hertamaniac
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2017
- Messages
- 6,004
I view the keys to a dark ride are something in door and where there is some sort of ride vehicle that guides you through the path and shows you a series of vignents only when they want you to see them and uses visuals and audio and effects - all to tell a story (which is, I think a key part).
So based on that you have your classic dark rides like Peter Pan and the Haunted Mansion ... but also I would say Dinosaur qualifies as it meets those criteria. Same way, I wouldn't call It's a Small World a dark ride, it is more a boat ride along the lines of Living with the Land or the Storybook Canal boat ride
And now there are mixed rides - so something like Gringotts and (I believe) the coming Guardians roller coaster is a mix of dark ride elements with sections of thrill ride. I'd also put Splash Mountain in that category as a mix between a flume ride and a dark ride
Not for the sake of argument, but could/would Navi be considered the same? It's a stretch in my mind (primarily due to length of time to tell "a" story), but I believe that may have been the intent.
To me, the best dark ride is SSE. It exhibits/encompasses all aspects of the story, combined with a unique architecture, that tells an advancement in technology or story.