Photos of Idlewild's Mister Rogers Neighborhood Ride with photos

[Sweetie]

Hey all!

I took at trip to Idlewild Amusement Park in Ligonier PA this weekend. It's a really cool old park (one of the USA's oldest.)

One of the most interesting rides is the Mister Roger's Neighborhood of Make Believe.

Outside the ride, a sign shows pictures of the set construction and information regarding Fred Rogers and his input on the attraction:


If you would like to read the sign click here.



The ride starts aboard a full size "trolley"



You go through the tunnel into the Neighborhood of Make Believe. On the walls of the tunnel you can see "hello" written in many languages (similar to It's a Small World.)

Our first stop is at the castle where we are greeted by King Friday the XIII. Friday and the other characters are animatronic, but not exactly state of the art.



The King greets the Trolley, us and our guide. She interacts with him timing her voice to the playback of Fred Rogers' recorded voice.

King Friday invites us to a "Hug and Song" party where we will sing and hug.

He then instructs us to invite everyone else.

Our next stop is Cornflake S. Pecially's shop.


He shows us a chair he made and says he will come to the "Hug and Song."

Next we visit Dr. Bill Platypus and Elsie Jean Platypus.


They agree to come to the party.

So we move on to Lady Elaine Fairchilde at the Museum Go Round.


She says she might be "too busy" to come.


Another stop takes us to X the Owl and Henrietta *****cat. Sorry, but I could not get a picture before they went back inside their doors.

Daniel Striped Tiger is next:

He is so cute that he garnered an "awww" from the guests after almost each line he said.

Daniel is glad to be invited and says he will take "a shortcut" and meet us there. The shortcut line is clever, because as a kid I remembered other rides where characters appeared twice with no explanation as to how they PASSED our vehicle without us seeing them. Great touch.


The final stop before we get to the party is the castle's playground. Here Prince Tuesday is hanging out with Ana Platypus.

They are both excited about the party.

Finally, we get to the party. Everyone is here...


Oh no! Lady Elaine never showed!



No wait! She is there, she was just late. King Friday announces that we can hug "whomever we want to hug" as we sing "It's such a good feeling."

We end by going back into the tunnel again where the word "goodbye" is written in many languages.

The ride was really well done. The animatronics weren't too impressive, but this was not a ride designed to "wow" you.

It was definitely a healthy dose of nostalgia.

Afterwards I headed into the gift shop where they had more Mister Rogers stuff than I have ever seen for sale anywhere.

[OogieBoogie]

Thank for the photos. They look great.

So I guess this means someone's going to be building a Captain Kangaroo ride next.

[Sweetie]

A Captain Kangaroo ride? Maybe that's what he and Fred were doing in this photo:

[FrumiousBoojum]

I'd love to see a Howdy Doody ride.

[Melonballer]

Thanks for the photos. I've always wanted to see this ride.

[MissChristine]

Yay! Thanks SO much for these pictures! I've got great childhood memories of going to Idlewild park and going to Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. If you go back, would you be willing to take other pictures; like the Crazy Mouse, that roller coster that I don't remember the name of, the water park, and Story Book Forest. Wow, now I really want to go back.

[Sweetie]

I didn't do Soak Zone, but I loved Storybook Forrest. If I go back I promise to take some more photos (I live 6 hours away.)

Here are a few my wife took this time:










BTW: I just realized the title of this thread is "Photos of Idlewild's Mister Rogers Neighborhood Ride with photos"

Can you say redundant?

[Crazy Legs]

thanks for sharing love the photos

[geekzapoppin]

I always wondered what this looked like. I miss Mister Rogers. Sniff.

It cracks me up that the filter won't even let you type Henrietta's last name. I guess you could spell it "Puddytat". Anyone old enough to remember Grampere and The Frog Family? Boy, I'm dating myself here. I still remember when King Friday married Queen Sarah.

[migo]

That ride looks positively craptastic! I love it!

[Melonballer]

Originally Posted by geekzapoppin

I always wondered what this looked like. I miss Mister Rogers. Sniff.

It cracks me up that the filter won't even let you type Henrietta's last name. I guess you could spell it "Puddytat". Anyone old enough to remember Grampere and The Frog Family? Boy, I'm dating myself here. I still remember when King Friday married Queen Sarah.

I remember Grampere, but not the Frog Family. Mr. Rogers was incredible.

[disneytim]

Originally Posted by OogieBoogie

So I guess this means someone's going to be building a Captain Kangaroo ride next.

Ooooh. Will we get to throw ping pong balls???

[MissChristine]

Yay!! Thanks for the Storybook Forest pictures!! That dunce kid has not changed at all. I love it!!

[SpookyBear]

Just seeing Daniel Striped Tiger in that photo garnered an awww from me. I can still hear his voice in my head.

I remember watching Mr. Rogers when I was a kid. Thanks for the photos!

[Disney Wrassler]

I remember always wanting to play with the trolley and all the toy homes from the world of make believe that Mr. Rogers had in the room right next to his living room.