Lost Dark Rides: Tintin Rides at Walibi park in Belgium

I love dark rides and I thought it would be fun for us share links to the ones that are hidden, in foreign lands or have been lost to time, or all of the above.

The famous comic character TinTin was part of a new theme park, Walibi park in Belgium when it opened in the 1970. The characters would remain until the rights were lost to use them in the 1990's. There is a nice write up of the rides on the website The Cult of Tintin at Tintinologist.org: unofficial Tintin site

Writeup:
Walibi - Tintinologist.org

and ALSO great photos of the rides:
Tintin Gallery

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'Le Temple du Soleil' (Temple of the Sun) was a dark ride based on 'Prisoners of the Sun'. It opened in 1975 and took visitors through a fluorescent forest that led to the Temple of the Sun. Due to technical difficulties and capacity problems, it had to be closed only a few years after its opening. It is the only Tintin-based attraction I haven't visited since it was torn down the year of my very first birthday! It got replaced by a parachute tower called 'Big Yoyo', which stood there until the end of the nineties. Now the place houses several small children's attractions.
'Le Secret de la Licorne' (Secret of the Unicorn) opened in 1980 elsewhere in the park to replace 'Le Temple du Soleil'. It was a clone of the Disneyland dark ride 'Pirates of the Caribbean'. Set in a massive replica of a castle, it featured multiple pirate ships and eighty-five animatronics including Haddock, Tintin, Snowy and Red Rackham (voiced by Bob De Moor). Sadly, it was closed in 1995 due the loss of rights.
In the following years, the castle building was re-opened only in the Halloween period as a walk-through haunted castle. The Tintin characters had been removed as well as the entire system for the visitor boats. The only thing that was left were the immobile pirate animatronics (and other non-Tintin animatronics from other closed-down attractions), disrespectfully splattered with fake blood, dismembered or decapitated by the current Walibi, uh hum, "imagineers" as a cheap Halloween horror show. I couldn't believe my eyes when I walked through it. Truly sad.
Then, in 2003, the old castle building was refurbished and re-decorated to house a new dark ride called 'Challenge of Tutankhamun'. Still, even with its state-of-the-art wagon system with light guns (to shoot the animatronics) and score counter, the attraction isn't nearly as breathtaking as its predecessor built some twenty years before.

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This is certainly an excellent thread idea, especially since there's plenty to post since Europe has plenty of stunning dark rides.

I might as well start things of with Challange of Tutankhamon, which ironically is the attraction that's replaced the Tintin attraction. In my opinion this is hands down one of the best interactive dark rides Sally Corperation has ever done. (Second only to Labyrinth of the Minotaur in Spain.)

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV50UsT9J_Y"]YouTube - Sally: CHALLENGE OF TUTANKHAMON (official video)[/ame]



Though if there's one park that has a vast collection of great dark rides, it's De Efteling. This charming park in the Netherlands is home to a vast collection of dark rides, most of them fantasy based...but all of them are special in their own way.

Let's start off with Droomvlucht, which is probably one of their most popular attractions. It's a very well done attraction where your in a suspended car and taken through a forest full of faries and other fanciful creatures, it has quite an ending as the car goes into a downward helix during a nightly rainfall.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zviAIIY6Bm0&feature=related"]YouTube - Droomvlucht Efteling[/ame]


The next one is Fata Morgana, which is a charming boat ride with a Arabian Nights theme.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_r9UIifUfU&feature=related"]YouTube - Fata Morgana on-ride 22-03-2008[/ame]


Next up is their most recent addition, De Vliegende Hollander. This is an incredibly themed water coaster themed around the lenged of The Flying Dutchman. The level of detail is stunning, especially on the building and the station. Now granted both the dark ride and coaster parts are on the short side, but it certainly kicks the pants off just about any US dark ride attempt.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F8gDf_3eHQ&feature=related"]YouTube - Vliegende Hollander Efteling compilatie[/ame]



Oh yes, here's a link to plenty of great photo's of the ride.
http://www.rides.nl/attractie/fotos/...ende-hollander

Now De Efteling has another great dark ride, however I will talk about that in my next post...which will focus on what I think is one of the most underrated type of dark ride there is...The Madhouse.

Until then, enjoy the videos. ;)

The Flying Dutchman ride system is pretty good. Imagine that on Pirates of the Caribbean?

How about Ice Age Adventure at Movie Park in Germany.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrUCX69ksNM]YouTube - Ice Age Adventure[/ame]

The park use to be Warner Bros. Movie World and the Ice Age adventure was a Bugs Bunny dark boat ride.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9KlX04s0cQ&feature=related]YouTube - Looney Tunes onride - Movieworld Germany[/ame]

From the same park the Gremlins dark ride with guest star ALF.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vUCVXqU27w&feature=related]YouTube - Gremlins onride - Movieworld Germany[/ame]

Back in the US is Ye Old Mill at Rye Playland. The revamp was done by Sally Corp and features hard working dwarfs.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyCUxIXgg8o]YouTube - Ye Old Mill POV at Rye Playland[/ame]

^ I have to admit it would be pretty cool to see Pirates with highly detailed boats like that. Though not the same size since that would cut the GPH pretty drastically.

Now then, in my last post I said I would talk about another attraction from De Efteling and about the kind of dark ride know as The Madhouse.

The Madhouse is pretty much a modern-day version of The Haunted Swing or Tilthouse. In a Haunted Swing you sit in a obvious swing-like bench which is inside a room, the swing starts to move and it keeps going until the room is flipped upsidown. While it may seem your defying gravity, in reality you never go upsidown at all.

Now the ride company Vekoma was the first to modernize the Haunted Swing, what they did is
1. Make the ride much bigger. - While traditional Haunted Swings only hold a very few amount of people, a regular Vekoma Madhouse can hold 78!

2. Disguise the swing. -With a haunted swing, it's pretty obvious to tell what's going to happen. With a Madhouse the swing is dressed up so the main effect is more of a surprise.

and 3. Give the swing some real movement. -In a haunted swing, the swing does not move that much. With a Madhouse, it uses hydraulics to move the swing 30 degrees either direction...which really helps make the illusion much more believable.

Now Efteling was the first to get a Vekoma Madhouse, it's called Villa Volta and it runs on a legend of the "Goat-riders". (A group of bandits.) Villa Volta is the house of Hugo van den Loosche Duynen, the leader of the Goat-riders. As the legend goes, Hugo and his house were cursed by a mysterious women after his group robbed an Abby.

The curse is pretty much he will never find peace in his house or anywhere in the world, only when a noble man with a clear conscience like that of a newborn child enters his house, he will find peace in his home and his heart.

The attraction has two preshows, the first one pretty much set's the stage that the Goat-Riders were certainly feared...and it ends with the reveal of a painting that signifies one of being part of the group.

The second preshow is where the guests come face to face with Hugo, a withered old man sitting amongst a clatter of gold and objects he's probably plundered all his life. It's here where he talks about the fateful night, and he shows his regret for what he's done.

After that preshow, guests are taken to another room where they witness the curse affecting the house. *Note* In the video you may notice a flash of light comming from the floor, while it's hard to see from the camera's angle...that's Hugo underneath floor.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJhjL7QO2oI&feature=related"]YouTube - De Efteling - Villa Volta (attractie)[/ame]


The attraction has a great soundtrack and to this day it's still considered one of the best Madhouse's out there.

As for other Madhouses, there's Magic House which is in Italy's Gardaland. (It's also the only MadHouse that's underground.)

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MejfM_zqA_U&feature=related"]YouTube - Gardaland Magic House 2008! new sound[/ame]


Then there's Hex-Legend of Towers. This is at Alton Towers in England and is considered Villa Volta's rival. It's a very well done MadHouse and has a story which is based on a true legend in Alton Tower's history.

Here's the gist of the legend. Long time ago, there was a Duke that turned down a old begger women asking for a bit of money. It turns out the women was a witch and she put a curse on the family. The curse was placed on a old Oak tree in the gardens, and for every branch that falls from the tree...a member of the family will die.

That night lighting struck the tree, a branch fell off and the Duke was shortly informed that a member of the family mysteriously died for unkown reasons. Which ended up having the Duke have the Oak tree chained up so no branches may fall. (This is really nifty since there is an actual old Oak tree chained up in the gardens for real.)

Now as for the ride they go with a bit that the Duke had the fallen branch brought to a secret room for some experiments. It's pretty neat that they have the branch in the middle of the swing. A machine is turned on and the room goes crazy. (Compleate with a creepy face made out of Oak roots in the floor.)

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPNjHl5QVak"]YouTube - Hex - The Legend of the Towers POV[/ame]


Hex is certainly a good Madhouse as well, it's very well themed and boasts an impressive soundtrack.

Now just for laughs, here's another video of Hex. But this focuses on a guy named Ryan, who is very good at "playing" the soundtrack...while on the ride. :))

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK7QJkD3p18&feature=related"]YouTube - Hex Alton Towers - Ryans Version[/ame]

^ Thanks for keeping the posts going. I kind of am surprised that Disney has never done a madhouse. Maybe they could do an indian lodge themed one for DCA?

The one that I think is the most impressive I have seen recently is the Astrix themed one for Parc Astrix. It combined interactive digital effects, nice themeing, animatronics, digital project, CGI and Cel animation to provide what looks to be a great experience.

Dailymotion - Defi de César : On ride, une vidéo de fansdupa. défi, defi, césar, cesar, fansdupa

I like how after you are inspected by César that the ground you are standing on rotates. Very cool.

^ No problem, this it pretty much my kind of thread so I'm more then happy to add to it. Interestingly enough, I do recall DisneySea had plans for a Madhouse. Now I have no clue on weather or not it will b made, but I'm certain they had plans for one.

As for the Challenge of Cesar, I have to admit I'm kinda torn on it. While it does utilize some very nice effects (I love that they take a picture of the guest and put their faces on a animated character), I have to admit I'm not a big fan of the Madhouses done by MACK.

To my knowledge, Mack has only made three Madhouses.

The first one is Fluch Der Kassandra (Curse of Kassandra), which is in Europa Park. (It's a great park, and ironically it's the showcase park for Mack themselves.)

The second one is Noah's Incredible Adventure, which is located in Noah's Ark waterpark in the US. *Note* Though this year it's being rethemed into a haunted madhouse.

Finally we have Challenge of Cesar in Parc Asterix.
Now the main gripe I have with the Madhouse's done by Mack, is the programs they use for their Madhouses.

With a Vekoma Madhouse, each one usually goes the same way. The swing goes back and forth, higher and higher until the whole rooms flips over. It then flips over the reverse direction and finishes with stopping the whole room upsidown. Now while I admit I'm not a fan of stopping upsidown since it does make the illusion less believable, it at least makes for a nice climax. (Especially if the ride utilizes some special effects on the floor, Hex does a good job with the tree face and a lot of strobes.)

As for Mack, they try going for a more intense kind of program with Fluch Der Kassandra.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx52ejnmgWI&feature=related]YouTube - Fluch der Kassandra - Europapark 28/09/2008[/ame]


While it may seem neat to start things off by flipping the whole room upsidown, it runs into a huge problem...what do they do from there? The house just disjointedly rotates back and forth, there's absolutly no build-up, and no climax. Which I admit makes the ride rather dull and less impressive then other Madhouses.

As for Noah's Incredible Adventure, I have no clue what the ride is like since I can't find any videos of it.

Now with Challenge of Cesar, I can see it does have a better ride program over Fluch Der Kassandra. However I have to admit it's still on the lackluster side since it really seems to have the video screens as the main focus. If those screens arn't working, then it's pretty much hosed.

..and now for something compleatly different, Mystery Castle at Phantasialand, in Germany.

This is pretty much a giant indoor tower ride where your shot up and dropped over 200ft. (Pretty much a larger version of Tower of Terror.)
But the real kicker is the queue line itself, which constantly has live actors in it.

rides.nl

Interesting, I never thought of the programing of the ride. What I liked about the Asterix themed rides was all the details. The animatonics and animation is pretty good. I am surprised that they have not done an Asterix dark ride yet.

Speaking of Parc Asterix, I really would love to ride on Transdemonium. For a Dark Ride/Coaster I love the theme and the figures and the projection effect (2:32) at it pretty well done. Very well done, but not over done.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD-aZ7nMg8k]YouTube - Transdemonium, Parc Astérix[/ame]

Official site: Transdemonium | Parc Asterix

And a geeky bounus, the making of the Asterix themed mad house:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcan0Zha1po&feature=related]YouTube - Défi de César[/ame]

Nice write up...Good job...

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Originally Posted by jagass

Nice write up...Good job...

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Thanks Jagass. What is you favorite non-Disney dark ride?

This one is Geister Rikscha at Phantasialand in Germany. It's an Chinese themed spook house and looks pretty cool. The name translate to

Ghost rickshaw. The graveyard scene is really cool. Sort of pretty for a spook ride.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYgsd4ttr50&feature=related"]YouTube - Geister Rikscha (onride)[/ame]

Photos and info:

http://www.rides.nl/attractie/info/geisterrikscha

Charlie & The chocolate factory-the Ride at Alton Towers. Includes a Dark Boat Ride through the candy factory and a simulated trip in the Great Glass Elevator. So two rides in one. The style is based on the original illustrations by Quintin Blake, which is cool.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WHbS5AtSD4&feature=related]YouTube - Charlie and The Chocolate Factory - The Ride[/ame]

Here is the making of:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjQg5HEOCO0&feature=related]YouTube - Designing Charlie And The Chocolate Factory The Ride - Alton Towers Resort[/ame]

Mack built a 4th Mad House, but the reason why no one knew about it was that it was built with little fanfare in... South Korea.

Everland (owned by Samsung) installed "Revolving House" a few years ago and the storyline is that its a contest between wizards. There is one preshow, using 2 audio animatornic gargoyles. The program itself is excellent and very close to the Vekoma Mad House.

South Korea has a few interesting dark rides. I will mention more about them later and see if I can dig up some videos.

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Originally Posted by SpaceMTFan

Mack built a 4th Mad House, but the reason why no one knew about it was that it was built with little fanfare in... South Korea.

Everland (owned by Samsung) installed "Revolving House" a few years ago and the storyline is that its a contest between wizards. There is one preshow, using 2 audio animatornic gargoyles. The program itself is excellent and very close to the Vekoma Mad House.

South Korea has a few interesting dark rides. I will mention more about them later and see if I can dig up some videos.

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I know/have seen less from Asia and would love to see what you can find.

Great videos and info, all! Here is what I have to share...my personal video of the Sally Corporation's Ghost Blasters, at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk...a fun interactive ride, with some tips of the hat to Haunted Mansion...

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8S7QalTt8M]YouTube - Ghost Blasters[/ame]

Nice video DarkFairyCathullu.

It's amazing how far the Sallycorp interactive rides have come. Here is the new version from Elitch Gardens with a lot more energy and a really cool ending. I wonder if the 'happy, sunny' ending happens only if you shoot the targets around the big boss. The mist projection is pretty cool too.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YepCJoqZbe4]YouTube - Ghost Blasters - Elitch Gardens[/ame]

Here is the Ghostwood Estates at Kennywood. The video features the president of DAFE.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cUBX28txJk&feature=related]YouTube - Ghost(Kenny)wood's Open![/ame]

Next month Six Flags over Georgia will re-open one of the few Six Flags Dark Rides in a new form. Monster Plantation will become Monster Mansion. Animatronic monster galore, whoo hoo. What stands out from the video is that the ride is very unique with some great character designs by Phil Mendez. I hope the new version keeps the same spirit of the original.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SzGEEglVMs&feature=related"]YouTube - Farewell Monster Plantation[/ame]

See the making of the ride here:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfvBMbHg5yE"]YouTube - Making Of The Monster Plantation[/ame]

Construction of the NEW ride:
Construction Photos: Monster Mansion