A dark ride is the industry term for a ride that you get inside a vehicle and ride around inside a building looking at lit scenes.
So the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, It’s a Small World, all dark rides. Disney made dark rides into an artform.
But there are very few non-Disney dark rides out there. Universal has a few (I liked the ET ride), and there are two on the boardwalk in Santa Cruz. Six Flags never has dark rides.
There must be a few good dark rides out there. Any you know of worth a visit?
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 33 | October 4, 2023 9:18 PM |
I found this old post on WFMU’s blog to be an informative starting point…
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 1 | December 17, 2022 5:17 PM |
Cedar Point- Earthquake. It's no longer there sadly.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 2 | December 17, 2022 5:39 PM |
You're too old for theme park rides.
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | December 17, 2022 5:39 PM |
How do you know how old I am?
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | December 17, 2022 5:45 PM |
Symbolica, at the Dutch theme park Efteling.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 5 | December 17, 2022 6:17 PM |
Universal Studios Beijing’s Jurassic Park ride looks pretty incredible.
It has a giant animatronic dinosaur that chases you.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 6 | December 17, 2022 6:23 PM |
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is a dark ride at Universal.
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | December 17, 2022 6:28 PM |
When I saw OP's headline, my mind immediately went to the rotten, termite-infested , unmaintained, horrifying wooden Big Dipper roller coaster in Santa Cruz. Haven't ridden it since the 1970's. Won't do it again, and you can't make me.
| by Anonymous | reply 8 | December 17, 2022 6:36 PM |
I used to love Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | December 17, 2022 6:46 PM |
R6 that looks incredible and scary and I'm LIVING FOR IT. I've been to the Jurassic Park dark ride at Universal Orlando twice. It's fun but nothing like that. It has not been updated since it opened in 1999, so it's just stationary animatronics and no virtual screens. The Hollywood location got a full redo three years ago and is now Jurassic World: The Ride. One misstep I think the Orlando location made was they started building an entire dark ride & area for Kong: Skull Island before the movie was even released. It ended up not being the blockbuster that would've boosted this new ride area. Wish they would've redone & expanded the Jurassic ride, which they could have since it's adjacent to the Kong dark ride.
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Universal Orlando is pretty incredible, you are suspended with your legs free so when you fly out over Hogwarts via the virtual screen effects, it's a bit dizzying. Looking down at your feet dangling hundreds of feet above a castle rooftop while flying through the air. They did really well on that one.
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | December 17, 2022 7:01 PM |
[quote]When I saw OP's headline, my mind immediately went to the rotten, termite-infested , unmaintained, horrifying wooden Big Dipper roller coaster in Santa Cruz. Haven't ridden it since the 1970's. Won't do it again, and you can't make me.
It's the GIANT Dipper.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 11 | December 17, 2022 7:49 PM |
Both r5 and r6 look incredible
| by Anonymous | reply 12 | December 17, 2022 7:50 PM |
Santa Cruz has the haunted castle ride, which is pretty cool, and the caveman ride, which is just stupid
| by Anonymous | reply 13 | December 17, 2022 7:51 PM |
[quote]Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Universal Orlando is pretty incredible, you are suspended with your legs free so when you fly out over Hogwarts via the virtual screen effects, it's a bit dizzying. Looking down at your feet dangling hundreds of feet above a castle rooftop while flying through the air. They did really well on that one.
There's apparently going to be an even more advanced version for the Harry Potter section of their forthcoming park, Epic Universe.
The one thing about Forbidden Journey is that the restraints are not forgiving enough for bigger people. The first time I went, I couldn't fit, and that was actually a major impetus for getting into shape.
| by Anonymous | reply 14 | December 17, 2022 8:14 PM |
[quote]How do you know how old I am?
Because if you're under 17, you're too young to be on Datalounge.
And if you're 17 or older, you're too old for theme park rides.
| by Anonymous | reply 15 | December 17, 2022 9:26 PM |
[quote]Are there any good non-Disney dark rides?
I don't want to toot my own horn, but ....
| by Anonymous | reply 16 | December 17, 2022 9:28 PM |
Who let the frau age police in?
| by Anonymous | reply 17 | December 17, 2022 10:47 PM |
Universal is hit or miss. Some are spectacular (Harry Potter, Spiderman) and some are terrible (Fast and Furious, Cat in the Hat). Most are OK. They rely heavily on screens. Transformers and Gringotts made me sick. Men in Black and The Simpsons were just meh, the latter has fuzzy projections. The first 2/3 of ET is kinda cool, if dated, then the last 1/3 is cringey.
Knott's Berry Farm has three classic themed rides (log ride, mine ride, and rapids ride) lavishly updated. They reimagined the long-gone Knott's Berry Tales ride as a shooting gallery/arcade type ride where you "shoot" berry jam at targets. More fun than it sounds.
| by Anonymous | reply 18 | December 18, 2022 3:13 AM |
Has Six Flags ever done a dark ride?
| by Anonymous | reply 19 | December 18, 2022 3:35 AM |
Disney's best dark rides aren't even at their US parks. Disneyland Paris' Phantom Manor, their version of the Haunted Mansion, is darker, and uses Vincent Price for the English language narration.
And Mystic Manor, Hong Kong Disneyland's version--themed differently because of the China's concept of the afterlife being very different from the Western world--is even better.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 20 | December 18, 2022 1:54 PM |
And Shanghai Disneyland's version of Pirates of the Caribbean is insane.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 21 | December 18, 2022 1:56 PM |
r19 Yes, with varying degrees of success. They don't seem to have too much interest in them.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 24 | December 18, 2022 10:28 PM |
I bet a certain tiny mind is spinning a new grift and we'll have another big announcement from Mar-A-Lardo shortly.
Buckle up. Fore!
| by Anonymous | reply 25 | December 18, 2022 10:39 PM |
Didn’t the Six Flags in LA used to have a dark ride called “The Magic Pagoda” or something like that?
| by Anonymous | reply 26 | December 19, 2022 2:57 PM |
Droomvlucht, of course... OLD but still beautiful. The video, of course, doesn't really do it justice.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 27 | December 19, 2022 3:02 PM |
r26 Never heard of it, so I did some research. It was a walkthrough attraction, like a cross between a funhouse and a mirror maze. The original attraction has been closed for decades, but they use the building for a maze during Halloween. A quick search on Google Maps shows the building is in very bad shape - decayed wood and peeling paint.
| by Anonymous | reply 28 | December 19, 2022 6:16 PM |
Universal has a new one based on Secret Life of Pets that looks cute.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 29 | February 6, 2023 7:54 PM |
Datalounge Land had Dark Lesbian Alley, but some riders found it too intense.
| by Anonymous | reply 30 | February 6, 2023 8:11 PM |
Universal Hollywood is opening a new Mario Cart dark ride, for what it’s worth
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 31 | February 7, 2023 3:41 PM |
[quote] Universal Hollywood is opening a new Mario Cart dark ride, for what it’s worth
I rode this
It was highly mediocre
| by Anonymous | reply 32 | October 4, 2023 8:54 PM |
Six Flags has at least one dark ride. A Batman themed ride at Great Adventure it sucks
| by Anonymous | reply 33 | October 4, 2023 9:18 PM |
