Trackless Dark Rides

[Enter Valhalla]

Not too sure what got me thinking about this, but despite the technology having been available for many years now, trackless dark rides in the UK are completely non-existent.

Why is this? Alton Towers recently opened a pretty good dark ride, and it seems like this would have been the perfect opportunity to use this technology and for the park to boast about being the “UK’s First”, something which we know that Merlin live to do. So why didn’t they?

In terms of cost, whilst it’s true that trackless rides appear in parks with higher budgets, you also find them in smaller, low key parks like Walibi Belgium, Terra Mitica and IMG Worlds of Adventure. Motiongate Dubai has four of the damn things, so surely they can’t be THAT expensive?

Obviously we know they’re popular with enthusiasts, but if we’ll executed and the trackless technology fully exploited, I feel that a trackless could be a really hit with the public too.

As far as I know there aren’t any plans for one in the UK? Why have we been so left behind?

 

[AT86]

Why is this? Alton Towers recently opened a pretty good dark ride, and it seems like this would have been the perfect opportunity to use this technology and for the park to boast about being the “UK’s First”, something which we know that Merlin live to do. So why didn’t they?

Merlin had already committed to purchase the ride system for GG for a midway project that was cancelled, so it was reused to save cash.

I’m not sure the fact a dark ride is trackless would be enough in itself for marketing to be able to use the ‘UK first’ line, doesn’t really resonate much. But it could satisfy the Nick Varney ‘killer image’ element of marketing that they have to tick off in order to get investment approval.

 

[Tim]

They definitely aren't that expensive, Merlin have already built 2 in the UK and many around the world as part of the Legoland Discovery Centres.
It's a perfect ride system for fitting in a really small space because the vehicles can pause, rotate and back-up on themselves.
I think the only reason we haven't seen them in the parks are because dark rides fall under the large investment bracket and more often those budgets are used for coasters or thrill attractions. The Ganster Granny ride was kind of an exception. LEGOLAND built Ninjago, that could of used a trackless system but didn't need to be. So having the track saves on unnecessary costs. The Factory Tour ride is trackless, and I'd give good odds that'll start rolling out to the other LEGO parks.

 

[Skyscraper]

Not too sure what got me thinking about this, but despite the technology having been available for many years now, trackless dark rides in the UK are completely non-existent.

Why is this? Alton Towers recently opened a pretty good dark ride, and it seems like this would have been the perfect opportunity to use this technology and for the park to boast about being the “UK’s First”, something which we know that Merlin live to do. So why didn’t they?

In terms of cost, whilst it’s true that trackless rides appear in parks with higher budgets, you also find them in smaller, low key parks like Walibi Belgium, Terra Mitica and IMG Worlds of Adventure. Motiongate Dubai has four of the damn things, so surely they can’t be THAT expensive?

Obviously we know they’re popular with enthusiasts, but if we’ll executed and the trackless technology fully exploited, I feel that a trackless could be a really hit with the public too.

As far as I know there aren’t any plans for one in the UK? Why have we been so left behind?

Fantasy Island in Skeggy will be opening one soon!

 

[Enter Valhalla]

Fantasy Island in Skeggy will be opening one soon!

I didn’t know this, but when it does it’ll certainly be worth visiting, at least from an enthusiast point of view, if nothing else.

Given that they aren’t that expensive (I assume), it seems baffling that the UK theme parks haven’t jumped at the chance of installing them.

 

[Funcone]

Isn't Hex a trackless dark ride?

 

[Ian]

If memory serves me correctly isn’t there also a simple Garmendale trackless ride at Sundown in the UK? There are a couple of installations, it’s just as others have said they don’t tend to be headliners.

While I love the technology used on trackless systems and think it can really add to the ride experience, I do think it can sometimes be a little gimmicky and not properly harnessed.

When you say “trackless” I think a lot of us get images of Mystic Manor’s branching paths and finale, the amazing dancehalls on Pooh’s Honey Hunt, or Daisy’s waltz on the Runaway Railway. But there are also cases of it being used on rides that really didn’t need it/don’t utilise it well. For me Ratatouille doesn’t really take advantage of the system as much as it could (arguably the most sophisticated movements it makes are the oddly satisfying reverse and slide onto the offload platform!). The same goes for Symbolica, which I find pretty mediocre. It looks beautiful, as you’d expect from Efteling, but the ride itself is pretty lacklustre and forgettable in my opinion.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that trackless technology is great, but it needs to be deployed in the right way to truly make it a special experience. Equally, trackless alone is not enough to make the whole ride great.

 

[Maelstrom]

I agree they work best on rides that use the system to enhance the ride experience ie Pooh honey hunt etc. Disney world have only recently added any trackless dark rides and have got 3 over a period of 18 months- ratatouille, rise of the Risistance and Runaway Railway.

Universal haven’t really used the tech much with Kong in Orlando being an example but I read recently that the system they used hasn’t been perfect realisability wise and prefer sticking to the track system they first used on Spiderman.

 

[venny]

I think to adequately exploit the benefits of a trackless ride, you not only have to spend the money on the trackless tech itself, but the overall ride’s theme and theming is likely going to increase the budget considerably.

If you have a tracked ride, you’re most likely going to have to design your sets for a very limited viewpoint. If you want to use trackless to its full effect, you need to design and build the ride to be seen from all angles. That instantly pushes up your design and build cost considerably.

 

[JAperson]

Right just noticed this thread (been quite busy the past couple of days) and I have a question, what is actually the point of spending more on a trackless ride system when you can make a ride that's better themed (using the money on the theming) with a conventional ride system? I get the point for Disney because they'd have loads of the same ride system but other parks I just don't get the hype for the idea of trackless ride systems. Admittedly, I've never done one however I just don't get the appeal for most parks.

 

[Matt N]

From my experience, trackless ride systems are a bit more dynamic than many tracked ride systems, and they also offer more flexibility in terms of space and ride experience. You can go over the same place twice on a trackless ride, which would save space, whereas you can’t on a regular tracked ride, and trackless rides are also easier to implement multi-route ride experiences on. An example of that is on Challenge of Tutankhamon at Walibi Belgium, where the ride apparently takes a different route at the end dependant on what score the riders get, and I think Symbolica at Efteling might also have some sort of multi-route functionality.

Not to mention, trackless rides do look quite cool compared to a regular tracked system; the way many of them glide across the room and dance with each other is quite beautiful to watch, I’ll admit!

 

[Enter Valhalla]

Because, as someone has already pointed out, trackless dark rides allow designers to make more unusual and unexpected moves, which would not be possible on a more conventional ride system, thereby giving the riders a more unexpected experience.

Two very good examples of the above are Mystic Manor and Hotel Transylvania, both of which use the trackless technology to take vehicles in directions which wouldn’t be possible on a metal track.

 

[Funcone]

My experience of trackless dark rides is a bit limited, particularly of the ‘newer generation ones’. To be fair, in recent years (decades) we’ve not had loads of major dark rides in the UK, which is partly why we haven’t had one. One potential downside that hasn’t been mentioned is that they do tend to need a flat surface. A couple of the Disney ones have elevators, which is an exception to this, but that adds another level of complexity. If people are thinking of Derren Brown’s Ghost Train, I think that was a flat area, but it does limit where they can go.

I don’t know how they compare in terms of maintenance. I’ve often thought with animatronics that the reason we don’t have more in the UK is to do with the maintenance as much as the capital investment.

If you’re looking at some of the old school Disney trackless dark rides the experience was a bit different, but with the modern ones I’ve been on you are very aware of the other vehicles. It can be made into a feature with them ‘waltzing’ together. However, I think with rides like Duel, Forbidden Journey, Amazing Adventures of Spider Man etc part of what made these rides so clever is that they achieve high throughputs, but you’re largely unaware of the other vehicles around you. When the cars are dancing around each other it can start to feel less like a dark ride and more like a tea cups.

Having multiple experiences is a cool advantage of a trackless dark ride, but to really make it work you do need a big budget and a large show building.

I did think that Symbolica was pretty good, but that’s got more to do with the theming and the set pieces, than it has to do with the ride system.