The town of Endsworth has a long history where only one major export was constant: pumpkins. These people live and breathe gourds. While farmers elsewhere see the region’s extensive weasel population as a blight, farmers here love them because of their tendency to eat those damn rats and bunnies that keep gnawing on the pumpkins.

When Pumpkin Playland was in its design phase, park officials knew they would have to heavily base its main attraction on these two themes. They decided to theme their main attraction to the fantasy book series Weasel War Dance; the only creative work of note to come from the area. The books were stylized takes on local tales, which saw heroic weasel armies locked in a never-ending war with the pumpkin-eaters. It was also notorious for traumatizing generations with its shocking depictions of graphic violence and supernatural entities. Perfect.

The ride would operate on powered rails, which granted designers greater control over how riders would experience each element, as well as the then-state-of-the-art animatronics that replicated iconic scenes from the series. With help from technology a whole new generation would experience the pumpkin-based terror.