Each year, a periodical named Amusement Today encourages its readers to vote in an annual poll. The tabulation of these ballots leads to the most prestigious award in the theme park industry: The Golden Ticket Award. Recipients of this award gain bragging rights for the year as well as a potent sales pitch. They can rightfully say that expert theme park tourists have championed their creations. Winning a Golden Ticket Award is a difference maker to some parks.
Amusement Today hosts voting in several categories, some of which rank parks in categories such as friendliness and cleanliness. Other votes go toward the finest rides in the land, and that’s the topic of conversation today. During the illustrious history of the Golden Ticket Awards, a handful of dark rides have distanced themselves from the competition. These are the attractions that guests love so much that they’re annually honored as the best of the best. According to Amusement Today voting, here are the eight most popular dark rides of the 2000s.
8. The Curse of DarKastle Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Motion simulators are very popular with the voters in the Golden Ticket Awards. Two of the top three most popular attractions over the past 15 years feature this technology. The chief difference between DarKastle and the other two offerings is that it’s not based on a well-known intellectual property/brand.
Instead, the ride designers at Busch Gardens Williamsburg had free reign to open their imaginations. Their output is a triumph of creativity and ingenuity. The Curse of DarKastle tells the story of Prince Ludwig, a small boy who receives a prophecy about his future. He will become a despot, the mad king who mercilessly rules over his people. Rather than view this warning as a Ghost of Christmas Future scenario, Ludwig embraces his destiny, goes mad, and wipes out a lot of people, including his own parents.
You the rider find yourself whisked away to the gothic manor Ludwig calls home…and you are NOT an invited guest. The 3D dark ride entails your attempted escape from DarKastle, a gothic nightmare where your only helper is the mother of the villain. And she’s a ghost. It’s one of the most exposition-heavy rides in the entire world, but all the information quickly draws you into this supernatural realm where evil is at every turn. The 3D effects are particularly engrossing, my favorite being when Ludwig develops a literal snake-tongue. Eat your heart out, Voldemort! The Curse of DarKastle is a triumph of storytelling that should be on every theme park tourist’s must list.
7. Journey to the Center of the Earth – Tokyo DisneySea
Inimitable attractions with splashy colors are the hallmark of Tokyo DisneySea, the place that many consider the greatest themed park in the entire world. One of the shiniest, most spectacular attractions there is Journey to the Center of the Earth, a dark ride that whisks guests underground, tunneling through magma to discover the hidden mysteries at the planet’s core.
The denizens of this realm are intimidating and terrifying, but the scenery is majestic. You’ll feel a sense of wonder as you explore every distinctive set piece on your journey. Then, you’ll enjoy a sudden burst of adrenaline as the underlying technology, the same apparatus powering Test Track and Radiator Springs Racers, thrusts you into darkness at maximum velocity. It’s a clever inversion of Test Track’s switch from the darkness of indoors into the bright light of the outdoors rush to 65 miles per hour.
While Journey to the Center of the Earth maxes out at 47 miles per hour, it uses the same psychology as Space Mountain. The darkness makes you feel like you’re out of control, maybe even heading off the tracks as your careen into the void. When you finally reach a lighted area again, your reward is an unforgettable view of the most beautiful theme park in Asia. This dark ride is a masterful blend of exotic set pieces and pure power. If you ever visit Tokyo DisneySea – and you really should – it’s one of their finest creations.
6. Pirates of the Caribbean – Disneyland
While other versions of this attraction exist at four other parks, the original iteration of Pirates of the Caribbean continues to receive the adoration of fans. Its theming is also the best since it resides in the antebellum themed land known as New Orleans Square. The story of its creation is a celebration of the genius of Walt Disney. But what’s remarkable about the Disneyland version is the way that Imagineers stridently update it for new generations.
When the movie version of Pirates of the Caribbean became a blockbuster – at one point, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest held the record for opening weekend box office – Disney adapted to the growing celebrity of Jack Sparrow. They also incorporated the villains from the franchise as well. Due to their dedication, Pirates of the Caribbean always seems current. Despite its age, this dark ride didn’t appear on the list until after its movie tie-ins were added, demonstrating how successful those integrations were. It’s also deemed one of the three best rides at the park according to Travel + Leisure.
5. Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye – Disneyland
Ranked just above Pirates of the Caribbean on the aforementioned list is this swashbuckling Indiana Jones attraction. While I personally wouldn’t call it the second best ride at Disneyland, its appeal is undeniable. Any self-respecting Indiana Jones fan will feel a surge in adrenaline as you travel through the bumpy, curved path.
Your vehicle for the journey is a specially designed ride cart called an Enhanced Motion Vehicle, and it’s so unique that only one other Disney park has a version of it, Dinosaur at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It’s basically a motion simulator, only it handles the bumps the old-fashioned way. Your body takes a modest beating due to the clever technology. Remember: Indiana never had an easy time. Why should you?
The popularity of the attraction involves more than just its IP, although that’s important, too. The George Lucas connection that Disney built with Star Tours carried over to the Indiana Jones brand, and Imagineers lovingly recreated some of the finest moments from the series, even including the pit of snakes that once caused our hero to bitterly lament his plight. There are also a few rope bridges, hanging vines, and other staples of the franchise littered throughout the ride. Temple of the Forbidden Eye is the greatest Indiana Jones creation of the last 25 years…and I include Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in that.
4. Haunted Mansion – Knoebels Amusement Resort
Yes, you read that correctly. The scary dark ride celebrated the most by the voters of Amusement Today isn’t the other attraction at New Orleans Square in Disneyland. Instead, it’s the crown jewel of Knoebels, and the park advertises their masterpiece as “A Terrifying Adventure in Darkness”. While you may believe that the reason why this Haunted Mansion scores better than Disney’s version is that it’s younger, you’re only partially correct. Disneyland finally introduced its version in 1969. The Knoebels offering came along in 1973. They’ve both operated for more than 40 years now, making each one a part of theme park lore.
The Knoebels Haunted Mansion is a dark ride in the truest sense of the world. The lights are literally out during key portions of your journey into the macabre. Then, a spotlight will flash on some creepy creature that you would swear hadn’t been there a moment before. One second you’re blind in the dark and then boom! There’s a King Kong-sized skull right in front of your face! Your pulse will race during the 200 seconds of the attraction.
What’s especially great about Haunted Mansion is that despite its status as theme park icon, Knoebels officials aren’t afraid to tweak it. In 2016 alone, they added several new elements for a few new cheap tricks, and they redesigned an entire room. The ever-changing nature of Haunted Mansion is why it has stood the test of time.
3. The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man – Islands of Adventure at Universal Orlando
What do the years 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 have in common? In every one of them, Amusement Today voters lauded The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man as THE best dark ride on the planet. Putting this dominance in perspective, it had a longer rule as a ruler of the category than either George W. Bush or Barack Obama did as President of the United States. It’s basically the Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In sports terms, it’s the Boston Celtics under Red Auerbach. For the body of a decade, it just didn’t lose.
What’s so special about this particular dark ride? Well, you can go Behind the Ride to learn about the clever engineering feats that comprise The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man. The gist is that it was the first motion simulator attraction to perfect the union of ride and popular themed IP. When the ride debuted in 1999, the record-setting movie was still two years away.
Universal bet huge on the premise that a realistic encounter between Spider-Man and his rogues gallery was the perfect setting for a motion simulation ride. They chose the daring option of having the rider watch the events unfold rather than stepping in the (webbed) shoes of Spider-Man. This profound decision has become the staple of all the branded motion simulations at the park such as Transformers: The Ride, The Simpsons Ride, and Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem (plus the number one ride on this list).
While age has caught up with The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man a bit, the main “problem” with the dark ride at this point is its greatness. It’s such a dazzling engineering achievement that many imitators have popped up, thereby gradually eroding its uniqueness over time. That’s the main reason why it’s not one of the top two dark rides in the world right now according to awards voters. But we should always remember that it was the Beatles of motion simulators for a full decade.
2. Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Although this attraction isn’t going to finish in first place on this list, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is the reigning winner in the category. The reason something else beats it is that up until this year, its performance in the Golden Ticket Awards was nothing special. Then, an unlikely set of events caused Disney fanatics to appreciate that they’d taken this attraction for granted. And their sudden display of affection squarely falls into the category of Too Little, Too Late, at least at one of its locations.
Yes, the current champion in the category of Best Dark Ride at the Golden Ticket Awards is transforming into a themed adventure of the Guardians of the Galaxy. The last official day for the Disney California Adventure version of the ride was January 3, 2017. Technically, fans voted for Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but the newfound support in the category stemmed from the Disney backlash about their decision. At the time of the voting, the Hollywood Studios iteration of Tower of Terror was also allegedly in danger of closure, but Disney execs have since said that they’re leaving it alone.
A masterpiece of theming, the Tower of Terror is a ride that you, the readers of Theme Park Tourist, have named as the best one at Disney. In fact, you’ve taken it a step further and said that this is THE best theme park attraction in the world. So, you understand why other voters were so passionate in their support of a suddenly, unexpectedly endangered dark ride that’s arguably the best in existence today.
1. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey – Islands of Adventure at Universal Orlando
How much of a stranglehold does Universal Resort Orlando have on the category of Best Dark Ride? 2016 was the ONLY time in the 2000s that Universal failed to win the category. That’s basically the entire existence of the award. Disney, the originators and presumed masters of the dark ride, finally rocked the vote in 2016, ending Universal’s total lockdown.
While the Spider-Man ride was their primary title holder during this timeframe, the past six years had a different champion. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is an amazing ride accomplishment that combines the technical wizardry of Spider-Man with an (somehow) even more popular brand. The popularity of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter speaks for itself, single-handedly turning around the fortunes of Universal Resort Orlando as a vacation destination. Since its inception in 2010, one attraction has driven demand for the entire product.
That dark ride is Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, which is amusingly not even the best Harry Potter motion simulation dark ride at the park now. Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts has since surpassed it, hinting at another several years of dominance in the category for Universal. Due to the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror news, the second Harry Potter ride of its type didn’t take over the category as expected in 2016, but its ascension feels inevitable. At this point, Universal has a hammerlock on Best Dark Ride according to Amusement Today voters. It’s won 15 out of 16 awards in the 2000s, and each of their new attractions seems to outdo the previous one.
