A dark ride or ghost train is an indoor amusement ride on which passengers aboard guided vehicles travel through specially lit scenes that typically contain animation, sound, music and special effects. Appearing as early as the 19th century, such exhibits include tunnels of love, scary themes and interactive stories. Dark rides are intended to tell stories with thematic elements that immerse riders. Not only does the queue tell a story, but the story unfolds throughout the attraction.
The Mummy is a 1999 American action-adventure film written and directed by Stephen Sommers. It is a remake of the 1932 film of the same name, starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah and Arnold Vosloo in the title role as the reanimated mummy. The film follows adventurer Rick O'Connell as he travels to Hamunaptra, the City of the Dead, with a librarian and her older brother, where they accidentally awaken Imhotep, a cursed high priest with supernatural powers.
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith is an enclosed, launched roller coaster located at Disney's Hollywood Studios within Walt Disney World. Manufactured by Vekoma, the roller coaster opened to the public on July 29, 1999. It uses linear motor electromagnetic technology for acceleration, which propels riders from 0 to 57 mph (92 km/h) in 2.8 seconds. Riders experience up to 5 Gs and travel through three inversions, which include a sea serpent roll and a corkscrew. The attraction also features recorded music as well as appearances from American rock band Aerosmith.
Primeval Whirl was a steel Wild Mouse roller coaster at Disney's Animal Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort. The ride was a spinning roller coaster purchased from Reverchon Industries. The ride was part of Chester and Hester's Dino-Rama, which is itself part of DinoLand U.S.A. It was a roller coaster in the "Mild But Wild Thrills" category. It had cars that spun in circles while traveling on tracks, permitting the ride experience to vary greatly each time it is ridden. The ride featured 13 cars, each seating up to 4 riders. Disney demolished the ride in September of 2021.
The Mummy is an American animated series produced by Universal Cartoon Studios based on the 1999 film of the same name. It premiered on Kids' WB on The WB network on September 29, 2001. It is set in 1938. It was retooled and renamed The Mummy: Secrets of the Medjai for its second and final season, which began on February 8, 2003. The show was cancelled on June 7 the same year. Reruns of the show still aired on Kids' WB until it was removed from its Saturday morning lineup around July 2003.
An on-ride camera is a camera mounted alongside the track of a roller coaster, log flume or other thrill ride that automatically photographs all of the riders on each passing vehicle. They are often mounted at the most intense or fastest part of the ride, resulting in humorously distorted expressions due to fear or wind resistance. The pictures are then available for viewing and purchase as a souvenir.
The Incredible Hulk Coaster is a launched roller coaster located at Universal Islands of Adventure theme park within the Universal Orlando Resort. Designed by Werner Stengel and manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M), the roller coaster is themed after the Hulk comic book superhero and opened to the public on May 28, 1999. It is the first B&M coaster themed to a Marvel Comics superhero character and the first to feature a launch design, which was primarily implemented by Universal Creative and MTS Systems Corporation.
An indoor roller coaster or enclosed roller coaster is a roller coaster built inside a structure. The structure may be unrelated to the ride, or it may be intended solely or primarily for the ride. Many indoor coasters are custom made and placed in amusement parks or shopping malls. LaMarcus Adna Thompson, who pioneered the construction of the first simple roller coasters, initially built "scenic railway" rides including "indoor tableaux, panoramas, and biblical scenes illumined by car-tripped switches and flood lamps". A "completely enclosed roller coaster" called the Twister was built as early as 1925. Walt Disney World's Space Mountain was one of the first rides considered to be an indoor roller coaster, and was "the first indoor roller coaster where riders were in total darkness for the length of the ride so they couldn't tell where the drops or turns would occur".
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit is a steel roller coaster at Universal Studios Florida in Orlando, Florida. With a height of 167 feet (51 m), a length of 3,800 feet (1,200 m), and a top speed of 65 miles per hour (105 km/h), it is the largest X-Coaster ever built by German manufacturer Maurer Söhne. Announced on March 19, 2008, the coaster officially debuted on August 19, 2009, despite original plans to open several months earlier in the spring. Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit features on-ride music LED lighting, and on-ride photos and videos captured from cameras mounted in each passenger row.
The Mummy is an action adventure horror film media franchise based on films by Universal Pictures about a mummified ancient Egyptian priest who is accidentally resurrected, bringing with him a powerful curse, and the ensuing efforts of heroic archaeologists to stop him. The franchise was created by Nina Wilcox Putnam and Richard Schayer.
Imhotep is the main antagonist of the 1932 film The Mummy. He is also the main antagonist in the 1999 remake and its 2001 sequel The Mummy Returns. Sofia Boutella plays a female version of this character named Ahmanet in the 2017 reboot. Imhotep is loosely inspired by the historical figure Imhotep, a noted polymath and counselor to the Pharaoh Djoser in the 27th century BC.
Flight of the Hippogriff is a junior roller coaster at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter section of the many Universal theme parks. It is present at Universal Islands of Adventure in Universal Orlando Resort, Universal Studios Japan, Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Beijing. Designed by Universal Creative, the first installation opened at Islands of Adventure on June 18, 2010. The new ride was a redesign of an existing roller coaster known as Flying Unicorn, which the park closed in 2008 to begin its transformation. The design change was implemented to fit the new Harry Potter-themed area that was being constructed at the park. Flight of the Hippogriff is a mild alternative to the area's more extreme rides such as Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. Following a successful launch, identical versions of the roller coaster were installed at Universal Studios Japan and Universal Studios Hollywood over the next several years, with the Beijing version opening with the park in 2021.
Battlestar Galactica: Human vs. Cylon is a pair of steel, dueling roller coasters at Universal Studios Singapore. One of the coasters is an inverted roller coaster track in blue, and the other half is a traditional seated roller coaster in red. The coasters, which opened in 2010 and was inactive between 2013 and 2015, reach 42.5 metres (139 ft) in height and are the tallest dueling coasters in the world.
Curse of DarKastle was a dark ride located at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia. It was a hybrid dark ride which combined roving motion-simulating vehicles, 3D projection animation, physical sets, in-vehicle audio, and special effects. Curse of DarKastle carried a rider height requirement of 42 inches, but with a sign warning that scenes within the attraction may be too intense for young audiences. The ride took place in an abandoned Bavarian castle, haunted by evil ghosts and a demonic werewolf.
Space Fantasy – The Ride is a spinning roller coaster at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, Japan. The ride opened on March 18, 2010, as a replacement for the E.T. Adventure dark ride. The ride is themed to a journey through space and features an array of special effects and immersive theming including interactive projection screens, on-board audio, lasers and fibre optics.
Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts is an indoor steel roller coaster designed by Universal Creative and built by Intamin at Universal Studios Florida, a theme park located within the Universal Orlando Resort. Similar to dark rides, the roller coaster utilizes special effects in a controlled-lighting environment and also employs motion-based 3-D projection of both animation and live-action sequences to enhance the experience. The ride, which is themed to the Gringotts Wizarding Bank, became the flagship attraction for the expanded Wizarding World of Harry Potter when it opened on July 8, 2014.
Fast & Furious: Supercharged is a motion-based dark ride attraction at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Florida and that was cancelled at Universal Studios Beijing. The attraction is based on the Fast & Furious film franchise, which features Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez and Tyrese Gibson. The Hollywood version, opened on June 25, 2015 as part of the Studio Tour. The Florida version of the ride, which opened on April 23, 2018, features Ludacris and Jordana Brewster in the pre-show of the attraction.
Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure is a multiple-launch steel roller coaster located in the Hogsmeade section of Universal Islands of Adventure at Universal Orlando. Manufactured by Intamin, the $300-million attraction opened to the public on June 13, 2019. The partially-enclosed motorbike coaster operates both indoor and outdoor, and it is the sixth Harry Potter-themed attraction created for the resort. Universal marketed the ride as "a highly-themed roller coaster" that focuses on "a different corner of the wizarding world".
Dragon Challenge, formerly named Dueling Dragons (1999–2010), was a pair of intertwined inverted roller coasters in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter area of Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida, United States. Designed by Bolliger & Mabillard of Switzerland, the ride was a dueling roller coaster featuring two tracks – one side was called Chinese Fireball and the other Hungarian Horntail – that were themed as two chasing dragons. Its layout involved two trains sharing adjacent lift hills, with each traversing unique courses. Trains on the Chinese Fireball track reached a maximum speed of 60 mph (97 km/h), while trains on the Hungarian Horntail reached 55 mph (89 km/h). Both tracks featured five inversions and an identical ride duration of 2 minutes and 25 seconds.
VelociCoaster is a launched roller coaster at Universal Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Florida. Manufactured by Intamin, the ride opened to the public on June 10, 2021. It is themed to the Velociraptor dinosaurs depicted in the Jurassic World film franchise and is located in the Islands of Adventure's Jurassic Park area, occupying the site of the former Triceratops Encounter attraction. VelociCoaster features two high-speed launches powered by linear synchronous motors, a signature 155-foot-tall (47 m) top hat, four inversions, and a maximum speed of 70 mph (110 km/h).
