Dark Ride Manufacturer Checklist: What Clients Need to Know

A practical guide for suppliers of dark rides

Dark rides are a must for most modern theme parks, family entertainment centers, and destination venues. Clients expect dark rides to tell a story, operate consistently, and be a good investment when considering life-cycle costs. While guests see magic, operators see engineering, logistics, and life-cycle costs. Because of this, it’s important that parks carefully select dark ride suppliers.

This guide focuses on dark rides from the operators’ perspective, looking at what will keep the ride successful years after the ride first opened.

A dark ride starts with the ride system, not the concept art. No amount of imaginative dark ride storytelling will make up for a ride that has a low capacity, is prone to breakdowns, or has uncomfortable/ difficult to maintain ride vehicles. In fact, experienced dark ride suppliers will focus on engineering first and talk about ride throughput, safety systems, system redundancy, ride evacuation design (and the evacuation process), and long-term ride maintenance. When looking at proposed ride systems for a dark ride, operators need to see if the system is a real ride or a theoretical design, and, when possible, existing real-world installations.

It is a common misconception to view storytelling as purely a creative discipline. In reality, it is an engineering discipline as well. The best dark rides are narrowly defined experiences, where passengers are directed to experience specific emotions through integrated motion, timing, lighting, sounds, and scene changes. Creative teams that operate within ride manufacturing companies have a far better understanding of how to marry narrative and ride engineering. The best merged creative and engineering teams are able to ensure that story points flow with ride vehicle movements instead of being jarringly separate, as is common in many rides with creative and engineering teams that are not integrated.

Less is often more in terms of how technology is used in a dark ride. While screens, projection mapping, interactivity, and immersive media technologies can greatly enhance a dark ride experience, rides with more modern technology will ultimately have shorter lifespans due to how quickly modern technology tends to be replaced. Physical ride elements will likely age and deteriorate more slowly than the technologies used within an attraction. This means that dark ride operators should focus on the technologies that will allow outdated systems to be easily replaced, and then focus on using technology with less modern ride elements to extend the experience, as well as enhance the experience. The best dark ride manufacturers maintain an emphasis on physical ride elements to tell a narrative, and use technology to enhance the experience of the riders while relying on mechanical elements to tell the story of the ride.

Customization can be fuzzy around the edges. Completely customized dark rides offer uniqueness and brand differentiation, yet increase costs, complexity, and risk. In contrast, modular or semi-custom systems can yield greater profits by shortening the development cycle and easing maintenance. Operators must have a complete and accurate understanding of what is modular, what is custom, and what those distinctions mean for budgeting, timelines, and the flexibility to adapt.

Most layered dark ride projects succeed or fail in silence, particularly in project management. Apart from creative input, the building of a dark ride draws on cooperation from a multitude of sectors: mechanical engineering, construction, technology, and safety. In the absence of project timelines, project maps, responsibility matrices, and milestone markers, designed and built attractions may be less than complete or exhibit significant time overruns. Good dark ride suppliers plan for obstacles and create plan variances well in advance of problems.

Cost assessments must move upstream from the first quote. The initial costs of dark rides understate their actual costs over the years of operation. Energy consumption, staff needs, maintenance frequency and costs, spare parts, and technical support: all increase costs, sometimes dramatically over time. An understanding of the total cost of ownership is critical to protecting profit margins and the strain of operational flexibility.

Providing good after-sales support turns vendors into partners. Opening day is not the end. There’s still a whole operating season to get through. Good training, fast response to technical questions, good warranties, and paths to anticipated improvements show the supplier is ready to support the attraction during its whole life cycle. Dark ride builders who stick around after opening tend to get parks’ better results over the years.

FAQ

1. What’s the difference between a dark ride manufacturer and a dark ride supplier?

Dark ride manufacturers focus on suppliers for a single type of component, while dark ride suppliers manage the process from end to end, including creative design, engineering, theming, installation, maintenance, and operational support.

2. Are trackless dark rides always the best choice?

Trackless rides provide more flexibility and allow for a more dynamic ride experience, while track-based rides provide more reliability and ease of maintenance. The decision really comes down to operational expectations, story structure, and budget.

3. How long do dark rides need to be operational before requiring a major refurbishment?

Dark rides that are well designed can last 15 to 25 years with the addition of regular, planned updates. Attractions that are more thematically dependent on digital media may require those updates sooner than rides that are more physically themed.

4. How can in-house creative capability be beneficial to a dark ride?

Having creative capability in-house allows better coordination and alignment between engineering and storytelling. That means better ride pacing, more reliability, and an improved experience for riders.

5. What are the biggest warning signs when evaluating dark ride suppliers?

A lack of clarity around maintenance, uptime, and post-opening support are big warning sign. These types of issues can often be seen in the contracting phase.