Dino Den
Part 2

My father ran the ride for many years. He tired of having to lean forward to press the control panel buttons that would advance the cars. So he fashioned a wooden rode 17" long.  It resembled an enormous screwdriver. It had a handle on one end and a small cylinder at the other about the size of a short stack of quarters.  He could then sit back in comfort and use the rod to press the buttons. Over the years, the stunts changed. As vandalism increased, there were fewer and fewer three-dimensional stunts installed. Spadola used florescent paint on plywood and homosote cutouts, and these were placed safely behind metal screening. One of my favorite stunts was installed in the 1970's. It remained right up until the park's closing. It depicted four children holding flowers. Above them, in psychedelic 1960's style lettering was "Flower Power".  I've long considered this to be the most uniquely terrifying stunt ever placed in a dark ride.   Then he re-created the bas-relief in fiberglass on the new car. "On a busy, busy day" said Fortin of the cars, "You could have them all going on the track..... it was timed perfectly".  As far as my memory can recall, the circuit began with the car curving to the right and slamming through a set of heavy wood doors.    The car immediately turned to the left and after a few yards slammed through a set of heavy wood doors. The car immediately    turned left and after a   few yards slammed through another set of doors with a tiger painted on them. The car would then   turn sharply right 90 degrees and begin heading uphill. The first stunt was on the right. The car swung again to the right, about 90 degrees, passing an emergency exit and continuing uphill. Another stunt was on the left. Another right turn, about 90 degrees, was met with the next prop on the right. The car  would then turn 180 degrees to the left. Another stunt would be on the right. Then after turning 180 degrees to the right and passing a stunt to the left, the car  leveled  off.  It would slam through a set of doors, then another set, travel out onto the overhang, pass by a stunt  of a cave type person at the center of the overhang, swing around to the left 180 degrees past a Tiger stunt and then slam back through another set of doors.

Most of the other  stunts depicted undecipherable figures, fantastical and seemingly hastily drawn characters  that only occasionally resembled creatures you'd encounter in the real world. Spadola included a couple scenes of Hell (one of his few recurring "Themes"). Very few people, except for small children, found any of these scenes scary and that was in keeping with the family-park atmosphere. A "Hi-Tech" sound system was added in the late 1970's.  A series of eight-track  tape players were triggered by rollovers on the track.  The system was difficult to maintain, but amusing when it worked. After the park closed, I remained on the grounds as a watchman. The Dinosaur Den was a prime target for vandals who would come up to the closed park with bolt cutters and sledgehammers. Their only intent  was to destroy things. I was constantly boarding up and fencing off the ride, trying to protect it. Eventually, a traveling carnival bought the cars and the track.   (Editors Note: The Cars and Track  shown left,were then purchased yet again and moved to Casino Pier, Seaside Heights N.J. where they live once again on the "Nightmare Manor" Dark Ride.)

They tried to remove the huge dinosaurs, but underestimated their weight. They succeeded only in dropping one onto the midway . They left it there, where weather and vandals took their toll.  I left my watchman job in 1994, and a few months afterward vandals burned the Dinosaur Den to the ground. Only the foundation and the structure of the overhang remained.   Now the area is almost unrecognizable.  The overhang has rusted out, and nature is reclaiming the first dark ride that thrilled generations of the mountain.

The Dinosaur Den awaits its new owners in the fall.



To Continue your ride:
FUN HOUSE!
   

EDITORS NOTES: Mountain Park Memories 1 & 2 -- About the Author