Cadbury Chocolate Quest
Cadbury World, Bournville, United Kingdom
Merlin Magic Making, Alterface, ETF Ride Systems, 1050 Studio, WT Partnership, Mondelez International Cadbury Chocolate Quest is Cadbury World’s sweet new centerpiece. The interactive dark ride, part of Merlin Entertainments’ £8 million investment in the attraction, reflects the company’s larger ambitions for Cadbury World’s future.
Tim Waters, regional director at Merlin Entertainments, says the company made an “investment strategy” to roll out Cadbury Chocolate Quest, the newly opened interactive Have a Go Zone, and the completely revamped Bournville Experience in the same season.
As a branded attraction, guests join Freddo the frog and the mischievous Buttons monkeys on a quest to find the perfect ingredients for a Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate bar. Riders wield “Cadbury Collectors” to gather raw ingredients, including cocoa pods and milk, before catching the Bournville steam train to the Cadbury factory to whip up delicious treats.
“Creating a great interactive dark ride is very much like making delicious chocolate,” says Stephane Battaille, CEO at media-based interactive attractions company Alterface. “It requires the right team and ingredients.”
Nine ETF Multi Mover trackless vehicles can accommodate 600 guests per hour. Multimedia screens, six interactive scenes, animations, animatronic elements, and atmospheric effects enhance the experience.
Alterface worked with Merlin to make the ride inclusive. Special armrests on seats allow easier access, and one of the cars has a wheelchair-compatible design. Subtitles are shown on all screens.
cadburyworld.co.uk/explore/attractions/cadbury-chocolate-quest/
Dämonen Gruft
Heide Park Resort, Soltau, Germany
Merlin Entertainments, Alterface, Preston & Barbieri, Oddities, 400 Coups, Pachinko Media, JP Show Systems, TAA Group
Daredevils can descend into the Dämonen Gruft (Demon’s Crypt), discovered during excavations at Heide Park Resort, despite dire warnings and rumors of people disappearing. Passengers set off in mine carts into the ancient catacombs, where monstrous creatures lurk in the dark.
The compact, 380-square-meter dark ride designed by Merlin Entertainments’ team and produced by Alterface blends scary stories with scenery, embedded media, animatronics, and sensory effects to spook guests. Eight cars carry four souls through the 3.5-minute ride, providing a maximum capacity of 480 passengers per hour. One of the most impressive scenes, featuring a Pepper’s ghost scrim, video, theming, scents, water jets, immersive sound, and lighting, reveals the giant-headed demon that stalks riders.
Marketing Director George Hope shares with Funworld why Heide Park knew it was time to add a dark ride.
“A scary dark ride met the demand for a thrilling attraction and it seamlessly integrated into our Transylvanian land,” says Hope. “The Dämonen Gruft revitalized an abandoned building, breathing new life into the space. The story aligns perfectly with the Flight of the Demons ride, enhancing our guests’ immersive experience. As an indoor attraction, it also provides an excellent option for rainy days.”
heide-park.de/en/daemonengruft/
Dino Off Road Adventure
Six Flags Over Texas Arlington, Texas, United States
Six Flags Over Texas is bringing the past back to life in 2024 by revitalizing a classic ride. The park has reimagined its vintage Chaparral Antique Cars, which debuted in 1962, as Dino Off Road Adventure.
Families will journey past 15 life-size dinosaur animatronics, including a Tyrannosaurus rex, three Velociraptors, and a Stegosaurus. Sound effects add to the roar-some experience. A fleet of 14 adventure-ready, four-person vehicles takes riders along the 1,470-foot outdoor track.
sixflags.com/overtexas/attractions/dino-off-road-adventure-2
Fire In The Hole
Silver Dollar City, Branson, Missouri, United States
Rocky Mountain Construction
Silver Dollar City transports guests back to the 1880s with a remake of a park classic: Fire In The Hole, an attraction that’s part dark ride and part roller coaster. This nearly three-minute adventure—created in collaboration with Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC)—takes riders on a thrilling mission to save a burning town from vigilantes named, The Baldknobbers. Set within a new 32,000-square-foot structure, the coaster offers 14 immersive show scenes and three gravity-defying drops, culminating in a water-splash finale (a fan favorite from the original).
On the new-for-2024 version, riders board new vehicles styled to resemble an 1880s steam-powered firefighting wagon, before plunging into historical storytelling thanks to an immersive experience that retells the fiery history of the Ozark town of Marmaros. “The ride combines a family coaster experience all can enjoy with indoor elements illustrating the history of this area,” notes Duane Marden, founder of the Roller Coaster Database. With its impressive scale, engaging theming, and thrilling ride elements, the new Fire In The Hole ignites excitement that’s on track to again become the park’s signature family attraction.
silverdollarcity.com/theme-park/attractions/rides/new-fire-in-the-hole/
FlyOver Chicago
Navy Pier, Chicago, United States
FlyOver by Pursuit, Brogent
Aboard Chicago’s new FlyOver attraction, guests can feel the wind in their hair as they fly through the Windy
City. “FlyOver is our love letter to Chicago,” says Lisa Adams, COO and executive producer of FlyOver Attractions by Pursuit.
The flying theater sends guests on an exhilarating trip through the city from day to night. They will flit past iconic landmarks, including the Tribune Tower and the Cloud Gate sculpture at Millennium Park. Riders will witness the Joffrey Ballet rehearsing, see inside the Chicago Theatre, swoop past Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods, and watch dazzling fireworks over Navy Pier. A stirring soundtrack accompanies specially shot drone footage, which plays across a 65-foot spherical screen. Onboard effects stimulate all the senses.
FlyOver Chicago transports 61 guests at a time and includes pre-show entertainment (pictured left). It is the fourth FlyOver attraction by hospitality company Pursuit, while Brogent delivered the ride system.
experienceflyover.com/chicago/
HickHack um die Harzburg
BurgBergCenter, Bad Harzburg, Germany
Attraktion!
HickHack um die Harzburg is HarzVenture’s first indoor ride and joins a cable car, zipline, adventure golf, and treetop walk at its tourist attraction in the Harz mountains. The indoor ride provides an entertaining alternative for guests during poor weather.
HickHack um die Harzburg’s storyline is based on a comic book inspired by local history. The ride tells the story of King Heinrich IV and his animal friends, the magical owl Naira, and Naapi the salamander, who are in the Harz castle when an angry bishop and duke attack it. Audiences follow King Heinrich as he escapes the castle, ziplines through a forest, and turns his foes’ catapult against them.
Attraktion! served as the turnkey provider for the attraction. The ride uses its Circulum 360 ride system, which combines a 3DOF motion platform with rotation and immersive 360-degree projection. “This dark ride version, with multiple sets, is perfect for small venues, museums, or local tourist attractions,” says Daniel Teubenbacher, head of creative and European sales at Attraktion!
The ride has 16 seats and one wheelchair space. Guests spend 17 minutes in the experience; the main show lasts nine minutes in a 58-square-meter space. The pre-show area doubles as an events space that places guests in a forest setting in front of the castle, with a digital castle window, projections, and scent effects as all a part of the show.
darkridedatabase.com/rides/hickhack-um-die-harzburg/
SpongeBob’s Crazy Carnival Ride
Circus Circus Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, United States
Sally Dark Rides
SpongeBob SquarePants celebrates his 25th birthday with an uproarious adventure at the Circus Circus Hotel & Casino. SpongeBob’s Crazy Carnival Ride, the first installation of a SpongeBob SquarePants-themed interactive dark ride, immerses guests in the vibrant undersea world of Bikini Bottom, where they meet SpongeBob and his friends.
The family experience emerged from a powerful partnership among Paramount, Nickelodeon, and Circus Circus. Sally Dark Rides created the ride, which sees SpongeBob and Patrick delivering boxes of balls for Mr. Krabs’ latest get-rich scheme—midway games.
“As a lifelong fan and ride designer, working with the SpongeBob SquarePants IP (intellectual property) was a dream come true,” says Rich Hill, chief creative officer at Sally Dark Rides.
Sally has crammed plenty of hijinks into just over 6,000 square feet of ride space. The show lasts around 20 minutes, including the pre-show set-up and seven-minute interactive ride experience. The ride combines six of Sally’s animatronics with 15 brightly colored scenes, five-passenger “Carnival Carts,” multimedia projections, special effects, and original voice talent to bring the iconic SpongeBob characters to life in a new way.
A second installment of SpongeBob’s Crazy Carnival Ride is projected to open at The Land of Legends in Türkiye by 2025.
sallydarkrides.com/dark-rides/spongebobs-crazy-carnival-ride
New at Tokyo DisneySea
Six Flags Over Texas Arlington, Texas, United States
Oriental Land Co., Ltd. has developed marvelous rides for Fantasy Springs, the themed port that opened this year at Tokyo DisneySea. The dark rides are prominent in the three newly opened themed lands inspired by the films “Frozen,” “Tangled,” and “Peter Pan.”
Anna and Elsa’s Frozen Journey is a spectacular retelling of the hit movie. Guests take a royal tour through Arendelle’s palace before boarding boats to drift past momentous moments in Anna and Elsa’s lives. The 6.5-minute ride is a technological masterpiece featuring lavish sets, animatronics, projections, and iconic songs, including “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” and “Let It Go.”
Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival is a romantic boat trip that recreates Rapunzel’s “best day ever” after she escapes her tower and falls for Flynn Rider.
In Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure, riders help Peter Pan, the Lost Kids, and Tinker Bell save the day when Captain Hook and his pirates snatch John. Riders soar through the sky above Neverland and watch Peter Pan and his friends outwit Captain Hook before whisking Wendy and her brothers safely back home. The six-minute ride uses 3D technology and practical sets to immerse guests in the action. For smaller guests, Fairy Tinker Bell’s Busy Buggies offers an outdoor tracked ride through the magical kingdom of Pixie Hollow, where flowers and fauna are larger than life.
tokyodisneyresort.jp/special/en/fantasysprings/
Juliana Gilling began covering the global attractions industry in 1994. She reports on innovative people, projects, and additions for Funworld and the IAAPA News Hub. Juliana lives in England, where she runs a freelance writing business. Connect with her on LinkedIn.
- This original reporting from IAAPA News first appeared in Funworld magazine. For more stories and videos covering the global attractions industry and to read a digital version of Funworld magazine, click here.
