![]() ![]() “The reward is that we’re working for ourselves,” Janice Coleman says. All of the voice acting for the creatures was done by Daryn. When money ran out to pay a professional artist, Janice finished the artwork on the walls. Movements are tripped by motion sensors, and pressure plates that Daryn Coleman built into the floors.ĭuring a tour, Janice absentmindedly adjusted bits of netting and hanging plants - the little details that are as important to the Ghost Golf aesthetic as the complicated puppetry. ![]() The Colemans’ efforts can be seen in the finished product, which has an animatronic band, howling ghouls, shaking walls and other creative practical effects and illusions. The contrast is striking - a bland tan box of a building filled with movement and music and one-of-a-kind animated puppet creations. The slow death of home video was the family’s gain - they moved three years ago into a more sprawling location at a former Hollywood Video on the eastern edge of Concord. James Tensuan/Special to The Chronicle Show More Show Less James Tensuan/Special to The Chronicle Show More Show Less 9 of9 Kylia Blackstock, left, and Dawna Vann play mini-golf at Ghost Golf. James Tensuan/Special to The Chronicle Show More Show Less 8 of9 A skeleton welcomes guests at Ghost Golf. James Tensuan/Special to The Chronicle Show More Show Less 7 of9 Skeletons and other creatures surround the mini-golf course at Ghost Golf. James Tensuan/Special to The Chronicle Show More Show Less 6 of9 Humorous headstones line the course at Ghost Golf. James Tensuan/Special to The Chronicle Show More Show Less 5 of9 A statue looks over the mini-golf course at Ghost Golf. James Tensuan/Special to The Chronicle Show More Show Less 4 of9 Ghost Golf owners Janice and Daryn Coleman pose for a photograph in front of their business. James Tensuan/Special to The Chronicle Show More Show Less 3 of9 Ghost Golf owner Daryn Coleman poses for a photograph in his business in Concord. ![]() James Tensuan/Special to The Chronicle Show More Show Less 2 of9 Dawna Vann plays mini-golf at Ghost Golf. Daryn and his wife Janice Coleman combined their love for mini-golf with Disney animatronics by creating a haunted mansion meets Pirates of the Caribbean themed course. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateġ of9 Ghost Golf owners Janice and Daryn Coleman pose for a photograph in front of their business in Concord, Calif. Building the course, building the walls, painting …” “We spent months, 10- and 12-hour days, every day, working shoulder to shoulder. We gathered together everything we had and put it into this place,” Daryn Coleman says. They threw the mortar on the walls, constructed the course, built the puppets and created the business plan, originally leasing a tiny storefront near downtown Concord. The Colemans built Ghost Golf after Daryn lost his job in 2009. With many worthy candidates - see our story with others including roller skating, slot car racing and an aircraft carrier museum - Ghost Golf is the centerpiece of our inaugural San Francisco Chronicle Sunday Datebook cool-things-to-do Indoor Issue. The answer to that question is Ghost Golf, their Concord business that is part Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion, part arcade, part miniature golf course, and 100 percent family owned. I started thinking ‘What could we do to use this stuff year-round?’” “I got tired of storing it all away, working all year long, then getting two or three hours of glory. The last couple of years, we had people lined up down the street, wanting to get in,” Daryn Coleman says. ![]() “Stuff would pop up at you, and we’d tell a story. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |