We are pleased to announce the recent acquisition of additional images depicting Tracy’s Hour 13 dark ride, built at Miracle Strip Amusement Park in 1965. Although the original façade was built to mimic a castle complete with a two-dimensional whimsical dragon adorning the top, a 1970’s overhaul by Val Valentine, a dark ride designer and builder of the era, would totally change the look and feel of the ride, offering an angry tree and several turrets and towers instead of the original fortress look. The interior of the ride was not modified during the initial overhaul by Valentine, who also designed and built the park’s Old House dark ride in 1967. The name of the attraction changed from Hour 13 to Haunted Castle after only a few years in operation.
When the park closed on September 5, 2004, a group of savvy enthusiasts purchased the elements of the dark ride and moved them to a location where they were able to recreate the ride and run it for Halloween events. The same group is currently in the process of selling it to a party in Oxford, Alabama, where it will have a more permanent setup. Images of the ride setup can be viewed in their interesting Flickr photo gallery. A special thanks goes out to David from King Power Cinema for contributing this new information.
The Bill Tracy Project 