Colosseum

RCMAC said "I may be wrong, but you strike me as a younger person. Did you ever ride Earthquake? "Yes, I rode Earthquake and Pirate Ride. I remember Cedar Gulch Stagecoach, barely. I rode the monorail but don't remember that one. I was there when Space Spiral debuted. I am not a younger person. I do miss the old rides, sure. I know things must evolve. I see the park becoming a cookie cutter ride park. The Columbus Zoo just opened their own Wild Mouse last year. I can ride a Wild Mouse at The Ohio State Fair each year too. I do miss the uniqueness of the park with things like Western Cruise. I think Earthquake and Pirate Ride could have gone on the ground floor of the Coliseum. Now days it is all about the same thing...coasters and a few flats that most other parks have also.

I loved Pirate Ride back in the day, and gladly rode it many times, often taking a break only to pretend to shoot cannons on the the ship out front. Though back then there was far less to do in the park, so that played a role in how I revered that ride, and I suspect in today's environment it wouldn't be nearly as popular because if we're being honest, it wasn't all that great.

However, I agree that there is something to be said about having unique attractions. And I think the park is successfully leveraging what makes them unique in leaning heavily into the beach and resorts, in addition to smaller touches like celebrating their unique history.

And it would be nice to see a dark ride, but I'm skeptical given there hasn't been much movement in that direction following Wonder Mountain's Guardian at CW.

djDaemon:

because if we're being honest, it wasn't all that great.

As far as high-quality dark rides go, then yes. Pirate Ride was not good at all. As a fan of cheesy dark rides (i.e. Waldameer's Whacky Shack, Centreville Toronto's Haunted Barrel Works, Kennywood's old Le Cachot, etc), I absolutely loved Pirate Ride. I guess it's all subjective. But in today's world, if Pirate Ride was still around, I doubt it would be one of the more talked about rides at the park as effects and animatronics have come a long way since the 60's when Freedomland originally opened it. "Look out for the whale!!!!"

And I can proudly say I rode Earthquake way back in the 70's. Now THAT was a bad dark ride. I have fond memories of it as a kid, but if I look at it in today's context, having cardboard buildings and a stuffed dragon "fall" towards you isn't really that exciting or scary. Neat concept, poor execution! I do like that the fortune teller from the beginning of the ride still makes an appearance above the kids haunt at HalloWeekends.

And finally, I am kind of glad Cedar Fair backed out of the Triotech rides for other parks. WMG is awful with the exception of the surprise finale. The graphics look like PS2 era games, the guns aren't accurate, and the capacity is really bad considering the crowds it draws. Not being on FastLane also is an instant zonk from me!

I’m also glad that CW and Knott’s took the hit with those Triotech rides so we didn’t have to. And to think they promised one of those dark rides in every park. Bullet dodged.
I just got to thinking about that old Earthquake ride and some of the interior scenes and stunts. The scenes started innocently with buildings and happenings visible in the doors and windows. A sharp turn brought scenes of rocking buildings that teetered toward the riders. The end depicted the devastating fire that was responsible for most of S.F.’s destruction. There was a hilarious stunt that had a never ending loop of mean looking rats coming out of a sewer pipe.
Oddly, there is virtually no footage of the ride and Paul the woodcarver was desperately searching for a shot of one of the carriages/ride vehicles so he could reproduce them. He asked me if I might have one but I don’t. My suggestion was to look at Freedomland for their Tornado dark ride. Because you know, by accident their Tornado cars were sent to Cedar Point for Earthquake and their Earthquake cars were sent to Kennywood for their Tornado. And it didn’t really matter, they were both Arrow rides, compatible, and similar in design. So the parks decided to let things be and get on with their installations. Anyway, Paul knew that story already and was one step ahead of me. Still nothing surfaced.
I doubt that the Earthquake ride could or would be duplicated these days due to content. SanFrancisco’s Asian population was unkindly depicted as cartoony caricatures, with pointy hat coolies and such. Even if the ride had lasted to this day it would’ve by now been altered in order to be less offensive.

RCMAC:

There was a hilarious stunt that had a never ending loop of mean looking rats coming out of a sewer pipe.

I didn't remember that rat scene until you mentioned it. Now I am sitting here laughing about being terrified of that as a kid! I do recall going around the one corner and what looked like an obelisk structure would fall towards the car. That was my favorite part of the ride.

And mentioning the rats reminds me of Earthquake: The Ride in Gatlinburg. They have a conveyor belt of rubber rats that appears to come towards the "train" at one point. Oh, and an alligator. And of course I can't forget the giant gorilla that just happened to be in a wood crate along the "train" track and escapes near the end. While it's not the CP Earthquake, it is cheesy enough to warrant a ride every time I head down there!

I so wish I had a video camera back then. I got the Pirate Ride in 1996, but obviously Earthquake was long gone by then.

"I predict an earthquake in the future... " :)

If CP could put in a dark ride on the level of the knights in white satin that was at Hard Rock Park, THAT would be a game changer!

But knowing how CP isnt a fan of theming, it would end up being like the replacement that went into Freestyle Music Park.

RAlYP1970, How can one see your Pirate Ride video?

Did you try YouTube?

Yeah, it’s out there on YouTube. As far as I know it’s the only onride video of it out there. Just know that I filmed it in 1996 when I had just gotten my “fancy” new JVC VHS-C camcorder and talked through it because I thought I was funny. Turns out I wasn’t funny at all. I think I’ve come a long way from my old days of being annoying and combative all the time, so at least I’ve learned from my many mistakes! So if you do watch it, my apologies in advance for being so cringey.

Is that the one with the head in the way?

Those cars resembled little boats and they all had skulls on the bow. That’s the “head in the way”.