New Lobby Display
In Spring 2024, I visited Clifton Hill and noticed almost instantly that the iconic Castle Dracula sign that stands high above the building had been brilliantly repainted. It's once again one of the most eye-catching features of the Hill, especially from the bottom of the Hill where it appears centered with the street due to the bend. Upon closer inspection, the lobby display, which had formerly been a hunchback and vampire bride relocated from inside the attraction, had been replaced with a brand new static zombie prop. If you've visited Castle Dracula in the last 25-odd years, you likely know it's been in a sort of undead state of disrepair, and no update (or seemingly maintenance) to the place had occurred since the 1997 signage update out front. The fact capital was being injected back into the attraction was a huge signal new owners had taken over, and after I inquired, I learned that is infact the case.
Castle Dracula with the repainted sign above it.
Filming inside is not allowed, but I detail some elements of the remodel here on the attraction's updated history page, as well as link a video by a third-party YouTube channel that somehow filmed inside. In summary, my personal feelings on the remodel are somewhat split, but overall I think it's for the best. It's a bit of an interesting case study, the remodel is gorgeous, the place looks like it could last another 50 years now, which definitely couldn't be said before (there were spots you could see through the roof to the daylight under the old ownership). On the other hand, 90% of the original 1974 props built by Waxattract that been decaying in the unlit and walled off scenes were completely removed, along with most of the scenery, props, and artwork. I go more into specifics on what remains and what's been majorly overhauled on the history page linked above, but it's currently unknown if the removed props were trashed or salvaged. While it would certainly be devastating if they were destroyed, to be fair, there wasn't much left of many of them to begin with. They were 50 years old and received seemingly no maintenance for roughly 35 of those. That being said, these were historically significant pieces regardless of their condition, and it's sad to see them go. It begs the question which is more important? An attraction itself, or the actual props that made it historically significant in the first place, all those years ago? I think the choice is a personal one.
Old artwork outside the attraction (left) and the painting that replaced it (right).
It's easy to see why the new owners opted to buy new animatronics and effects to replace the old ones. It would have been next to impossible to repair 50 year old technology that was totally unique and ahead of it's time, especially after 30 years of being essentially abandoned. It's unknown if the Menechella family who initially moved the attraction to Clifton Hill in 1977 upgraded the original Waxattract 8-Track control systems to standard cassette tape, but even if they had, certainly nothing had been updated since the family sold the attraction in the early 90's and the decline began. It's likely most of the behind-the-scenes equipment needed to operate the props wasn't even still in there. The new props fit the attraction perfectly, and are definitely in the spirit of the originals. The most impressive thing is how detailed and unique some of the new props are. While a handful of them are popular mass-produced props, the majority of them I haven't seen in another attraction or trade show, leading me to question if these were ordered from a specialty studio of some sort.
Castle Dracula now matches the other attractions on the Hill in the sense that it's changed greatly from it's original form, however it also joins them in once again being as clean and professional as the day it opened. I touch on this briefly on the history page, but despite all these changes, I would say compared to it's sister attraction The House of Frankenstein up the Hill (another 70's Waxattract creation), Castle Dracula is more true to it's original spirit. The House of Frankenstein is still an amazing attraction, and while it at least contains two working original props (all the original props in Castle Dracula either always were or remain static), the attraction itself is nearly unrecognizable, and the majority of the newer props completely unfitting. Castle Dracula on the other hand retains just enough day one 70's goodness to walk the line effectively, and the new props seem to have been carefully selected it to fit in almost seamlessly. Personally, while I'm sad to see so much history disappear and I'm ever curious where the unaccounted for 90% of it went, I think it's for the best that Dracula was given the chance to rise again. Here's to another 50 years!
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