Dark Ride Possibilities

PointBuzz always has lots of off-season talk about what's next for the park. Probably more than anything, I'd like to see a dark ride added to the attraction line up. The question is though, what sort of dark ride would appeal to Cedar Point visitors best? Would it be a traditional dark ride reviving Pirate Ride or Earthquake? Would a Peanuts themed dark ride attraction appeal to families more? Should it be interactive with targets like the Boo Blasters rides at the former Paramount parks? Or should it be more big budget and high-tech like the simulator/4D style dark rides, such Spiderman and DarCastle?

In a perfect world I'd like one of each. But for the sake of discussion, if Cedar Point were to add a dark ride, what would you like to see?

They closed long before my time, but I heard from my parents and older relatives that the Pirate Ride and Earthquake were pretty fun. If the park uses modern technology to remake one or both of these rides, I'd be happy.

Something traditional and immersive would be nice (like Monster Mansion at Six Flags Over Georgia) but it seems more likely that Cedar Point would get something interactive and arcade-like similar to the Reese's Xtreme Cup Challenge at Hersheypark. In whatever form a dark ride would be an extremely welcome family attraction. I hope it happens sooner than later.

I'd like to see something like Buzz Lightyear at Magic Kingdom or Toy Story Mania. Those are constant moving lines and they seem to really appeal to families. It seems like a good fit.

Ideally, I'd like to see one of the trackless systems utilized. Potentially with the cars being able to interact with each other. Though, a "shooter" isn't necessary in my mind, I think it might have longer staying power if it is. Having recently watched a Sally presentation about a ride they worked on, I'd like to see "targetless" characters. Technically they still have targets, but they are hidden. This may sound difficult. But, in actuality, there are multiple targets on the characters making them easy to hit.

Sally's thought behind this: In a traditional shooter, people are concentrating on the targets and don't actually pay attention or remember the "story" as much. With the hidden targets, people seemed to remember the story better and in turn had more fun. The did field testing with both systems and found they the scores were pretty much the same.

The biggest problem with this new format is that in order to disguise the targets, they are covered in a fine mesh that blends into what ever the target is placed on. This mesh can have a tendency to get dusty and something that needs to be cleaned regularly to ensure the targets will work properly.

If they went with a snoopy themed ride, I'd like to see them go the gobbler getaway route and not call them guns. Perhaps they are trying to catch something instead.

Lastly, I think my new favorite shooter system has to be the one used on the Toy Story ride at California's Adventure. I also rode a ride in Germany with this system themed to (IIRC) mice in a chocolate factory. If they went with a shooter, this technology would be my preference. It is a beneficial system to utilize as the story can be easily updated if you ever want/need to retheme it.

Reese's Xtreme Cup Challenge is awful. Anything the park does would have to be better than that (which wouldn't be difficult).

The Toy Story technology is pretty amazing, but it's more a moving 3D video game and less dark ride for my tastes. I didn't know about Sally's target-less product. This sounds awesome, because it addresses the problem I've always had with the shooters. When I come off the ride, I pretty much only remember looking at targets mostly and forget about the majority of the expensive scenery. My solution to this in the past has always been to ride with others committed to shooting and I just let them activate the target/stunts.

If Cedar Point ever choose to go with a Peanuts Storyline dark ride, I'd prefer they leave out the interactive element of targets and shooting. Unless they can come up with a believable story that would make sense for guns existence. (Rounding up escaped Woodstocks isn't it. :) )

I've always wanted to see Cedar Fair do something with the "Race For Your Life Charlie Brown" storyline. I think a dark ride/flume combo would be awesome for bringing this story to life.

A boat-based dark ride would be awesome beyond words but I'm not sure if the relative expense and maintenance involved would prevent the park from going with one. Race For Your Life Charlie Brown would definitely be a solid route for this sort of thing.

If there's going to be an interactive Peanuts themed dark ride, the best idea I can come up with is the riders join Snoopy as flying ace to try and shoot down the Red Barron.

^ With an overhead rail ride system, ala Peter Pan's Flight. That would be cool, but sadly too violent for today's crowds.

Love to see a ride through haunted house and a walk through fun house. If they do a Peanuts themed ride I hope it's small scale and tucked away in one of the existing Snoopy themed areas and they save their investment for something more appealing.

I miss the old dark rides! They were always fun!!

Jason Hammond said:
Ideally, I'd like to see one of the trackless systems utilized. Potentially with the cars being able to interact with each other.

I've never been on, or even heard of anything like this. Can you give me an example?

The best example of a trackless dark ride system is Pooh's Honey Hunt at Tokyo Disneyland. The "Honeypot" ride vehicles travel around in a unique and individual ride path. They travel around one another and seem to almost dance together.

A more local trackless dark ride would be Sally's Ghostwood Estate at Kennywood. It's cars are able to travel into a side room and back out, but there isn't the interactive element with other ride units.

SeaWorld's new penguin ride will be a trackless system.

Here's your story Richie.. ;)

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JIBGwe4avvE/UHmlmppiNrI/AAAAAAAAADA/eHGxg...zombie.jpg

Awesome...
I'm thinking UFS probably wouldn't approve that. :)

Lol. Boo Blasters: Peanuts Edition

I'm thinking a dark bobsled ride would be pretty cool.

They could make it seem like the passengers were riding a cargo train that went from outer space to Alaska.

Then... something could go wrong!

What happens if we put in a shooter ride and Obama takes away the guns?? ;)

Seriously though, a dark ride would be awesome and my only request would be that it's not an extreme thrill ride, but something families can go on... even families with little children. There's a big hole in CP's attraction lineup here, and I'd like to see it addressed.

I wonder if they could use the Good Times theatre for a dark attraction?

xfireboyx said:
I'm thinking a dark bobsled ride would be pretty cool.

They could make it seem like the passengers were riding a cargo train that went from outer space to Alaska.

Then... something could go wrong!

Too bad they're building Gatekeeper I would hav loved this ;)