Dark Rides
Justice League: Battle for Metropolis has been a big hit for Sally Corp. Currrently found in four parks operated by Six Flags.,two more have been confirmed for 2017
Dark rides’ new golden era? Sally CEO discusses state of the sector
The dark ride sector is more vibrant these days than it has been for decades, believes John Wood, and as a 40-year veteran of the amusement industry he's more than qualified to comment. Here the co-founder, chairman and CEO of Sally Corp explains how a mixture of gaming technology and new storytelling techniques combined with classic gags are making dark rides an appealing option to many regional parks looking for their next big attraction
It all started
with a robot Taking its name from one of the company's earliest robot figures, Sally Corporation is a dark ride and animatronic manufacturer based in Jacksonville, Florida. Its services include fully- developed dark ride storylines, interactive elements and other special effects combined with animated characters, soundtracks and lighting. To date, Sally has supplied
around 60 different themed dark rides to more than 50 parks around the world. This year it has opened new Justice League: Battle for Metropolis rides at Six Flags Mexico and Six Flags Great America, following the debut last season of the first DC Comics inspired attractions at Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags St Louis. New Justice League rides are promised for 2017 at Six Flags Over Georgia outside Atlanta and Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, together with partners Pure Imagination Studios, Oceaneering and Alterface Projects. Working with an entirely
different IP, Sally will soon commission a Casper the Friendly Ghost dark ride at the new Movie Animation Park Studios (MAPS) in Malaysia, featuring a ride system by Bertazzon. At the moment the company is also doing extensive work with Bruce Robinson & Associates as well as Larry Wyatt Design.
48 P
rior to opening our doors as Sally in 1978 (our company was incorporated in 1977 but launched the following January), myself and co-founders
John Fox and John Rob Holland developed a reprogrammable moving and talking human mannequin. Our creations were primarily used to greet and promote products at that time but then we learned about the success of a new restaurant concept featuring animatronics, games and pizza called Chuck E Cheese. It was our first major paradigm shift. Animated musical show productions became our focus and we brought on sculptors, designers and entertainers to help create our new style of fun. Unfortunately, the restaurant chain expanded too quickly and went bankrupt. Overnight our animated musical show business went flat. In the interim we discovered the theme park industry and the wonderful people who work in it and perceived a general need for the revitalisation of the dark ride. The other animatronics manufacturers have stayed the course with their specialty production, but few companies in the industry provide a turn-key dark ride solution. Dark rides have always been enjoyed by the theme park visitor. You will see a line on even an old tired Wacky Shack ride because it’s different from any other experience and provides an experience the entire family can enjoy together and create cherished memories in the process. Working with outside design firms allows us to meet the demand for new projects, especially when its own design team is swamped. Over the years, Sally has worked with a variety of designers, however R&R Creative Amusement Designs was particularly important to our development and growth. Most of our earliest projects were designed by R&R including Yosemite Sam and the Gold River Adventure at Six Flags and the Haunted Castle at Santa Cruz Beach and Boardwalk. We still enjoy working with them very much whenever we can.
Repeatable entertainment Our first interactive dark ride, The Great Pistolero Roundup in 1995, remains extremely popular today (surviving examples can be found at Frontier City,
Oklahoma City, and Family Kingdom, Myrtle Beach) and so do our other installations around the world. Turning rides into games was the key to solving a dark ride’s repeatable entertainment value. Park owners and operators recognise that dark rides will be popular, but they have a perception that they are difficult to market and promote. While I agree that they are not as easy to market as a rollercoaster, Disney, Universal and now Six Flags and Cedar Fair have certainly proven that they can make noise and generate new business with a dark ride. I believe the renewed interest we are seeing in dark rides is because of both pent-up demand and the development of exciting new technologies and techniques including motion-based vehicles, trackless vehicles, fog screen projection, high definition video projections and more. All these complement the storytelling value of dark rides, and our goal at Sally is to bring that type of magic to regional parks around the world. Justice League: Battle for Metropolis at various Six Flags parks, for instance, is truly a game changer as it combines the most advanced roving motion based vehicle from Oceaneering with immersive sets, scenery, special effects and video game like interactivity. With the introduction of 3D video and more elaborate game engines, interactive dark rides have taken another leap forward.
John Wood with the superhero stars of Justice League: Battle for Metropolis, as featured at Six Flags
AUGUST 2016
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