Dark Rides?

You're right rc-madness. Time to go buy that rope...

Ray P.

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Touchdown said:
^Dont you mean Elmer Fudd? Hutin Wrabbits seems a more direct way to theme it.

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I guess Elmer Fudd would work, but when I think of the Looney Tunes and guns and shootin, I think of Yosemitie Sam.

Bottom line is this...it looks like it may be wabbit season at SF soon!

I really wish any park it doesn't matter which would get the Vekoma/Illusion indoor coaster. Some of you might know that one as the Chaos that used to be at Opryland and Revolution at Bobbejaanland. I loved that coaster and with the right themeing it could be the best to me...

Thats all I ment Ray P. If you consider it a darkride. It's a darkride. If you consider it a coaster, It's a coaster. If you consider it both. So be it!

The day someone tells me what I should think is the day I tell them to pound salt.

DAFE, ACE and other organazations can do whatever they want IMHO but dictating anything other than safety is B.S. to me.

Chuck

Just so you know Chuck, your quote "I just wonder when thinking for yourself got thrown out the window" may go down as one of the best things I have read on any message board in quite some time.

Back on topic- dark rides rock! :) It is sad though that a state as amusement-rich as Ohio only has two true dark rides- PKI's Scooby and Erieview's Fright Zone. Thankfully Pennsylvania more than makes up for that!

Ray P.

That statment covers all things Ray and not just amusment parks and rides. I see the hard line media stance from people about everything, From politics to Holliwood anymore and I wonder. Can't people take things in and reason for themselves anymore?

PA rocks, Ive made four PA trips in the past five years and am still missing the east coast parks :(

Chuck

Well, I must give props to the Cave Train and the Haunted House at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. I understand there are rumors that the Haunted House might become "interactivated".

I can think for myself, but in an area in which I'm not very familiar, I refer to someone who is. Sorry, I wasn't aware that D.A.F.E. was a snob organization like ACE (those are your words, not mine) It would seem that an organization that goes around riding darkrides and funhouses would be a fun organization. I wouldn't know, I've never met a member. I have yet to see a person with twenty patches of various darkrides they've been on, unlike ACE.

Hell, Holiday World's website tells you what the definition of a darkride is on their website. The whole reason I participated in this discussion was because someone ignorantly thought that no Six Flags parks had darkrides. Sadly, they were completely incorrect. And why is it RC-Madness that your first sentence starts off exactly the same as ProgRay? Were you trying to be funny, or couldn't you think originally?

I never thought I would read Holiday World and Hell in the same sentence! ;)

Anyway, I agree with Chuck. It is what I want it to be. If I think it should be a darkride, then in my mind it is, but I will not tell everyone that because I think it is, then that is the way it should be. Frankly, many things I think are not the way the majority thinks and I am not about to tell everyone that what I think should be taken as gospel. Having said that, this is a discussion board and healthy discussion often includes conflict. And through conflict, we learn. (ACK! The teacher in me is coming out again!)

When I ride a ride I don't feel the need to classify it. I am on the ride to enjoy it, not analyze and organize it in my head.

Intamin Fan, Im not calling D.A.F.E. or A.C.E snobs. They both are, and can be fun organizations and I didn't mean to belittle them. Well maybe in some cases I did, However I reserve the right to decide on my own what I consider a darkride, A good coaster, A good politician or whatever.

Like Andy just said, I ususally ride something then decide afterwards. But it's more important weather it was fun or likable or not, before I start deciding WHAT IT IS!

Yes, as a enthusiast, I get out to many different parks and tend to know a bit more about rides and some parks, Than say the average visitor. This doesn't mean Im there for a different reason than them. Im there to have fun! and I'll be damned before ACE or DAFE or anyone tells me I can't like a coaster because it has Gerstlauers or you can't call it a darkride because WE don't consider it one.

Darkrides as well as coasters come in all shapes and sizes, In different variations.

I might be more agreeable to a darkride classification system, compared to being told what is and isn't.

Ride though darkhouse with artwork and gags=Tradiditional Darkride

Ride through Interactive. See above with the addition of competition among riders

Walk Through Fun House, Noahs Ark, Frankenstiens castle ect.

Darkride though coaster, Pretzel or any other gravity powered dark ride.

You come up with the name, but a scrambler, topspin, or any other ride in the dark with effects,

I'll stop now, Im rambling.

Chuck

Indiana beach has a neat little dark ride. The lost den or whatever its called.

I always enjoy riding it.

I don't think DAFE's darkride definitions are there to tell people what to think. They are simply defining their terminology so you understand what they are talking about when you read a DAFE article. I see nothing wrong with that. It would be confusing to read an article on any specialized subject if I didn't have a clear understanding of how the author defines certain elements.

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rollergator said:
What is Tornado at SFGE....I must've missed that one...

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Poor Bill... his question went unanswered, and he did miss out on Tornado.

Tornado was one of the darkrides (yes, it is one word, according to DAFE) at Freedomland in NYC. That park was born and died long before I was born but from what I understand, it had quite a few darkrides. When the park closed after a few years, Cedar Point bought one of the darkrides (Earthquake) and Kennywood purchased another (Tornado). Some kind of shipping mix-up resulted in the Earthquake cars going to Kennywood and the Tornado cars going to Cedar Point but I guess neither park cared because the mix-up was never corrected. Anyway, while Cedar Point eventually got rid of Earthquake, Tornado went on to live at The Great Escape where it survived until the Canyon Blaster coaster was installed.

Of course, you can read more here:

http://www.laffinthedark.com/articles/tornado/tornado.htm

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BrownStreak said:
I think it would be cool to make a wild mouse into a dark ride. Put the scary effects and the ends where the car makes its sharp corners!

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You mean like Exterminator?

Actually Cedar Point bought two darkrides from Freedomland--Earthquake and Buccaneers Adventure. The Buccaneers ride was renamed The Pirate Ride.

I never heard that story about the vehicle mixup with Earthquake and Tornado. That's interesting, but from what I can remember the vehicles seemed pretty much identical.

*** Edited 3/9/2006 9:53:54 PM UTC by Jeffrey Seifert***

Has anyone here experienced the 1906 Earthquake ride at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco? My parents would never take me on it. (boo hoo)

Actually, I am surprised to not see this mentioned on here yet, but there was just an article in the LA area paper with Shapiro and he did say he was looking to install a Scooby Doo ride next year at Magic Mtn.

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ApolloAndy said:

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BrownStreak said:
I think it would be cool to make a wild mouse into a dark ride. Put the scary effects and the ends where the car makes its sharp corners!

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You mean like Exterminator?

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No Exterminator is more like a big themed room for the most part. I was meaning more along the lines of each switch back being in its own hallway so you can't see the rest of everything if you look around

Darkness is a wall, and most of the Exterminator is in complete darkness (at least the way I remember it) so I imagine it would be very similar.

You want interactive? Put in a Tunnel Of Love!
:)