Professor Fate's House of Fun

What is the "history" of Circus Center, you might ask? Well, it's only rumor, but from what I've heard, it all goes back to a strange and mysterious character named Professor Fate. Who was Prof. Fate? Well, supposedly, he was a showman, a world traveler, and most notoriously, a compulsive gambler. And as luck would have it, a very good gambler, who won a fortune over his lifetime. With his winnings, he built Circus Center, and also, a large manor in which to live. He flippantly called it his House of Fun. But it soon would become anything but "fun".

Well, as the story goes, shortly after returning from a trip to Egypt to visit the pyramids and the tombs of the pharoahs, he was found dead. Whether by natural causes or foul play, no one ever knew. Soon, more rumors spread about a fortune in treasure, hidden deep within the walls of his manor. Other, more sinister rumors spread about secret dungeons and strange noises coming from within Fate's "House of Fun". And so, the residents of Circus Center decided what better than to open up Fate's manor to the public, as another attraction for guests to explore...and hopefully, survive.

A view of Circus Center, with Fate's House of Fun looming in the background.

When I first built the Wonder World model, there was no Professor Fate. The large, blue and white manor was the generically named "Fun House". And of course, it was just an exterior. There were no interiors in the Wonder World model. But when I re-created Wonder World with RCT3, I could finally build the interiors of the dark rides in the park. And so, I came up with a back story featuring Prof. Fate, and turned a generic fun house into something more interesting as well as mysterious and creepy.

Just as custom scenery had allowed me to greatly improve the look of Circus Center, Fate's House of Fun was also greatly improved, both inside and out. The entire exterior was completely re-done with my own custom scenery, while the interior of the ride got a nice facelift using mostly CS sets created by others in the RCT3 community. If you look back at the screenshots and video in the first article, "Wonder World...The Story Begins," you'll see the improvement.

Here are several shots of the House of Fun exterior and queue.

Perfect weather for a visit to a creepy old manor.

Some guests are milling about the exit.

Guests leaving the House of Fun. Well, at least these peeps survived.

Entering the queue through Prof Fate's walled garden.

Professor Fate's grave. But is he really dead?

The queue winds itself through the garden.

Guests wonder what lies in store for them as they enter Fate's manor.

Now it's time to board the ride vehicles inside Prof. Fate's House of Fun. A portrait of Professor Fate hangs over the fireplace.

As the ride begins, we are immediately greeted by a framed picture of circus clowns.

Past Fate's living quarters, another clown portrait hangs on the wall. This one seems just a little bit menacing to me.

We confront a giant pair of eyeballs while heading down this creepy hallway. I'm hoping that there's some kind of invisible doorway here, or else this will be a very short ride.

Yikes! More scary clowns.

 These must be the grim grinning gargoyles.

Someone needs to do something about the decor in this house. And it appears we have a spider problem.

So there is a dungeon hidden inside the manor....and skeletons, too.

More skeletons.

This dungeon is looking more like a torture chamber to me.

Looks like we're heading for a spinning tube. So this is a fun house!

Inside the spinning tube...and at the end, another scary clown.

We appear to be outside now. Although the manor seems to have changed somewhat...as has the garden surrounding it.

So, is this some kind of psychedelic version of Fate's manor?

Dad doesn't seem to be enjoying this ride. Maybe the carousel is more his speed.

Fate must have brought back a mummy from his last trip. Is it to keep people away or to keep them from escaping?

The old guy looks angry. Maybe he was hoping the mummy would have grabbed the brat sitting next to him.

Looks like the ride is coming to an end...if we can get past that evil knife-wielding clown.

A final nighttime shot of Fate's House of Fun.

Now take a ride yourself, if you dare.

Now you've seen all of the refurbished, original section of Circus Center. In the future, the land would double in size, with new all new rides and attractions. But that, I'll save for another time.