Story Land

This article is about the New Hampshire theme park. For other uses, see Storyland (disambiguation).

Story Land
Location	Glen, New Hampshire, U.S.
Coordinates	44°06′58″N 71°10′58″W
Website	www.storylandNH.com
Owner	Palace Entertainment (Parques Reunidos)
Opened	1954
Rides	21 total
Slogan	"Where Fantasy Lives"

A carved wooden structure at the entrance of the park.

Story Land is a theme park located in Glen, New Hampshire.

In the few years prior to opening, the founders, Bob and Ruth Morrell, had purchased a large number of dolls from Germany based on storybook characters. This was the basis for the park. When it opened, it had just one ride: a ride on an old fire truck. By the end of the 20th century, the park spanned some 35 acres (140,000 m²) and had over 20 rides.

Story Land was operated by the family-owned Morrell Corporation from 1954 to 2007. After Stoney Morrell, son of the original owners, died, the park was sold to The Kennywood Entertainment Company. Kennywood was in turn bought by Parques Reunidos the following year. In 2009, it was placed under Parques Reunidos American division, Palace Entertainment.

Rides and attractions

Rides

• The Huff, Puff & Whistle Railroad train ride, which serves both as an attraction and as a shuttle service through the park. The trains include Train #2 with six red cars, Train #4 with six green cars, Train #47 with six blue cars and Train #18 with six purple cars used as a backup.
• Alice's Tea Cups
• Cinderella's Pumpkin Coach
• Story Land Queen
• Pirate ship Buccaneer
• Antique German Carousel
• Los Bravos Silver Mine Tours
• Turtle Twirl
• Bamboo Chutes
• Polar Coaster
• Great Balloon Chase
• Crazy Barn
• Dr. Geysers Remarkable Raft Ride
• Flying Fish
• Antique Cars
• Swan Boats
• Eggs-traordinary Farm Tractors
• Cuckoo Clockenspiel
• Whirling Whales
• Slipshod Safari Tour
• Dutch Flying Shoes
• Pharaoh's Reign Splash Battle

Attractions

• Grandfather Tree (Interactive Playground)
• Ball Pit
• Pirate Ship Playground
• Horse Race Game (A themed Elton Games Roll-a-Ball game)
• Shooting Gallery (featuring Cameras instead of rifles)
• Dutch Milking Cow
• Oceans of Fun sprayground
• King Neptune's Crab Crawl (A themed Bob's Space Racers Ramped Water game)
• Professor Bigglestep's Loopy Lab (play area and show area)
• Dr Geyser's Mini Geysers
• Little Dreamers Nursery Rhyme Play area

Featured interactive nursery rhymes and fairy tales

• "Humpty Dumpty"
• "Mary Mary, Quite Contrary"
• "The Old Woman in the Shoe" (Shoe and Character)
• "Goldilocks and The Three Bears" (House)
• "Little Red Riding Hood" (Grandmother's House)
• "Mary Had a Little Lamb" (School House)
• "1,2 Buckle My Shoe"
• "Little Miss Muffet"
• "Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater"
• "Cinderella" (Castle & Character)
• "Heidi" (Grandfather's House)

Animal attractions

• "Mary Had a Little Lamb" lambs
• "Peter Rabbit" rabbit
• "Three Billy Goats Gruff" goats
• "Heidi" goats
• "Goosey Goosey Gander" geese
• "Chicken Little" Chickens

A complete lists of Story Land rides can be found at their website.

Shows

• The Farm Follies is a live and animatronic interactive show describing the process of growing vegetables in a New England garden. It's hosted by Mr. Scarecrow.
• The Adventures of Molly Molecule is a live interactive show about a wacky science adventure with Molly Molecule (while Prof. Bigglestep is out at lunch) and her loopy lab assistants (Polly Proton and Beaker the Dog). Together the scientists discover the importance of Friendship.
• Hilltop Harmony is a live interactive show about Jack and Jill, Humpty Dumpty, Little Bo Peep, and a Eugene the Train Conductor, and being a good friend.
• Blake Daring Storybook Adventure is a live show featuring Susie Norman who has discovered Blake Daring's old Journal and as she reads the journal she finds herself on a musical adventure meeting all of the same crazy characters Blake did. They teach the audience that your imagination is a passport to an amazing adventure.
• ' Melody Farm Follies-A show first shown at the South Florida Fair for the 2011 season and is hosted by Hap the Happy Farm Boy and this show was also known as Good Time Jamboree by the annoucer. Good Time Jamboree puts on a nursery rhymes and farm show singing with Hap and his friends
• Foot-Tapping Jam-A toe-tapping experience featuring animatronics from Chuck E Cheese Studio C and 2 Stage

Heritage New Hampshire

Heritage New Hampshire, an attraction owned by the Morrell family and dedicated to New Hampshire history, was located next to Story Land for many years, but closed in 2006. The building still stands, unchanged and seemingly unused.

Heritage New Hampshire was an interactive museum that featured several actors that would play the role of a person who impacted New Hampshire's history. There was the captain of a tall ship from England, a woodsman, a newspaper printer, Mathew Brady (famous Civil War photographer), an engineer of a steam train through Crawford Notch, and others. The Morrell family often directly employed British university graduates as actors under the auspices of the BUNAC "Work America" work exchange programme for the summer season; this was a reciprocal arrangement which thus allowed American graduates to work in the UK during their vacations. The family were known for their hospitality and their foreign employees often featured in the Story Land Yearbooks.

As guests would move in between different sections of the museum, they would see some video footage, some animatronics, and some exhibits. There was a gift shop at the end of the museum tours.

References

Story Land by Jim Miller. Arcadia Publishing, July 2010. For more information, go to www.arcadiapublishing.com

External links

• Story Land website
• White Mountains Attractions Association
• Article about working at Story Land