Last weekend we went to Rye Playland in Rye, NY for opening weekend. This historical park is the same park that was featured in the movie “Big”. Zoltar is still there, and the park features 3 great Dark Rides.
You might not know that the park is in danger of having half of it demolished next year for no apparent reason that I can discern other than the local government doesn’t want “those people” hanging around.
It’s pathetic.
You really should check this out the above link and sign the petition. We are losing more parks like this and I guarantee you that nothing will be built to take it’s place.
You can see our post last year about the park here (with more pictures!).
Broken Effects
It seems that this year A LOT of the effects in Ye Olde Mill (a great Gnome/Troll Dark Ride made by Sally Corporation in Jacksonville, FL) were not working. Also some effects in Zombie Castle and the Flying Witch were less than optimal. I will return late in the season to see if they have fixed any of that. Ye Olde Mill was affected the most. Many of the collapsing beams were nonfunctional, scenes were static, and the great “battering ram” effect didn’t work. The lights stayed on throughout so the illusion that you were about to be hit when it comes at you was totally ruined.
You can see some of the properly working ride effects here:
Ye Olde Mill is remarkable because it seems like it may be one of the few times that Sally Corporation has been given free reign to develop a great ride. I had seen many Sally Corporation rides in the past and was not impressed – I have now come to realize that this is probably because the rides I saw were low budget on the side of the parks who commissioned them and not Sally Corporation itself. If you want to see what great work Sally Corporation is capable of I highly recommend Ye Olde Mill in Rye Playland.
I almost died on the Derby Racer
You think I’m joking? I ride the Derby Racer every year and something was very different this year. They must have cranked it up to maximum or something. It was going much faster than what this person has captured in this video:
I have been on so many rides in my lifetime and gone to so many parks. This seriously was the first time that both Harknell and I were freaking scared on a ride. It was way too long and way faster than last year. I felt like I almost fell off a few times. There are no waist straps, so I knew that if I lost my grip that I’d be done. I love this classic ride but if you ride it be aware that they have it cranked up this year!
I came off of the ride bruised and I had dented my hands in my attempt to try and not fall off:
Never again, guys. Never again.
Random cool pictures of Rye Playland’s opening day
A lot of the pictures would be the same as in my prior post, but here are some new things I captured this year.
Ye Olde Mill:
Zombie Castle (I think? To be honest both of the haunted rides don’t have that much of a theme to tell them apart. 🙂 )
PIE!
The Dragon Coaster’s smoke effects were working:
Harknell did not go on the ferris wheel:
Great carousel horse!
I still don’t know what a “tuffet” is:
The Flying Witch (that doesn’t really have anything to do with flying or a witch:
One of the best wooden coasters in the world – the Dragon Coaster!
Me!
Us!
Rye Playland is always a great time. It’s free admission and ticket system makes it an affordable place for the community to have fun. It would be a true loss if this park gets demolished. The government officials responsible for this should be ashamed of their pathetic selves.