Search Results

Dazzleland Family Fun Center Attraction Type: Family Entertainment Centre Location: Niagara Falls, Ontario Years Operational: 1992-2001 Designer(s): White Hutchinson Leisure Learning Group Overview of Dazzleland as seen from the Pilgrim Motel, mid 90's. In 1992, the final piece of the puzzle for Clifton Hill's present day atmosphere would click into place. Welland Securities changed their name to HOCO (Harry Oakes Company) and beginning in the late 80's, took ownership of attractions that were formerly just tenants of theirs including Movieland , The Niagara Marketplace, The Space Spiral Tower, Golf-a-Rama atop Circus World, and the Cliffside Motel (which had its pool removed and was integrated into a wing of the adjacent Quality Inn.) The only attractions that would continue being leased were Ripley's and Circus World, meaning HOCO not only owned all the land on the South-West side of the hill, they now ran everything between Circus World and Ripley's, as well as the Harry's Burgers space and the ice cream stand immediately down the hill from Circus World. With the driveway in to the former Cliffside wing no longer needed, as it could now be accessed by the Quality Inn lot, it would become the last section of land to be developed along Clifton Hill. In the driveway's place was now a large empty space between Circus World and Movieland, with the Space Spiral Tower (with a relatively small footprint) stuck in the middle. HOCO called upon attraction design and layout firm White Hutchison Leisure Learning Group (WHLLG) to design an attraction around the Space Spiral that would use the final undeveloped land on Clifton Hill. And so WHLLG designed Dazzleland Family Fun Center, a courtyard of buildings arranged in roughly the same layout as the Great Canadian Midway (for reasons we'll get to later) that sits on the land now. The space surrounding the Spiral Tower that Dazzleland would later occupy, as it looked when it was occupied by Golf-a-Rama and the driveway in to the Cliffside, 1980's. The buildings around the outside of the courtyard were long and narrow, picture a courtyard of carnival game trailers but permanent, appealing buildings in the architecture style of a European village. Carnival lights adorned much of the signage, and the complex featured an abundance of neon on the attraction's large sign, on many of the buildings' exteriors, and signage featuring the word "DazzleLand" on the wall in many of the buildings. Bird's eye view of Dazzleland's courtyard taken from the Spiral Tower, late 90's. At the front of the attraction facing the street, on either side of the large open entrance to the courtyard, were two fast food restaurants. On the downhill-most side, the Wendy's was built on top of Circus World, replacing the Golf-a-Rama mini golf that had formerly been on the attraction's roof. It featured an outdoor patio in the back corner of the dining area overlooking Clifton Hill, but this would be enclosed in later years. At the back of the dining area next to the washrooms was also a hallway that led into Dazzleland, as the washrooms also served as the washrooms for the attraction itself. Across the entrance to the courtyard from Wendy's was a Domino's Pizza, roughly where stairwell just to your right is when entering the Great Canadian Midway now. Unlike Wendy's however who had the option to dine-in, the Domino's was only a take-away counter. Above: Wendy's in 1993 above Circus World. Right: Domino's Pizza seen along with the Spiral Tower and camera store, mid 90's. Clockwise when entering the actual courtyard of Dazzleland, the first building, built into the side of Wendy's, was the Whac-a-Mole building. This section housed several Bob's Space Racers (the co-inventors of Whac-a-Mole) late-80's "Version B" Whac-a-Mole machines. In the same building along the same wall was a handful of various redemption games. The next building, running alongside the forested hill down to Queen Victoria Park, was a larger walk-in building that served as the main redemption arcade area, housing all the miscellaneous ticket redemption games. This area was also home to one of the strangest arcade games in the Falls, a shooting gallery utilizing water guns rather than infrared light guns. It was called "Fire Department 911" and appeared to be a custom build, with the targets consisting of cut-out flames. The manufacturer remains unknown. Above: The main redemption game building, 1993. Right: The Fire Department 911 water gun shooting gallery. Whac-a-Mole machines, 1993, Miscellaneous games occupying the back half of the Whac-a-Mole building, 1993. In the back corner, roughly where the XD Theatre now sits in The Midway, was the largest building in Dazzleland, the main Arcade. This is where the large collection of video games and pinball machines were located, as well as the Cyclone redemption game. This section could also be accessed via a doorway in the back corner of the redemption game building. The building next to the Arcade was also connected via a doorway on the other side as well, and ran along the back of Dazzleland. This building housed various carnival style coin operated games such as the Skee Ball, Boom Ball, and Roll-a-Ball style games. A couple smaller redemption games were also located against the pillars along the front of this building. The final building along the outside (between the Skee-Ball building and Domino's) was the Sports Games building, which included racing, basketball toss, football toss, and pitching games. A section of this building with a checkered floor contained racing-themed games, like 4 linked Sega Super GT racing simulators that would be added in the late 90's, and later go on to also be a staple of the Midway, as would nearly all of Dazzleland's games. Above top: Entrance to the main arcade. Above bottom: Inside the main video and pinball arcade, mid 90's. Left: Interior of the Skee Ball building and it's side entrance to the main arcade, as seen in a 2001 brochure. Right: Boom Ball style, Roll-a-Ball, water gun race, and Skee Ball machines, mid 90's. The racing-themed section of the sports games building with the checkered floor, 2000. In the middle of the courtyard was a small carousel, a small pond that contained an RC boat game, and a building housing the carousel's control booth which had miscellaneous games wrapping around it on the other three sides. A smaller building in the back half of the courtyard outfront the Arcade building was the ticket Redemption Centre and prize counter. The courtyard was also full of claw machines and coin operated rides. The Space Spiral and camera store next door were incorporated into Dazzleland, still being accessible directly off the Hill. As mentioned elsewhere on this site, the tower was exactly where the Fudge Factory now is, as the circular store was once the loading area for the tower. Along Clifton Hill, between the camera store and the Dominos was a fortune teller machine built right into the wall: "Ask the Brain". The brain still lives on inside Movieland, except now he wants a loonie instead of a quarter. Left: The RC boat pond with the sports building in the background, 1993. Right: "Ask The Brain" in 2000. To fill the consumer need left after the mini golf atop Circus World was replaced with the Wendy's, a new, much more challenging course would be constructed just up the Hill from the Spiral Tower. It's entrance was right on the Hill, but the course wrapped around the tower and ran back behind Dazzleland, between the back of Dazzleland and the parking lot of the Quality Inn. It would have no real theme for its first two years of operation, and feature generic statues like a comical man teeing off from the course's main waterfall, dolphins jumping out of the fountains, and a replica of the Skylon Tower at the back. It's debatable if this attraction could technically be considered part of Dazzleland. While built at the same time and wrapping around Dazzleland proper, it wasn't technically inside it. It's unknown if this course had its own name or was originally considered part of the complex. It would also outlive Dazzleland in its later form as Dinosaur Park Miniature Golf (see below), moving around the area and eventually evolving into the present-day Dinosaur Adventure Golf. Dazzleland under construction in 1991, showing the full layout of the mini golf. Above: The miniature golf course as seen from the driveway into Quality Inn, 1992. Left: A fiberglass statue of a down-on-his-luck golfer tees off from the waterfall at the entrance to the course on Clifton Hill, 1993. This early version of the Dazzleland complex would be very short lived, with changes coming just two years later in 1994. The Whac-a-Mole and prize buildings would be switched around, and the water gun shooting gallery would also switch places with the miscellaneous games next to the Whac-a-Mole machines. The biggest change however would come in the form of a retheme of the mini golf. Riding off the success of the film Jurassic Park, the course would now become "Dinosaur Park Miniature Golf." Unique fiberglass dinosaurs now populated the course, and a dragon/sea serpent was added to the RC boat pond. It's unknown who sculpted these figures (possibly someone from within WHLLG). Left: Dinosaur Park Miniature Golf in a 2001 brochure. Right: The dragon in the RC boat pond, 1998. The sign for the Redemption Centre after it switched places with the Whac-a-Mole building. Dazzleland was an instant success, being one of the crucial moments in the development of the Niagara Falls tourism industry that forever changed the area. It was the first Family Entertainment Centre in the Falls, combining arcade machines with other rides and attractions all in one arcade-like complex, more accessible than an amusement park yet more captivating than an arcade. Almost every arcade to open in the Falls since Dazzleland has also been an F.E.C., a clear indication of it's influence. The complex had a unique but distinct atmosphere, having no exact theme other than a whimsical, fantasy-like environment as represented by the stars and moons on the attraction's signage. The carnival-like atmosphere and variety in the attraction made it stand out from the other arcades in the area at the time, and it became a go to-hang out for both tourists and locals alike. It's variety also made it popular with all demographics, featuring pinball and video games popular with teenagers and adults, redemption games and rides largely popular with children and families, and an open, appealing atmosphere even drawing in those who wouldn't usually be arcade-goers. It's popularity however would also be it's demise, and it would be relatively short-lived, only lasting a decade. The success of the attraction led HOCO to expand the concept further, and more games = higher guest enjoyment, and therefore profit. The outdoor courtyard style with it's room for walkways between the buildings was re-designed, and HOCO again called upon WHLLG. WHLLG designed not only a remodel of Dazzleland, but an incredible 5-step plan that would have changed Clifton Hill, however only steps 1 to 3 would come to fruition... Step 1 was remodeling Dazzleland into the Great Canadian Midway , which opened in 2002. The level, concrete foundation Dazzleland was built on was kept as the foundation of the Midway, hence why it has a similar footprint. Dinosaur Park Miniature Golf was moved to a former parking lot in front of the Comfort Inn. Rather than have several different buildings, the Midway would all be one indoor space, allowing for more games and year round operation, a genius business move. After it's closure, Dazzleland would fall into obscurity. In the early days of research that would eventually evolve into this website, Dazzleland only existed as one-line mentions in old HOCO Attractions brochures and the vauge memories of the author, becoming somewhat of my "white whale". HOCO themselves eventually uploaded some limited photos of the attraction on their Clifton Hill Fun Facebook page, and as time went on and my original historical postings on Reddit began to receive attention, more people began to comment that they remembered Dazzleland fondly. Many details of the attraction came out along with it, and eventually, after years of scouring old tourist vacation videos on YouTube, the full layout and story of the attraction's changes over the years came to light. Arials of Dazzleland (2000) and the Great Canadian Midway (2024), showing how the Midway was built upon Dazzleland's pre-established layout. The gorgeous double-sided neon sign at the entrance to the complex, which acted as a beacon of Clifton Hill, 2000. While Dazzleland may be gone, the Midway took the carnival-like atmosphere that Dazzleland offered and turned it into the entire theme of the Midway, which is actually themed to an outdoor carnival midway complete with strings of lights between the pillars. It also features several attractions around the outside walls surrounding the main arcade space, creating somewhat of an indoor courtyard. This makes the Midway somewhat of a spiritual successor to Dazzleland that builds on the theme and retains the same atmosphere. Dazzleland continues to live on in the memories of those who visited, frequented, and worked there as well as the millions of visitors who have since visited the Midway, whether they realize it's hidden influence or not.

Wizard's Castle Arcades (and Affiliate Chains) Attraction Type: Arcade Location: Various (See list below) Years Operational: Late 70's-2006 Designer(s): Various, Unknown Wizard's Castle was Canada's largest chain of amusement arcades, active from the mid-late 70's until 2006. The chain was exclusive to Canada and owned by Janda Products/New Way Sales of Rexdale, a west-end suburb of Toronto. Janda Products was a rental company which rented out vending, video game, pinball, redemption, and change machines in addition to pool tables, jukeboxes, air hockey tables and coin-operated kiddie rides. New Way Sales was their sales division. Wizard's Castle fell somewhere between the two, being more owned by the company in general. The Wizard's brand was extremely popular, with at least over 60 locations, being as common in Canadian malls in the 80's and 90's as other mall chains like Foot Locker, Orange Julius, Music World, and Kernels Popcorn. It wasn't limited to malls however, and did also have a small handful of locations in downtown cores and suburban strip plazas. The classic logo that appeared on most arcade cabinet stickers and merchandise. With none of the American mall arcade chains like Time Out, Aladdin's Castle, Tilt, Fun-N-Games, Space Port, or Jolly Roger ever being franchised to Canada, Janda/New Way had near domination over the mall arcade market with Wizard's, and an even further slice of the general arcade pie with their rental and sales divisions providing games to several other arcades. The chain dwarfed the other Canadian arcade chains at the time such as Fun & Games (unrelated to American chain Fun-N-Games), Circuit Circus, Little Joe's, and Laser Illusions, being the only one to go cross-country. Wizard's Castle token. This bold bubble-font logo could also be found on the red, light up coin slots of many of the games. The first location opened in the back corner of the Scarborough Town Centre food court some time in the mid-late 70's and began as a mostly pinball arcade, however whether it opened with name Wizard's Castle or gained it later is unknown, with the copyright for the name not being filed until 1979. It expanded in 1979 from 16 games to 32, and would expand further in the early-80's as the arcade market hit it's peak. It featured a large orange neon sign reading "Wizard's Castle" outside, casting it's neon spell over the food court. The interior was decked out in fantasy theming, as well as wall murals and plenty more neon. The chain expanded quickly, with 24 locations by June of 1982. The chain would survive the video game crash of 1983, which in the end proved to more harshly damage the up-and-coming home console market, and reset the industry back in favor of the technologically superior arcade machines once the dust settled. Most of the chain's locations would follow the same design as the Scarborough original, which remained the chain's flagship location. Many rare and prototype games that were never mass-produced were tested at the STC arcade (which was one of the best performing arcades in the country) through Janda/New Way's industry contacts, and it was also the first place in the city for many new game releases. Most of the chain's locations would open in the mid-late 80's, when the chain was at its peak. In 1992 the flagship location was converted to the ancient Greek-themed Games Maximus along with a handful of other locations. It was adorned with pillars and fake marble, with a general "arena" feel. This made thematic sense based on the games in arcades at the time, as games had shifted away from single-player quests and pinball, and moved more in the direction of competitive fighting, racing, sports, and head-to-head vehicle combat games. While the STC location would remain Games Maximus until the end of it's life, the rebranding never really took off company-wide as the Wizard's brand remained more recognizable, being a borderline household name in Canada at that time. Left: The STC Games Maximus seen in the corner of the food court in this blurry 1992 VHS recording of the mall. Right: One of "The Wizard Commands" rule signs that could be found hanging in the game rooms, now owned by a private collector. There were several other arcade chains owned by Janda/New Way such as Sky Games (which had an airplane hangar theme), The Games, World Cup, and Video Gym, with some of these theorized to be rebrandings of former Wizard's locations. It's also unlcear if any of these were pre-existing brands absorbed by Janda/New Way. Around the turn of the millennium, several of the company's older games from the late 70's/early 80's were phased out along with many of the pinball machines both new and old, also leaving the company's rental/sales inventory. The early-mid 2000's would be the last hurrah for arcades until the retro/nostalgia trend would begin nearly 20 years later. Games like Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, Big Buck Hunter, Initial D, Gauntlet Dark Legacy, Arctic Thunder, Soul Calibur III, Out Run 2, Dance Dance Revolution, and Tekken 5 would be the last wave of popular money-makers until the industry would be faced with the option to either become entirely redemption arcades or go the wayside by the time the 2010's hit. Frank Pavlovic (left) and John Paul Wright (right) play Midway's "Mortal Kombat 2" at the Conestoga Mall Wizard's Castle in March 1994. This photograph was taken for a now somewhat-comical Waterloo newspaper article on rising violence in video games. The Fairview Mall (North York) Sky Games in Februrary of 1998. Underperforming locations began closing around the early-2000's, with most of the Wizard's Castle/Games Maximus/Sky Games/other locations being shuttered by the time Janda/New Way went out of business in 2006, save for a small handful. The few remaining locations at the time the company disappeared included the flagship STC Games Maximus, the West Edmonton Mall and Kingsway Garden Mall Wizard's Castles, and the Sky Games locations in North York's Fairview Mall and Rexdale's Woodbine Centre. The reason the Woodbine Sky Games lasted so long despite there being another arcade and an amusement park in the mall, may purely have been due to its proximity to Janda/New Way's offices, which were located just behind the mall (one of the roads into the mall even being named Janda Way.) After the final locations were shuttered, Janda/New Way was sold to rival machine rental company and F.E.C. chain Playdium, with the Janda family leaving the company behind and New Way becoming a division of Playdium, which itself was later sold to Cineplex. Upon the Cineplex acquisition the final assets and records of Janda/New Way (and Wizard's Castle with it) were absorbed into the mega-corporate fog, and lost to time. You can still find games all over Canada in arcades, private collections, and even being rented out by Playdium/Cineplex that have a Wizard's Castle sticker, or more commonly the logo printed on the coin slots. The chain is remembered by it's dedicated fanbase of former patrons and staff, however it lies largely in obscurity in terms of documentation with the only known photographs of bonafide Wizard's Castle locations being one of the Barrie location in the Kozlov Centre (albeit after the arcade was cut down to half the size and it's original signage was removed), and one of the STC food court where the original Wizard's can be seen in the background, glowing in all it's neon glory. Above: The Kozlov Centre (Barrie) Wizard's Castle around 2004 after it was significantly downsized. This space was quite deep, and the white temporary wall with merchandising slats seen here previously didn't exist, with the location originally occupying the adjacent unit as well. Many of these games would be shuffled around the food court by the mall in later years, with the lack of branding seen here hinting that the mall likely bought out the location from Janda back when it downsized around 2002. Confirmed Locations Above: The iconic Wizard's Castle neon can be seen in the back-right corner of this photo of the STC food court, 1983. Wizard's locations either had this sign or a similar, smaller neon with script font. This space became a variety of takeout restaurants over the years following the closure of Games Maximus in 2006, and is currently the large Jollibee location with it's own dining area. Toronto Wizard's Castle (later Games Maximus) Scarborough Town Centre, Scarborough (1977? - 2006, became various fast food places over the years, now Jollibee) Wizard's Enchanted Castle Yorkdale Mall, North York (1979? - mid 2000's) Wizard's Castle Dufferin Mall (early 80's - early 2000's, now a McDonald's) Wizard's Castle Cloverdale Mall (early 80's - mid 2000's) Wizard's Castle Agincourt Mall (? - early 2000's) The Wizard Centerpoint Mall (? - mid 2000's, affiliation unconfirmed. May have been GTA test for separate Ottawa chain "The Wizard") Wizard's Castle Fairview Mall (1983? - late 90's) Sky Games Fairview Mall (separate location from Wizard's Castle elsewhere in the mall?) (? - 2006) Sky Games Woodbine Centre (1986 - 2006) World Cup North York Sheridan Mall (? - mid 2000's) Greater Ontario Wizard's Castle Meadowvale Town Centre, Mississauga (1981 - ?) Wizard's Castle Kozlov Shopping Centre, Barrie (August 1986 - early 2000's, became increasingly downsized mall-run arcade lasting to 2012) Wizard's Castle Heritage Place Mall, Owen Sound (1987 - early 2000's) Wizard's Castle Conestoga Mall, Waterloo (? - ?) Wizard's Castle Seawway Mall, Welland (? - early 2000's) Wizard's Castle Bramalea City Centre, Brampton (early 80's - mid 2000's) Wizard's Castle Westdale Mall, Brampton (? - ?) Wizard's Castle Centre Mall, Hamilton (? - mid 2000's) Wizard's 184 Dundas St., London (early 80's - 2006) Wizard's Castle Downtown London (separate location which operated simultaneously to Dundas St.), location unknown (early 80's - ?) Fx5 (formerly Wizard's Castle) Pickering Town Centre, Pickering (? - 2006?) The Wiz (affiliation unconfirmed) White Oakes Mall, London (? - ?) Skygames Markville Shopping Centre, Markham (? - 2006) The Games Lime Ridge Mall, Hamilton (1981 - mid 2000's) The Games Eastgate Square Shopping Centre, Hamilton (early 80's - mid 2000's) The Games Erin Mills Town Centre, Mississauga (1989 - mid 2000's) Admirals Cup Masonville Place, London (January 2, 1985 - mid 2000's) Saskatchewan Wizard's Castle Circle Park Mall/The Centre, Saskatoon (?-?) Wizard's Castle Lawson Heights Mall, Saskatoon (? - ?) Alberta Wizard's Castle West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton (1985 - 2006, now Newplay) Wizard's Castle Millwoods Town Centre, Edmonton (1988 - mid 2000's) Wizard's Castle Heritage Place Mall, Edmonton (June 1988 - mid 2000s) Wizard's Castle Northgate Mall. Edmonton (? - early 2000's) Wizard's Castle Londonderry Mall. Edmonton (? - ?) Wizard's Castle Capilano Mall, Edmonton (? - ?) Wizard's Castle Deer Valley Centre, Calgary (1981 - early 2000's?) Wizard's Castle Park Place Mall, Lethbridge (1988 - ?) Wizard's Castle St. Albert Centre, St. Albert (? - ?) Wizard's Castle Bower Mall, Red Deer (? - ?) Wizard's Castle Downtown Red Deer, location unknown (early 80's - ?) Wizard's Castle Lloyd Mall, Lloydminster (? - ?) Wizard's Castle Southcentre Mall, Calgary (? - mid 2000's) Wizard's Castle Kingswood Garden Mall, Edmonton (? - 2006) Wizard's Castle University of Alberta Hub International Marketplace, Edmonton (? - mid 2000's) Wizard's Castle Marlborough Mall, Calgary (? - mid 2000's) Wizard's Castle Chinook Centre, Calgary (? - early 2000's) Wizard's Castle Circle Park Mall, Calgary (? - ?) Wizard's Castle Market Mall, Calgary (? - ?) Wizard's Castle Sunridge Mall, Calgary (? - ?) Video Gym Southgate Shopping Centre, Edmonton (? - 2006?) British Columbia Wizard's Castle Richmond Square Mall, Vancouver (? -?) Wizard's Castle Rutherford Village, Nanaimo (1980 - ?) Neon sign, roughly four feet in diameter, theorized to be from a Wizard's Castle. This sign appeared briefly in the background of an arcade collection in an episode of "Canadian Pickers". This art style and neon aligns with the murals and lighting that could be found in the locations.

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

The House of Frankenstein Attraction Type: Haunted Attraction Location: Niagara Falls, Ontario Years Operational: 1971-Present Designer(s): Waxattract , Distortions Unlimited Postcard of the attraction in the late-1970's The House of Frankenstein is perhaps one of, if not the most important attraction discussed on this website. It played a pivotal role in the development of Clifton Hill, the world of special effects, the world of animatronics, the world of haunted attractions, and the greater amusement industry in general. 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 in 1971, and ran by the motel owner's brother Joe. Local artist Robert Dunham's Waxattract company developed the attraction, and went partners with the brothers in ownership as well like they had on the Royal London Wax Museum . Dunham had learned from his Fantasy Land attraction at Crystal Beach and his Royal London Wax Museum, or more specifically, the success of his Boris Karloff Wax Museum. The Boris Karloff was more popular than either of them despite being in a much less foot trafficked area, simply due to its horror theme. The Hilltop Motel Restaurant in the late-1960s. Hilltop Motel postcard (left, mid-1960's), and an early postcard for The House of Frankenstein (right, 1971) showing how the attraction was built in and atop the pre-existing restaurant building. The House of Frankenstein would take this a step further, rather than being a more museum-style attraction like the Boris Karloff, 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, it was 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's official title would be "The House of Frankenstein Wax Museum", and while being a wax masterpiece, the word "museum" may have undersold just how incredible the attraction was for the time. 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. The word "museum" however would have probably been the closest possible pre-existing term at the time to give potential visitors an idea what kind of attraction this was. The House of Frankenstein would keep the gift shop and basement auction gallery of the Hilltop Motel intact, but now the merchandise in the gift shop would be mostly horror themed. Tons of custom merchandise was produced for the attraction (as it would also be for the later Castle Dracula locations), including but not limited to pennants, T-shirts, pins, buttons, patches, mugs, cups, frisbees, pens, scene guide books, View-Master reels, projector slides, and bottle openers. Waxattract would even self-produce latex monster masks and hands cast from the same molds as the figures in their attractions for sale in the gift shops, beginning at the House of Frankenstein. House of Frankenstein souvenir pin, 1970's. The attraction's lobby was in a small space in the front corner of the gift shop, leaving the stairs down to the auction gallery intact. The lobby proper had two entrances; one up a staircase on the corner of the building and one on the front of the building slightly up the Hill. There was also a second entrance to the gift shop (which also connected to the lobby) at the other end of the building up the Hill. The lobby held a display of a skeleton raising the lid of his coffin, and the Phantom of the Opera at his pipe organ in the window. This former lobby space is where the Beavertails now sits. The former restaurant would become the first floor of the attraction, with the second floor built above the whole building. The attraction itself was incredibly impressive, and unlike anything done at the time. It featured around 60 scenes, most of which were scenes behind plexiglass and others that were walk through scenes such as the "Twilight Zone" (a strobe mirror maze) or the "Strange Planet", an area with a squishy floor and blacklight eyes peering at you from the darkness, accompanied by Metaluna Mutant from "This Island Earth". Outside the lobby in the early-70's. The sign for the auction gallery above the staircase to the basement can be seen indside. The attraction's original brochure featuring a cut-out mask on the cover. While the design has been updated several times over the years, the attraction still uses this same style of brochure to this day, along with several similar phrases in the write-up. It was a combination of multiple age old concepts into something totally new. Wax museums had long had Chambers of Horror and horror themed sections, but they were never the whole museum, or particularly scary in the try-to-startle-you sense. Dark rides (like the primitive Laff in the Dark at Crystal Beach that Dunham found constantly eclipsing his much more detailed Fantasy Land) had also existed for decades and were the first haunted attractions, but they were rides and not self-guided experiences. Their displays were usually of the quick lighting nature as your car was in continuous motion, the individual scenes were not meant to have a story or be studied. For over half a century, funhouses had been around, providing illusions, startling noises and sometimes dark lighting. Since the mid-60's, dark ride legend Bill Tracy had been making walk-through haunted houses of a similar concept for small amusement parks across North America. Tracy was a visionary and an incredible artist, but his attractions didn't match the detail, atmosphere, and story the House of Frankenstein would later bring. The figures in the Tracy attractions were fiberglass or paper-mache, never the detail of wax, and the layouts were less focused on the scenes and more focused on the old funhouse style illusions. For example, there would be several illusion rooms like a diminishing endless hallway, a tilted room, or a vortex tunnel, with a small scene between each. The result was 6 or 7 scenes or "scares" throughout the experience, being more in line with a horror-themed-funhouse. These attractions were groundbreaking nonetheless, however 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. 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 attraction at Crystal Beach and in the Boris Karloff Wax Museum had run off as well. The House of Frankenstein however would contain a first that Disneyland had previously held a monopoly on: programmable animatronic figures. Collage of some of the scenes in the attraction from the end of an opening year souvenir guide book. 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 other early animatronics manufacturers like Sally Corp or AVG. The Dunhams' invention and it's debut in the House of Frankenstein predate them all, harnessing technology to create and animate Frankenstein's Monster like the Doctor himself. The animatronics system ran on Q4 Quadraphonic Reel-to-Reel Tape. These tapes could also be used to control lights and audio, and many scenes required one of the control boxes to run due to how advanced the animation was. Rather than program an expensive room-sized (at the time) computer, the much more compact system of using analog frequency signals on tape made it possible to implement the system throughout the entire attraction in a number of ways. 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. The "Wax Workshop" scene depicting a behind-the-scenes look at the supposed waxworks for The House of Frankenstein. This hilarious self-portrait went on to become a recurring gag in several Waxattract haunted attractions. "The Seance" A portion of "The Grotto" The original "Frankenstein's Monster" scene towards the end of the attraction. The Jacob's Ladder device, as well as The Bride of Frankenstein, are just out of the shot. Nobody could have expected what awaited them when they walked into the House of Frankenstein, here are some examples of some of the incredible scenes the attraction featured when it opened, keep in mind this is over 50 years ago. There was a Grotto of mummified corpses and circling bats with 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. There was also a Seance room where the lights flickered, the table began to float, items began to seemingly move on their own, and air cannons blasted at you. Some other scenes included a smoking electric chair with carbon arcs, scenes of characters "morphing" into other creatures such as Dr. Jekyll becoming Mr. Hyde and Dracula turning into a bat, and even real electrical arcs in a massive Jacob's Ladder device in the Frankenstein scene. 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 reoccurring theme you'll find on this website. To take a tour of the attraction as it appeared in 1971 Button The Phantom of the Opera at his organ can be faintly seen in the background of the many photos people posed for with the popular Frankenstein's Monster walk-around. 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, 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 attraction, 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. The attraction drawing a crowd in 1975. In 1977, the large neon lightning bolt on the front of the building was removed and the giant Frankenstein head sign the lighting bolt "struck" was moved to the side of the building above the arcade. The five gargoyles were added to the facade at this time, which peer down on potential visitors to this day and have become icons of Clifton Hill. The Funland Arcade would be added in an expansion to the building's first floor and basement in 1979, bringing the building right to Oneida Ave. on its downhill most side. The basement auction gallery/motel offices were also expanded below. The glowing Monster head on the face of the building as it was "struck" by lightning, 1975. The Funland Arcade expansion, relocated Frankenstein's Monster head, and gargoyles as seen in a 1979 postcard. The remodeled attraction featuring Burger King in the former Funland Arcade space. The first major changes came in 1984, when Burger King was opened on the main floor. The gift shop and lobby remained, but its unclear if Burger King only initially replaced the former arcade space, or if the majority of the first floor of the attraction was removed at this time as well (as it would be later), creating the large Burger King space that exists today. The giant Frankenstein's Monster head sign on the side of the building was also removed. More changes came in 1986. The basement auction gallery was removed after the brother who ran it passed away, and it would be replaced with "Super Star Recording Studio", a souvenir recording studio where you could record karaoke, or insert yourself into a green screen music video to take home on VHS. At that time the House of Frankenstein lobby and gift shop were reversed, with the former gift shop space becoming much more open to the street and now holding the attraction's lobby, and the former lobby becoming a now smaller gift shop the attraction exited into. The attraction's path was altered certainly at this time, at least slightly. If the entire first floor of the attraction itself remained beside Burger King is unknown, but where you enter was rerouted to the new lobby (former gift shop), and the exit, which formerly exited to the old gift shop, now exited into the new one (former lobby.) It's also possible that the up and down staircases may have been reversed at this time, however if this ever occurred in the attraction's lifespan or not hasn't been confirmed. The new lobby featured a front window with a man lowering food down into a pit with Frankenstein's Monster in it, as well as a lobby scene with an animatronic Frankenstein's Monster and his bride. The Bride of Frankenstein figure in the scene was the original one relocated from the Frankenstein finale, which continued to run without the figure. It's unknown who created the rest of the new props however. Its at this point that the earliest confirmed appearance of the iconic, booming announcer voice outside appears. This was almost word for word the write up in the original brochures. This dialogue remains today, although it has been slightly altered over the years, and remains one of, if not the most recognizable sound of Clifton Hill to several generations of visitors. It may date back to even earlier than this, but sound footage of outside the attraction from earlier than this hasn't surfaced. Frequent Clifton Hill visitors will notice the voice sounds strikingly similar to Movieland 's talking Pharoah, however whether or not it's infact the same voice actor remains to be confirmed. A TV playing the 1932 Frankenstein film would eventually be added to the lobby at some point in the mid 1990s, next to the display of the Monster and his bride. The interior of Super Star Recording Studio, 1992. The "reversed" lobby and gift shop in the 1980's. The new lobby animatronics installed in 1986 as they appeared in 1992. Frankenstein's Monster remains in the pit below the window to this day. The 1998 remodel shown here in 2000. While the Monster eating the Whopper is constantly used by critics an example of Clifton Hill's tackiness, it's become a staple of the Hill's skyline and unique character for those able to appreciate it. In 1989, the copyright holder would switch to the Burland family's Niagara Clifton Group (then still called Beefeater Inc.) along with the Hilltop Motel behind it. It's possible the Iannuzellis sold it to them in '89, but there's evidence to suggest the Burlands bought it back in '86, and it just took the government's copyright records a while to finalize things and catch up. This would explain the heavy remodeling of the attraction in 1986 which the Iannuzellis didn't do to their Lake George location, and also explains a Niagara Clifton Group newspaper ad from 1986 which lists the House of Frankenstein and Super Star Recording Studio on it. The Burlands would sell the complex again in 1998 to Ian Paul, a cousin of the family. Paul added the iconic Frankenstein's Monster eating a Whopper to the roof. The sign on the side of building reading "This is the Original House of Frankenstein Wax Museum" was removed to make way, and the gargoyle that had sat on the roof on that corner of the building was relocated to the facade with the others. The gift shop was replaced with the Family Fun Arcade, which retained a stairs down to the former recording studio below. This basement now contained another, larger floor of the arcade. The games were operated by Cataract Amusements, who operated the games and rides at the Skylon Tower. The arcade included a large "Bonanza" style shooting gallery at the back, which may have been relocated from (or went to) another attraction. There have been several other Bonanza shooting galleries in Niagara Falls over the years, including in Circus World, the Skylon Tower, Maple Leaf Village, Pyramid Place, and the Midway . The main floor of the actual attraction portion was removed (save for a few scenes) for certain at this point if it hadn't already been before this, replacing it with more Burger King space. This left only the upstairs, and the entrance/exit right next to each other. The lobby scene was remodeled to feature an alligator jumping out of a sewer, a spider that dropped from the ceiling, and Frankenstein's Monster strapped to a stood-up operating table, which could be brought to life if guests flipped a lever. The TV playing the Frankenstein film was relocated to a room in the attraction which was then outfitted with benches, now using a new TV monitor (formerly used to show music videos at the front of Super Star Recording Studio) surrounded by mirrors to appear as a sphere. It's unknown what was located in this room prior, it may have been a large scene or several former scenes with the walls in between knocked out. The upper level entrance of the Family Fun Arcade in 2000. Upper level of the arcade seen in a 1998 tourist home video. The stairs down to the larger area below can be seen to the right. The lobby display in the late-90's. The attraction still features a heavily modified version of the same scene today. That brings us to the many changes made in the following years. What had already been removed up to this point remains a little hazy, but in addition to the majority of the main floor already being removed, the Creature From the Black Lagoon scene had already been replaced with the giant Distortions Unlimited Jack-in-the-Box. A hallway with blacklight carpeted walls and a squishy floor was also already there at this point, which may have been located in (and re-used the floor from) the former "Strange Planet" room. Several scenes would end up being replaced with new off-the-shelf props from popular prop companies like GAG Studios and the previously mentioned Distortions Unlimited, while others were left empty with varying degrees of decoration left behind in the darkness. The Bride of Frankenstein figure formerly in the lobby was relocated back inside the museum, now lying on a table in a large dead-end room resembling a crypt. It's unknown if this room was re-used from a former scene or area, or if it was a new addition around this time, as the attraction's original guidebook doesn't necessarily hint on any of the scenes original to that section resembling that theming. The older Frankenstein's Monster that had been added to the lobby back in 1986 was moved inside, and replaced the original Frankenstein scene at the end of the attraction when the new lobby display was installed. The impressive Jacob's Ladder was unfortunately removed at this time, as were the original 1971 animatronics of Frankenstein's Monster, Dr. Frankenstein, and his lab assistant, although their heads would all make re-appearances elsewhere in the attraction. The Frankenstein's Monster head ended up on the body of a figure which was placed in the same area as the Bride of Frankenstein, the Doctor's head ended up hanging from the ceiling (amongst others) in the guillotine scene, and the lab assistant's head ended up in a pot amongst lab equipment in the entranceway. (Left) Parts of the original Frankenstein's Monster relocated. Notice the motion sensors on the floor visible with the flash photography which make the props activate. (Top right) The Bride moved inside and laid on the table. ( Bottom right) Doctor Frankenstein's head hangs above the Guillotine amongst the other prop heads. Other additions around this time were a half-body figure of horror movie icon Pumpkinhead on a turntable in the aforementioned dead-end room, a static figure resembling the version of the Monster from the 1994 film "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein", and new floor tiles in the mirror maze filled with a gel that glows green under blacklight. A "Monster Bash" pinball machine was also added to the TV room with the benches. It's regarded as one of the best pinball machines of all time, and was later reproduced due to its popularity. The original 1998 version however, as would have been present in the House of Frankenstein, is now extremely valuable. A more mysterious addition came in the form of three wax mummified bodies hanging in a hallway which guests had to walk through. The figures appear to have been actual wax and fairly old, meaning they may have been relocated from an original scene. The mummy corridor, early-2010's. The once again updated lobby scene in 2000. The lobby scene was updated once again in 2000, with the Frankenstein's Monster receiving a new skin and costume, and the interactive flip switch behind replaced with an animatronic Dr. Frankenstein. The lunging alligator was also removed, the tunnel he slid from sealed off, and a talking skull placed on a shelf above it. The trio would now joke around and sing covers of various songs. The new animatronics were provided by Lifeformations. A 2002 remodel also replaced the original Wolfman figure, updated the facade to be more stone-like instead of the bright green walls, and replaced the two-level arcade (which had occupied a section of the main floor as well as the entire basement) with a gift shop. The Monster Bash pinball machine along the attraction's path was also removed around this time and replaced with a scene containing a coat rack monster prop from the Scarefactory company, hinting that the machine may have been a Cataract Amusements game that had been on the same contract as the arcade. The updated facade with the stone look shortly after it was installed, early-2000's. The stairs between the two floors of the gift shop were later removed, becoming two seperate stores. The basement would be a variety of different shops over the following years, including "Teddy Town Circus", a short lived teddy bear store for 2006, before reverting back to a regular souvenir store. In 2009, this basement became the Crystal Caves mirror maze attraction. The gift shop that remained at street level was replaced by Beavertails in 2019, which relocated from the former Hilltop Motel offices around the corner of the building. Also in 2019, the Frankencoaster would be added to the roof of the historic attraction The entrance to The Crystal Caves below Burger King, Oneida Ave., 2009. The coaster was bought from Sports Plus Entertainment Center in Lake Grove, New York, where it ran from 2004-2007 and then sat abandoned in a field for years. While the concept seemed like a great fit for Clifton Hill, harkening back to attractions like the WWE Piledriver and the Pink Panther Balloon Ride, it ended up removing even more of the actual haunted attraction's identity. Access to the roof already existed through an extra flight of closed-off employee stairs that led upwards, next to the staircase down at the end of the attraction. This is now utilized to access the coaster, but since they can't make guests to go in through the attraction's exit to access it, to get to the coaster you now walk through what little remains of the beginning portion of the attraction (now much more brightly lit for those who just wish to ride the coaster and not be scared) and climb the stairs to the second floor, where you're met by a plainclothes employee in a chair. From there you're directed through a former employee access doorway straight to the attraction's exit stairwell on the other side of the wall, which contains the stairs up to the coaster. The actual haunted attraction now doesn't begin until after you've climbed the stairs, passed several former scenes (on both floors), and passed the ticket-taker who directs other guests to the coaster. After this you get to the door to the actual attraction, where it's near half-way point would have been originally. The attraction as it appears today, with the admittedly attention-grabbing Frankencoaster on the roof. The same year the coaster was added, a shooting gallery named "Franken Frenzy" was added to the haunted attraction portion replacing the dead-end corridor (and the scene that wrapped around it). While another great concept (actually re-using several wax heads and props original to former scenes in the attraction), it seems like a somewhat out of place pit stop in the middle of the attraction which breaks up the pacing, and would probably be better suited for (and get more business in) the lobby or facing the street. The "Franken Frenzy" shooting gallery. Clever eyes will notice both the original Frankenstein's Monster head and the original Bride of Frankenstein head, disembodied, but fittingly re-united in the same scene once again. Perhaps this scene of the Doctor constructing the monsters could be considered a prequel. The only original scenes remaining as of writing this are the Guillotine and the Phantom of the Opera, however the Phantom's scene now has a body that flips up and hits the plexiglass to startle you, taking away from the eerie effect of the Phantom in the background. His organ music has also long since been shut off. While the attraction may not have its original charm, fear, and splendor, it has at least attempted to keep things fresh and up to date, which is more than can be said for Castle Dracula down the street. "Erik", author Gaston Leroux's "Phantom of the Opera", in The House of Frankenstein in 1971 (top), and the unchanged figure today (bottom). On one hand Castle Dracula at least contains it's original props still (albeit in varying states of decay and dismemberment), making it a living museum of sorts. It would be a much better window into the past if it were not for the pitch-black, trashed state the place was in. The House of Frankenstein on the other hand may have had a lot of the original props removed, but the place is clean as a whistle, effectively lit, run with love, and attempting to remain relevant. For these reasons it remains Niagara's most famous haunted attraction to this day (now that the social media craze of Nightmares Fear Factory photos has died down as it inevitably would) just as it was on the day it opened when it was the only one, and rightfully so. It has both entertained and terrified generations of visitors, passing it's 50th birthday in 2021. The House of Frankenstein on opening year in 1971 (left), and on it's 50th year in 2021 (right).

Seagram/Royal/Panasonic/Minolta Tower Attraction Type: Specialty Hotel/Gift Shop(s) Location: Niagara Falls, Ontario Years Operational: 1962-Present Designer(s): Horton and Bell Architects, Byer's Construction Company The 325 foot tall Seagram Tower opened in 1962 in the Fallsview district, next to the pre-existing Burning Spring building. The small, long out of date observation tower (circa 1924) incorporated into the Burning Spring structure was demolished, and next door Niagara Falls would receive it's first major observation tower. A group of local businessesmen came together to form Niagara Tower Limited, with the majority of the funds being provided by the House of Seagram distillery, the Canadian alcohol company behind Crown Royal whisky and Seagram's Gin among other products. Ground was broken on March 15th, 1961, with the Tower being designed by Horton and Bell Architects of Kitchener, and Byer's Construction Company of Montreal leading the construction. The Tower would rise 325 feet tall, cost $1.2 million (in 1961 dollars), and weighs nineteen million pounds, being the first structure in North America built using the "Slipform" construction method that would later be used to build both the Skylon and CN Towers. A small fire occurred during construction in September of 1961, but resulted in little damage despite burning for six hours. The Tower under construction in 1961. The Tower complex in 1962, the tallest beacon in Niagara Falls at the time. Completed Tower in it's opening year in 1962. The Tower would open on June 1st, 1962, just in time for the height of the tourist season. The Tower was originally topped with a two-level outdoor observation deck, and the 25th floor indoor observation deck features special non-glare, floor to ceiling windows. The most luxurious experience in the Tower was the gourmet Pinnacle Restaurant located on the 26th floor, providing the highest indoor view in the complex. The Pinnacle won several awards over the years and was originally a renowned place to eat in Niagara Falls. The rest of the floors were dedicated to hotel rooms, save for the large gift shop that occupied the ground floor and the basement. Walt Disney meets with Mayor Franklin Miller atop the Tower in 1962. Rumor has it he was in town because The Falls was the first location considered for Walt Disney World, but the Canadian winters meant the park would only be seasonal, so the site was chosen in Florida instead. While somewhat lost amongst the modern Niagara skyline, the Tower was the first observation tower in the area, and at the time was the city's tallest structure. Due to being mostly financed by Seagram's, the Tower was deliberately shaped like a giant shot glass, being affectionately referred to by locals as "the world's biggest shot glass". While no secret upon opening, rather being part of the branding, it's just subliminal enough to go over the heads of people nowadays who don't know the building's history. The Burning Spring building next door was subsequently purchased by businessmen Malcolm Howe and Arthur White, and renovated into the Burning Springs Wax Museum the following year. In addition to the wax museum, White also constructed a large outdoor fountain between the wax museum and the Tower, but this fountain would be unlike any other that existed at the time. The fountain was known as Waltzing Waters , a large dancing fountain, even programmed with synchronized lights at night. It was a technological marvel at the time, unlike anything the world had ever seen, and at a time when computers were in their infancy. There was also the "World of Shops", a two-level indoor mall in a separate building on the other side of the Tower from the wax museum and Waltzing Waters. The World of Shops even had a miniature golf course located on the opposite side of it from the Tower, between the mall and Portage Rd. Flushed out complex featuring the mini golf, World of Shops, Waltzing Waters, Burning Springs Wax Museum, and Tower View Amusement Park, 1967. Across the street was also the small and short lived Tower View Amusement Park, and an incline railway on the hill leading down to Table Rock Centre below would be built in 1966 to connect the Tower complex with Queen Victoria Park. While the Tower instantly became an icon of Niagara Falls, it's long line of financial woes began early on. It would be absolutely dwarfed just a few short years after it's opening by the 520ft tall Skylon Tower just a few blocks away, which began construction in 1964 and opened in 1965. While the Skylon featured no hotel element, it became the new must-visit observation tower in the Falls. Whether this contributed to its first sale or not is unknown, but it was sold in 1966 to Louis Bolus and the aforementioned Arthur White. Incline Railway postcard, 1960's. White would buy the Tower completely in 1969 and rename it the Heritage Tower after Heritage Restaurants leased the dining options in the Tower. To coincide with this he constructed the National Marine Aquarium of Canada in the former World of Shops Mall, opening in 1970. The Tower View Amusement Park closed to make way for the new World of Shops as well as the Niagara Falls Bus Terminal, however the carousel initially remained inside the mall with the new structure built around it. Two high rise hotels flanking the Tower were planned but never materialized, ironic considering what surrounds the Tower now (see below.) White's full ownership of the Tower was short lived, selling it to Royal Inns Canada in 1971, however he would continue to own the other attractions around it. The Tower was renamed the "Royal Inn Tower", however Royal Inns' ownership of the Tower would be the shortest, going bankrupt the very next year in 1972 and ownership being reverted back to White and the Bolus family who owned the land the Tower and attractions around it were on, as well as the physical buildings. Artist's rendering of the original plan for the tower's remodel with the hotels. The Aquarium and relocated World of Shops would come to fruition however. The arcade (silver roof) and theatre (square building) to the left of it, behind the Aquarium, 1980's. The complex would now be known as the "Royal Centre Tower", with more of a focus put on the Tower being part of a complex of several attractions rather than attempting to draw people in using only the Tower itself in a changing tourist landscape. An arcade structure and a small theatre building would be added to the former parking lot between the Tower and the Aquarium around this time. The miniature golf course was removed to make way for the new parking area. A second arcade would also open in the basement level of the Tower's base, and a third in the World of Shops across the street. The name would be changed just a year later in 1973 when Panasonic leased the naming rights to the Tower, dubbing it the "Panasonic Tower". Large electronic clocks were added to the exterior. With the complex's unfortunate financial record still not improving, White would sell the Tower, Aquarium, and wax museum to Japanese-Canadian businessman Takeshi Shimizu in 1976, president of Panasonic Canada. Shimizu apparently couldn't make it work either however, and the Tower was closed by Bolus (who had continued to own the land and physical buildings) in 1977 due to it owing back taxes. It would manage to reopen however, but to no avail, and by 1980 the Tower owed over $320,000 to the City, who were actively threatening to take over the Tower. Shimizu would end up selling the Tower business (and other attractions) to the Bolus family in 1981, marking the first time they had owned the Tower business since 1969 despite owning the physical building and land the entire time. Sale of the complex in 1976. From left to right: Mr. Shimizu and his wife, Arthur White, and Mayor George Bukator. The renamed Panasonic Tower in 1976. For the first time, someone was actually able to turn the complex around. Minolta leased the naming rights to the Tower beginning in 1984, renaming it the Minolta Tower, the name it remains the most synonymous with to this day. Little change would occur over the next few years save the for the ownership of the wax museum shuffling around. Big changes came in the early 90's however. The wax museum closed first in 1991, being briefly replaced with the Dare Devil Gallery attraction that had relocated from Stanley Ave., before it closed as well in 1992 and the historic Burning Spring building was demolished in 1993. The theatre and arcade buildings in the parking lot were also demolished around this time. Arthur White sold Waltzing Waters, his final attraction in the complex, in 1992. It would later move across the street in 1995 and end up closing in 2000, with the Aquarium closing and being demolished in 1996. The bus terminal and World of Shops mall were replaced the same year with the Radisson Fallsview, however the structure was saved and incorporated into the new hotel tower built beside it. The structure home to the carousel since the Tower View Park days remains, although the carousel was removed. Minolta Tower decorated for Christmas, December 1992. Demolition of the old Burning Spring building in 1993. The cleared land around the Tower in the late 90's. The towering Marriot Fallsview and Embassy Suites would soon replace the former wax museum and aquarium. The Tower was sold to Rado-Mat Holdings in 1993, who owned the Radisson and Holiday Inn in Niagara Falls, NY. In 1995, the 2000 sq. ft Cybermind V.R. Centre leased out space in the arcade base of the Tower. It's unknown if they took over the entire arcade or just a portion of it. The V.R. arcade was part of a Canadian chain based out of the Toronto area, and featured various forms of "Virtuality" V.R. arcade machines running various games. Namco's massive 6-player "Galaxian 3" arcade machine was one element confirmed to be held over from the original arcade, implying Cybermind was perhaps only leasing a portion of the space. The Marriot Fallsview would eventually be constructed on the site of the former Burning Springs Wax Museum/Waltzing Waters in 1998, with the Embassy Suites being constructed on the former site of the Aquarium in 2003. The Embassy Suites is considerably taller than the Tower right next door, a clear representation of how the industry had changed so much by the 2000's that the once grand observation tower was now being overshadowed by regular hotels which weren't even considered specialty observation structures. Entrance to the complex featuring the Cybermind sign in the late 90's. The front desk of the Tower in the late 90's showing the admission-based attractions guests could buy tickets for. A guest plays a Virtuality machine in the only surfaced photo from inside the mural-covered walls of Cybermind, 1995. The Tower was renamed yet again to the Konica-Minolta Tower in 2003 following the merger of Konica and Minolta. Around the same time, Cybermind closed along with the other arcade in the Tower's base complex. The Pinnacle Restaurant finally closed after almost 50 years in the late 2000's, being replaced with Marilyn's Bistro and Lounge, a restaurant themed around Marilyn Monroe. In 2010, the clocks were removed from the Tower along with the Konica-Minolta branding, and it simply became known as the Tower Hotel. The former gift shop was finally removed completely at this time to create a more welcoming, expanded lobby. An IHOP replaced Marilyn's in the mid-2010's, the outdoor observation decks closed, and the indoor observation deck on the 25th floor became reserved solely for event bookings The Tower now sandwiched between the Marriot Fallsview and the massive Embassy Suites, as part of what's now deemed "Hotel Row". The story of the Tower is one of a complex that simultaneously revolutionized the Falls yet was also doomed to fail. It started the trend of observation towers in the Falls, revolutionized construction in North America, and kickstarted the expansion of the Fallsview district, yet was overshadowed by the Skylon Tower just two years after it opened. It's confusing identity issue due to the string of rapid name changes through the 1970's, resulting from bankruptcy after bankruptcy, led many in the City to think of the Tower as financially cursed. By the time it had finally found it's footing in the mid 80's, it was somewhat too late, as the other attractions in the complex aged and the rest of the tourism industry had long moved on from the Tower itself. The Tower, once one of the tallest structures in Canada, now peeks out from behind the sea of towering skyscrapers. Despite it's recent height disadvantage, it remains eye catching for it's unique design amongst this concrete jungle. The Tower remains a reflection of the changes in the area, as the Fallsview district is now known for its glamorous high-rise hotels, especially since the opening of the towering Fallsview Casino and it's attached hotel in 2004. While other areas like Clifton Hill have so far managed to keep their identity to a certain degree, the "Vegas-ification" of the Fallsview district leaves more accessible tourist offerings like the Tower either closed or in the dust. This leads to the reality that the fact the Tower remains open despite its past issues (and all the other attractions in the area closing to make way for luxury shopping and dining) a miracle. Perhaps it's simply because this spectacular feat of engineering is simply too difficult to demolish, or too ingrained in the public conscious. Either way, the Tower has certainly withstood whatever winds have blown its way no matter how strong, and this gorgeous, historic, structure will hopefully continue to do so for years to come.

Royal London Wax Museum (Niagara) Attraction Type: Wax Museum Location: Niagara Falls, Ontario Years Operational: 1971?-1975 Designer(s): Waxattract , Universal Android Robert Dunham's Waxattract constructed the Royal London Wax Museum in the early 1970's. It replaced the Antique Auto Museum on Falls Ave. (located in the parking garage building attached to the Sheraton Foxhead hotel) when it moved to Clifton Hill and became the Cars of the Greats Museum. The Royal London was themed after the royal family and was a Waxattract built and owned attraction, but was a co-project of sorts, with some of the scenes and figures being created by Bruce Randall's Universal Android. The attraction was also co-owned, likely being Waxattract's first partnership with the Iannuzelli family who Waxattract would go on to build both House of Frankenstein locations for, as well as co-own with them for several years. Details on it's exact opening year a little hazy however. The Dunhams themselves recount that it opened in 1971 just before the first House of Frankenstein on Clifton Hill, which makes sense considering Waxattract shifted their focus to haunted attractions after the House of Frankenstein's massive success and began to move away from the more traditional historical wax museums. 1971 also lines up with the year the Antique Auto Museum closed, adding validity to that being the opening year as there's no record of anything occupying the space in between. That being said, newspaper articles discuss it as a soon-to-open attraction in 1973, however it could be that the publication is referring to a "new" updated version of the attraction or simply it's grand opening for that tourist season, if seasonal. The only style of brochure that has surfaced for the attraction. Due to it's short lifespan, it's quite possible it was the only kind produced. The building was adorned with regal neon signage, and in the front window sat a beautiful recreation of the Queen's royal stagecoach. The Dunham family allegedly had the coach sitting in their home's driveway when it was awaiting it's transfer to the attraction. Despite its gorgeous displays, it faced one problem: at the time, the Western world had no interest in the royal family. The museum was very well received by those lucky enough to experience it, but it simply was not a topic most people were willing to tour an entire museum on. Dunham's Boris Karloff Wax Museum he built and managed was performing much better simply due to its theme, despite being in a much less trafficked area of The Falls, whereas the underperforming Royal London was in perhaps one of the most heavily trafficked areas in the whole country. Dunham took note of this as well, and an attraction was on its way that would change Niagara Falls, and the amusement industry, forever. The lesson of the importance of a horror theme, as well as establishing Waxattract's product quality with the Iannuzellis, would have made the Royal London an important step in the eventual creation of the House of Frankenstein(s), if the attraction did infact debut first. (Left): The Royal London Wax Museum seen in this digitally-enhanced shot from a blurry 1973 8mm film reel. (Right): The Queen's ornate stagecoach that sat in the window. The small building that would eventually become home to the Tower of London Wax Museum as it looked many, many years prior in the 1930's. In 1975, with the Iannuzellis now seeing high returns from the House of Frankenstein(s), as well as Dunham finding success with Castle Dracula and shifting his focus to building attractions in the U.S., the decision was made to close the Royal London Wax Museum. It's collection was sold to the upcoming but ill-fated Tower of London Wax Museum on Clifton Hill, which opened in 1976. It's unknown how much of the collection was purchased by the Tower of London, but if the Royal London Wax Museum had occupied the entirety of the former Antique Auto Museum space, the entire collection likely wouldn't have fit into the small, 1925 building at the front of the Darling Motel property which the Tower of London was built in. The building was two floors and a basement, however the gift shop that had previously existed in the basement remained, meaning the museum only occupied two small floors at the maximum, or one if the motel offices remained upstairs and weren't relocated. Regardless, the less that ended up there the better, as it would suffer a suspicious fire just a few months after it opened, destroying the entire museum. The once glorious stagecoach can be seen charred in the window in photos taken after the blaze, a far cry from how it would have looked rolling out of the Dunhams' driveway. The sad, charred end of the collection and the royal stagecoach in the window of the (former) Tower of London Wax Museum, 1976.

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

All Photo Galleries Here you'll find historical photo galleries pertaining to all attractions. This list is categorized by region due to many panoramic shots containing several attractions in an area at a time. Photos of attractions located inside an amusement park, F.E.C., or other complex are located in the photo gallery for the wider complex, as other attractions can also usually be seen in these images. More about these attractions specifically can be found on their respective History pages. Image sources are credited in these galleries, and fall under fair use copyright law as they are being used for research/study. This area is under construction and will be greatly expanded upon. Niagara Region Niagara Region General Photos & Street Shots Alien Encounter Boris Karloff Wax Museum/Haunted House Canadia Castle Dracula/ Dracula's Haunted Castle Circus World Criminals Hall of Fame Wax Museum Crystal Beach Amusement Park Dave & Buster's/ Captain Jack's Pirate Cove/ Fun Zone (Clifton Hill Location) Dazzleland Family Fun Center Dinosaur Park Miniature Golf/ Dinosaur Adventure Golf Great Canadian Midway Guinness World of Records Museum Houdini Magical Hall of Fame House of Frankenstein/Hilltop Motel Indian Village Maple Leaf Village Movieland Wax Museum (Hollywood Wax Museum) Jungleland Miniature Golf Marineland Nightmares Louis Tussaud's Wax Museum Marvel Superheroes Adventure City/Adventure City Prudhomme's Landing Pyramid Place Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum Rock Legends Wax Museum Screamers (and affiliate attractions) Seagram/Royal/ Panasonic/ Minolta Tower Complex Skylon Tower Complex Tivoli Miniature World/Miniature Golf WWE Niagara Falls White Water/ Typhoon Lagoon Other Falls Ave. Company Attractions Wonderful World of Fantasy Other Harry Oakes Company Attractions Other Niagara Clifton Group Attractions Miscellaneous Niagara Region Attractions Greater Toronto Area Canada's Wonderland Centreville Amusement Park Cullen Gardens & Miniature Village Chuck E. Cheese's Locations (GTA) Fantasy Fair (& Woodbine Centre) Ontario Place Sunnyside Amusement Park Yonge Street Strip Attractions Miscellaneous GTA Attractions Lake Huron and Georgian Bay Castle Village Enchanted Kingdom Playland Park Sauble Beach Fun World Wasaga Waterworld Other Wasaga Beach Attractions Miscellaneous Lake Huron Attractions Ontario - Other Areas Boblo Island Amusement Park Storyland Loose Moose/Splash Canyon Storybook Gardens Wally World Wheels Inn Other Miscellaneous Ontario Attractions Alberta West Edmonton Mall Miscellaneous Alberta Attractions Manitoba and Saskatchewan Miscellaneous Manitoba & Saskatchewan Attractions British Columbia (and Northern Canada) Bedrock City Chilliwack/Dinotown Bedrock City Kelowna Dyck's Dinosaur Park Fantasy Gardens/ Fantasy Garden World Playland (Happyland) at the P.N.E. Royal London Wax Museum Miscellaneous B.C. (& Northern Canada) Attractions Quebec Belmont Park Downtown Montreal Arcades La Ronde Miscellaneous Quebec Attractions Atlantic Canada (East of Quebec) Crystal Palace (& Champlain Place) Rainbow Valley Miscellaneous Atlantic Canada Attractions

Artists and Developers Here you'll find the most important page on this site, the names and stories of the incredible artists and developers who have helped bring Canada's amusement industry to life. This list includes individual artists, design studios, and business owners who specialized in the amusement industry. The majority of these artists/companies are naturally Canadian, but several talented artists from around the globe have lent their hand to the industry here and are therefore also included on this page. Each section of this list is ordered by number of . The number of attractions in Canada either created or owned (sometimes both) by each party it's stated they were involved in on this page simply refers to confirmed projects discussed on this website, and they may have been involved in more that have gone undocumented. These often unsung heroes shaped and sculpted lifelong memories, brought joy to millions using pencil and paper, and lent their creativities and imaginations to the spirit of having fun. Artists/Designers Advanced Animations (USA) - (2 attractions) Amusement Products (USA) - (4 attractions) Armando Tamignini (Italy) - (4 attractions) Art Attack FX - (2000+ attractions globally) AVG (USA) - (2 attractions) Bill Tracy/Outdoor Dimensional Display/This Is, Inc. (USA) - (4 attractions) Blacklight Attractions (USA) - (3 attractions) Bruce Randall/Universal Android - (7+ attractions) Costello Productions (Derek Costello) - (20+ attractions) Distortions Unlimited (USA) Dorfman Studios (USA) Enlicky Enterprises (USA) - (2 attractions) Eric McMillan Feartek Inc. (USA) - (2 attractions) Forrec Inc. Funni-Frite Inc. (division of Philadelphia Toboggan Co., USA) Gianfranco Avignoni - (1 attraction) Josephine Tussaud's Wax Studios/King's Cross Waxworks (England) - (3 attractions) Louis Tussaud's Wax Studios (England) - (1 attraction) Mack Rides (Germany) - (4 attractions) Nick Dyck - (2 attractions) Pasquale Ramunno - (1 attraction) Pretzel Rides Co. (USA) - (3 attractions) Proslide Technology Inc. Robert (Bobber) Gibbs - (5 attractions) Rockscapes Canada Rolly Crump (USA) Sally Corporation (USA) - (3 attractions) Sawatzky's Imagination Corporation Stubergh Wax Models/Stubergh-Keller Wax Studios/Ripley's Wax Studios Studio Enterprises Travers Engineering Co. (USA) - (1 attraction) Waxattract/Enter-Tech (Dunham family) - (30+attractions) White-Hutchinson Leisure Learning Group (WHLLG, USA) WhiteWater West Owners/Developers Arthur White Beefeater Inc./Niagara Clifton Group (Burland family) Charlie Lavey IPCO (Ian Paul Company) Falls Ave. Company Ghermezian family Harry Riley Herbert (Herb) Cowan Janda Products/New Way Sales Joe Camisa Little Joe Malcom Howe Ricci family Walt Wang Welland Securities/HOCO (Harry Oakes Company)

World a Million Years Ago Attraction Type: Exhibit Location: Skylon Tower, Niagara Falls, Ontario Year(s) Operational: Early 1970's-1990s? Designer(s): ? When discussing the most obscure attractions that have ever existed in Niagara Falls over the years, a handful come to mind. The Niagara Gun Museum on Clifton Hill which only lasted a few months. The Pirate's Cove Wax Museum only seen in old aerial photography of the Fallsview area. The Haunted Graveyard of Niagara who's exact location is even unknown and has only been discussed in passing by it's creator. The Canadian Wildlife Exhibit taxidermy museum who's sole legacy is newspaper ads (and articles about its eventual demise by arson...) But how about an attraction so lost to time that it only exists in the memories (and Facebook comments, hence this article being possible) of those who experienced it? That brings us to the World a Million Years Ago attraction in the Skylon Tower's base. The attraction existed beginning sometime in the early-70's, lasting until at least the 80's, but possibly slightly later. The three-level base of the Skylon Tower at that time was quite the sight to behold. The bottom level contained an indoor amusement park, a massive arcade, vendors, and a miniatures museum amongst other things. The second floor was home to a small mall of stores, as well as the main ticket counter for elevator rides to the top of the tower. The third floor housed a roller rink that was also used for concert space, as well as more vendors and the World a Million Years Ago attraction. Evidence points to it being added at the same time the amusement park, arcade, miniatures museum and roller rink all took over former convention spaces in the early-70's, as this is when people's earliest memories of it occur. The attraction consisted of several mechanical dinosaurs, prehistoric creatures, and cavemen presented in simple early animation, similar to that seen in a department store Christmas window. The figures however were apparently quite large and the cavemen life size. It's unknown if the attraction was a more museum-oriented educational exhibit or a more Disney-esque attraction focused more on theming than historical accuracy. Either way, no photos, videos, brochures, mentions of it in other Skylon or city brochures, mentions of it in newspaper articles, or copyright/business records seem to exist. All three levels in their heyday can be seen in this 1970's promotional shot of the park's Ferris Wheel. The third floor's many vendors are visible. This strange undated image comes up when searching "Niagara Falls 1970's" on Facebook, but has no caption or description. Could this be the only photo of this lost attraction? This archeological internet discovery certainly fits all the subject matter... Who designed the figures is also a mystery. Even the mysterious "Ocean World" attraction listed in Enter-Tech (formerly Waxattract's) portfolio of completed projects in an early-80's brochure was obviously designed by them. Despite that being the only shred of evidence of that attraction (making it World a Million Years Ago's only competition for title of Niagara's most obscure attraction), we at least know who produced it, just like all the other obscure attractions listed at the beginning of this page. With World a Million Years Ago we have nothing, not even a confirmed glimpse on how the figures looked to use as a reference, which brings us to our next subject: the Pterodactyl. The mysterious Pterodactyl can be faintly seen on the lefthand side of this image, perched on the cave above the staff-only doors. Could these doors have been a former entrance to a relocated version of the attraction on the bottom level? The Adventure Into the Unknown dark ride which debuted in the amusement park on the first floor of the Skylon in 1975, had a Pterodactyl animatronic placed outside at least as early as the 1990's, above a set of employee-only doors. It's theorized this prop may have been recycled from World a Million Years Ago after it's closure, however it's also possible the Pterodactyl was a separate piece original to the dark ride. Armando's Tamignini, the Italian artist who created the ride's figures which were ordered from overseas, was known to create similar pieces to the Pterodactyl, offering some conflicting evidence that it may have actually been outside the dark ride since day one and unrelated to World a Million Years Ago. Dinosaurs were also part of the park's miniature golf course by the mid 90's, and could have possibly been relocated from the attraction, however also may have been there prior or come from another source. A Dilophosaurus inhabits the park's mini golf in the late 1990's, adding to the theory that props from the attraction may have been strewn about the park after the exhibit's closure. After World a Million Years Ago was long gone, the vendors had all vanished, and the roller rink closed at some point in the 90's/early 2000's (possibly at the same time as the amusement park) the escalators to the third floor were turned off, along with the majority of the lights up there. Battle of the Titans, an educational animatronic dinosaur attraction which was located in the former roller rink space and unrelated to World a Million Years Ago (and not located exactly where it was either), opened in 2014. The dinosaurs were designed by Hall Train, and the attraction explored ecology through dinosaurs using some great technology. It was a great example of a more modern attraction utilizing technology while still retaining the spirit of attractions past, and was (perhaps unknowingly) an extremely ironic attraction to be located next to the former World a Million Years Ago. However, it was unfortunately only open for a year, and after it closed the escalators to the third floor were once again shut off, now blocked outright with signage so curious guests couldn't even traverse them. The entire third floor is now completely abandoned, including where World a Million Years Ago was located, which offers even less insight into unraveling the mystery of this obscure attraction which now seems prehistoric. The breathtaking yet sadly short-lived "Battle of the Titans" in 2014.

Atlantic Canada (East of Quebec) Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. While these provinces are smaller in size they've contained a wide variety of attractions over the years due to population centers like St. John's, Moncton, Halifax and the tourist hotspot of Cavendish Beach. Amusement and Theme Parks Atlantic Playland/Atlantic Splash Adventure - Lucasville, NS Axtion - St. John's, NL Crystal Palace - Champlain Place, Dieppe (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 Arcades, Mini Golf and F.E.C.s AJ's Bar & Billiards - Corner Brook, NL Backstreet Amusements - Prince St., Halifax, NS Breakers Sports Lounge - Torbay Rd., St. John's, NL Burlington Go Karts - Kensington (Burlington), P.E.I. The Boardwalk - Magnetic Hill (Moncton), NB Buccaneer's Cove Mini Golf - Gage Golf and Curling Club, Oromocto, NB Carmen Creek Mini Putt - Carmen Creek Golf Course, Fredericton, NB Cavendish Beach Adventure Zone - Cavendish Beach, P.E.I. Classic Cue - Grand Falls-Windsor, NL Corner Pocket - Airport Blvd., Gander, NL Cybermind V.R. Centre - Halifax, NS Cybermind V.R. Centre - Moncton, NB Darnley Greens & The Red Zone - Darnley, P.E.I. Doolys - Amherst, NS Doolys - Antigonish, NS Doolys - Caraquet, NS Doolys - Causeway Shopping Centre, Port Hawkesbury, NS Doolys (Elmwood Dr. location) - Moncton, NB Dooly's - Greenwood, NS Doolys (Main St. location) - Fredericton, NB Doolys (McDonald St. location) - Saint John, NB Doolys - Mirimachi, NB Doolys - (Mountain Rd. location) - Moncton, NB Doolys - North Sydney, NS Doolys - Oromocto, NB Doolys - Parkway Mall, Saint John, NB Doolys - Prince Edward Square, Saint John, NB Doolys (Prospect St. location) - Fredericton, NB Doolys - Riverview (Moncton), NB Doolys - St. Stephen, NB Doolys - Summerside, P.E.I. Doolys - Sydney, NS Doolys - Truro, NS Doolys (Wilmot Alley location) - Fredericton, NB Drive-U-Crazy Mini Golf - New Glasgow, P.E.I. East Coast Karting - Greater Lakeburn (Moncton), NB Eastside Billiards & Lounge - Chain Lake Dr., Halifax, NS Electric Avenue - Sobeys Square, St. John's, NL Electric Avenue - Village Square Shopping Centre (later moved to Hamlyn Rd.), St. John's, NL Exit 88 Go-Kart Racing - Grand Falls, NB Fantasy 2000 - Dartmouth, NS Fire Fly Recreation - Hampton, NB GeForce Funderdome - Mt. Pearl, NL Go-Karts - Atlantic Playland/Atlantic Splash Adventure, Lucasville, NS The Golden Cue - Corner Brook, NL Good Guys Golf - Fredericton, NB Goodwood family Golf Centre - Goodwood, NS Gypsy Mini Golf - Centre (Lunenburg), NS Hartt Island Mini Golf - Springhill (Fredericton), NB Hi-Ball Bar & Billiards - Stephenville, NL Ironwood Pitch & Putt - St. John's, NL JJ's Billiards & Lounge - Main St., Burin, NL Kartbahn Racing - Halifax, NS King's Billiards - Yarmouth, NS Kingswood Entertainment Centre - Hanwell (Fredericton), NB Locas Billiards - George St., Halifax, NS Magic Mountain GolfZone - Magic Mountain, Magnetic Hill (Moncton), NB Mariner's Cove Miniature Golf - Mariner's Cove Boardwalk, P.E.I. Maurie's Mini-Putt & Ice Cream - Morrison Cove (Miramichi), NB McNally's Billiards - Commonwealth Ave., Mount Pearls, NL McNally's Billiards - Powell Dr., Carbonear, NL Mini Golf - Atlantic Playland/Atlantic Splash Adventure, Lucasville, NS Miss Cue - Mountain Rd., Moncton, NB Musgrave Harbour Amusements - Musgrave Harbour Municipal Park, Musgrave Harbour, NL Pit Stop Karting - Sandspit Cavendish Beach, Cavendish Beach, P.E.I. PonyBoat Social Club - Kent St., Charlottetown, P.E.I. Putting Edge - Halifax, NS Quinpool Amusement - Quinpool Rd., Dartmouth, NS Quinpool Billiards - Quinpool Rd., Dartmouth, NS The Rack Bar and Billiards - Stewart St., New Glasgow, NS Riverdale Fun Centre - Conception Bay South, NL Rockhouse Pub - St. John's, NL Sandpit Miniature Golf - Sandspit Cavendish Beach, Cavendish Beach, P.E.I. Shooter's Bar and Billiards - Main St., Burin, NL Sir Admiral John's Adventure Golf - St. John's, NL Snow Queen Leisure World - Antigonish, NS Splash "n" Putt Resort - Traytown, NL Starcade - Avalon Mall, St. John's, NL Super Cue Billiards - Sackville Dr., Lower Sackville, NS Sussex Adventure Mini Golf - Sussex, NB Tables Billiard Lounge - Bay Roberts, NL 21st Century Billiards - Carten St., Liverpool, NS Union Bar & Billiards - Corner Brook, NL Vegas Family Entertainment Centre - Saint John, NB West Side Charlie's - Bay Roberts, NL West Side Charlie's - Carbonear, NL West Side Charlie's - Clarenville, NL West Side Charlie's - Conception Bay South, NL West Side Charlie's - Mount Pearl, NL West Side Charlie's - New Minas, NS West Side Charlie's - Paradise, NL West Side Charlie's (Torbay Road location) - St John's, NL West Side Charlie's (Kenmount Rd) - St John's, NL West Side Charlie's (Topsail Road location) - St John's, NL Dark Attractions, Wax Museums and Exhibits Enchanted Castle - Cavendish Beach, P.E.I. Haunted Castle - Atlantic Playland/Atlantic Splash Adventure, Lucasville, NS The Haunted House - Upper Clements Park(s), Upper Clements, NS Pioneer Museum (Name Unconfirmed, Location Unknown), P.E.I. Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum - Cavendish Beach, P.E.I. Route 6 Haunted Motel - Cavendish Beach Adventure Zone, Cavendish Beach, P.E.I. Royal Atlantic Wax Museum - Cavendish Beach, P.E.I. Rum Runners - Rainbow Valley, Cavendish Beach, P.E.I. Wax World of the Stars - Cavendish Beach, P.E.I. Witch's Cave - Rainbow Valley (Later moved to Shining Waters Family Fun Park), Cavendish Beach, P.E.I. Woodleigh Replicas - Cavendish Beach, P.E.I. Specialty Hotels and Gift Shops Best Western/Ramada Plaza Dieppe/Moncton Crystal Palace - Crystal Palace, Champlain Place, Dieppe (Moncton), NB Theatres, Bowling Alleys and Miscellaneous Acadian Bowling Lanes & 9th Lane Lounge - Little Brook, NS Alley 4 Bowling Alley - Belliveaus Cove, NS The Alley Restaurant and Bowling Alley - Charlottetown, P.E.I. Avon Valley Lanes - Windsor, NS Bowlacade - Bible Hill, NS Bowlacade - Woodstock, NB Bowlarama - Dartmouth, NS Bowlarama - Dieppe (Moncton), NB Bowlarama - Halifax, NS Bowlarama - Spryfield (Halifax), NS Bowl-More Lanes - Bridgewater, NS Brackley Drive-In - Brackley Beach, P.E.I. Brunswick Lanes - Yarmouth, NS Cape Breton Drive-In Theatre - Grand Lake Road (Sydney), NS Castle Bowling Centre - Miramichi, NB Cine-Parc Satellite Ltee - Bois-Blanc, NB Clarenville Twin Cinemas/Caribou Lanes Bowling Alley - Clarenville, NL Corner Brook Centre Bowl - Corner Brook, NL The Drome by Trailway - Fredericton, NB Exploits Lanes - Grand Falls-Windsor, NL Fairlanes Bowling Centre - Moncton, NB Fairview Lanes - Saint John, NB Greenwood Bowling Centre - Greenwood, NS The Hangar Laser Tag Arena - Cavendish Beach Adventure Zone, Cavendish Beach, P.E.I. Heather Bowling Lanes - New Glasgow, NS Holiday Lanes - St. John's. NL Holy Bowly - Riverview (Moncton), NB King Pin Bowling - Amherst, NS Lanes at Membertou - Membertou (Sydney), NS Liverpool Bowling Centre - Liverpool, NS Old Mill Fun Centre - Bay Roberts, NL Pajo's Bowling Alley - Lunenburg, NS Paradise Bowl - Paradise, NL Peyton's Pins/Andy's Alleys - Gander, NL Pins Bowling Centre - Antigonish, NS Plaza Bowl - St. John's, NL Riverdale Fun Centre - Conception Bay South, NL Seaside Bowling Centre - Shediac, NB Shoebox Drive-In - Westville, NS St. Pat's Bowling Lanes and Lounge - St. John's, NL Strand Bowling Alley - Sydney Mines (Sydney), NS Super Bowl - Lower Sackville (Halifax), NS Supernova XD Theatre - Splash " n" Putt Resort, Traytown, NL Sussex Drive-In - Sussex, NB Swansburg's Bowling Alley - Shelburne, NS Town Center Lanes - Glace Bay, NS UnBOWLievable Lanes - Musquodoboit Harbour, NS Valley Drive-In Theatre - Cambridge Station, NS Wilson's Bowling Centre - Digby, NS Winter Games Lanes - Lewisporte, NL Maze (Name Unknown) - Mariner's Cove Boardwalk, Cavendish Beach, P.E.I. Water Parks and Attractions Atlantic Splash Adventure - Atlantic Playland/Atlantic Splash Adventure, Lucasville, NS Shining Waters Water Park - Shining Waters Family Fun Park, Hunter River (Cavendish Beach), P.E.I. SplashZone - Magic Mountain, Magnetic Hill (Moncton), NB "360ft Water Slide"/Pools - Splash " n" Putt Resort, Traytown, NL Thunderland Amusement Park - Badger, NL

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