Traditional dark rides and its variations

A dark ride or ghost train is an indoor amusement ride where riders in guided vehicles travel through specially lit scenes that typically contain animation, sound, music, and special effects. A dark ride does not have to be dark. They are enclosed, so all illumination is artificial, and most use special lighting to achieve theatrical effects. Selective use of darkness helps hide the ride mechanisms and increase the visual drama of the experience.

The first dark rides appeared in the late 19th century and were called "scenic railways" and "pleasure railways". A popular type of dark ride, commonly referred to as an old mill or tunnel of love, used small boats to carry riders through water-filled canals. An Old Mill is a type of amusement park ride with unaccompanied boats floated on guide ways through dark tunnels. In its earliest incarnations, riders were taken by two-passenger boats through dark passages. There were two major themes: a relaxing romantic ride encouraging the couple to cuddle, or a spooky horror ride encouraging the couple to cling to one another. The darkness provided a degree of privacy and the frightening scenes offered a socially acceptable "excuse" for the physical contact at a time when public affection or even holding hands was considered inappropriate. With the development of other socially acceptable opportunities and less stigma for unmarried couples to engage in physical contact, these rides have become less popular and were either re-themed into children's attractions or torn down completely. Riders travel slowly on themed boats along an artificial river that meanders through decorated caves and tunnels featuring different themed scenes of lighting, sounds, props, animatronics, and other visual effects. The boats drift along on a gentle current, typically generated by a paddle wheel. The concept of the river cave is also very similar to those of the early scenic railways in that they attempt to be both educational and entertaining. A “Mill Chute” is a variation of the Old Mill, featuring roller coaster-like drops at the end, in which riders get soaked. The major difference between the Old Mill and the Mill Chute is that the Mill Chute contains a drop at the end. Mill Chutes have the same-styled grottos and caverns as Old Mills.

Variations of dark rides:

Interactive dark ride.

As the name suggests, interactive dark rides feature a component that allows the riders to be involved directly in the story of the attraction. The vast majority of interactive dark rides are shooting dark rides, with a small number featuring different forms of interaction. A shooting dark ride requires riders to aim and shoot at targets throughout the ride. A shooting dark ride requires riders to aim and shoot at targets throughout the ride. Each vehicle is equipped with hand-held or vehicle-mounted light guns. Successfully "shooting" a target usually triggers special animation such as flashing lights or moving the target. The more targets a rider hits, the higher their score at the end of the ride.

Trackless dark ride.

Trackless dark rides feature ride systems where automated guided vehicles (AGVs) are utilized instead of those that run on guide rails. Trackless dark ride vehicles have the benefit of being able to cross over existing paths, reverse, and rotate on the spot. Some trackless dark rides, such as the Big Red Car Ride at Dreamworld, rely upon a buried wire for navigation.

Enclosed roller coaster.

While some roller coasters may be indoors, simply enclosing a roller coaster does not make it a dark ride. Dark coasters are roller coasters that feature heavily themed layouts, special effects (such as animated characters, fire, smoke, and sound/lighting effects), and a dark ride portion that abruptly transitions into a roller coaster-style layout with heavily banked turns, sharp turns, steep drops, and helixes. Some of these rides feature backwards motion as well as forwards motion, and many of them have launches in place of lifts, due to the fact that they are built inside structures designed specifically for the ride. A few of them feature inversions.

More about dark rides: http://funfairrides.blog.com/