Voyage To The Moon | Complete Ultimate Tribute | Story Land | Glen, New Hampshire

This was truly a labor of love. I hope that you enjoy my complete ultimate tribute to this former New Hampshire dark ride. Begin with the conceptualization of the ride and a detailed scene-by-scene description. Next is a segment on the construction, charting its progress from ground break to opening. Then, board your Golden Bullet ride vehicle and take a full, multi-angle journey through the original attraction. Enhanced and cleaned up multiple angles show every detail. Finally, take a look at the decline of the attraction, which ultimately led to its closing and future purpose.

From Wikipedia -

After a year of study and preparation, Story Land announced in 1981 that it would add a new, original, state-of-the-art dark ride. It would be housed in a fabric-covered dome 50 feet tall and 124 feet wide. Bob Morrell had seen a similar structure in a Florida cow field and was determined to add one to the park. The interior of the white fabric roof was painted black, and two of the creative collaborators on Heritage-NH, artisans Peter Stone and David Norton, were hired to create the storyline and scenes inside. The dome took shape in 1981. The skeletal steel of the huge cannon was ready in winter 1982. "Space Fantasy", later renamed "Voyage to the Moon", officially opened in June 1983 after nearly three years of engineering and construction. Gov. John Sununu shared the first five-minute voyage with Bob Morrell in the bullet cars built by Bradley and Kaye of California. Each car had speakers to broadcast sound effects triggered by an antenna underneath, computer-synchronized with lighting effects. The cars moved slowly through the cannon on a chain-driven conveyance into the darkened dome, slowly winding back down through a series of fantasy scenes such as a candy land and a polka dot sea, each populated by friendly, animated, imaginary creatures. By the mid-1990s, the high maintenance costs and low capacity of the Voyage to the Moon led to consideration of alternative uses for the domed structure. Story Land's only dark ride operated for about 15 years before the dome was converted to Professor Bigglestep's Loopy Lab play area during the winter of 1998/1999. The Loopy Lab contains an indoor playground full of foam balls, giant vacuums and hoses, and compressed air cannons. The original blackened ceiling was replaced by an all-white one in 2008.

Ride Transcript -

Mission Control 1 - Welcome aboard your voyage to the moon. Starting countdown now. Five funtastic seconds. Four fabulous seconds. Three terrific seconds. Two tiny seconds. And one wonderful second...blast off! How you doin' up there? You should see the moon any time.

Mission Control 2 - Look! A blackhole, oh no!

Mission Control 1 - A blackhole?! What do we do now?!

Mission Control 2 - I'm hiding under my desk.

Mission Control 1 - Duck! No, don't duck, lean to the right. It's not working. Do something!

Mission Control 2 - I am, I'm hiding under my desk.

Mission Control 1 - We're losing them. The radio is breaking up. (stutter & static) They're gone.

Wizard - ...Got to find my wand...w-who's there? Oh, it's you! I dreamt you would be coming, or did you dream me? Hmm. Whichever way it seems we've just had a dream. And now let’s try some others, or we can all be extreme and make magic moonbeams, and see the unseen. Don't be a Worry Whortle like these little guys. Why not be like Chuga? He spends all day dancing.

Chuga Chuga Puff Puff - I dance all day, I eat and play, I'm Chuga.

Other Creatures – Chuga.

Chuga Chuga Puff Puff - Move my feet to a beat, I'm Chuga.

Other Creatures – Chuga.

Wizard - If we solve the riddle, of being in the middle of a far off planet. Wishes for cake, and dreams that we make, take us back to the place that began it. For the answer is us, we're so fabulous. Make a wish, and I can grant it. We're one heck of a team to come up with this dream. Who'd have thought we could have planned it?

Ice Cream Cone Pixie-Land Band - The ice cream cone pixie-land band. The ice cream cone pixie-land band.

Wizard - Uh oh, look out for Mr. Blowhard. He's trying so hard to blow, and if he ever lets go, the ends switch for the start. That feels pretty good. On such a wonderful note, we can take off and float. From this dream land to the polka dot sea.

Sally The Sea Serpent - La la la la la la, la la la la la la, dumdee dumdee dumdee dumdee dah.

Wizard - Now you know what dreams can do, they're all of me and part of you. When dreaming is all you need to do, I touch my hat and dreams come true. We have been a totally amazing team, but now we must end this dream. Picture a place of which you're really fond, and to that place I raise my wand. Here's the Earth. Of all the places I've ever visited, this is my favorite. Here you are, safe and sound, right back where you started.

Children - Story Land!

Wizard - You've dreamed a lot, that's really great. Whoop it up and celebrate!