charles Salon de Quilles Le Riviera - Coaticook Salon de Quilles Le 300 - Sorel-Tracy Salon de Quilles Le Triple de Charlesbourg - Quebec City Salon de Quilles La Place - Saint-Nicephore Salon de Quilles Laval - Laval Salon de Quilles Laval - Quebec City Salon de Quilles Memphre - Magog Salon de Quilles Pincourt - Pincourt Salon de Quilles Portneuf - Portneuf Salon de Quilles Rive-Sud - Longueuil Salon de Quilles Saint-Hyacinthe - Saint-Hyacinthe Salon de Quilles St.-Christophe - Cowansville Salon de Quilles St.-Etienne - Saint-Etienne-de-Lauzon Salon de Quilles St.-Nicholas - Saint-Nicholas Salon de Quilles le Temple - Quebec City Salon de Quilles Val-Belair - Quebec City Themed Restaurants, Bars and Stores Hard Rock Cafe - Montreal Planet Hollywood - Montreal Water Parks and Attractions 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
- Documentary Video Series | Amusement History
Documentary Video Series The heart of this site and mission of the channel is to allow this information to reach a wider audience via short films, more specifically, documentaries. Find the author on YouTube @ Canadian Amusement Historian or see the most recent video below. Also, if you enjoy this content, please like these videos, share them, and subscribe to the channel. It greatly helps against YouTube's algorithm and allows this important historical information to reach a wider audience. Stay tuned for more updates! Recent



