Post by docatlas on Nov 25, 2012 20:53:19 GMT -5
Growing up in Western Pennsylvania, there were always plenty of amusement parks to go to; West View, Kennywood (I didn't go there until high school), White Swan (never went there), Cascade (I missed that one too, but my wife went there in her youth), and of course, Conneaut Lake, where we went every summer. My parents eventually bought a cottage there. I also have vague recollections of going to Idlewild Park, but I really don't remember much about it. And then there was Idora Park.
Unlike a lot of the schools in my area, mine always had its school picnic at Idora. We didn't go every year, perhaps because of our frequent trips to Conneaut, but when we did, it was always a treat for me. I remember nobody telling me where we were going, but this particular trip was memorable, and as we got closer to Boardman, I realized where we were going.
Several years earlier, I had gone into the old funhouse at Idora, and tried to walk into the spinning barrel while it was running. That didn't work out so well, but I didn't get hurt. This year, the old funhouse was gone. And in its place, this new, brightly-colored structure with the eyes in the windows. The Whacky Shack!
We had gotten there early (my parents, my aunt & uncle, and their five children), and while the adults were setting up things at the tables in the pavilion, my cousing Randy and I walked around the park, seeing what had changed before the rides opened. The Whacky Shack drew us like moths to a flame.
It wasn't open yet, but a man was touching up the paint outside of the building. This makes me wonder if this was in 1969; I can't imagine it needing new paint when it first opened in 1968. Either way, we were captivated. When the rides started, we were first in line to enter.
Sadly, I don't remember every room in the Whacky Shack, but I do remember walking from the summer heat into the dark, air-conditioned corridor, leading to the tilted room. I was fascinated with the water trough seemingly sending water from the old pump uphill; I stared at it for many long minutes before I figured out how it worked. And the blacklights! I loved what they did to the flourescent paint, and it wouldn't be too long before I would have my own blacklights, in my bedroom.
I remember a hallway with sections of floor that rose and fell, the walls painted like ocean waves. I'm pretty sure there was a barrel to walk through (the one from the old funhouse built in the 1920's?), but with a walkway to get you safely from one side to the other. And the mirror maze, shortly before exiting. I would like to say I remember more of the rooms, halls, and scenes, but unfortunately, that's all I remember.
I do remember Randy & I spending long hours inside, partly because it was a cool reprieve from the summer heat, but mostly because we loved the way it looked and sounded. One time, we spent an hour and a half inside, letting other patrons move past us. If I could have built a copy of it at home, I would have in a heartbeat. I think I still would, and I'm in my mid-fifties now.
Sadly, in later years, some of the interior space was given over to the Kooky Castle; I'm not sure if that was when the Whacky Shack became Laffin' Lena's, or earlier, but it wasn't quite the same after that.
Some years later, I discovered the Whacky Shack and Pirate's Cove at Waldameer Park, and still make it up there every few years. But nothing can quite take the place of my first Whacky Shack.
Unlike a lot of the schools in my area, mine always had its school picnic at Idora. We didn't go every year, perhaps because of our frequent trips to Conneaut, but when we did, it was always a treat for me. I remember nobody telling me where we were going, but this particular trip was memorable, and as we got closer to Boardman, I realized where we were going.
Several years earlier, I had gone into the old funhouse at Idora, and tried to walk into the spinning barrel while it was running. That didn't work out so well, but I didn't get hurt. This year, the old funhouse was gone. And in its place, this new, brightly-colored structure with the eyes in the windows. The Whacky Shack!
We had gotten there early (my parents, my aunt & uncle, and their five children), and while the adults were setting up things at the tables in the pavilion, my cousing Randy and I walked around the park, seeing what had changed before the rides opened. The Whacky Shack drew us like moths to a flame.
It wasn't open yet, but a man was touching up the paint outside of the building. This makes me wonder if this was in 1969; I can't imagine it needing new paint when it first opened in 1968. Either way, we were captivated. When the rides started, we were first in line to enter.
Sadly, I don't remember every room in the Whacky Shack, but I do remember walking from the summer heat into the dark, air-conditioned corridor, leading to the tilted room. I was fascinated with the water trough seemingly sending water from the old pump uphill; I stared at it for many long minutes before I figured out how it worked. And the blacklights! I loved what they did to the flourescent paint, and it wouldn't be too long before I would have my own blacklights, in my bedroom.
I remember a hallway with sections of floor that rose and fell, the walls painted like ocean waves. I'm pretty sure there was a barrel to walk through (the one from the old funhouse built in the 1920's?), but with a walkway to get you safely from one side to the other. And the mirror maze, shortly before exiting. I would like to say I remember more of the rooms, halls, and scenes, but unfortunately, that's all I remember.
I do remember Randy & I spending long hours inside, partly because it was a cool reprieve from the summer heat, but mostly because we loved the way it looked and sounded. One time, we spent an hour and a half inside, letting other patrons move past us. If I could have built a copy of it at home, I would have in a heartbeat. I think I still would, and I'm in my mid-fifties now.
Sadly, in later years, some of the interior space was given over to the Kooky Castle; I'm not sure if that was when the Whacky Shack became Laffin' Lena's, or earlier, but it wasn't quite the same after that.
Some years later, I discovered the Whacky Shack and Pirate's Cove at Waldameer Park, and still make it up there every few years. But nothing can quite take the place of my first Whacky Shack.