A California man who once turned his garage into a haunted house is seeking to stop a Missouri amusement park from naming its water ride the “Mystic River Falls” because he alleges it’s too close to the “Mystic Motel” name he dubbed his own attraction.
The Springfield News-Leader reports that Scott D’Avanzo’s lawyer sent a letter to Silver Dollar City arguing it should change the name of the ride that opens next summer to avoid confusion and unfair competition.
Silver Dollar City sued in response, saying in court documents filed this month that it doesn’t believe its multi-million-dollar ride will be mistaken for the haunted house D’Avanzo created in 2013 at his Orange County home.
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The lawsuit says D'Avanzo's haunted house is no longer operational, and the "Mystic Motel" name doesn't appear to be in use.
In 2018, D'Avanzo's revamped his Orange County ride to create a Christmas version that was operational that year called "Journey to Polar Point."
Mystic Motel would not be operational for Christmas 2019, according to its Twitter feed, after a flood at the Ladera Ranch attraction.
Correction: In a story dated Oct. 28, 2019 about a legal fight over the name of an amusement ride at Silver Dollar City in Missouri, The Associated Press reported erroneously that a California man had sued the amusement park. Silver Dollar City sued the man, Scott D’Avanzo, after his attorney sent a letter to the park requesting that the “Mystic River Falls” name be changed.
A corrected version of the story is above.
