Fifteen years ago Wally
bought what was then called Tommy Bartlett’s Gyrotron on the corner of Broadway
and Oak Street and renamed it Wally World Arcade, filling it with coin-operated
amusements from his nearly forty-year-old Chicago party rental company. Besides
having the only antique carousel in the Wisconsin Dells and a large variety of
classic games, they kept one of the old Gyrotrons for those wanting to
experience an aeronautic ride where you’re strapped into the middle of rings
that spin independently inside one another.
Having already gone through
that dizzying experience before, I decided to skip it this go-around and
instead had Wally bring me over to one of his newer attractions, the Krazy
Mirror Maze. Born out of the necessity when needing to fill the space after a
gift shop tenant left, Wally told me he got the inspiration for it from an old
black & white Charlie Chaplin movie.
The Krazy Mirror Maze is only
approximately 1200 square feet large, but being there are close to 200
floor-to-ceiling mirrors filling up the space, it seems much larger. While the
concept is an old one, Wally put a new-school spin on things by offering guests
the chance to go through the maze twice, the second time while wearing 3D
glasses.
I thought the first go-around
was disorientating enough as I tried to figure out which direction to move
while seeing my reflection everywhere, but once you put on the 3D glasses,
things got considerably more difficult. You literally had to feel your way
through the course or risk possibly slamming into a mirror. Wally told me for
those frequent instances, he buys ice packs to give out to the unfortunate ones
that think they can quickly run through the maze.
After successfully navigating
the Krazy Mirror Maze, I made my way down the street to the Haunted Mansion.
Wally told me that when he bought the downtown mainstay five or six years ago,
it was in need of refurbishing and updating, so every year he puts in something
new. Not having visited the place since I was a teenager, I was anxious to see
some of the improvements.
When I arrived, I met
longtime summer employee Don Zamzow, who retired from a telephone company
seventeen years ago after nearly forty years of service. I took the opportunity
to ask Don who was usually more afraid to enter, kids or adults. He told me
sometimes kids will march in bravely, and other times they’ll just start
screaming, but lately it’s the adults that are surprisingly afraid to enter.
This is due to a relatively new term called Coulrophobia, the fear of clowns. “They
just won’t go in. They’re terrified!”
Not having that fear myself,
I ventured into the dark hallways filled with the sounds of loud screaming,
sirens blaring, and evil laughter intermixed between songs like "The Monster
Mash" and the theme song from "The Adams Family". Various horror movie set type
displays are throughout, as well as newer effect like a vortex tunnel and laser
light show. Thankfully my only real fear, having something reach out and grab
me, didn’t happen. Wally later told me that fear is the first thing people are
paranoid about, but he tells them: “Nothing will touch you. They’re all dead!”
After surviving my trip
through the Haunted Mansion, I went around the corner to another creepy
attraction, the Torture Museum, which Wally purchased four years ago. The
museum is filled with pain inducing devices like a guillotine, a Chinese Death
Cage, an iron gag, and many other ghastly mechanisms. With over forty exhibits,
you get a good history lesson of implements of suffering from around the globe,
which I amusingly learned inspires many of the visiting parents to playfully
threaten their kids with. Summer employee Tim Cleland told me: “Probably about
ninety percent of the families that come out of here tell their children, you
better eat your vegetables, because I got plans for you now!”
Having had enough creepiness
for the day, I finished my tour of Wally’s attractions with The Shootin’ Gallery,
a fun Haunted Manor themed electronic shooting gallery where you shoot targets
to win tickets that can be traded in for prizes.
Before I left, I had to ask
Wally which of his attractions is his favorite. He told me laughingly: “The one
that makes the most money!” While he wouldn’t disclose which one that was, he
did wrap things up by saying what his favorite thing is about owning Dells
attractions: “My favorite is the joy of owning a well-oiled machine. You got
everything clicking; it’s Saturday in the Dells; people are here, and you
collect the money!”
For more pictures of my visit to these attractions visit the Dells Bucket List Facebook Page here.
