Opened: 1974

Location: North Midway

Ride Capacity: 2 adults or 3 kids per car

Number Of Cars:

Height Requirement: Children under 36" must be accompanied by adult

history & info

This is a classic dark ride which takes you through the dark and mysterious home of Dracula. You'll travel down a hallway with transforming paintings, through caves, a mausoluem and more.

Dracula's Castle is one of two remaining dark rides at Lagoon. It was built into the southwest corner of what was the Roller Skating Rink and is now home to the Game Time arcade. It was originally advertised to "scare the yell out of you".

Scenes for the Fox television show Werewolf were filmed at Lagoon and the climax was shot at Dracula's Castle. The episode (which was #27 entitled Blind Luck) aired 6 March 1988.

Over the years, many things have been changed or have stopped working. The spinning tunnel was turned off because of insurance reasons. If the car stopped in the middle of the ride, riders would try to get out instead of waiting for employees to come get them and there was a possibility they would get hurt trying to walk through the tunnel. Over the 2006-2007 off-season, Lagoon began giving the Castle and Terroride a much needed overhaul.

Here are some memories people have shared about some of the old features which have been replaced. The first is by Steve from Moreno Valley, California:

"I visited Lagoon several times over the summer of 1977 when the attraction was three years old. I recall it was one of the first rides I ever enjoyed that used strobe lights, and I seem to recall there were two rooms with strobe lights flashing. One room was brightly colored with striped wallpaper. The strobe lights made the room almost seem to be alive itself. The second room with strobes was filled with mirrors. The strobes made it difficult to focus on your own reflection but the effect was entrancing nonetheless. I also remember that at that time there were live characters standing in those rooms that would make a move towards your car as it passed through the room. I don't know how long the live individuals were used but I remember being startled at the sight of a real person moving towards me in those rooms. They were not there every time I visited Lagoon."

"I seem to recall that they were dressed in outfits that blended in with the striped wallpaper. That made them hard to recognize until they made a move. In the mirror pattern room it seems like they were dressed in black and there were black spaces between the mirror panels in the room. They would stand in between the mirrors and than as the car approached the exit (into the next room) they would step out. They never really did anything other than make a movement. I cannot imagine how any poor minimum-wage employee could bear to remain in those strobe light rooms for more than a few minutes without suffering migraine headaches or seizures."

Here's what Robert J. remembers:

"When Dracula's Castle first opened there were three rooms with strobes. The first room was a jail scene that consisted of mirrors painted to look like jail bars. When the attraction first opened, this room was fairly lengthy. It had about three to four switchbacks. A couple years later it was cut down to a single pass through. The thing that I remember that was cool about this room is when you were about to leave it, you could see the next car coming in and you could wave at your friends. When they cut it back you couldn't do this any longer. This first room occurred after going down the entrance hall and the hall after the first right turn.

The second room was a green striped room. The strobes made you feel that the wall was approaching and distorted your perception.The third strobe room was kinda similar but the effects were not as good. It was a room covered with aluminum foil...it had a little dip that was cool."

One of the most mysterious things about this ride may be the designs on the

exterior. It seems like it should be symbolic of something, but doesn't seem to have much to do with Dracula or anything in the ride. Perhaps it's just for effect? If you look closely, you can see such things as a satanic-looking beast, Medusa and several other ancient and mythological depictions. In the top of the east tower you'll see Dracula. Hidden behind the trees in the west tower you'll find a very unfriendly looking creature. Some have called it a werewolf, but the white fur makes me wonder if it's the Abominable Snowman. A witty owl is perched at the loading area and likes to crack jokes about skeletons with no guts and "roller ghost-ers". Many are easily annoyed by the owl after waiting in line for awhile, but he's just trying to ease the tension of nervous riders.

A popular ghost story about this ride involves a guest who was using a wheelchair. When she got on the ride, an employee wheeled the chair over to the exit so it would be ready for her when she disembarked. Riders kept going through and leaving, but no one ever came out needing the wheelchair. A ghost known only as "Mother" now haunts the ride.

I don't have information on who designed any of the current or original features and effects or the ride system. If you do, please email me.

photos

Photo: Braden Miskin

The Castle's exterior after dark.

Photo: Braden Miskin

Screen Capture from Werewolf Episode #27

Character from the Werwolf TV series looking in the entrance. Scenes from this episode were filmed at Lagoon.

Photo: Werewolf Fan Site

more photos

SOURCES

Lagoon

Website Visitors

Werewolf Fan Site

Updated 13 Jan 2008