Entertainment Designer: It starts with a height test. If you can’t pass it, you’re forced to slink away as others glide gleefully past. When you’re finally tall enough, you walk proudly past the measurements and take your place in an exceptionally long line. You then wait for what feels like a lifetime, twisting and turning through a crowded, dimly lit series of rooms. Your prize: an experience guaranteed to last no more than a few minutes. Most of us wouldn’t subject ourselves to such a thing if it weren’t housed in a theme park; but when it’s a well-crafted dark ride, the slog is more than worth it.
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This kind of theme park work I find super relevant to all aspects of theatrical design. Obviously, ride design can become far more complicated because of the fact that your audience has to be broken up much smaller and also has to be transported through the story physically as well as emotionally, however, a lot of the actual design aspects are very similar, with just a few minor differences. For instance, lighting design, which we often use to create the biggest and brightest shows on broadway, has to take into account more concealing than what we may normally conceal on a stage (given that the scenic designer has elements that need to have a bit of concealing in the first place). Media design seems rather similar, just perhaps a bit more commercial from what we've seen thus far in the development of the modern dark ride.
The article brings up a pretty interesting point about regional parks staying away from dark rides. It seems as if regional parks to rely more on the draw of the thrill ride rather than the draw of dark rides, perhaps for fear that because they are not attaching a large fan base (for instance, Harry Potter) they wont be able to succeed and get back their return on the ride. I feel like this may dissapear as technology advances, because I feel as if that there is a converging point when the technology is interesting enough to bring in a good throughput regardless of the franchise attached to the ride itself.
I loved reading this entire article. I personally follow entertainmentdesigner.com and love reading their articles. Dark rides are the type of rides I enjoy designing. They totally immerse you into a space when the environment outside cannot always do so. They also strive to use the advances of electrical effects and combine them with a new passion for narrative. For me the traditional roller coaster is not what drove me to themed entertainment it was dark rides. The first behind the scenes video I saw for themed entertainment was in the bonus features for pirates of the Caribbean. It included an old vintage video from the development of Pirates of the Caribbean. It was interesting that the film and the ride both influenced each other. The Dark Ride for me solidified the ideas of early cinema and built a format for the total immersive experience. Similar to film Dark Rides offer modular components for designing linear journeys to fantasy sites.
As for dark rides and their importance in theme parks I've always failed to pay attention to the story being told, if any, on a roller coaster. It is a stark thrill ride, meant only to make your heart jump and your stomach drop. Dark rides make you feel like you are in a storybook or in a different body. I always feel like I'm on an adventure, a feeling I've had every single time I stand in line for my favorite ride.
I don't think I ever fully realized the amount of planning, detail, and hard work went into the dark rides I saw when I was within them. And I think it's credit to the people who worked on them that I didn't think any of that, and was so immersed in the genre that nothing else mattered. As theatre technicians, it's our job to make everything look effortless; we want people exiting the show feeling either as if they literally were an integral part of the story. A roller coaster and theme park enthusiast myself, I have to say that dark rides are perhaps my favorite of all. I can remember being a little kid and riding the Jaws ride, or hopping into the Batman ride in Six Flags with my friends a few years ago, reveling in the sharp twists, turns, and drops into Arkham.
Perhaps what I find most interesting about the concept of dark rides as a whole is that they basically become interactive, real life theatre. You are surrounded with action, and you, in essence, get to create your own experience. Sure, the car that drives you around points out the most integral parts of the journey, but it's the rider who chooses when to open and close their eyes. It's not as easy in movies and theatre to feel the breath of a dragon close upon your neck, or get splashed with water by the tail of a great white shark.
I never realized just how much thought was put into dark rides at amusement parks. It is a very similar process to creating a set for a play in that there is an audience, a story, and it attempts to be believable. But what makes it much more of an investment is the fact that it is hard to remove because it is essentially a large building. I feel like this makes rides an even riskier part of entertainment than theater. If the ride isn’t popular, there isn’t much that can be done while in theater, the show can just be replaced with something else. Aesthetically, it is also a lot harder because patrons and audience members are a lot closer to the ride art than at theaters. There is a large difference in the quality of work that must be achieved when you are two feet away versus being fifty feet away. This article really put this into light, and I have a new appreciation for themed entertainment.
I had no idea so much work went into creating these dark rides. It was really interesting to read about the differences between the old rides and the new. Namely how the Disney ones were putting their characters too high or too far behind and that the overall layout of the ride was off. But then how they looked at sightline more and found better places to put all the props and characters and whatnot. As a design student in Dick’s class, I am all too aware of sightlines. But I hadn’t really thought of them in context of a ride where the reveal is the most important part. Applying that kind of thinking to every set I think would really change the impact of the set to the audience. Too often you draft from above the set and not with how it would look from the front which changes everything.
This article has so many cool things in it and each dark ride looks more amazing than the last. They started to makes rides where it’s an interactive game and if you do well you get to go further in the ride, but if you don’t the ride ends. There’s another one with 3D projections. Another has cars that are attached to a track like a roller coaster- the other, they spin and move independently. this is so amazing! I had no idea these rides had so much put into them or that there were even so many variations! Now I really want to go to Disney just to check a few of them out.
Of course, I never even considered the amount of planning and collaboration that goes into the creation of these rides. Having been on a few of these rides, it is really hard to notice all of the little aspects that make up the ride. One thing in particular about dark rides that amazes me is the timing and viewpoints of it all. Designing a set that is being viewed from pretty much one angle is simple compared to designing a set that basically has to be interesting 360 degrees all the way around; because the designers have no way of knowing what direction the people riding the ride will end up looking. Similarly I am amazed by the amount of attention put into the angle and speed of the car. It must take huge amounts of finesse and planning to create a path for the car that subliminally forces the riders to look in a certain direction for a certain period of time. Overall I commend the designers whose jobs often go unnoticed unless they do something wrong. Dark rides are incredible; it would be so much fun to design one!
I loved this article. I think dark rides are incredibly interesting because they are a challenging culmination of many areas of design and entertainment technology. Though I haven’t been to many theme parks (I think I went to one once?) I have always wondered how things like that worked, and how they were created in such a way as to make it a complete experience. My sister came back from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter over the moon about the Hogwarts experience ride, where they used projections and environmental design to their ultimate effect. This article illuminated for me the sheer amount of things that must be figured out in order to make a dark ride a success: between the limitations of the space to the radius of the curves and capacity of the cars it is a lot to think about. I look forward to seeing what they come up with next!
I personally love story-driven rides. There is obviously something very exciting about a roller coaster (my personal favorite) or log flume or whatever, but when you add the value of an environment and story, you're getting something totally different out of it. Take a very cliche example, like the Haunted Mansion at Disney. There isn't a whole lot of movement or adrenaline, but it is an entertaining experience that will make you think more than others. My family also has been going on the Peter Pan ride since I was very, very small. It is always my favorite because I am able to immerse myself completely in the story. Another new favorite of mine is the Harry Potter ride at Universal where you get to fly around with dementors and other cool stuff.
This is such an interesting and intriguing article! Because I have not been to a theme park like Disney since I was a teeny tiny kid, I have not gotten the chance to specifically observe the lighting and other theatrical choices made for a dark ride like the ones the article talks about. I remember being totally wowed by rides like this though, including the “It’s a Small World, After All” ride, the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, and especially the Peter Pan ride, the one that takes you flying over London. I remember not believing how real it looked; even though I knew it was miniature, it still felt like I was way high up above Big Ben! Now I know that that the set designers and lighting designers were key to that effect. Well done, and it would be fun to try and figure out a dark ride!
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