Topic: Haunted Amusement Parks

From: TrippyTigerr (Original Message) Sent: 6/9/2003 7:02 PM

Hello Everyone, First of all thanks for accepting me to your group! I was wondering if anyone has heard anything about haunted Amusement Parks? I have a couple of experiences to relate on that subject..and then would love to hear more on the subject from you. My wife and I were tossing around were to go on a short early summer vacation..and we came up with San Francisco..1. There was a haunted house (bed & breakfast) there called "The Mansions"..which was fun and interesting and I should tell you more about in sometime in a different story thread, and the second reason for going to SF was it was very hot where we lived...but when we got there San Francisco was having a Freak heat wave..which they hadn't experienced before since 1920 something...and it was hotter there than the place we had just left! There is little air conditioning in SF because it usually isnt that hot, so we decided to get out of the stuffy indoors and rent an air conditioned car and travel about. We decided to go to a race track (I think it was by Santa Rosa)..I am bad with spelling excuse if I mispelled. But there it was even hotter, about 120 degrees. We discovered a small amusement park next to the racetrack, and my wife begged me to go on ride on a huge Ferris Wheel with her. I did not want to...I don't like heights..but she said..it will be cool and breezy up there..lets do it! So, I gave in like I always do in the end and went on the ride with her. It was pleasant - the first few turns around but it was so hot at the top, the breeze was insignificant and the heat, the height and the turning was starting to make me feel ill. The Ferris Wheel was so high..people were just dots below...I thought "its okay..it will be over soon"...but we just kept turning and turning. We both wanted off now, this was after about 25 minutes, we felt that this ride was unusually long, and we decided we would shout at the operator to please stop the wheel the next time we came down to his platform. But when we came down to the platform we saw he was not there! We also noticed we were the only ones on the ride and felt that maybe he had forgotten about us but had left the ride going to attract business. We went around another 15 minutes like this..I was getting so sick, I didnt think I could take it much longer...and then at the very top the Ferris Wheel just stopped! The Ferris Wheel box we were in was built for 4 people..for two on each side..not like the standard two seater..So when the seats we were in dipped dramatically to one side like a scale, we were thrown forward in our seat...we both felt an awful chill (which you think we would appreciate since it was so hot! but it was not a good chill). And then the box started rocking violently back and forth, and at that height...let me tell you it was terrifying! It wasnt from a breeze either..there was none..something was doing that..something we couldn't see. We started shouting to the dot size people below trying to get their attention, but from that height I dont know if anyone heard us. The shaking was so violent I was afraid that maybe the box would come undone and we would be thrown to our deaths below. We both held on for dear life and prayed for it to stop..and we felt like we were in the center of time or that time had stopped at least for us in our struggle alone. Finally, after what seemed like a eternity the wheel began to turn again and the ride came to the platform and the operator let us off. We were both shaking and pale, weak and scared out of our wits..but we still had the fortitude to ask him why did he leave us up there that long? And the operator said since the Park wasnt busy he thought he would give us an extra long ride..he went out to have his lunch leaving us there and got into a conversation with some coworkers and he wasnt aware he had been gone so long. We were up there for about an hour and a half. We then asked him about the shaking at the top...and he told us that has happened before that the wheel has just stuck and that the cart has started rocking, he said some people have also even heard a lady laughing. My wife asked if anyone had died on the Ferris Wheel before and the operator said he had heard that a woman had had a heart attack on it. That's It For Me..no more Ferris Wheel rides... This was a pretty long story so I will tell you the other Amusement Park tale later...Brice.

Approximately 16 posts per page - Page 1

From: normalghost chser1 Sent: 6/10/2003 2:16 AM

hi Trippy,I heard a story about a amusement park in sandusky ohio called cedar point that is supposed to b really haunted, cant remember the story tho sry. lol

From: Eriu36 Sent: 6/10/2003 11:02 AM

I don't get to amusement parks that often anymore but when I do, the ferris wheel has always been a must---til now!!! Spooky story, Trip, but I'm sure far more scary living through it! My trip to San Francisco was the opposite....I went in late June/early July, and since it was summer and California--sun and fun and all that (ha!)---I wasn't prepared for the cool climate. I stayed frozen my whole time there. I like that weather but I wish I'd been better prepared for it. It was hot as he...ck in Oklahoma so no way was I thinking of wearing jackets and such.

From: TrippyTigerr Sent: 6/10/2003 5:11 PM

OMG Van!!!! A Thunderstorm! What is it with the operators leaving people stuck up there, especially in dramatic weather conditions?? Gosh safe at home in my own bed a thunderstorm can be scary! How terrifying that must have been for you as a kid trapped way up in the air, wondering if you were going to get Zapped!...Thank you for sharing that!

From: TrippyTigerr Sent: 6/10/2003 5:21 PM

LOL Eriu, I guess you never know...do you? I guess everything happens for a reason, even weather, because it forces us into changing our routine, so something else can happen...maybe...I mean I look at things that way...it's like if there is something out there you are supposed to be experiencing...a way will be found to get you out there (or opposite: in there if you are out)! I suppose if you were freezing to death in SF..you probably did the opposite from me and went inside more and discovered things in there...I dont know..just rambling...LOL... (((Hugs))) - Brice

From: CWnut Sent: 6/16/2003 11:49 PM

hey trippy, I just got to thinking about haunted amusement parks. About 18 or 19 yrs ago , at the Six Flags great America in Gurnee, Illinois, there was this one ridein the Orleans section of teh park. I can't remember for the life of me what teh name of the ride was. But it involved you stting in this cage and it laid down and then it would zoom up the track to the top andthen it would jsut drop you down like teh giant drop or drop zone at kings Island in Cincinatti. Well, at thsi time my sister was working there at a restaurant called Ala Burger that was right next to this ride. She said she was working teh register when all of a sudden she heard a huge crash. Well this ride's breaks didn't slow the ride down on it's descent and it ended up crashing into teh ground, killing everyone. I would like to find out if there are any hauntings going on there. I never have herd of anybut it would be intersting to find out. CWnut

From: TrippyTigerr Sent: 6/17/2003 2:46 AM

To: normalghost chser1 Re: Cedar Point Amusement Park Hauntings I checked out your tip on Cedar Point, Ohio Park, and discovered there had been a number of accidents on the rides but also on a site called "Northwest Ohio Phenomena Report", (check out the site it has tons of Ohio hauntings on it normal) I found the following info: Cedar Point Amusement Park | Sandusky, Ohio The Frontier Land carousel is said to be home to a phantom rider. The "military horse" is believed to be haunted by a ghost who will be very upset should someone decide to sit upon it. There is also the ghosts of a man and woman who are said to still be dancing the night away in the Cedar Point Ballroom above the arcade complex on the main strip. The Breakers Hotel | Sandusky, Ohio Just down the road from Cedar Point is the Breakers Hotel in which a cleaning woman saw the ghost of a woman wearing "old-fashioned" clothing and claimed the ghost spoke to her saying, "I'm a registered guest."

From: TrippyTigerr Sent: 6/18/2003 8:32 PM

Mostly, when I started this string I just wanted people to come forward and tell about their experiences..but then I got off on a different track, which is ok, too. I began looking for on-line stories about haunted amusement parks, and also inadvertantly began to look at a lot of mysterious, unexplained accidents on rides...like a whole string of cars on a roller coaster catching on fire and many people being killed, like a single car swerving off a track, and on and on...there are so many accounts of these inexplicable type of accidents. I found out some things, there were some stories about haunted amusement parks where the employees told their stories, but were afraid to mention the name of the park - because of repercussions from their employer...there were some ghost hunters that told a story about investigating a haunted 6 Flags Park but would not mention the particular park because they were afraid of being 'claim jumped' by other ghost hunters during their investigation. Still they left plenty of clues about the park where if someone was really interested they could probably find it...if they were willing to go do their own investigating. And, what that takes, of course, is footwork, going to the parks and talking to the operators themselves, not the management, as they do not want customers scared off by a spooky images. I found out some interesting information: about accident statistics, women are 1 1/2 times more likely to be injured on a ride than men, and children are more likely to be injured than adults. (the children part makes sense as they are smaller and more easier thrown, and also because children go on these rides more). I discovered that some of the 'bad' rides that have caused accidents in the past have sometimes been renamed and sold over and over again to different parks, and then have caused more accidents, and these rides seem to me to be like bad haunted houses. I have discovered that just like ghosts everywhere, there are malevolent ghosts and benevolent ghosts in Amusement Parks...many of the ghosts you are allowed to hear about in Amusement Parks actually call attention to accidents that are about to happen and warn people beforehand. I have found a couple of more haunted Amusement Parks and I have listed them: Lake Compounce Amusement Park in Bristol/Southington Connecticut - Lake Compounce Amusement Park is the longest running AP in the world. Hauntings have been reported since 1800, when Chief Compounce was killed by attempting to cross the lake in a large brass kettle (some say it was suicide) the day before the land his tribe had formerly owned, was to change hands. The Chief had unknowlingly transferred it over to white settlers by putting his wax fingerprints on a deed. Libertyland Theme Park, located at 940 Early Maxwell Blvd. in Mephis, TN is said to be haunted by a kind spirited, long dead carousel operator. The kindhearted carousel operator, who loved children forgot to turn off the carousel when going to fetch a ballon that had strayed from a child's hands into the carousel..because of this oversight the kind operator was tragically killed, when his head was decapitated by the machinery. His presence at the park, is more 'felt' than 'seen' and he has helped in the park by adverting other accidents there..mostly by turning off machines. Anyway, feel free to add more or if you have any of your own stories to tell that is great! Or you can go out and discover more haunted AP on your own. I might do that when I have the time...go and investigate a couple on site..but all my investigating will from the ground..believe you me! Haunted or not...there are waay too many AP accidents happening out there. *Brice*

From: Rapunzel7342 Sent: 6/19/2003 4:36 PM

CWnut, OMG, i never heard of the ride you were talking about that killed everyone in Gurnee's Six Flags... Since I am from IL, my family and some close friends go at least once a year....I know that things can happen from time to time, but that just hit a little too close to home!