Is this the worst dark ride in America?

Originally published at: Is this the worst dark ride in America? | Boing Boing

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That wasn’t a simple flat dark ride, it was an actual gravity-propelled roller coaster with a lift hill and everything. So in its defense there may have been a minor thrill from that dip-drop towards the beginning?

This is what I was expecting when clicking the video:

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I can imagine it being kind of scary if it were actually dark. :flashlight: :ghost:

I suppose that there might be some fear to be derived from the such a half-assed ride probably not being well maintained, and so it might be actually dangerous.

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People were actually lining up to ride this? I guess a sucker really is born every minute

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Stephen Colbert No GIF by The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

It’s interesting to note that the front view with the dip seems to be such a universal thing. We had a more permanent (and dark) installation at Joyland of Wichita, KS back in the late 70’s called the Wacky Shack. By the time the park was nearing its final death throes, it was in a sad, sad state…with almost 75% of the original stuff missing, and the blacklight paint faded into non-existence.

And that annoying truck horn added…

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This qualifies as fraud, doesn´t it? I mean I was just watching this ride as a video and I feel ripped off.

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Reminds me of riding the bus, and or trolley in San Diego.

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The hyperbolic introduction leading into a bleak vision and progression toward nothing, ending in confusion and ultimate despair; it all reminds me of this:

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Kate Winslet GIF

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I rode an extremely disappointing dark ride that was probably about this size (minus the hill) and had maybe two whole things to look at inside. But at least it had something, at least the art on the outside was appealing enough to trick me into riding it, and at least it was dark (though now I’m wondering if that was only because it was night).

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I was going to say “And yet there was a queue!
Did nobody exiting the ride tell them “It’s shit, don’t waste your time and money”?

The correct response to that question? You choose. Is it A or B?
A: That is what happens when community values are destroyed by the Randian pricks who’ve been trying to run things for the past 40 years by telling us we must all act as individuals concerned only for ourselves.
B: Telling people would be a distortion of the market, denying the wealth-creating owners the right to run their business how they see fit. And it would probably be socialism, too.

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Now part of me wants to spend a weekend sealing light leaks and setting up switches and blacklights and arduino sound boxes and hanging freaky posters on the walls of a shitty dark ride

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Dang, my niece visited from Florida, she’s a champion shot putter, a no mess around gal.
Even she was a no go after a week of SD bus/trolley. Friggen nightmare.

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Maybe it was the best ride at the fairgrounds

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It’s got a real House of Leaves vibe.

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It had a kinda horrific bleak vibe. At every corner any remaining hope seeps away until the inevitable jarring, dangerous curves and u-turns that only focuses an individuals life to the wrong turns in ones life. Eventually, there is sunlight but not as it was. Sol now hangs lower. Seems more wan. You emerge changed. And to greet a new friend: covid delta.

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So, a metaphor for the previous [mal]administration, then?

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Indeed, the underground is scarier, I think, because you get showers of sparks, unexpected jolts, and weird characters actually in the car with you.

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the stock art used to make the outside look fancy. The licensing fees add up to about $36

The printing costs would be a heck of lot more than that, which makes it funny - that’s where all the expenses went, which from a purely capitalist view, makes sense. You spend all the money getting people in there, but you don’t actually care what sort of experience they have because they’ve already paid.

And the ride description on their website doesn’t really imply anything’s missing - the “zombies” that threaten you are the ones printed on the outside, that you ride by, briefly, at the start/end of the ride. Granted, you’ll have the exact same experience just walking by the ride, but…

One of the scariest rides I was ever on was an “art coaster” made out of plywood and located in a warehouse. It was small and didn’t go very fast but I was constantly nervous it would fall apart any second. Though it was a lot scarier than this without intending to be.

or
C: The riders got cheated out of their money by the lousy system, so it’s only “fair” that everyone after them experience exactly the same thing.

“I went on it four times!”

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At least it lives up to the dark part of a dark ride.

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