This submechanophobic nightmare is an animatronic dragon that used to be part of the Merlin
show at the Excalibur Hotel in Las Vegas.
But one day, the performance closed, never to open again.
This led to a sea of doubts and mystery regarding this animatronic's destiny and probable whereabouts.
So, we're here today to solve these doubts and discuss this hotel's history and its animatronics.
Part 1 A different kind of Gambling
Before we get to see this abandoned animatronic and solve what happened to it, we have to
know the history of this robot and its connection to the hotel that houses it.
It was the 1990s, and Las Vegas, the world's entertainment capital, was in serious trouble.
Casino attendance and profits were falling dramatically, so these casinos realized they
needed to diversify their offerings in order to appeal to a wider audience.
But the big problem was that restaurants and theme parks had a great advantage in terms
of entertainment.
Restaurants like the Rain Forest Cafe and Chuck E Cheese popularized the use of animatronics,
and this gave them this advantage.
Similarly, the opening of Universal Studios in Orlando and Euro Disney in Paris reflected
the growing popularity of such attractions.
As a result, casinos like MGM Grand invested over $100 million to develop these types of
offerings.
MGM Grand Adventure, an amusement park that featured rides such as "The Wizard of Oz"
and "The Backlot River Tour."
was one of these examples.
Circus-Circus Enterprises, for its part, had originally planned a massive casino with a
never-before-seen twist, one that would focus on activities for the entire family.
The challenge was figuring out how to do it.
Part 2 The rise of Excalibur
Introducing: The Excalibur.
At the time, William Bennett, the president of Circus Circus Enterprises, and Veldon Simpson,
the project's chief architect, had a big problem and mission on their hands.
They had to create a unique concept, a design that would break all kinds of conventional
molds.
But how would they do it?
It occurred to them that they should combine the aspects of theater and festivals.
They drew their ideas from the legendary city of Camelot, but they added a fun twist by
making each tower a distinct color and size.
They wanted this castle to be as one-of-a-kind as they could make it so that it would stand
out against the backdrop of Las Vegas.
Finally, a grand opening was held in 1990, and the hotel immediately became known as
the largest resort hotel in the world, with more than 4,000 guest rooms spread across
more than 70 acres.
An enormous spectacle complete with trumpet players, pyrotechnics, and the release of
thousands of balloons marked the inauguration.
The purpose of this hotel was to provide its visitors with the experience of being transported
back in time to the days of knights, fair maidens, jousting, and feasting.
For instance, it was not uncommon to see hotel security mounted on horseback in the parking
lot, dressed as medieval knights.
Guests who rode the people mover to the hotel's entrance were treated to a spectacular fountain/waterfall
that towered more than 30 feet above the Fantasy Faire below They also had the opportunity
to explore a medieval village that featured roaming minstrels, jugglers, and magicians,
as well as free ten-minute shows on the Court Jester's Stage every half hour from 10 a.m.
to 10 p.m. daily.
Two 48-seat motion simulators known as Merlin's Magic Motion Machines could be found on the
Fantasy Faire level..
Many more attractions appeared as time passed, such as King Arthur's Tournament, which opened
in 1992, and evolved into the Tournament of Kings.
Part 3 Merlin vs. Murphy
Everything was going swimmingly until 1993.
During this time, the hotel suffered a significant challenge; it needed another option to entertain
its customers during rush hour in the casinos.
And the clear answer to this was to commission a new performance.
This new show would be an epic battle between Merlin and a dragon, and what better way to
bring it to life than with the use of animatronics?
The perfect company to work on these animatronics would be AVG Productions, who had previously
worked on the Tex Critter Band and many other impressive projects.
The AVG team created a gigantic 71 feet dragon.
It took nine months and numerous clay and foam prototypes to develop a suitably convincing
and scary opponent for the cunning wizard.
Once they did, they gave it glowing yellow eyeballs, hand-painted scales, and a crimson-red
grimace.
The dragon was made to be maneuverable and even included a removable rubber neck in case
it "swallowed" something by accident, like a fallen hat or camera.
"The dragon" was given the name Murphy in honor of Murphy's Law.
Where have we heard that before?
This was because while the dragon's lair was being constructed, everything that could go
wrong went wrong.
They even had to hollow out the pillar a little to make room for the dragon.
But, when everything was done, from six pm to twelve am each evening, visitors could
watch an hourly battle below.
From the vantage point of the drawbridge, they saw the 71-foot animatronic fire-breathing
dragon wage battle against Merlin, who defended the castle by shooting a series of fireballs
at the scaly beast, who eventually slunk off back to its lair.
Part 4 The Downfall
The audience gave this show a standing ovation, and it was a must-see when visiting Excalibur.
But over time, the animatronics' mechanisms wore out, and the show got worse and worse,
to the point where it was once considered the worst attraction show in Las Vegas.
Although this may be an exaggeration, who could hate a fight between animatronics?
Many believe that poor reviews led to the show's cancellation in 2001, although, in
fact, the attraction's high operating costs were the real reason it was shut down.
In 2004, the show's executives also had to deal with another major issue.
They were tasked with eliminating the medieval and fantastical aspects of the Excalibur hotel,
which seemed impossible given that the building itself is a castle.
The medieval performers vanished,, and the Merlin theater and other venues were shuttered
so that adult entertainment could be staged.
As a result of Excalibur's demise, the animatronics were left to rust.
Final part: The dragon mystery and the animatronic detective
People eventually forgot about these animatronics, but after a few years, legends began to emerge
about their fate.
Nobody knew for sure what had happened to them, but one of the most widely accepted
theories was that the dragon was still abandoned and submerged in the moat.
In 2010, a photograph surfaced that added fuel to the mystery, confirming that the dragon
remained abandoned, but no one could confirm it because access to the moat was restricted.
TikTok users began uploading videos in which they speculated on the dragon's existence
and offered evidence to support their claims, but no one dared to investigate the mystery
until today.
This is Freddy Trap.
He owns a channel dedicated to animatronics that has recently been answering animatronic
mysteries, such as how the "New Rock-afire Explosion" began and ended and many more.
But Freedy Trap recently ran into a major issue after watching a viral video by vegasfeedz.
In this video, the user commented that the dragon animatronic was still abandoned on
the moat, despite the fact that the dragon is never seen in the video.
Freddy Trap continued to follow the story in the hopes that someone would solve this
mystery, but no one did, so he saved money and went to Las Vegas.
At first, he was hesitant to go because he was concerned about making the trip and not
finding anything.
But in the end, he reasoned that even if he didn't find anything, he would have evidence
that the dragon was no longer there, and the trip would be worth it.
So he decided to go ahead with the adventure.
When he arrived at the Excalibur, Freddy discovered that the moat was entirely emptied.
So he scoped out the grounds to see if there was a way he could go down and back up safely.
He found a path, crossed the bridge, walked through the doors, and finally saw a huge
machine in disrepair, like something out of a mechatronic nightmare.
This machine was the dragon.
This animatronic looked like it could be the boss of a Five Nights At Freddy's game.
The dragon is in a decadent state and entirely deteriorated.
This does not imply that with maintenance, it might not recover, but at the moment, it
looks terrible.
You may see an old sign in the dragon dungeon that states that the dragon is not operational.
But the silver lining is that the Merlin animatronic is still housed in the shack.
From what witnesses have said, though, the animatronic is thankfully in better shape
than the dragon despite missing its head.
Freddy almost had legal troubles for sneaking into this area to get the video, so he definitely
does not recommend anybody to try to do what he did.
The place is full of surveillance, and security around the area has increased.
But thanks to his video, a 22-year mystery has been solved.
But with this answer, many more questions arise.
Will the animatronics be repaired?
Will the show ever return?
Only time will tell.
But in the meantime, check out these animatronics that will give you nightmares.