Are Dark Rides Dying?

[shiekra38]

I started thinking the other day that I haven't seen too many dark rides being added regionally in a while.

Granted, you have Alton Towers that is redoing their haunted house this year, and of course parks like Effteling

Yet, the SeaWorld parks have been ripping out their old closed dark rides and replacing them with coasters

Other "dark rides" added have been simply shooter attractions by Sally, and even they seem few and far between

My question is (outside of Disney and Universal) do we see dark rides as a dying breed for regional parks

Or are we just in a weird moment where these types of attractions are getting a break?

And am I missing some that have been added recently?

Remember this is outside of Disney and Universal...but, are they part of the issue? Is it just impossible to top them and therefore parks don't even try?

 

[GAcoaster]

Without the big budgets of Disney and Universal it's hard to build a good dark ride, and even Disney and Universal can't seem to maintain them properly. Most smaller parks just can't afford them and realize there are limitations to what they can do. Plus, they also tend to be liabilities in parks (even Disney and Universal have issues) with guests often getting out of the ride vehicles and "exploring" the sets among other things.

 

[Mad Dog]

@shiekra38...You're probably on to something. Sea World had some ambitious attempts at dark rides in the past, but due to poor maintenance or a poorly conceptualized attraction, has largely abandoned them.
Cedar Fair, Six Flags, other regionals have become almost pure coaster parks with little attempt to expand into other areas. The lone attempt at a dark ride shooter at Six Flags degenerated from a nice attraction to
failure since they didn't perform adequate maintenance either. Mostly unthemed coasters and simplistic flat rides are the cheap route to new attractions, so those parks will probably continue in that direction.

 

[shiekra38]

Without the big budgets of Disney and Universal it's hard to build a good dark ride, and even Disney and Universal can't seem to maintain them properly. Most smaller parks just can't afford them and realize there are limitations to what they can do.

That's kind of where I'm at
Plus, if one effect is turned off it gets blasted all over social media (see: SNW)

Plus, they also tend to be liabilities in parks (even Disney and Universal have issues) with guests often getting out of the ride vehicles and "exploring" the sets among other things.

This is something I didn't consider

 

[belloq87]

Have dark rides ever really been much of a priority of regional parks?

It seems to me that, at best, most would have a token one or two, but would primarily be coaster showcases.

 

[GA-MBIT]

Maybe this is an Orlando local-biased take, but do regional parks need dark rides? Everyone that has ever tried (Atlantis at Seaworld, Blazing Fury at Dollywood, darKastle at Busch Gardens, Monster Mansion at Six Flags Over Georgia) has been busted mechanically, creepy and/or cheap looking, and less fun than the flat or coaster rides that it is surrounded by. They may have some charm, sometimes more because of their poor quality, but they are usually an expensive gamble that ends in disaster for these parks more than they end up as enduring classics.

Disney and Universal have the budget to make the dark ride concept work and be truly enjoyable outside of the base sensation of being in a moving vehicle. A dark ride without visuals is just a boring flat ride or coaster.

 

[belloq87]

I think there's a place, even in regional parks, for dark rides that are on a decidedly lower tier than what we expect from Disney/Universal. It's just a question of the level of ambition.

Most regional parks could (or should be able to) adequately maintain dark rides on the level of classic Fantasyland attractions. Quaint, charming, relatively uncomplicated. And there's room for experiences like that even in parks dominated by high-thrill coasters.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

No.

 

[Mad Dog]

I think there's a place, even in regional parks, for dark rides that are on a decidedly lower tier than what we expect from Disney/Universal. It's just a question of the level of ambition.

Most regional parks could (or should be able to) adequately maintain dark rides on the level of classic Fantasyland attractions. Quaint, charming, relatively uncomplicated. And there's room for experiences like that even in parks dominated by high-thrill coasters.

During the times , before and after Disneyland opened, many of the nation's amusement parks had some dark rides that were quite similar in quality to Snow White at Disneyland. Example: When I was a child, Kennywood actually had
at least five dark rides/walk throughs that I can remember. Even now, they have three ( classic Old Mill replacing the ill conceived Garfield IP, Noah's Ark, Ghost shooter ride). All three that still exist are very popular. So, yes, it's feasible that lower end dark rides can work, popularity and economics wise. It's the expensive, high tech dark rides that are problematic since the parks refuse to spend the money to properly maintain them. Dark Kastle, for one example, was a very good ride, but it deteriorated quickly due to management neglect. The regional managements seem to have the mindset that all the guests want is high thrill coasters. That may be the case with teenagers and twentysomethings, but the reason they've lost most of the other demographics as customers is because there's not much for them to do ion a park that's mostly high thrill coasters. That coaster mindset is self perpetuating folly since it ensures that their guests will be primarily low spending teens and somewhat better spending twentysomethings. Sure, regional can't compete with Universal & Disney with high tech dark rides, but build some fantasyland level dark rides to extend your park demographic to some higher spending age groups........Not everyone is a hard core coaster fan, like some hard core coaster fans seem to think.

 

[belloq87]

No.

The regional managements seem to have the mindset that all the guests want is high thrill coasters. That may be the case with teenagers and twentysomethings, but the reason they've lost most of the other demographics as customers is because there's not much for them to do ion a park that's mostly high thrill coasters. That coaster mindset is self perpetuating folly since it ensures that their guests will be primarily low spending teens and somewhat better spending twentysomethings. Sure, regional can't compete with Universal & Disney with high tech dark rides, but build some fantasyland level dark rides to extend your park demographic to some higher spending age groups........Not everyone is a hard core coaster fan, like some hard core coaster fans seem to think.

Another element is that a big coaster is very easily promotable and marketable. A dark ride tends to be more difficult to get across to a potential guest exactly what it is, whereas that guest can see the coaster. So if you're a park with a finite advertising budget, you'd probably back the project that will be easier to hype to your audience.

 

[Mad Dog]

Another element is that a big coaster is very easily promotable and marketable. A dark ride tends to be more difficult to get across to a potential guest exactly what it is, whereas that guest can see the coaster. So if you're a park with a finite advertising budget, you'd probably back the project that will be easier to hype to your audience.

Good point. But sometimes the coaster madness backfires.... Another Kennywood example. Fortunately, Kennywood has not turned into a coaster park yet, even though, before the renaissance in coasters of the past fifty years,
Kennywood was probably the leading coaster park in the 60's with four very good wooden coasters. It still has a good mix of attractions, which is why it probably has a balanced demographic of young, middle aged, and older guests. The backfire to Kennywood is that their two, most recent, ballyhooed heavy marketed coasters, have both been down time disasters that have received very negative reception, in fact a laughing stock, due to their being inoperable more often than operable.
Marketing something very heavily that rarely runs can bite a park in the butt, especially when both coasters replaced non coaster attractions that were greatly loved by guests.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

Go to Europe.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Costly maintenance prevents regional parks to build them. Dark rides depend heavily on upkeep and if they're not interested in doing that, there's no point.

With that said, it's no excuse for parks to avoid them at all. SeaWorld would benefit heavily from dark rides, but they are too cheap to realize. On any given day (as great as they are) Manta and Mako are walk-ons. Ice Breaker, with all of its marketing, doesn't get more than a 30-minute wait on busy days. Meanwhile, I've noticed just how many families actually visit the park, and with the exception of the shows and exhibits, don't offer an attraction they all could enjoy together.

If they actually did a decent atmospheric dark ride (and you don't have to rely on the latest tech), I think it would be just as popular as something at WDW/UO.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Thanks.

But regional dark rides have *always* been rare since the 80s and early 90s, they didn't "just" die. Take Cedar Point - at one time it was home to two dark rides, with the last closing in 1996. There are just more regional options now for indoor-based themed entertainment (4D theaters, simulators, VR, etc).

 

[OrlandoGuy]

Besides the maintenance concerns already mentioned, I think marketing a dark ride is an uphill battle. Parks with dedicated followings can get away with them because people will be interested in checking out anything new, but without an IP attached how are you getting visitors into the gate to ride a slow moving ride through a building? At least flats and coasters have stats and visual appeal to drive up excitement.

 

[shiekra38]

No.

Solid argument

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

Maybe this is an Orlando local-biased take, but do regional parks need dark rides? Everyone that has ever tried (Atlantis at Seaworld, Blazing Fury at Dollywood, darKastle at Busch Gardens, Monster Mansion at Six Flags Over Georgia) has been busted mechanically, creepy and/or cheap looking, and less fun than the flat or coaster rides that it is surrounded by.

I reject this slander of Monster Mansion!

 

[shiekra38]

Besides the maintenance concerns already mentioned, I think marketing a dark ride is an uphill battle. Parks with dedicated followings can get away with them because people will be interested in checking out anything new, but without an IP attached how are you getting visitors into the gate to ride a slow moving ride through a building? At least flats and coasters have stats and visual appeal to drive up excitement.

IP feels like a huge player in whether a dark rides gets greenlit or not

We can find examples of where this isn't the case

But moving forward, idk

 

[Nick]

Regional amusement parks have never really been known to have dark rides and it's also not what their guests come to those parks for. You don't see SeaWorld building dark rides either and that's because they've sort of become the closest thing Orlando has to a regional coaster park. SW has a bunch of APs and they come to the parks for the coasters, exhibits, festivals, etc. Just like regional parks, this is a lower spending group of people who are just looking for a fun time out and a lot of that includes riding coasters which is why that's what SW has focused on lately.

Disney and Universal build variations of dark rides all the time though. The reason for this is because the demographics that go to regional parks and what they expect there is completely different from what people expect at the top tier parks. A well done dark ride is what sets Universal and/or Disney apart from other parks. Rides like The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, Forbidden Journey, Rise of the Resistance, etc all are experiences you can only find at a park that has the resources at their disposal to pour into a dark ride. Even a bad dark ride like Superstar Limo rarely gets made outside of a larger park.

That doesn't mean that dark rides are dying, it means regional parks are allocating their yearly budgets to projects that their guests will enjoy rather than going all out and spending multiple years budgets on a dark ride that guests may or may not respond to.

 

[Mad Dog]

Well, if the attractions your park offers are all geared to teenagers and twentysomethings, your guests will be primarily teenagers and twentysomethings. Then it becomes a never ending cycle.......The great thing
about Kennywood is that, except for school picnic days, a walk through the park will have as many over 30's, over 40's, over 50's, over 60's and parents and grandparents with young kids along, as there are teenagers and
twentysomethings. Kennywood has coasters, but it's not overtly coasters. There's plenty of attractions for all segments.....Balance a park and you'll balance the demographic....BGW 'used' to be like that when AB ran
the park....and they had much better attendance then they now have, since they've now just become another coaster park, of which there are many in the northeast and midwest.