Chuck's Dark Rides
This site was created on August 30, 1997
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"There's a little bit of a dark rider in all of us"
- Brandon Kwiatek, dark ride historian
Most of the sound files on this page are in 
If you don't already have the Real Audio player, click this logo 
The past: The Whacky Shack on Hunt's Pier, Wildwood, NJ (early 70's)
The present: The state-of-the-art Haunted Mansion at Disney World, Orlando, FL
The present: The state-of-the-art Haunted Mansion at Disneyland, California
Welcome to Chuck's Dark Rides. This page is all about my interest in amusement park "dark rides". I intend to expand this page constantly as I take more pictures of dark rides I come across. If you too are a dark ride fan and happen to have some pictures of dark rides past or present, don't hesitate to drop me some Email. Hopefully I can incorporate your pictures into this site. The pictures on this page of old dark rides at Wildwood, NJ (like the one at the very top) were taken with a cheap black & white polaroid camera so the quality is not too good, but at least you can see the rides as they were with the great artwork on the outside of the buildings. By the way, I also have a theater page which deals with theaters past and present in the town where I live. If you want to check that out also, simply click at the bottom of this page where it says "click here to go to Jacksonville, NC Theaters".
Pictures of the Haunted Mansion at Disney World, Orlando, FL
Click here for the full size of this picture:
Click here for the full size of this picture:
Click here for the full size of this picture:
Click here for the full size of this picture:
Click here for the full size of this picture:
Click here for the full size of this picture:
One of the visitors to this site used to work at the Haunted Mansion at Disney World!
His name is R.C. Loveland. To get an idea of what it's like to work there, click here to read the Email he sent me.
click here to hear sound clips from the Haunted Mansion
Awhile back I went searching on the web for some Haunted Mansion wallpaper for Windows. I never found any so I decided to make my own. It's nothing elaborate, but I like it. If you would like to download it, click here (MANSION.ZIP) ( Win 3.X / 95, 399 KB).
Note- After you unzip "mansion.zip", the file you will have is "Mansion.bmp". If you are using Windows 95, simply copy "Mansion.bmp" to the Windows directory, click on the "Control Panel", click on "Display", under "Wallpaper" select "mansion", and finally click "OK". You should then have Haunted Mansion wallpaper (Sorry, but I can't remember the steps for installing it for use with the old Windows. It's been so long since I used the old Windows!).
Pictures of the Pirate Ship on Hunt's Pier, Wildwood, NJ (early '70's)
Click here for the full size of this picture:
Click here for the full size of this picture:
Click here for the full size of this picture:
Click here for the full size of this picture:
Click here for the full size of this picture:
Click here for the full size of this picture:
Pictures of The Jungle Ride on Hunt's Pier, Wildwood, NJ (early '70's)
Click here for the full size of this picture:
Click here for the full size of this picture:
click here to hear the Jungle Ride (wav)
click here to hear the Jungle Ride
Pictures of the Monster's Den on Marine Pier, Wildwood, NJ (early '70's)
Click here for the full size of this picture:
Click here for the full size of this picture:
* color picture of Monster's Den courtesy of Ronnie Miller (thanks Ronnie!)
Pictures of the Whacky Shack on Hunt's Pier, Wildwood, NJ (early '70's)
Click here for the full size of this picture:
Click here for the full size of this picture:
click here to hear the Whacky Shack (wav)
click here to hear the Whacky Shack
* color picture of Whacky Shack courtesy of Ronnie Miller (thanks Ronnie!)
Picture of Mystery Ride on Steel Pier, Atlantic City, NJ (early '70's)
(top)
& Devil's Inn on Fun Pier, Wildwood, NJ (early '70's)
(bottom)
Click here for the full size of this picture:
Click here for the full size of this picture:
* color picture of Devil's Inn courtesy of Ronnie Miller (thanks Ronnie!)
Pictures of the Mine Shaft (formerly Golden Nugget) on Dinosaur Beach (formerly Hunt's Pier), Wildwood, NJ
photo 1 (exterior)
photo 2 (exterior)
photo 3 (on the ride)
photo 4 (on the ride)
photo 5 (on the ride)
photo 6 (on the ride)
photo 7 (on the ride)
photo 8 (on the ride)
photo 9 (on the ride)
photo 10 (on the ride)
photo 11 (on the ride)
photo 12 (on the ride)
photo 13 (on the ride)
click here to see a video of Mine Shaft - beginning of ride (avi - 2.80 MB)
click here to see a video of Mine Shaft - inside ride (avi - 1.59 MB)
* pictures (on the ride) and videos courtesy of Eric Princz who, by the way, rebuilt it into it's present day incarnation, the Mine Shaft (thanks Eric!)
Check out these great dark ride links:
The Haunted Mansion
This site has some great pictures of the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland in California
Phantom Manor
Good site on the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland in Paris, France
The Haunted Mansion faq
This faq provides you with everything you ever wanted to know about Disney's Haunted Mansion. Very good!!
The Secrets of Disney's Haunted Mansion
An article by Nate Naversen detailing how the special effects in Disney's Haunted Mansion are achieved!
Brandon Kwiatek's dark rides page
This site is about the history and cultural significance of the dark ride. It has pictures of the Haunted Pretzel, one of the oldest surviving dark rides in the country, constructed in 1927.
Sally Corporation: Dark Rides
This is the site of a company that designs dark rides for amusement parks, etc. They call themselves "The Great American Dark Ride Company"
Chef Mayhem's Unofficial Tribute To The Haunted Mansion
This site has various Haunted Mansion goodies that I have not seen anywhere else including rare source tracks from the Phantom Manor soundtrack, a really cool must-have free Haunted Mansion screen saver (It's now my default screen saver!), and a recording of the entire Disneyland record "The Story And Song From The Haunted Mansion"!!
Haunted Mansion's Ghost Gallery
At this site you can tour a formal "Ghost Gallery" that has been created by the cast members of the Haunted Mansion at Disney World over the past twenty or so years. This site was created by a person who has worked at the Haunted Mansion for nearly 3 years!
Check out what past visitors had to say about this site (taken from my old guestbook) by clicking here
Send any comments you may have by clicking here
Click here
to go to page 2 of Chuck's Dark Rides
Click here to go to Jacksonville, NC Theaters
Come back to visit again soon!
Best viewed with 
Download browser by clicking on logo
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"There's a little bit of a dark rider in all of us"
- Brandon Kwiatek, dark ride historian
Most of the sound files on this page are in
If you don't already have the Real Audio player, click this logo
The past: The Whacky Shack on Hunt's Pier, Wildwood, NJ (early 70's)
The present: The state-of-the-art Haunted Mansion at Disney World, Orlando, FL
The present: The state-of-the-art Haunted Mansion at Disneyland, California
Welcome to Chuck's Dark Rides. This page is all about my interest in amusement park "dark rides". I intend to expand this page constantly as I take more pictures of dark rides I come across. If you too are a dark ride fan and happen to have some pictures of dark rides past or present, don't hesitate to drop me some Email. Hopefully I can incorporate your pictures into this site. The pictures on this page of old dark rides at Wildwood, NJ (like the one at the very top) were taken with a cheap black & white polaroid camera so the quality is not too good, but at least you can see the rides as they were with the great artwork on the outside of the buildings. By the way, I also have a theater page which deals with theaters past and present in the town where I live. If you want to check that out also, simply click at the bottom of this page where it says "click here to go to Jacksonville, NC Theaters".
Pictures of the Haunted Mansion at Disney World, Orlando, FL
Click here for the full size of this picture:
One of the visitors to this site used to work at the Haunted Mansion at Disney World! His name is R.C. Loveland. To get an idea of what it's like to work there, click here to read the Email he sent me.
click here to hear sound clips from the Haunted Mansion
Awhile back I went searching on the web for some Haunted Mansion wallpaper for Windows. I never found any so I decided to make my own. It's nothing elaborate, but I like it. If you would like to download it, click here (MANSION.ZIP) ( Win 3.X / 95, 399 KB).
Pictures of the Pirate Ship on Hunt's Pier, Wildwood, NJ (early '70's)
Click here for the full size of this picture:
Pictures of The Jungle Ride on Hunt's Pier, Wildwood, NJ (early '70's)
Click here for the full size of this picture:
click here to hear the Jungle Ride (wav)
click here to hear the Jungle Ride
Pictures of the Monster's Den on Marine Pier, Wildwood, NJ (early '70's)
Click here for the full size of this picture:
Pictures of the Whacky Shack on Hunt's Pier, Wildwood, NJ (early '70's)
Click here for the full size of this picture:
click here to hear the Whacky Shack (wav)
click here to hear the Whacky Shack
Picture of Mystery Ride on Steel Pier, Atlantic City, NJ (early '70's)
(top)
& Devil's Inn on Fun Pier, Wildwood, NJ (early '70's)
(bottom)
Click here for the full size of this picture:
Pictures of the Mine Shaft (formerly Golden Nugget) on Dinosaur Beach (formerly Hunt's Pier), Wildwood, NJ
photo 1 (exterior)
click here to see a video of Mine Shaft - beginning of ride (avi - 2.80 MB)
click here to see a video of Mine Shaft - inside ride (avi - 1.59 MB)
Check out these great dark ride links:
The Haunted Mansion
This site has some great pictures of the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland in California
Phantom Manor
Good site on the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland in Paris, France
The Haunted Mansion faq
This faq provides you with everything you ever wanted to know about Disney's Haunted Mansion. Very good!!
The Secrets of Disney's Haunted Mansion
An article by Nate Naversen detailing how the special effects in Disney's Haunted Mansion are achieved!
Brandon Kwiatek's dark rides page
This site is about the history and cultural significance of the dark ride. It has pictures of the Haunted Pretzel, one of the oldest surviving dark rides in the country, constructed in 1927.
Sally Corporation: Dark Rides
This is the site of a company that designs dark rides for amusement parks, etc. They call themselves "The Great American Dark Ride Company"
Chef Mayhem's Unofficial Tribute To The Haunted Mansion
This site has various Haunted Mansion goodies that I have not seen anywhere else including rare source tracks from the Phantom Manor soundtrack, a really cool must-have free Haunted Mansion screen saver (It's now my default screen saver!), and a recording of the entire Disneyland record "The Story And Song From The Haunted Mansion"!!
Haunted Mansion's Ghost Gallery
At this site you can tour a formal "Ghost Gallery" that has been created by the cast members of the Haunted Mansion at Disney World over the past twenty or so years. This site was created by a person who has worked at the Haunted Mansion for nearly 3 years!
Check out what past visitors had to say about this site (taken from my old guestbook) by clicking here
Send any comments you may have by clicking here
Click here to go to page 2 of Chuck's Dark Rides
Click here to go to Jacksonville, NC Theaters
Come back to visit again soon!
Best viewed with
Download browser by clicking on logo