A dark ride or ghost train is an indoor
amusement ride on which passengers aboard guided vehicles travel through specially lit scenes that typically contain
animation
Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...
, sound, music and
special effect
Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wor ...
s. Appearing as early as the 19th century, such exhibits include tunnels of love, scary themes and interactive stories.
Terminology
In its most traditional form, the term ''dark ride'' refers to ride-through attractions with scenes that use black lights, whereby visible light is prevented from entering the space, and only show elements that
fluoresce under
ultraviolet radiation are seen by the riders. The size of each room containing a scene or scenes is thus concealed, and the set designer can use
forced perspective,
Pepper's ghost and other visual tricks to create the illusion of distance. Typically, these experiences also use a series of opaque doors between scenes to further control riders' views within a space-constrained building. Prominent examples include Disneyland's
Snow White's Scary Adventures,
Pinocchio's Daring Journey,
Peter Pan's Flight,
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride is a theme park attraction and dark ride at Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California. It is loosely based on Disney's adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's ''The Wind in the Willows'' (1908), one of two segments comprising the anima ...
and
Alice in Wonderland
''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...
, which all rely on the use of blacklights in almost every scene.
History
The first dark rides appeared in the late 19th century and were called "scenic railways" and "pleasure railways". A popular type of dark ride commonly referred to as an
old mill Old Mill may refer to:
Animations
*''The Old Mill'', a 1937 Academy Award-winning ''Silly Symphonies'' cartoon produced by Walt Disney
*'' The Old Mill Pond'', a 1936 Academy Award nominated short film directed by Hugh Harman
Places
Canada
* Old ...
or
tunnel of love used small boats to carry riders through water-filled canals.
A Trip to the Moon
''A Trip to the Moon'' (french: Le Voyage dans la Lune) is a 1902 French adventure short film directed by Georges Méliès. Inspired by a wide variety of sources, including Jules Verne's 1865 novel ''From the Earth to the Moon'' and its 1870 s ...
began operation at the 1901
Pan-American Exposition. Marvin Rempfer and Leon Cassidy of the
Pretzel Amusement Ride Company patented the first single-rail electric dark ride in 1928. Historically notable dark rides include
Futurama
''Futurama'' is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of the professional slacker Philip J. Fry, who is cryogenically preserved for 1000 years a ...
at the
1939 New York World's Fair
The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchas ...
, and
Pirates of the Caribbean
''Pirates of the Caribbean'' is a Disney media franchise encompassing numerous theme park rides, a series of films, and spin-off novels, as well as a number of related video games and other media publications. The franchise originated with th ...
and
The Haunted Mansion at
Disneyland.
Modern attractions in this genre vary widely in technical sophistication. Smaller-scale rides often feature the same sorts of simple animation and sounds used since the genre's early days, while more ambitious projects feature complex
animatronics, special effects and ride vehicles utilizing cutting-edge technology.
To improve the effect and give a sense of journey, passages in dark rides frequently change direction. Sudden curves give a sense of disorientation and allow new scenes to surprise the rider. The rides may also feature sudden ascents or descents to further the excitement.
Empirical research
Although ever increasing investments are made in dark rides, empirical research in this area is relatively scarce. Based on a systematic literature review, a team of researchers from the
University of Liechtenstein developed a model that illustrates the underlying effect mechanism that attendees of Dark Rides experience.
The model suggests that "Storytelling" in Dark Rides influences an attendee's "emotional attachment" to the ride through the mediator of "Immersion". It is assumed that a person's prior knowledge about the ride's story and a person's cultural background have moderating effects on the relationship between "storytelling" and "immersion".
Variations
Dark rides have a number of variations that are not necessarily
mutually exclusive.
Ghost train
In the
United Kingdom, the
United States, the
Republic of Ireland,
New Zealand,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, dark rides with a scary theme are called ''ghost trains''.
The first ride to use the name "Ghost Train" was that of
Blackpool Pleasure Beach. The ride was imported in 1930 and originally called
The Pretzel (due to the curving shape of its track layout); but as pretzels were little-known in Britain, it was soon renamed after ''
The Ghost Train'', a play which ran for a year in London, a film adaptation of which was showing in 1931. It was rebuilt in 1936 and has remained unchanged since. Blackpool Pleasure Beach is also home to
Valhalla, the world's largest indoor dark ride, known for its many complex effects.
Prolific designers of dark rides in the UK include
Keith Sparks
Keith Henley Sparks was a British attraction designer and developer for theme parks around Europe; an early innovator of theme park attractions and dark rides in the United Kingdom (UK). He was known for his characteristic production style and ...
and
John Wardley
John Richard Wardley (born 6 June 1950) is a British developer for theme parks in the UK and Europe: an innovator of special effects, dark rides and roller coasters in the themed attraction industry.
Career
Wardley started his career as a st ...
between the 1970s and 1990s. Notable UK dark rides include
Phantom Fantasia
Thorpe Park Resort, commonly known as Thorpe Park, is an amusement park located in the village of Thorpe between the towns of Chertsey and Staines-upon-Thames in Surrey, England, southwest of Central London. It is operated by Merlin Enter ...
at
Thorpe Park;
The 5th Dimension,
Terror Tomb,
The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure
The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure is a dark water ride that opened in March 2017 at Chessington World of Adventures Resort in Greater London, England, developed by Merlin Entertainments. It takes riders through scenes based on ''The Gruffa ...
and
Professor Burp's Bubbleworks
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...
at
Chessington World of Adventures
Chessington World of Adventures Resort is a theme park, zoo and hotel complex in Chessington, Greater London, England, around southwest of Central London. The complex opened as Chessington Zoo in 1931, with the theme park being developed along ...
;
Around The World in 80 Days,
The Haunted House
A haunted house is a building purported to be the site of paranormal activity.
Haunted house may also refer to:
Films and television
* ''The Haunted House'' (1913 film), an American silent short comedy-drama
* ''The Haunted House'' (1917 film ...
,
Toyland Tours
Toyland Tours was a former attraction in the Land of Make Believe area of Alton Towers theme park, Staffordshire, England. The attraction was opened in 1994, replacing Around the World in 80 Days
''Around the World in Eighty Days'' (fren ...
and
Hex – The Legend of the Towers at
Alton Towers
Alton Towers Resort ( ) (often referred to as Alton Towers) is a theme park and resort complex in Staffordshire, England, near the village of Alton. The park is operated by Merlin Entertainments Group and incorporates a theme park, water park, ...
; and
Valhalla at
Blackpool Pleasure Beach. (Not a ghost train per se,
Derren Brown's Ghost Train at Thorpe Park is a motion simulation and virtual reality attraction.)
In Australia, a dark ride is named The Ghost Train at
Luna Park, Melbourne,
and a similarly-named ride was
destroyed by fire in 1979 at
Luna Park Sydney
Luna Park Sydney is a heritage-listed amusement park located at 1 Olympic Drive in the harbourside suburb of Milsons Point, New South Wales, Australia, on the northern shore of Sydney Harbour. The amusement park is owned by the Luna Park Rese ...
.
The concept is also popular in the
United States. One notable ghost train from the country is
The Haunted Mansion, first opened in
Disneyland in
Anaheim, California on August 9, 1969.
Interactive dark ride
''Interactive'' dark rides feature a component that allows riders to be involved in the attraction's story. The first interactive dark ride ever built is El Paso at the Belgium theme park
Bobbejaanland
Bobbejaanland is a theme park in Lichtaart, Belgium. The park was founded by Bobbejaan Schoepen, a Flemish singer, guitarist, and entertainer who enjoyed international success in the fifties and early sixties. In 1959, he bought a 30 hectare ma ...
.
The vast majority of interactive dark rides are shooting dark rides,
which require riders to aim and shoot at targets throughout the ride using handheld or vehicle-mounted
light guns. Successfully shooting a target usually triggers special animation, such as flashing lights or moving the target. The more targets riders hit, the higher their scores at the end of the ride. The use of light guns varies between rides, from killing aliens on
Men in Black: Alien Attack at
Universal Studios Florida to calling turkeys on
Gobbler Getaway
Gobbler Getaway is a Sally Corporation-manufactured interactive dark ride located in Santa Claus, Indiana, at the Holiday World theme park, in the park's newest section, Thanksgiving. The ride is centered on the fictional Jamestown-evoking "Autum ...
at
Holiday World & Splashin' Safari.
The ride systems of conventional dark rides can be easily converted into shooting dark rides. Such conversions include
Duel: The Haunted House Strikes Back! at
Alton Towers
Alton Towers Resort ( ) (often referred to as Alton Towers) is a theme park and resort complex in Staffordshire, England, near the village of Alton. The park is operated by Merlin Entertainments Group and incorporates a theme park, water park, ...
and
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin at Disney's
Magic Kingdom. The latter uses facilities that previously housed
If You Had Wings,
Delta Dreamflight
Delta Dreamflight, renamed Dreamflight and then Take Flight during its final two years of operation, was an attraction located in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom inside the Walt Disney World Resort, and was sponsored by Delta Air Lines. Dreamfl ...
, and Take Flight. A recent dark ride,
Wonder Mountain's Guardian
Wonder Mountain's Guardian (also known as ''Guardian'' or ''WMG''; during Halloween Haunt known as ''Zombies 4D'') is a 4D, interactive dark ride roller coaster at the Canada's Wonderland amusement park located in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. Park ...
at
Canada's Wonderland, has the world's longest interactive screen at over .
Among non-shooting interactive dark rides, Etnaland's award-winning
Haunted School
is described by ''Park World'' magazine as "one of the most idiosyncratic dark rides". It is themed to a school exam, with riders individually answering multiple-choice questions throughout it. Riders are graded on their responses, and each receives a school report at the end of the ride.
While technically a coaster, the Gekion Live coaster at Joypolis had elements of a dark ride. It used to have a shooting element, only for it to be refurbished with a dance element (tapping buttons on the restraints) later.
Trackless dark ride
Trackless dark rides utilize
automated guided vehicles that do not require
guide rails, and thus are able to cross existing paths, reverse, and rotate. Some trackless dark rides, such as the
Big Red Car Ride
The Big Red Car Ride was a dark ride that takes 6 guests at a time on a car journey through the Wiggles' house. The house features Wag's Kennel, Henry's Underwater Big Band, and Dorothy's rosy garden. The attraction opened with Wiggles World on ...
at
Dreamworld, rely on a
buried wire for navigation. Others, such as
''Star Wars'': Rise of the Resistance at
Disney's Hollywood Studios and
Disneyland Park,
Mystic Manor
Mystic Manor () is a dark ride attraction in the Mystic Point area of Hong Kong Disneyland. Unlike Disneyland's Haunted Mansion attraction and its counterparts in other Disney parks, Mystic Manor has a lighthearted, fantasy-based theme with no r ...
at
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong Disneyland () (local nickname ''HKDL''; also known as HK Disneyland) is a theme park located on reclaimed land in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island. It is located inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and it is owned and managed by Hong Ko ...
or
Ratatouille: L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy at
Disneyland Paris and
Epcot, use
Wi-Fi and
RFID
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder, a radio receiver and transmitter. When triggered by an electromag ...
-based
local positioning system
A positioning system is a system for determining the position of an object in space. One of the most well-known and commonly used positioning systems is the Global Positioning System (GPS).
Positioning system technologies exist ranging from worl ...
s.
Enclosed roller coaster
While some roller coasters may be indoors, simply enclosing a roller coaster does not make it a dark ride. Dark coasters are roller coasters that feature heavily themed layouts, special effects (such as animated characters, fire, smoke, and sound/lighting effects), and a dark ride portion that abruptly transitions into a roller coaster-style layout with heavily banked turns, sharp turns, steep drops, and helices. Some of them include backward motion, and many have launch mechanisms rather than lifts. Examples include:
*
Flight of Fear at
Kings Island and
Kings Dominion
*
Blazing Fury
This is a list of Dollywood attractions.
Adventures in Imagination
* Chasing Rainbows
* Dolly's Home-On-Wheels
*Dreamsong Theater
Country Fair
Craftsman's Valley
*Calico Falls Schoolhouse
*Eagle Mountain Sanctuary
*Robert F. Thomas Chap ...
at
Dollywood
*
Revenge of the Mummy at many of the
Universal Parks & Resorts (themed to
The Mummy
A mummy is an unusually well preserved corpse.
Mummy or The Mummy may also refer to:
Places
*Mummy Range, a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains of northern Colorado in the United States
*Mummy Cave, a rock shelter and archeological site in Par ...
film franchise, featuring a launch from the dark ride section into the coaster section)
*
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is a steel roller coaster located at Magic Kingdom and Shanghai Disneyland Park. Manufactured by Vekoma, the roller coaster is situated in the Fantasyland sections of both parks. The Magic Kingdom version opened to the pu ...
at the
Magic Kingdom and
Shanghai Disneyland
*
Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster
Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster is an enclosed steel wild mouse roller coaster located at Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast, Australia. It is based on the 2002 live action film ''Scooby-Doo'', which was filmed at the studio adjacent to the ...
at
Warner Bros. Movie World
Warner Bros. Movie World is a theme park on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. Owned and operated by Village Roadshow Theme Parks, the park opened on 3 June 1991. It is part of a entertainment precinct, with the adjacent Village Roadsho ...
(a
wild mouse roller coaster with a ghost-train section, vertical lift and backwards drop)
*
Space Mountain at
Disney World,
Disneyland Park,
Magic Kingdom,
Tokyo Disneyland, and
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong Disneyland () (local nickname ''HKDL''; also known as HK Disneyland) is a theme park located on reclaimed land in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island. It is located inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and it is owned and managed by Hong Ko ...
*
Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain
''Star Wars'': Hyperspace Mountain (formerly known as Space Mountain: Mission 2 and Space Mountain: De la terre à la lune) is an indoor/outdoor steel roller coaster in Discoveryland at Disneyland Paris. Originally themed around Jules Verne's c ...
at
Disneyland Park (Paris)
Disneyland Park, originally Euro Disneyland Park, is a theme park found at Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France. The park opened on 12 April 1992 as the first of the two parks built at the resort. Designed and built by Walt Disney Ima ...
*
Verbolten
Verbolten is a Zierer multi-launching steel roller coaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia. The concept was jointly designed by the park's creative design team and by Zierer of Germany. "Verbolten" is a play on words of ...
at
Busch Gardens Williamsburg (themed to an escape from the haunted Bavarian Black Forest, with a free-fall track section)
*
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at
EPCOT
Test Track at
Epcot,
Journey to the Center of the Earth at
Tokyo DisneySea, and
Radiator Springs Racers at
Disney California Adventure
Disney California Adventure Park, commonly referred to as California Adventure or by its acronym DCA, is a theme park located at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Park ...
each use a
slot car track rather than that of a roller coaster, but they provide a similar pairing of dark ride scenes with a high-speed thrill ride.
Saw – The Ride at
Thorpe Park features an enclosed dark section with strobe lighting and special effects, before the car enters the outdoor section of the ride.
Other attractions incorporating dark ride elements
Particularly in Disney-built or -influenced parks, a number of attractions use traditional dark-ride features, such as
animatronics
Animatronics refers to mechatronic puppets. They are a modern variant of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films and in theme park attractions.
It is a multidisciplinary field integrating puppetry, anatomy a ...
and theatrical lighting, but are not "dark rides" in that patrons do not board vehicles. Examples include the walk-through dioramas in Disneyland's
Sleeping Beauty Castle, and theater-based Disney attractions like
Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln,
The Hall of Presidents
The Hall of Presidents is an attraction located in Liberty Square at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. The attraction is a multi-media presentation featuring Audio-Animatronic figures of all 45 individuals who have served as President ...
,
The American Adventure and
Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room.
Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress (and its now-closed Disneyland replacement
America Sings) had four auditoriums that rotated audiences around a stationary core with show scenes.
The
Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World and the
Disneyland Railroad both include brief dark-ride scenes, but for the most part transport guests outdoors.
Expedition Everest
Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain is a steel roller coaster built by Vekoma at Disney's Animal Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The ride is themed around the Yeti protecting the Forbidd ...
at
Disney's Animal Kingdom
Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park is a zoological theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. Owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division, it is the l ...
,
Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland,
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and
Space Mountain at several Disney parks, and
Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars
Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars (Traditional Chinese: 灰熊山極速礦車) is a steel roller coaster in the Grizzly Gulch section of Hong Kong Disneyland. The attraction features Audio-Animatronic bears as well as a backwards section. Bi ...
at
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong Disneyland () (local nickname ''HKDL''; also known as HK Disneyland) is a theme park located on reclaimed land in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island. It is located inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and it is owned and managed by Hong Ko ...
likewise include some dark-ride elements, but function primarily as indoor/outdoor roller coasters.
List of dark rides
* Name in ''italics'' means that it has been closed; date of closure follows "−".
See also
*
Black light theatre
*
Old Mill (ride)
References
External links
Small World Studios Dark rides that move you
BlueBox Attractions Dark Ride Designer
Laff In The Dark Dark Ride and Funhouse information
CAVU Designwerks Trackless, Interactive, and Traditional Dark Ride Designer
Sally Corporation Dark Ride Designer
Simworx: Trackless Dark Ride Designer
Garmendale Engineering Dark Ride Designer
Holovis Dark Ride Designer
Halloween Productions, Inc.Dark Ride Designer
Alterface: Dark Ride Designer
The Dark Ride Project : A VR Dark Ride archive
{{Amusement rides