What if we got a "Shriek House"?

[Guest TombraiderTy]

Everybody knows of the old concept for the Adam Family's Shriek House that fell through, but what if we were still to get a haunted house roller coaster? Shriek House would work with it and it could possibly be added next to Swan Lake in Rivertown, it being an old Victorian Manor. After thinking about it a bit, I thought of an okay ride review thing for it, and I'm wondering if you guys think it would be a good addition to the park, or if something similar could be added. And I must add, there are about two dozen spelling errors.

SHRIEK HOUSE

On the edge of Swan Lake in Rivertown sits an aging manor, windows boarded up and a stench of decay floating in the air. Screams can be heard from and around the house, sending shivers down your spine.

Entering into the house from the side and down into the cellar, hundreds of bottles of wine line the walls, along with cob webs and dirt. The waiting queue twists through the cellar, eventually leading up a set of stairs and into a kitchen. Rotting foods are scattered around, crippled and withered. Zig-zagging through the kitchen, you next enter the dining area, where several skeletons re sitting at the table, waiting for their dinner that will never come.

Leaving the dining room, you enter the final room- the ball room, which is also the preshow. An immense chandelier hangs from the ceiling, spider webs coating it. A giant piano sits at one end, with a portrait above it of a young lady. Windows on either side of the room show a dark and stormy sky, lightning igniting the room with color occasionally.

With a final flash of lightning, the dim light that had been provided by the chandelier and the candles lining the walls diminish, leaving the room pitch black. The portrait of the lady starts to glow an eerie blue; her head turns to the crowd. She starts to speak, telling about how her and her soon to be husband were about to exchange their vows when some demon creature appeared out of no where, kidnapped her, and took her back to her manor. It tortured her for hours, then with the blade of a knife slit her throat and killed her. Her spirit has been trapped in the house since.

Without warning, a cloud of smoke fills the room as a heart piercing laughter echoes off the walls. As the fog clears, that demon creature is seen standing on the piano (it would be an animatronic). It makes it clear that nobody would be escaping tonight, but instead have to live through and then die from his continuous torture. Ending his word, he disappears in another blast of fog and the stair case lifts to reveal a secret passage.

Entering through, an elaborate ride station is seen. Streaks of blood are seen on the walls, proving the woman was forced through hours of torture. Entering vehicles that appear rusted and worn, the cars move forwards slowly into a dark door.

Unexpectedly, the car tilts forwards and takes a near vertical drop into darkness. Raising back up again, the riders turn to the right and start up a vertical lift hill. Straight ahead is the demon creature, waving a knife and laughing with pleasure. Moving closer and closer, he appears to lower and lower to reach you. Only foot above the riders, the car moves upright and then takes a plunge.

After the first 90 degree drop on a roller coaster in the history of the park, riders find themselves speeding above Swan Lake. Twisting through two inline twists, the car makes a hairpin turn high above the ground, then drops back down behind the trees. Bunny hop after bunny hop, riders are now in a cemetery with overgrown weeds and crooked tomb stones. Diving into a freshly dug grave, they appear to be in a catacomb.

Turning to the right, riders raise back up and find themselves in the mansion once more. The demon creature is flying towards the riders, but right before he attacks the cars flip over, leaving riders suspended upside down. After a few seconds of fearing that they'll be dropped out of their seats, the passengers speed through a half loop and are now in an upright position.

Twisting and turning though several hallways, the cars come to a stop in front of a vertical section of track. Moving upwards, they find themselves moving upwards to a small square of light. After a few seconds, they find themselves on the manor's roof. Moving slowly, they can see swan lake to their left and Italian Job: Stunt Crap to their right. Turning to the right, they now face IJ:SC and dive towards the ground.

Passing over the pathway below, the cars dive into a tunnel under the ground. After a moment of blackness, the passengers flip through a half loop and find themselves above ground. Making an inline twist, they drop back down to the ground and raise back up. Moving through one more inline twist, they hang above the pathway below. Back up right, they are inside the mansion and drop down a few feet. Moving back up, they exit out the opposite side of the house and dive towards Swan Lake.

The cars appear to splash into the water, water blasting to the sides. Moving back up, riders fly through a second hairpin turn, right under the first one. Moving back down, they corkscrew through the cemetery a second time. Corpses jump from the graves, missing limbs and other parts. Entering into the mansion for one last time, the car comes to a final stop. The demon creature floats into view, the knife still in hand. Telling riders how they were lucky this time and won’t be so the next, he disappears in a blast of fog. Moving forwards, the car moves into the exit station, where riders now exit.

It would be a multi-million dollar attraction of course and probably the biggest addition since Son of Beast, but I think it would make a great ride. It would be similar to Mystery Mine at Dollywood, being the same type of roller coaster. Tell me what you think.

[Vortex]

Where would you move IJSC? IJSC would fit in at Action Zone unless Cedar Fair changes the themes.

[tubaman]

I really like the idea actually. You've obviously put some thought into it.

But, the special effects might suffer. IJ:SC is suppose to have special effects, yet they seem to work rarely from what I hear.

[Cory Butcher]

You guys really need to quit dissing my ride! lol, its IJ:ST darnit!

[RingMaster]

.....so that would make it Stunt Turd then?

I'm sorry, I just had to go there. Okay, I'm done. But IJ:ST's a cool ride, nontheless.

[Browntggrr]

It is a nice idea, but Cedar Fair is not in the theme park business.

CF has used some themeing on their rides, but it is not well maintained and is forgotten about completely about 4 years after the ride has been opened.

Paramount actually took better care of the themeing for their rides, and that is not saying much.

[clbehymer]

Great idea for a ride. My two favorite things - roller coasters and haunted houses. It would be cool ride to see!

[Guest TombraiderTy]

IJ:SC wold remain, Shriek House would have that section of track closer to the Eiffel Tower.

The addition of the roller coaster would be part two in a three year plan for Rivertown, which is in need of an update.

2008: Tomb Raider: The Ride reopens as Maniac Mine, completely rethemed to an abandoned gold mine theme. Construction also begins for Shriek House.

2009: Shriek House opens. The Beast celebrates its 30th Anniversary, celebrating with a rethemed station.

2010: White Water Canyon and Kings Island and Miami Valley Railroad will be updated to include new effects, scenes, and props.

[notredame0608]

Tomb Raider the Ride needs to keep its theme. This coaster is a great idea, but I doubt that they will add anything of the sort anytime soon. Another thing: I don't know if Kings Island would allow such a violent storyline for the whole ride. The fact that she was tortured to death and slit at the neck is to gruesome for this theme park. (It's sad, but true)

[Guest TombraiderTy]

To make Rivertown a more old frontier town/ Victorian cross, Tomb Raider: The Ride has nothing to do with the theme. If it was "Maniac Mine", the ride building would be disguised as an old mining building and the cave would be the new entrance. It would go along with the theme much better.

And saying that 7 out of the 8 inversions of Shriek House are located outside, that tells guests that the ride isn't for little kids. Also, the kid corral would be before the ballroom preshow, meaning little kids would not have to see it. No blood or anything would be seen in the waiting line before that, only cobwebs and stuff. This would not be the first attraction to have a more gruesome storyline, but it would create a great roller coaster.

[jzarley]

I like your "maniac mine" re-theme idea for TR:TR... It fits with the area, would be relatively cheap to do, and would make a good neighboring attraction for The Beast...

It's always really bugged me that there was a South Asian ancient tomb smack dab in the middle of a 19th century midwestern river town...

I'd love to see CF restore the idea of the themed lands (as opposed to individually themed "island" rides). But I'm not holding my breath on that one. As Browntggrr so aptly stated several posts earlier, CF has never been known for intricate theming (or for maintaining the few limited attempts they've made at theming...)

[faceofbeast]

I personally think it's a good idea... Even though it could be a screw-up because of it's location.... Were you expecting it to be a "Wild West" style mansion? Sorta' like the one on "Forrest Gump" or like the one on "Haunted Mansion" (the movie)? Well, if so, that would be kinda tacky. A big fancy pancy 18th to 19th century mansion with proper 18th to 19th century British/French people getting killed by some demon? Come on, it would be better off in Coney Mall, I think. I'm not trying to be rude in ANY way. Sorry if I sound rude. And yes, I agree TombRaiderTy and jzarley. TR:TR is in the smack dab middle of a mine town and it's supposed to be an Asian tomb? It should REALLY be moved to Oktoberfest and Oktoberfest should be changed to some name like, Amazonian Ruins or something like that so TR:TR would fit in perfectly with Adventure Express. "Slingshot" should also be moved to Action-Zone or what ever it will be called..

~Face of Beast

[Guest TombraiderTy]

TombraiderTy doesn't have a capital R, I just had to say that...

Okay, who's been to Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World? Frontierland, their Rivertown, is next to Liberty Square, one of the three entrances to our Rivertown. The transistion between LS and FL is smooth, the same would be between Shriek House and the rest of Rivertown, so smooth they appear in the same section. We have the Coney Mall entrance, the International Street entrance, and the Nickelodeon Universe entrance. The Coney Mall one would have some small props- mining equipment, barrels, rope, ect, since Maniac Mine is directly ahead. International Street would have Shriek House in front of it, so you'd see some late 1800's early 1900's props that are carefully blended in with the mid 1800's. Nickelodeon Universe would also have some mining equipement, ropes, and barrels.

And for the heck of it, let me go a little bit deeper in the timeline:

2008: The three year plan begins. With the addition of a major roller coaster the year before, nothing mega big is added. A Flying Eagles type ride is added on the former Launch Pad site, Drop Zone is renamed and gets a few small changes in the waiting line, and Face/Off is renamed and gets a few small changes in the waiting line. The biggest thing for 2008 is the change for Tomb Raider: The Ride.

The building for Tomb Raider: The Ride (here) would have a new frame or structure built over and around it, similar to Dollywood's Mystery Mine building, seen here and here. Inside, the ancient temple themeing would be removed, but the lanterns could stay. The bamboo would be covered with artificial wood, making it look more like a mine. The preshow would also change some.

In the preshow, the lights (several dozen lanterns) all go out at once, leaving guests in near complete darkness. The screen moves up, but it isn't seen in the dark. A ghostly image appears on it for a few moments, then vanishes. It reappears, now clear enough to tell that it is a ghost of a miner. The lights are still off, so it would appear as if a ghost is just floating in midair. He tells the story of how an accident with the new drilling machine sent him and 12 others to their deaths. Their spirits are all that remain- well, them and the drill.

Moving through the preshow, riders board the drilling machine. The giant facade of the goddess has been replaced by stones and supports. Once locked in, the ride begins, but everything goes wrong just like it did years upon years before. The drill machine swings out of control, as the ghost of the miner plays a few small tricks on you along the way.

A few other differences in Maniac Mine would be that the ice on the ceiling has been covered and appears as stalagmite. The lava is now replaced with "dynamite", which explodes seconds after you've swung out of the way, making a big gas explosion. A new audio track and pattern of movement would also be added to the ride.

Crocodile Dundee's Boomerang Bay would officially change to just Boomerang Bay.

Construction on Shriek House would begin in June.

2009: Shriek House would open, check out the first post for description. The Beast would celebrate its 30th Anniversary, nothing much would be done except a few smaller trees would be planted around the ride and some new props would be added around it, mainly in the station.

2010: To finish the three year plan for Rivertown, Kings Island and Miami Valley Railroad and White Water Canyon would both get some new things. Perilous Plunge, a speed slide, would also be added to the water park.

Kings Island and Miami Valley Railroad would receive a much needed face lift. The town would be remodeled to be more realistic and have a few simple animatronics (Cedar Point's train ride has some small animatronics, mainly skeletons). An Indian camp site would also be added, along with some animals (animatronic, of course) in the woods and around the track. The final addition would be a job on the fort.

White Water Canyon would feature several new scenes and props, along with some effects. Guests would plunge into darkness into an old building, pass crates of dynamite that cause flames to burst into the air, and get soaked more than ever before thanks to waterfalls, jets, and other guests on the observation deck with soaker guns in hand.

[RingMaster]

Actually, they just changed the water park to just say Boomerang Bay, it's just not very noticeable at first. The sign out front just had the Crocodile Dundee portion removed, so it's an unofficial change that no one knows about...yet.

[Guest TombraiderTy]

Okay then, nevermind on Boomerang Bay though. Everything else would be a plan for Rivertown and other parts of the park.

[The Interpreter]

Nice ideas, but I don't see Cedar Fair taking theming at the ex-CBS theme parks to new level...unless it is lower...

[Guest TombraiderTy]

Cedar Fair does have some good themeing, look at the train ride at Cedar Point, then there's a lot of great themeing around that area. They just suck at effects really, like smoke and fog and stuff.