HERSHEYPARK 2006?

the hersheypark website states... that new for 2006 announcement coming october 25th.. "we're keeping you in the dark for now"

Could mean one of three things...

1.) some sort of "dark" attraction

2.) Play on words... Keeping you in the Dark as in "just sit back and enjoy Hersheypark in the Dark while you wait for the announcement."

3.) something totally different that none of here has thought of.

There's definitely some construction visible from the ramp to the Monorail, where the rides office and public ice rink used to be. The land has been leveled out into a long rectangle and there are some footings in place. It's tucked in between the old arena and the Craftbarn Kitchen, and it's about as long as the Kitchen building is.

Dark ride sounds like a good possibility.

What kind of cruel things can we do to candy bars? hmmmmm......

The laser used to dot the "?" in the hint on the website seems to either indicate a riding laser tag type ride by Sally Dark Ride, or a much needed new laser show.

Here's a question for all y'all... what's the attraction of "interactive" dark rides as opposed to "non-interactive" dark rides? For a person who doesn't really care about having the highest score or shooting at things, is there any reason at all to ride them?

Call me old fashioned, but when I pay the bucks to get into a park, I just want to sit and have THEM entertain ME, not have to entertain myself. Maybe I'm missing something here, but the idea really doesn't hold any special appeal for me.

Now, if they'd let me shoot at all the idiots I encounter in the park and parking lot, well they might just have something there.

^ there's more to interaction than shooting bad guys. :)
The fun is the degree of involvement you get from interacting with sth-
but you're right, next to the 'novelty' character of these things, it's not easy to create sth. that's really fun.

I went on the Spiderman ride at Marvel Adventure City in Niagara Falls w/ my dad and brother, and due to some malfunction, our "guns" weren't working at all throughout the entire ride. As a result, the ride sucked big time. The whole draw of those rides is basically it being a hugely immersive arcade game. (Though they ARE a lot of fun...when working properly :) )

Just got an email ad from HP about this and it was the first time I saw the use of the "laser"... so I will agree... Interactive dark ride or new laser show attraction... with the Interactive Dark ride being my guess.

I've been in 3 of these. Den of lost Thieves at Wildwood boardwalk, Ghost Hunt at Lake Compounce, and Den of Lost Thieves at Indiana Beach.

I almost did not go into the last one because of the first two. Wildwood and Compounce's interactive dark rides were nothing more than riding around and shooting at 2d cutouts. Nothing scary at all, and not that well done. As stated, if the guns did not work, they would be incredibly boring.

HOWEVER... Indiana's Beach entry seems to be much better. The interactive part of it combined with the look of it made it really fun. Take away the interactive part of it, you have at least an okay dark ride in its own right.

If this is what is coming, hopefully Hershey will go all out with it and make a great dark ride that is interactive (I.e. one that can be enjoyed even if you do not decide to shoot at things)

DAFE's BArrel 'O Fun publication talks of a new Sally project and while it doesn't give a specific location, it mentions the word "sweet" in reference to it. I have a feeling Hershey is getting a Sally interactive darkride and I couldn't be happier.

Then the question remains... "Scary" or "Cute"...

I would prefer "Scary"

I can handle "Cute"... IF... it does not deal with singing and dancing chocolate products.

As far at the Scooby Doo Paramount interactive dark rides, the interactive part of the ride just diverts your attention from how poor and cheap the cutout scenery really is...........

RGB, I love the interactive shoot-em-ups. I've ridden three: Ghost Hunt, and two of the Scooby-Doo rides (PCar and PKD). It's an incredible amount of fun to go around shooting targets all the while trying to out do your friends or other passengers. There's a high degree of re-rideability to them also. If you do poorly, then you just have to go back and do it again, just to prove it was a fluke:)

The theme I've been reading about on Screamscape (yes, consider the source) has been mentioning dueling race cars. Sounds better than candy bars now, doesn't it?

The appeal these rides hold for parks is that they have huge, huge reride value. I love Ghost Hunt at Compounce, and always try to get in a couple rides every time I go. Lines haven't dwindled much in the years since its installment so it seems like an awful lot of guests do the same thing. There is absolutely no downside to a park getting one of these, Hershey and HW included.

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SLFAKE said:
Then the question remains... "Scary" or "Cute"...

I would prefer "Scary"

I can handle "Cute"... IF... it does not deal with singing and dancing chocolate products.

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I dunno there....if they're THAT cute, then I'd prefer to have something to shoot with... ;)

Almost certainly it's a Sally-brand interactive...who WOULDN'T want one?

The "purpose" of interactivity, BTW...keeping the kids *entertained*...even if they're entertaining themselves. Plus, they're great rides that the WHOLE family will ride together, from grandma and grandpa right down to the pre-schoolers.

The only ones I've skipped were PCar's and PCW's....capacity IS a problem with these if there's not enough cars on the track.

bill, waiting to *challenge* Mondor in Ore-gun... :)

*** Edited 10/21/2005 3:20:35 PM UTC by rollergator***

I'm with RGB on this one. I've never ridden an "interactive dark ride" but it doesn't hold any special appeal for me over a traditional dark ride. I'm not into acheiving a score or competing with other people. And I could never get into video games. I have played a few video games before but I never really gave much thought to the score.

I guess "kids these days" can't bear to go without playing video games so I suppose it is a way for an amusement park to compete with the something-boxes and cubes of the world (I'm waiting for the x-rhombus to come out myself).

But I'll still welcome any darkride. There aren't enough of them in parks these days and it sure beats another record-breaking dissapointment.

And, Millrace, that is why I place Indiana Beach's Den of Lost Thieves at the top of the Interactive dark rides that I have experienced.

Instead of using the 2d "poor and cheap... cut out scenery", it uses more traditional 3d dark ride like stunts. As I said, even to ride through with out shooting you can still get something out of it (though not on the level of Knoebels Haunted Mansion).

It's more of a "traditional Dark Ride" where you can shoot at targets... and not "a shooting gallery where you just happen to be in the dark".

The really funny thing about this is that I like shooting galleries! But ride through? I don't know...I'd rather appreciate the scenes (if they take the time to do them well) then concentrate on aiming and shooting. I really need to get to Indiana Beach for lots of reasons and I'll be sure to check out the darkride while I'm there.

millrace, that's another reason to re-ride a few times - once or twice to appreciate the scenery, and a couple other times to blast the heck out of the dancing chocolates.. err.. enemy-type bad-guys.. :)

"and a couple other times to blast the heck out of the dancing chocolates.. err.. enemy-type bad-guys.."

Or in Hershey's case you could do both if they let you ride through and blast the hell out of dancing Nestle Crunch bars.