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| Ahoy,
mateys! You’ve found treasure here at Trimper's Rides and
Amusements in Ocean City, Maryland! That is, one of the
world’s two remaining Bill Tracy-designed Pirates Cove fun
houses. Not only does this one have classic Tracy stunts,
it contains plenty of floor gags, the likes of which were
deep-sixed by most other parks long ago. |
| According
to Mr. Granville Trimper, he commissioned Tracy to install
the Cove in either 1970 or 1971. By that time, Tracy was
operating out of Cape May, New Jersey as Amusement Display
Associates. The
park removed a portable
ride and constructed
a concrete building to house this Tracy masterpiece. The
façade features
one of Tracy’s
icons - his parade float-sized, sword-waving giant pirate
threatening a petrified lookout perched in a nearby crow’s
nest. |
A similar pirate figure anchors the façade of Pennsylvania’s
Waldameer Park’s Pirates Cove and another once stood guard
outside the former Dorney Park dark ride: The Tracy-designed
Bucket O’ Blood. Trimper’s Pirate’s Cove façade also hosts
several other morbid pirate-theme figures and the lower
wall adorned by pirate skulls.
To lighten the mood, Mr. Trimper purchased two animated
parrots from Sally Corporation to beckon riders into the
funhouse.
“So all aboard mateys, for a scar-ri-fying good time,” says
one. |
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| Mr.
Trimper proudly notes that only minor modifications have
been made to Pirates Cove over the years. One of them was
a new interior sound system, replacing the individual tape
sound repeaters Tracy installed at different stunts. With
its sounds of high winds and screaming victims, the chilling
CD that now plays inside is a perfect match for Tracy’s
ghastly pirate adventure. “I think my son-in-law got that
one for us,” recalls Mr. Trimper. |
| Another
modification was made by Tracy himself shortly after he
installed the ride. He came back to give patrons two new
obstacles even before they entered the building: A draw
bridge and a trek over the deck of a small pirate ship that
shifts from side to side by your weight. The fun house,
near the park’s main entrance, continues to ride a wave
of popularity. |
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So
let’s cast off for Pirates Cove before the giant buccaneer
turns the tide on us!
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