I was a ride operator at Dark River in 1998. It was a good ride to work at because you could chill out in the back if you wanted to. To kill the time we would wear a Scream mask and a robe at times and surprise the guests. I used to get on the back of the boat unnoticed, get my Scream mask 2 inches from the back of the head of a girl and then wave my hand in front of her face. That usually did the trick - I had people litterally jump out of the boat. The Scream mask seen in this video is doing just that, it could have even been me.... Or we would stop the boat inside the first tent tunnel - people coming from the sunlight could not see a thing, and with our eyes used to darkness we had a lot of fun being 10 inches from them, unnoticed. We used to drip water on their knees or wave our hands in front of their faces. I particularly enjoyed petending to be one of those mechanical puppets, dropping my head and hand into the guests' view behind the second tunnel. They wanted to give the puppet a high five, but when my hand gripped theirs.... believe me, some were not disembarking dry, and not because of the water in the plume... We were later forbidden to do those tricks by management, as people were complaining it was too scary. The ride itself was rather cheesy, but it was a lot of fun to work there.
Yeah, the guy in the Scream mask pulled our boat back and got in my face and let the boat go and when I got off a black guy who was the ride operator yelled at me for taping on the ride. I had a big 8mm camcorder which I got in 1997 from a camera store and was my first camcorder. Before we got to the loading platform at the end I stopped taping and closed the camcorder bag but the operator knew I taped because the Scream guy saw me.
It's still there but It's Pirate's of Wildwood now and mostly Wildwood themed inside. Not really spooky anymore. I guess they wanted to tone it down for kids. There was a spider from the Golden Nugget in it in July, 2011 when I rode it.
I am SCREAMING I was just talking about how nobody has good footage of this!! the big (blue?) monster outside...the old ticket signage....the big rat! wow. amazing. i'll be a child of the river before a pirate any day
I remember this!!! I actually really liked it as a kid, wow, I forgot all about it until the video popped up...thank you Rob for filming and sharing with Bill. Do we know when the Dark River opened? I feel like I remember it before 98 too...
Was that monster outside a cyclops!? I have had a memory of a cyclops monster outside a wildwood haunted house ever since I was a kid and I’ve been looking for evidence of it for years! The little bit we see of it in this video is the only image I’ve EVER been able to find of it!!
Would you still have the footage you shot at Niagara Falls a long time ago of haunts like Screamers and Creatures Of The Night? I would love to see those haunts one more time since they are sadly now defunct
@@DarkinthePark Ah I understand. I'd still be interested in seeing it one day but that's just because those attractions were the ones that helped start my love of haunts haha
I went through Screamers in July 2006 for the first and only time after they closed Creatures of the Night and Part II opened in Screamers. And I went through The Haunted House, Castle Dracula, House of Frankenstein, and Nightmares Fear Factory.
3:36 What is that superhero comic looking art on the wall, I mean, that big green monster looks like an Incredible Hulk derivative, and next to him is a female superhero type, who looks like she's doing the Spiderman web shooting pose, along with a grim reaper thing holding the decapitated head of what almost looks like the Marvel character, Domino, and a close up of that exact same Incredible Hulk type creature at the end, I mean, it kinda looks more like art ripped straight out of a 90s superhero comic, like either 90s era Marvel, or something like Image Comics, Todd McFarlane bullshit, like Spawn, or something, and I also can't help myself that, as a comic book nerd, I feel like seen that comic book looking art before, like maybe from a 90s Marvel comic or something from Image or Todd McFarlane, I mean seriously, is that actually a Piece of comic book art stolen from an actual comic book, that was would for haunted house type ride instead of something Superhero-ish, or is actually a piece of custom original art, and the kid who drew it isn't really good at drawing horror artwork and that he decided that he should do his own thing, since he's more of a comic book nerd rather than a horror fan, so can explain what the f%#! was that somewhat out of place artwork is actually from and why is it in a haunted house instead of something superhero related???
I was a ride operator at Dark River in 1998. It was a good ride to work at because you could chill out in the back if you wanted to. To kill the time we would wear a Scream mask and a robe at times and surprise the guests. I used to get on the back of the boat unnoticed, get my Scream mask 2 inches from the back of the head of a girl and then wave my hand in front of her face. That usually did the trick - I had people litterally jump out of the boat. The Scream mask seen in this video is doing just that, it could have even been me....
Or we would stop the boat inside the first tent tunnel - people coming from the sunlight could not see a thing, and with our eyes used to darkness we had a lot of fun being 10 inches from them, unnoticed. We used to drip water on their knees or wave our hands in front of their faces. I particularly enjoyed petending to be one of those mechanical puppets, dropping my head and hand into the guests' view behind the second tunnel. They wanted to give the puppet a high five, but when my hand gripped theirs.... believe me, some were not disembarking dry, and not because of the water in the plume... We were later forbidden to do those tricks by management, as people were complaining it was too scary.
The ride itself was rather cheesy, but it was a lot of fun to work there.
Neat memories...thanks for sharing!
Yeah, the guy in the Scream mask pulled our boat back and got in my face and let the boat go and when I got off a black guy who was the ride operator yelled at me for taping on the ride. I had a big 8mm camcorder which I got in 1997 from a camera store and was my first camcorder. Before we got to the loading platform at the end I stopped taping and closed the camcorder bag but the operator knew I taped because the Scream guy saw me.
Wow I forgot about this I wish ww would stop changing I sure wish they would get another spooky dark river ride thanks for sharing
It's still there but It's Pirate's of Wildwood now and mostly Wildwood themed inside. Not really spooky anymore. I guess they wanted to tone it down for kids. There was a spider from the Golden Nugget in it in July, 2011 when I rode it.
Damn, and I thought Pirates of Wildwood before the revamp was scary! This would’ve kept me awake at night for weeks at least!
Incredible stuff. Would love to be there on like a rainy day during the off season with nobody else around.
I am SCREAMING I was just talking about how nobody has good footage of this!! the big (blue?) monster outside...the old ticket signage....the big rat! wow. amazing. i'll be a child of the river before a pirate any day
Lol...glad you enjoyed. Be sure to like and subscribe!
I remember this!!! I actually really liked it as a kid, wow, I forgot all about it until the video popped up...thank you Rob for filming and sharing with Bill.
Do we know when the Dark River opened? I feel like I remember it before 98 too...
I don't know the exact year, but I have video of the outside of it that I shot in the early 90s...so I know it was around when I was in high school.
Thank you for posting this. I have been looking for video of this ride for years. I was mad when they got rid of this ride.
Was that monster outside a cyclops!? I have had a memory of a cyclops monster outside a wildwood haunted house ever since I was a kid and I’ve been looking for evidence of it for years! The little bit we see of it in this video is the only image I’ve EVER been able to find of it!!
He may have been a cyclops. I have other footage of him that I'll have to look at to confirm that he only had one eye...lol.
So I just checked out some of my footage of that monster...he kindof looks like a cyclops...but he does have two eyes.
Would you still have the footage you shot at Niagara Falls a long time ago of haunts like Screamers and Creatures Of The Night? I would love to see those haunts one more time since they are sadly now defunct
That footage from Niagara Falls was pretty primitive and didn't have sound...so I don't think we will be adding it to RUclips.
@@DarkinthePark Ah I understand. I'd still be interested in seeing it one day but that's just because those attractions were the ones that helped start my love of haunts haha
I went through Screamers in July 2006 for the first and only time after they closed Creatures of the Night and Part II opened in Screamers. And I went through The Haunted House, Castle Dracula, House of Frankenstein, and Nightmares Fear Factory.
Can you tell me if that ride is still there now today
It has been changed over to The Pirates of Wildwood for several years now.
@@MikesTrainsandTravels oh ok thanks 👍 would ya like to be friends
Booty
Real shit though this is interesting, never seen a haunted water ride before, well except for maybe Kennywood's Old Mill.
3:36
What is that superhero comic looking art on the wall, I mean, that big green monster looks like an Incredible Hulk derivative, and next to him is a female superhero type, who looks like she's doing the Spiderman web shooting pose, along with a grim reaper thing holding the decapitated head of what almost looks like the Marvel character, Domino, and a close up of that exact same Incredible Hulk type creature at the end, I mean, it kinda looks more like art ripped straight out of a 90s superhero comic, like either 90s era Marvel, or something like Image Comics, Todd McFarlane bullshit, like Spawn, or something, and I also can't help myself that, as a comic book nerd, I feel like seen that comic book looking art before, like maybe from a 90s Marvel comic or something from Image or Todd McFarlane, I mean seriously, is that actually a Piece of comic book art stolen from an actual comic book, that was would for haunted house type ride instead of something Superhero-ish, or is actually a piece of custom original art, and the kid who drew it isn't really good at drawing horror artwork and that he decided that he should do his own thing, since he's more of a comic book nerd rather than a horror fan, so can explain what the f%#! was that somewhat out of place artwork is actually from and why is it in a haunted house instead of something superhero related???