My experience at a possibly haunted Toys R Us

I've been lurking and posting on ATS for several years now, but I've never really had anything that I felt was interesting or original enough that I felt I could create a new topic about. Although that changed a couple of weeks ago, when I had what *may* have been a paranormal experience at our local Toys R Us. First, a little background....

Those familiar with supposedly haunted places in California have probably heard about the Toys R Us store in Sunnyvale, CA., although I have seen very little discussion regarding this store on ATS. Since the time it was built around 1970, there have been strange things that happen within the store, vouched by customers and employees alike.

www.sunnyvale.com...

"While shopping or working in the store, women with long hair were singled out by an unseen entity that enjoyed touching their hair. At times, men and women both reported hearing strange sounds or their names called softly by an unidentified person. In the 1970s woman’s bathroom, it was a common occurrence for water facets to turn themselves on or off without a showing explanation.... Objects were reported as flying up to 30-feet through the air without warnings, overnight mischief often resulted in merchandise, toys or books scattered over areas that were under lock-and-key, and some employees were feeling nervous about working alone in some sections of the store.... The ‘Toys R Us’ aisle number 15C is where many people claim to feel nervous and smell the aroma of freshly cut flowers from time-to-time."

The store got the attention of the 1970's show "That's Incredible", which devoted a segment to the phenomenon:



An infrared camera during a seance appeared to pick up a ghostly image of a man, which did not appear in photos using regular film from another camera at the same time:



Now, I lived in Sunnyvale for 18 years, up until about a year ago (I now live in nearby San Jose). I've probably been in that store 50-60 times, but I had never experienced anything out of the ordinary. However, my daughter and I were in the store a couple of weeks ago when the following happened---

I was at one of the cashiers, and my daughter went over to one of the little 50 cent candy dispensers. There's a purple Flintstones Dino the Dinosaur ride right next to that area, just inside the exit door. I didn't pay much attention to her as she walked the 20 feet or so to the candy, but as she approached, I could here "Yabba Dabba Doooooooo!" in Fred Flinstone's distinctive voice, just like in the opening theme to the Flintstones TV show, coming from the area of the Dinosaur ride. It wasn't very loud at all, but it was very clear. I looked at the cashier, and I suspected by his facial expression that he noticed both 1) the sound, and 2) the fact that I was aware of it. He didn't say anything, and I was tempted to ask him about it, but I did not. As my daughter and I left the store, I asked her if she had heard it, and she said yes.

Doing some research on the web, I found information regarding the Dino kiddie ride, but nothing that suggested that the ride will make noises when not coin-operated. I know from the past when my kids would ride it, it would play the complete Flintstones TV theme song during the 30 seconds or so that the ride operates, and this was also borne out by You Tube videos of the ride (not the Sunnyvale Toys R Us ride, but an identical one).



I also went back to the store to investigate on my own, and I noticed that the same cashier was working there at that time. I decided to ask him about it, and he said that he had heard the ride make that sound on other occasions as well.

I suspect that maybe it was just a normal sound that comes from the ride; perhaps it has a sensor when people get near it that triggers the sound that is built into it. The logical and reasonable side of my brain tells me this, but I wonder....I've gone to another Toys R Us (in San Jose) that has the same ride, but I didn't hear anything in the short time that I was standing very self-consciously near the ride.

I've tried to contact people I've researched on the net that have owned and/or maintained these rides, but I have not heard back from anyone yet. I'm hoping they can give me some insight as to whether these machines do what I witnessed the Sunnyvale ride do naturally, as opposed to supernaturally.

I can find only one other reference to this store on ATS, which interestingly, also mentions the talking Dino, but with more sinister undertones, so I don't know what to make of that:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Anyone have any insight into any of this?

Hate to break it to you but I'm certain that most will play sound to attract the kids even when not in use.
I've seen/heard this many, many times.

I love the titles to some of these threads.

This is one of the best.

reply to post by samuel1990


I figured that that was probably the case. Though, it doesn't appear to be triggered by someone approaching, as it doesn't do it most of time someone walks by. Maybe it's set to go off after 10 or 15 minutes or so, and it was just a coincidence that my daughter walked by at the time it was set to go off--who knows. At any rate, the back story of the place is pretty intriguing.

As I do, I can only consider this one way.

Walk into a toy store, hear yabba dabba doo, explanation: ghosts.

A bit like that phantom hamburger smell I always smell near the macdonalds close by. Oo

Also it's a bit of a turn, he's gone from "the lord giveth and the lord taketh away, have mercy on me!" to "Willmaaaa!!!!"

Must be terribly boring in ghost land. poor ol' soul.

I have to admit that the idea of a haunted Toys R Us could make for a very interesting version of Paranormal Activity. Obviously it would need a bigger budget, but with the right special effects and some considerations from various toy makers it could easily be a #1 movie for at least a week or two.

I can just picture some of the toys they sell being possessed by demons, chasing and killing members of a ghost hunters crew that had been locked inside over night to do one of their investigations.

Oh, and those kiddie rides make noise at random intervals to attract attention and make more money.

reply to post by Monsieur Neary


I don't know about this particular store.

I do recall reading a rather convincing and solid claim about 25-30 years ago that the founder was heavily into Satanism.

I came across that assertion 2-3 or more times but I don't know to what kind of quality verification, or not.

reply to post by BO XIAN


Awesome info!
That just completely tied together my movie idea.

Had to read it because of the title I worked at a grocery store during college that had a similar kiddie ride outside. It was a Jetson's ride and George's voice grew so irritating that they finally pulled it. Now every time I hear..."!!Meet George Jetson's...da da da da..." I wanna pull my hair out!

Sorry to break it to you man but sounds like coincidence to me.