Remember the Pirate Ride at Cedar Point???

I remember as a kid both the Earthquake and Pirate Ship ride, as well as the Mill Race and Cedar Downs. And to think that all but the Mill Race existed at other parks before they went to Cedar Point! Luckily, Cedar Downs is still there!

Here's an idea... How about an interactive dark ride coaster... Take something along the lines of a mouse and base the trim brake settings on the score of the riders. Low score => lots of trims, high score => no trims. Think of Kennywood Exterminator yet interactive. If done right, that could please both crowds.

^ Or take a page out of Buffalo Bill's playbook, and have an interactive log flume... :)

Scores two *needs* with one installation... ;)

While we're talking dark rides, anyone remember Euclid Beaches laugh in the Dark? The tunnel of stars was cool.

I don't remember the ride, but I do remember going around the park area after it had closed as part of a TV documentary on the park. The ride was long gone, but the concrete pad and odds and ends of the building still were there. The over the falls trough was still there as well, except the hill had been toppled.

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I'm not into "interactive" rides at all. I don't want to have to aim, shoot, untangle wires, keep score, or any of that stuff in order to enjoy a ride.

Moving the fin on a flyer is about as interactive as I care to get.

I'm with you, Bear. I've been on a couple shooting darkrides and I wasn't impressed. They are too much like video games.

I like rides that require physical interaction (Flyers). Same thing for arcades (pinball and skee ball vs anything on a screen).

^^ Old guys like you two aren't the "target market" for interactives...kids who are used to playing (and enjoying) video games - they're who this kind of ride is "aimed at".

How many classic-type dark rides have been built in the last 20 years? 10 years? 5 years? The classic ones just don't pack the kind of "wow factor" that the interactives do....and there's the added feature that the interactives don't seem as susceptible to vandalism, etc.

Kids these days. I'd force them off my lawn but they never go outside anymore. When will somebody breed an interactive tree?

^Mall of America beat you to it....eats kites... ;)

http://www.pbase.com/harpeggio/image/57125466

Remember when certain McDonald's had a talking tree?

If it's any consolation, the line for the Xtreme Reese's Xtreme Cup Xtreme Challenge, or whatever it's called was practically non-existent most of the afternoon yesterday. The kids (and old people) were interacting with the water attractions at the Boardwalk.

I generally like the interactive darkrides but I don't think they're a substitute for a more traditional darkride. For me, darkrides are about visuals, and it's pretty difficult to pay attention to the actual scenes if you're hunting for the target and wondering why you're shooting it but nothing's happening.

Places like Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk get it right- they have a Sally ride as well as two traditional darkrides. Indiana Beach also gets credit because they turned their old darkride into an interactive one so it has elements from both.

I'm glad that parks like Holiday World and Hershey got Sally rides but it would be nice if they also had something with a more traditional feel. Don't see that happening though, so I'll be happy with what's there.

Traditional darkrides must still work,everytime I go to Knoebels,the Haunted House always has a long line.

They do work, but almost too well. Knoebels doesn't include the Haunted Mansion in their POP because people have the tendancy to vandalize darkrides if they get the chance to ride them repeatedly. I'm sure the Sally rides don't get vandalized because the riders are too busy shooting targets to worry about ripping the head off of a character in one of the scenes.

But yeah, you're right- traditional darkrides are always a draw, so I don't see why so few parks add them as new attractions, especially when so many parks lack darkrides of any kind.

I've gotten so frustrated at the seemingly useless gun that I wanted to rip the heads off the characters.

I think the guns appeal more to the people that grew up with video games.

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Rob Ascough said:
I think the guns appeal more to the people that grew up with video games.

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Must be why I dig them. :)

I think we (people my age) were probably the first generation to potentially 'grow up' with video games. I was like 4 or 5 when the Atari 2600 came out...and like 8 by the time everybody on Earth had one.

Meh, just an observation - sorry to break up the 'reluctance to change' weekly meeting. ;) ;) (two winkies to emphasize that I'm just playing)

I had a very early video game. It was from the 1970s and was a large triangular shaped console. Each side of the triangle had a different game: shooting (with a neat realistic gun), driving (with a big old steering wheel), and tennis. A cartridge plugged into the top of the thing but we only ever had the one cartridge and I don't know how you would play any other games since the controls were so specific to those three.

Over time, the cartridge didn't "seat" correctly and we had to weight it down with a large jelly jar. Those were the days!

And that's pretty much the extent of my video game experience. I dabbled in Atari and Nintendo but never really got into it. What makes somebody interested or not interested in those things?

I did have a large air hocky table in the basement. That was cool. :)

^ Nice. :)

As one of the "change resistant", I'll say that I firmly believe every bigger park should have an old-style haunted attraction, whether it be a ride or a walk-thru, *in addition to* a newfangled interactive dark-ride.

As has become my custom lately..."If IB, SCBB, and Morey's can *all* have both kinds...your park should TOO"!

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What makes somebody interested or not interested in those things?

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Good question. I took to them like a fish to water. Still play with the kids. I'd list the gazillion systems I've had but I think we've done that before...and it's kind of lame. :)