www.parkworld-online.com
Industry Insider
“Technology is usually not the driver for a successful dark ride, rather it is an art form that blends a ride and show seamlessly together for a fun experience"
where our first Ghost Hunt (aka Ghost Blasters) was operating in its 30th year with great success (it remains the 2nd most popular in the park behind Boulder Dash). My travels took me to the beautiful Santa’s Village in Jefferson, New Hampshire where we collaborated with the owners to deliver a new Great Humbug Adventure attraction for their park. It was wonderful to ride through and hear all the laughter of the Humbugs being tickled by our Zappers. I eventually made it to Saco, Maine and Funtown Splashtown to experience the great new Whispering Pines Haunted House dark ride which I have been looking forward to experiencing first-hand. I was not disappointed! Finally, I made my way to Canobie Lake to ride our first design/build dark ride, The Mine of Lost Souls. After 35 years the ride still feels great, and the equipment for the most part was still working very well. It too has proven to be one of the most popular attractions in the park and is now being considered a Canobie Lake classic.
MB: Could you give us a brief insight into some of the key new projects the company is involved in? JW: We recently shipped our 2nd SpongeBob’s Crazy Carnival Ride to Turkey and some other major projects that we are under Non-Disclosure Agreements on. Stay tuned because they are big!
Haunted Hotel
MB: What can you tell us about your new partnerships with Angry Birds and Care Bears? JW: Starting with the Looney Tunes at Six Flags, we have been fortunate to produce a number of exciting dark ride packages featuring popular IP’s including Scooby Doo’s Haunted Mansion, Justice League Battle for Metropolis, Uncharted: The Enigma of Penitence (a dark themed Intamin coaster) and now SpongeBob. However, our first IP was in creating a Care Bear animated musical show, so when the Care Bears came back in a big way we were interested in developing fun concepts for a Care Bear dark ride. Angry Birds on the other hand, was ideally suited for an interactive game experience, especially our newly patented “Mini Dark Ride” that delivers a huge experience
John Rob and John Wood
in a small space. Clients interested in an IP dark ride should look these over. IP characters are a great way to promote and attract visitors to a dark ride.
MB: What do you think are the key changes in technology that will shape your projects for the next couple of years? JW: At Sally we are constantly evaluating new technologies and, more importantly, techniques for creating fun in our dark ride attractions. With the Justice League attraction we seamlessly blended interactive 3-D video with practical animation and special effects; with Reese’s Cupfusion we created the most interactive game experience in the industry, and we are constantly working on new special effects and sensational gags to make our attractions more immersive and successful long term. However, I must say that technology is usually not the driver for a successful dark ride, rather it is an art form that blends a ride and show seamlessly together for a fun experience.
OCTOBER 2024
47
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