Dark ride
Prominent examples include Disneyland's Snow White's Scary Adventures, Pinocchio's Daring Journey, Peter Pan's Flight, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and Alice in Wonderland, which all rely on the use of blacklights in almost every scene.
[3] A popular type of dark ride commonly referred to as an old mill or tunnel of love used small boats to carry riders through water-filled canals.
Historically notable dark rides include Futurama at the 1939 New York World's Fair, and Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland.
Based on a systematic literature review, a team of researchers from the University of Liechtenstein developed a model that illustrates the underlying effect mechanism that attendees of Dark Rides experience.
In the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, China and Australia, dark rides with a scary theme are called ghost trains.
at Alton Towers (until 2023 when the ride was altered) and Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin at Disney's Magic Kingdom.
A recent dark ride, Wonder Mountain's Guardian at Canada's Wonderland, has the world's longest interactive screen at over 500 feet (150 m).
However, while Pooh's Hunny Hunt pioneered the trackless ride system, it was Hollywood Studio's Tower of Terror and Epcot's Universe of Energy attractions that first utilized the technology.
The Disney VR Studio, founded in 1992, allowed the exploration of virtual reality technology for theme park rides.
Showing a virtual prototype of "Pooh's Hunny Hunt" to Japan was a cause of the implementation of the ride at Tokyo Disneyland due to its use of imaging over speech.
Other ride restrictions include those who do not meet a certain height requirement or are too tall to clear the attractions’ set pieces, or those who lack a certain number of arms and legs.
Many trackless dark ride queues are tight, enclosed spaces for guests to wind through, which are often difficult for people with wheelchairs or aids to navigate.
[25] Hollywood Studio's Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance had more than 540 unplanned stoppages in 2022, breaking down more than any other attraction at Walt Disney World that year.
Dark coasters are roller coasters that feature heavily themed layouts, special effects (such as animated characters, fire, smoke, and sound/lighting effects), and a dark ride portion that abruptly transitions into a roller coaster-style layout with heavily banked turns, sharp turns, steep drops, and helices.
Examples include: Test Track at Epcot, Journey to the Center of the Earth at Tokyo DisneySea, and Radiator Springs Racers at Disney California Adventure each use a slot car track rather than that of a roller coaster, but they provide a similar pairing of dark ride scenes with a high-speed thrill ride.
Particularly in Disney-built or -influenced parks, a number of attractions use traditional dark-ride features, such as animatronics and theatrical lighting, but are not "dark rides" in that patrons do not board vehicles.
Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress (and its now-closed Disneyland replacement America Sings) had four auditoriums that rotated audiences around a stationary core with show scenes.
The Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World and the Disneyland Railroad both include brief dark-ride scenes, but for the most part transport guests outdoors.
