Magic Carpet Ride and Dragon Cave

Dear Mr. Coney Island...
Can you please tell me who ran the Magic Carpet Ride in Coney Island. Also where did the fat laughing lady Minnie Ha Ha come from. Where was she made. Are there some oictures of her that I can purchase? What about her voice? I am also interested in pictures of the dragons cave and the donkey game next to the Magic Carpet Ride. What information can you give me on the man that painted the inside of Playland. I remember the beautiful pictures painted on the walls as well as all over.
- Sal

Hello Sal,

Here's a photo of the Magic Carpet Fun House on the Bowery at West 15th Street. The attraction was run by Edie and Seymour Maxim who also operated the Donkey Game next door. The last version of the robotic laughing lady was actually a German-made laughing male figure in drag. The Coney Island History Project is planning an exhibition of work by the artist who painted the Playland murals. Keep checking our web site for more information.

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Comments

I remember the last "slide" to that ride was the magic carpet, correct? you had to go into a dark booth with a long bench made out of metal rollers that all of a sudden straightened out into a sheet of rollers and your feet pushed through 2 swinging doors onto the magic carpet! - is this the ride??

Hey Sal, I also was anxious to see a picture of Minnie, I was like 6 years old when my dad told me in Spanish “look look , Elsie “ pointing at her .. I was so scared especially thst laughter, anyway if you go to you tube abs type Coney Island 1976.. a bunch of videos pop up but look fir the one that says Coney Island 1976, she’s in it!!! For years I’ve been looking to see if she was somewhere in internet.. and finally someone posted one.. she’s toward the end of the video.. check it out.. if you wanted to see her..

ride with dragon head was owned by my fathers cousins.

ride with dragon's head was owned by my fathers cousins.

the laughing lady was in the dragon' ride

Hey Guys, thanks so much for the pictures... :-) , I grew up at the magic carpet and eventually married Edith's daughth Liz. If only we could turn back the clock. I live on West 16th Street between Mermaid and Neptune avenues. So many GREAT memories.

That laughing lady gave me nightmares! I loved Coney Island, but I dreaded walking past her with her gelatinous belly jiggling as she guffawed! I would live to see a photo, or better yet, a video of her.

I used to work for Sporty when he owned the Dragon's Cave. It was genuinely haunted

Earlier today my brother and I were reminiscing about Coney Island in the 70s. We brought up a dark ride that was in the Bowery that had a green and red dragon’s head that swayed from side to side. We were trying to remember the name and looked for pics online. When I came across the picture of the Dragons Cave, both my brother and I don’t remember the dragon looking like that. Was there another similar ride in the area or are we just forgetting because of how long ago it’s been lol?

Hi, Everybody. The fat, jiggly, hysterically laughing Lady was at the Funhouse, and the equally hysterically cackling Witch was in the Dragon's Cave. I remember the Dragon's head moved side to side, emitting a little steam from its mouth or nostrils. The Dragon's Cave scared the bejesus out of me :)

Is there a copy of that laugh tape still in existence? I’d like to sample it for a recording

Hi, I tried looking myself because I also remembered her, I was really little, anyway if you go on YouTube these one called laughing sal from lakeside, it has the same laughter but I don’t think it’s the same one Coney Island had, im sure u can find the whole laughing version somewhere on YouTube.

I worked i CI at Eldorado bumping disco in the early 70's but as a kid always went to the fun house with my family. That lady laughing recording always stuck in my head fo over 50 years any idea where i can get a copy of that ? That laugh is unforgettable thanks. MIKE

Hey , go on Google and search laughing sal. A bunch come up, but if u want to see the ones from dragons cave and magic carpet ride check out 1972 movie called Carnival of Blood! They show both of them , laughing sals, from Dragon’s Cave and Magín Carpet ride, even some of the inside of them. Movie is cheesy, but I love how they use the laughing sals in background when a murder is committed in movie and how they show Coney Island in the early 70s!

In 1966 I also went to the fun house and recall the fat lady laughing. I would stare at the lady as she would catch her breath and then start laughing again. I looked the hey you tube but could not see the same lady I seen back in the 60s.

My brother and I were reminiscing about Coney Island today and remembered a dark ride in the Bowery by Nathan’s that had a red and green motorized dragons head that swayed side to side. Someone on another forum had told me that it was the Dragons Cave but when we both looked at the picture, it seemed different from what we both remember. Was there another dark ride that we are remembering?

Hi, i am so glad to find this information that was posted. Thanks. I remember seeing the dragon as a little girl but was scared to do the ride. What was the dragon cave like.

Hi .. look for this movie called carnival of blood 1972 ..with Burt Young, the guy from the Rocky movies.. they show the inside of the dragons cave ride..and the fat laughing lady. Still to this day I can’t stop thinking I out that terrifying laugh!!

Jack,
If you were married to Edith's daughter, did you have the Shot Out the Star next door to the Magic Carpet Ride? My brother, brother-in-law and I worked there for a summer in 1976.

I remember directly next to the Magic Carpet was the Penny Arcade and across from us was the Thunderbolt roller coaster and the go karts... I had the Italian Sausage and Hot Corn stand around the corner next to the Gypsy Fortune Teller and on the corner was Shatzkins Knishes. Wow that was such an incredible time in my life....wish I could bring it back. Do you remember Steeplechase?

I remember the racing horses that went around the top of the building at Steeplechase Park. It had to be the most dangerous ride. Four horses riding on a single rail. The heavier you were the faster you went. What a rush. Likewise, the more pressure you applied made you go faster.

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