Volume 2, No. 13. July 12, 2002
Rebirths
It’s
a tunnel of love!
Playland in Rye, New York, announces the rebirth of the Old Mill, June
28, 2002. Measurements: 1,200-foot-long trough (364 meters), 12 scenes. Delivered
by Sally Corporation and R&R Creative Amusement Design.
Mum
for more than a year, a gnome has been sitting outside Playland’s Old
Mill, the 1929-built tunnel of love, quietly biding his time. “He’s
the ambassador to the ride, inviting people on,” said Peter Tartaglia,
the park’s director of marketing. “He’s been waiting to speak.
Last week he just started speaking,” Tartaglia said on the eve of the long
Fourth of July weekend.
The
gnome could speak because, at last, his ride had reopened after a complete overhaul
of its infrastructure and scenes. One of the park’s seven original rides,
the Old Mill is a designated National Historic Landmark, and the makeover
had to tiptoe around the building’s integrity. Nevertheless, new boats
traverse a totally renovated trough through a revamped storyline featuring animatronic
gnomes operating the “Playland Waterworks,” trolls and a dragon, a
natural resident for the dark ride which runs underneath the park’s Dragon
Coaster.
Playland
originally had planned the renovation to be completed in two phases, with part
of it ready for the 2001 season, and the remainder concluded in the off-season.
However, when phase one was not completed until August, management opted to
hold off a reopening until the whole project could be completed. Even so, the
work continued deep into this season. “There’s delicate stuff with
all the animatronics,” Tartaglia said. "We were creating a brand new
ride in a 74-year-old building. Sally was aware of that and Sally took very
good care of the building.”
At
least the Old Mill opened in time for the July 4th weekend, and to ensure
it did Tartaglia decided to forego a formal re-dedication ceremony. With good
crowds for the last weekend in June and the first week of July, and a gnome
serving as spokesman, the ride saw plenty of traffic and spawned positive reactions,
Tartaglia said.
The
Old Mill’s reopening was just the latest chapter in what’s
proving to be a season-long roll-out of new and renewed attractions. Season
Opening crowds May 11 were treated to the refurbished Zombie Castle dark
ride. Owned and operated by the Trahanas Family since the early 1960s, Zombie
Castle now features Max Rotten, an animatronic zombie out front hawking
people to the ride. That and new cars are the only exterior signs that the old
Laff in the Dark type ride has been updated, but inside has seen a complete
overhaul courtesy of Distortions Unlimited Corporation with a graveyard that
comes to life, zombies moving about the castle and a smoke-filled torture chamber.
Just ahead of the Memorial Day weekend, Playland opened a Sky Skater by Interactive Rides and a Kite Flyer by Zamperla. Later this month the park hopes to open a Crazy Mouse Spinning Coaster by Reverchon.
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