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RIVERVIEW PARK RIDE FILM CLIPS AND INFORMATION

Over the years many different amusement rides were in place at Riverview. Some long forgotten, some unique, and a few that survived almost the entire life of the park. Some had urban legends attached to them and some had truths that were never known.

We have added some clips to this page from film footage that was discovered after fifty years in storage. It was dated 1953 and quality is very poor but we hope most will be recognizable to many who remember these nostalgic times.

Coaster 2.

Misc. Rides1.

Shoot the Chutes1.

View a short streaming video of a digital re-creation of the Coaster done with "NoLimits" (tm) computer software by clicking here... Computerized simulation is amazing!!

VIEW

HOLD CURSOR OVER MAP BUILDING or RIDE to see Identification

Rides and Attractions Listing

- Starting clockwise from the bridge...
Ferris Wheel
Carousel
Little Train Station and Train
Junior Hot Rods (formerly occupied by a live poney ride)
Scat (formerly occuppied by Flying Scooters)
Chill Thrill (redesigned Cuddle Up)
Umbrella Ride (mini kiddie vehicles)
Giant Pillow Bounce
Miniture Golf Course
Skyfighter
Kiddie Boats
Rock O Plane (very early location of the Ferris Wheel)
I. Q. Zoo (formerly bear and money cages)
Mirror Maze
Hi Striker (Ring the Bell)
Coaster
Shoot the Chutes
Guess Your Weight Scale
Various Games
Haunted House (formerly Jungle Ride)
Gift and Novelty Stand
Himalaya (formerly occupied by Tumble Bug)
Wild Mouse (formerly occupied by Gas Go Karts)
Riviera Ballroom
Playground
Scrambler (original location of Ferris Wheel)
Giant Slide
Skee Ball
Various Games
Shooting Gallery
Penny Arcade (with Laffing Sal mechanical clown retired in approx 1962)
Dodgem (Bump Cars, in Arcade)
Pine Room Restaurant (later Bingo and Pizza)
Speed Boat Dock and Boat Rides (on Lagoon, formerly boat rentals))

WILD MOUSE -As it careens around corners, riders of the Wild Mouse have the illusion that they will fall off the edge of the track, providing yet another thrill for coaster lovers of all ages. Contrary to local uban myth that a mouse car left the track on a top curve and plummetted down into the lagoon, this never really happened but it was never formally denied since it gave the ride a little more thrill and reputation. The only major accident on this ride while at Riverview occurred when a car stopped suddenly (as it should) when it hit a broken track weld at the bottom of a dip and threw the rear passenger over and out of the car about six feet to the ground

Wild mouse- Track length 1,214 feet
Maximum lift height 50 feet
Maximum speed 28 mph
Length of ride 1 minute, 58 seconds
Capacity 835 riders per hour

ROLLER COASTER -This King of the park was around for 48 years. It replaced the Jack Rabbit Coaster that burned around 1919. Named simply "The Coaster" it was designed by John Miller, known for his coaster design and patents. This was a unique design in as much as every single one of the coasters 8 dips went clear to the ground before ascending the next. The 3 car (3 seats to a car) train was released from the loading station and entered a tunnel before climbing up tracks on a 65 foot high incline. Once released from the pull up chain it was completely free wheeling and on its own until it returned to the station. This could make the running of 2 trains simultaneously during busy times, a little tricky and stressfull for the operators since under no circumstances did you want two trains loose on the track at the same instance. One train should be in the station loading while the second was loose on the track.

The rumors would abound about deaths on this ride also but in actuality, from 1945 on there was only one that was documented around 1955 when a rider stood up after going up the incline, turned to look at his friends in the seat behind while standing, and was knocked out of the car (and over the edge 65 feet above the ground) by a light fixture on a pole that hung over the track. This was before the days of lap bars or restraints of any kind. Also their were a few entries in old logs that referred to a few heart attacks while riding but no official documentation. Prior to 1945, sometime in the thirties, a suicide leap was supposedly documented but those records have been lost for years.

Coaster-
Style = figure 8, 8 dips to the ground.
Track length = 2690 feet
Maximum lift height = 65 feet
Drop = 65 feet
Maximum speed = 39 mph
Length of ride = 1 minute, 50 seconds

In the very early years there many other rides and attractions..and the park was constantly changing to try and have something new every year they opened to attract guests back time and again. For example, there once was a FunHouse complete with a large turning barrel, rotating disc floor, and the (mandatory) air jet skirt lifters. Unfortunately it was lost in the 1933 major park fire.

Also many defunct rides of the early 1900's, rowboat and canoe rentals, filtered swimming pool and bath house, flagpole sitters, organ grinders, fortune tellers, magicians, live concerts, school proms, skydiving exhibitions, beauty pageants, live radio broadcasts originating from the park, hydro plane boat races, circus animal zoo exhibits(bears, tigers, monkeys), airplane races, etc.

Probably one of the best remembered attractions was the annual 4th Of July Celebration with a Fireworks display that kept a fiery burst in the air at all times in an age where fireworks were all still launched by hand lighting and not computers. Quite an accomplishment as well as one of the best displays of the times.