The fourth of six stand alone caches which will each contain a digit for the elusive final. This hide is a mystery. The coordinates that you will gather from answering some questions will bring you a short walk away (as the crow flies) to the final which is a bison (smallish micro) with room for a log and a clue. THERE IS NO NEED TO RUMMAGE AROUND IN ANY GARDENS OR DINOSAURS.
Take a seat and take in the sights. Notice the former entrance to Maple Leaf Village that was once just down the street towards the Casino, the Skywheel overhead, and the ginornmous dinosaurs everywhere?
Geomom managed the beer garden inside the Village for many years and has amazing memories of the ol' park. Playing pool at Shabooms, using the observation deck as a lookout for the hotel rooftop pools, and always sitting around with a few cold ones and talking about our many tourist tales with friends and employees alike. Some of the best times ever!
Please feel free to share any additional information, photos, memories, or thoughts here too.
Happy cachin'
MAPLE LEAF VILLAGE
Opened in 1979, and was an attraction which had a large shopping mall that had many different stores and attractions as well as rides outside. There was an old time photo shop, a candy store , Ripley's Beleive it Or Not Museum (where you could talk to a "Genie in a bottle"), the Elvis Presley Museum, and numerous different souvenir stores. There were also attractions for kids, including a large play area that had a ball crawl, rope climbs, etc. In later years, there was a laser game, where players went though 4 chambers, shooting at aliens behind glass walls as they lit up. Points were scored for how many you hit, and you would see how well you did at the end of the game. Lilly Langtrees Theatre housed live shows, and near the end of the mall, featured a magician. A nightclub called Shaboom's featured music from the 50's, along with great food and a couple of classic cars. Robert Gibbs, who once operated the haunted house at Wet 'n' Wild had Nightmares haunted house inside the Mall. The second floor had a large food court (where most of the Park workers could be found when not at thier rides) that had food for all tastes.The amusement park outside featured the largest Ferris Wheel in the Western Hemisphere.
SKYLON TOWER
This indoor amusement park was underground in the tower's lower level, 10 metres below grade. It's not known the year this began. The complex was originally owned by Niagara International and partly operated by Canadian Pacific, which bought the whole thing in 1975. It was then purchased by two hotel owners in 1986, one of whom now solely owns the entire complex. It is thought the amusement rides were installed in 1986 by those owners. However, since there were definitely rides there in the 1970s, the hotel owners must have added to and/or modernized the rides at that time.
There was quite an elaborate ghost/western town dark ride with many tricks in it including the illusion of falling barrels. A saloon scene was located to the left as one went down the escalator. Also there was a beautiful antique carousel with some tiger figures on it and a working organ." (This was an Armitage-Herschell unit that was orginally at Erie beach. It was leased to Skylon by the then current owner who had had it restored.)
PYRAMID PLACE
Located near the Skylon Tower, on Robinson St. and was built using a closed factory on the site. Pyramid Place opened in 1979 with attractions inside the building.Kids Place, a complex of wooden ramps, rope climbs , tunnels, and other types of kid powered equipment, was opened in 1980. later in 1980, 14 new attractions were added to the playground in a $650,000.00 expansion. It was billed as a million dollar playground. It failed poorly and the entire complex was closed in 1983 because of financial reasons. In August 1984, a fire destroyed the entire playground area. Arson was suspected, and the fire caused $50,000.00 in damage. One of the main problems in fighting the fire, were layers of wood chips spread out along the ground under the playground equipment.
The Questions:
How many gondolas did the Giant Wheel have?
a) 20
b) 30
c) 40
d) 50
How many rotations was the ride on the Giant Wheel?
a) 3
b) 4
c) 5
d) 6
How many rides were in the park in the final year?
a) 18
b) 20
c) 22
d) 30
Once you have the answers multiply all four numbers to get a four digit number, (checksum is in the hint).
Take that number and divide it by 1000.
Subtract that number from 08.658 to get the North offset.
Subtract that same four digit number from 08.354 to get the West offset.
Happy cachin'