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Come on Over

Palisades Park

By: John B. Robinson

Palisades Park

Palisades Park

Palisades Park

Palisades ParkPalisades Amusement Park, that venerable queen of traditional amusement parks located in New Jersey, offered a wide selection of darkrides and related attractions throughout it's lifetime. For many years, residents of the New York and New Jersey metropolitan area made trips to Palisades a ritual of summer, something of a tradition to partake during each season of the sun. The memories that I recount here of this most traditional of parks encompass the park's final fourteen summers or so, up to and including it's grand finale in 1971. Darkride enthusiasts found much to celebrate here. Palisades offered several different types of such attractions, and most of those described here survived until the park's final days.
Mickey Hughes is a ride importer who worked with Irving Rosenthal at Palisades. Mr. Hughes's Jungleland Cruise was one such attraction. Visitors rode boats on this adventure through the dark continent. The first half of the Jungleland Cruise took place outdoors where the boat threaded it's way along a winding river. Hippopotamuses would surface along both sides of the boat, their mouths agape to reveal enormous teeth. A hungry crocodile would swash through the murky water, and just around the bend an elephant stood on shore attempting to soak passing adventurers by spraying water through his trunk. At night these scenes were lit by variously colored spotlights. It was after dark when the Jungleland Cruise took on a touch of the surreal. The sound of real crickets and the flashing glow of fireflies meshed with the artificial props along the way, successfully blurring the boundary between what was real and what was fiction.
Palisades ParkSoon the boat would enter what appeared to be a long, straight tunnel. Anticipation was built as it was eerily quiet for some time. Suddenly an ear-splitting cry of anguish erupted just as the lights flashed on, revealing a scene of an unfortunate hapless explorer being boiled in a huge pot! A few seconds later the sound of charging animals shattered the darkness, a herd of rushing rhinos seemingly about to jump into the boat. Just ahead on the opposite side was a growling tiger. These elements relied more on sound than visuals to be frightening, and the silence in the tunnel was shattered with such suddenness that these were quite effective. The Jungleland Cruise was quite popular and was prominently featured in the park's television commercials.
Palisades ParkJust a few steps away from the Jungleland Cruise was a "Flight To Mars" darkride. Another ride of Mickey Hughes, the exterior of the Flight To Mars was also shown in television ads. A large devils head peered ominously down upon the midway, supplemented with animated aliens bobbing up and down. The creatures displayed inside were grotesque enough to frighten off any real aliens. As I remember it, this version of Flight To Mars was incredibly fast and the cars would zip around the hairpin curves much like a Wild Mouse Coaster. At the conclusion of this ride the car would smash through a series of swinging metal doors, creating an earsplitting din spiced with a touch of horror.
Coming in the wake of a series of science fiction movies that were so popular in the 1950's, rides such as Flight To Mars were quite common on the amusement scene during the 1960's and pleasantly unnerving to us children. Should we sleep with the lights on?
Palisades ParkIf the 1950's was the decade of the science fiction flick, then the 1960's is when at least a part of it became reality. Astronauts were being launched into space, captivating the imaginations of young and old alike. Palisades sought to capitalize upon this heightened interest in space travel and built a rocket ride at the beginning of the decade. The idea was to simulate a trip to Mars. Darkride may seem to be a misnomer for this primitive fore-runner to the modern day simulator. Guests would climb a stairway and enter the rocket as it sat parallel to the ground. Inside the sleek cylinder was a row of seats down each side with a center aisle. Up front was what appeared to be a rounded television screen.
Palisades ParkOnce loaded, the dim interior lights were extinguished. Upon blast off, the front of the rocket would be pushed upward at quite an angle. The rocket would bounce and vibrate in sync with the action depicted on the screen. A dangerous encounter with a shower of meteors caused the space ship to buck violently. Soon a Martian city came into view as the rocket cruised the atmosphere of Mars. During the return voyage the vessel of space was " attacked" by a gorilla-like space monster and quaked wildly to and fro. After awhile the space vessel would level off as it re�entered Earth's atmosphere with a view of Palisades straight ahead. The wild journey into space was completed.
Palisades ParkQuite a few of these attractions appeared at various parks, each with a custom-made visual journey. Apparently the public did not gravitate to such rides in large enough numbers because most were gone in a few years, including Palisades ride. At the same time, another attraction of short duration was a walk through affair with an under sea theme. A life size diver greeted the curious at the entrance. Park guides escorted groups of people through a grotto-like walkway where various scenes of life beneath the sea could be viewed. The guide would explain what was being depicted in the scenes featuring coral reefs, divers, fish, octopus, and other denizens of the deep. The creatures were not alive, and the stationary figures did not excite the public that much. This unique attraction lasted for only one season.
Palisades ParkAnother darkride could be found in the center of the park. Located next to the miniature train and automobile rides was the Arabian Nights Tunnel Of Love. This ride had undergone several transformations down through the years, and the version I grew up with was that of the "Arabian Nights". Inside was an eerie display of ghouls and other menacing creatures. At one point several huge jugs hung suspended directly above the heads of riders, shaking and rolling as though they were about to come crashing down. During the latter part of the 1960's this ride was re-themed as Casper's Ghostland and was inhabited by Casper the Ghost and friends, including the Ghost Horse. This new formula was geared toward small children and while aesthetically pleasing it lacked the terror of the "Tunnel Of Love" days.
Palisades Park
 
Back in the good ol' days no amusement park worth it's salt lacked a funhouse. Palisades Amusement Park had an excellent funhouse called The Cockeyed Circus.

 

Located just steps away from the Hudson gate and across from the salt water pool, the Cockeyed Circus was large and majestic. Several life-sized mannequins with the most evil countenance rotated about in a manner designed to make one's hair stand on end. Centerpiece to this dastardly trio was the laughing lady. Her wicked laugh would resonate up and down the midway while her head bobbed up and down in unison with her convulsionary cackle. Park goers would enter with a touch of trepidation and carefully climb the wooden stairway immediately past the entrance. Amazingly, nothing would happen. The sinister stuff would take place once you reached the point of no return deeper inside.
A second stairway leading to the upper level slid back and forth. From this point on it was one mad�cap adventure after another. Metal railings compelled adventurers to zig and zag to the brink of dizziness. Then a row of flat, tilting metal disks had to be negotiated and it was impossible to do so without holding on to the railings provided. Next there was the slanting room leaning at such an angle that many people stumbled into the walls. In one corner was a pile of sawdust provided for those who lost their lunch. All this time a series of air holes strategically placed along the course tortured the beleaguered souls foolish enough to enter. In the late 1950's it was still customary for girls and women to wear skirts and dresses, and they were particular targets of the pesky but funny air holes.

Palisades Park

Palisades ParkThe main rotunda of the Cockeyed Circus was a large room constructed largely out of wood. I can still recall the musky aroma of this room to this very day, along with the gales of laughter from the children having the time of their lives. Wavy, distorting mirrors were everywhere to be seen, together with heaving floors, rotating disks, and of course the barrel. The collapsing seat was my favorite. You would sit on a very innocent looking seat while a ride attendant would engage you in conversation. Quite suddenly he would pull a lever, the seat would collapse, and you found yourself riding a conveyer belt to the bottom, legs flying up in the air. A padded mattress cushioned your fall at the bottom.
Palisades ParkDuring the 1963 season a fire caused major damage to the Cockeyed Circus. Down through the years fire has been the deathblow for many a fun house. Much to it's credit, however, Palisades recognized the enduring popularity of it's fun house and rebuilt this attraction, re-christening it the Show Boat Fun House. The outer facade was remodeled to resemble a Mississippi riverboat, complete with revolving paddle wheel. Once again mannequins were utilized outside, but this time they wore striped shirts and straw hats, forming a band from the show boat era. On the inside as many of the old features as possible were retained, including the mirrors, collapsing seat, and the ubiquitous air holes. By this time in society everyone was wearing slacks and jeans, thus everybody got their turn at being startled by those air holes. The noise was amazing! Unfortunately, however, the laughing lady was no more. Her chilling laugh was silenced forever by the angry flames that nearly destroyed her home.
Palisades Park was such a wonderful place that it sported two fun houses during it's final years! Around 1967 or 1968 Mickey Hughes introduced a German themed fun house called Hofbrauhaus. This was located near the Palisade entrance on the opposite side of the park from the Show Boat Fun House. Above the entrance were life-sized figures adorned in their Oktoberfest best. The dancing ladies on either end spun around while a portly gentleman attempted to balance atop several beer barrels.
Palisades ParkWhen you entered the Hofbrauhaus you would see more beer barrels stacked very high on each side, shaking as though they were about to topple over. While climbing the steps your left foot slid forward while the right went reverse. The heaving floors reminded one of riding the bounding waves and more mirrors were available to make customers appear tall and short, and goofy as well. Another spinning barrel trapped young and old alike in a kaleidoscope or merriment. We can thank our lucky stars that this colorful institution of laughs is still alive and well today as the Allotria at Williams Grove Park in Pennsylvania.
Palisades ParkPalisades Amusement Park was a wonderful place indeed and I miss it very much. Having grown up in New York, it was a mere hop, skip and jump to get there. And get there we did! All that I have described for you stood upon a high bluff overlooking the Hudson River with the buildings and skyscrapers of New York City serving as a backdrop. Summer after summer the park's radio and television commercials intoned us to "come on over", and summer isn't quite the same anymore without that familiar jingle. It is now gone for thirty years, but to this very day Palisades Amusement Park and New Jersey are synonymous in my mind. Thus did Palisades hold such a powerful lore. That great park that towered above the mighty Hudson and New York City may be gone, but it shall live on in my heart forever and ever. I miss you, dear summer companion.

This article ©2003 John Robinson and used with permission.
Images from the Rick Davis collection, and used with permission. Allotria photo by Joel Styer.