Themed ride

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1001 nights gondola in Phantasialand , Germany's oldest stationary dark ride until 2009
Entrance to Droomvlucht (dream flight) in Efteling

A themed ride describes a ride whose vehicles drive past themed , mostly moving scenes. Theme cruises are also Dark Ride (German literally Dark Ride called), especially if their main facility is located in an enclosed space. There are themed rides both stationary in amusement parks or museums as well as in a transportable version for public festivals . In the German-speaking countries, the classic ghost trains are mainly known at the fair . Almost all themed rides are custom-made and therefore unique.

subjects

The classic theme of the themed trip are ghosts and ghosts. You can roughly distinguish between ghost trains and other themed rides. A demarcation is often not clear. For example, Disney's Haunted Mansion / Phantom Manor or the ghost rickshaw in Phantasialand have features of both types. While the transportable systems often work heavily with scare effects, amusement parks tend to do without them, as they are usually more geared towards families with smaller children.

Another very popular topic is pirates. After Disney opened its Pirates of the Caribbean in 1967 , similar attractions also appeared in other parks around the world, such as Pirates in Batavia in Europa-Park or Pirate Adventure in Drayton Manor Park, England.

With It's a small world , Disney has given another template for a popular theme. The vehicles move past scenes with singing peoples from all over the world. Similar attractions are for example Efteling with Carnival Festival or Parque de Atracciones, Spain with Fantasia .

Modern themed trips work with longer storyboards as the background of the rooms grouped in scenes. Special effects are usually achieved through extraordinary lighting. In addition, music and sound effects, often composed especially for the journey, should support the experience.

The figures used in the scenes are usually moved technically. A wide variety of mechanical or pneumatic processes are used for this purpose. The figures moved from within are called (audio) animatronics .

Some boat trips are also known as the Tunnel of Love . Here the journey mostly goes past romantic scenes, but there are also installations with a horror theme. The original purpose of these trips is to bring the passengers closer together.

Driving systems

The transport systems are just as numerous as the themed trips. There are rides with boats, single cars, trains, endless train systems. In the case of train systems, there are systems that move on the rails, that are suspended under the rails or that are only guided by a guide rail. Some driving systems have rotating gondolas that align the visitors to the scenes. The most modern systems use invisible induction loops in the floor to guide the trolleys . Electric motors are usually used to drive railways. Combustion engines are only found in very old systems (example: fairytale train in Vidámpark, Budapest ). Boat systems are moved by a water current generated by pumps or paddle wheels or on a steel cable guided under water over deflection wheels.

Most of the vehicles in which the passengers are seated are designed to match the theme of the journey (e.g. cages in the journey to hell).

Interactive themed rides

Interior shot of the interactive ghost train "Ghostwood Estate" with the targets visible.

In recent years, themed trips have been increasingly built in which the visitor no longer takes on the purely passive role of the observer. In most systems, however, the possible interaction is limited to shooting targets with laser or infrared pistols. Either only one action is triggered in the scene (example: The El Paso Special in Bobbejaanland ) or the number of hits is also counted in points (example: Duel in Alton Towers ). Some modern systems such as Challenge of Tutankhamon in Walibi Belgium offer a different driving sequence depending on the hits achieved.

Another possibility for interaction is the partial control of the car. As a rule, only one rotation around its own axis is provided here (examples: Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast in Disneyland Resort Paris , Atlantis Adventure in Europa-Park ).

A new generation of interactive themed journeys are those in which the passenger drives in front of a screen and scores points by shooting at targets within the film shown. The passengers sit back to back and drive between the screens past scenes that are not interactive and sometimes turn around their own axis. So far only three versions of this type have been implemented worldwide. The two Toy Story Midway Mania and Mouse au Chocolat in Phantasialand Brühl, which are identical in terms of both content and appearance . In all three systems, the films are also shown in 3D .

literature

  • Ralph Latotzki et al. a .: dark + ride, special edition of the club magazine park + ride of the Freundeskreis Kirmes und Freizeitparks eV

Web links

Commons : Dark rides  - collection of images, videos and audio files