"Dark Rides"

[6Smiles]

I'm sorry, stupid question for you vets! I keep reading this statement over and over on the boards and have yet to figure out what is meant by this. I have heard Ariel is going to be a dark ride. What is meant by this?
Thanks

 

[Sleepless Knight]

It means that Disney is building a ride based attraction from the story The Little Mermaid. A dark ride is one that is generally considered family friendly (no height requirements, thrills, et all). It is believed that this new TLM ride will be on the scope and scale of the Haunted Mansion and POTC as opposed to more traditional dark rides such as Peter Pan's Flight and Monsters, Inc: Mike & Sully to the Rescue.

 

[6Smiles]

Thank You. Is Peter pan and Monsters Scary? My 5yo daughter loves kitty (sully) but I don't want her to get freaked out. I vaguely remember Mr. Toad from when I was a kid. Has it changed much?

 

[DangerMouse]

From wiki:

A dark ride or darkride is an indoor amusement ride where riders in guided vehicles travel through specially lit scenes that typically contain animation, sounds, music, and other special effects. The name can be misleading, since a dark ride does not have to be dark – it is simply enclosed, so it is only illuminated by artificial means.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_ride

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Thank You. Is Peter pan and Monsters Scary? My 5yo daughter loves kitty (sully) but I don't want her to get freaked out. I vaguely remember Mr. Toad from when I was a kid. Has it changed much?

I would not classify either one as scary. Snow White's Scary Adventures has a very big potential fright factor though as focuses on the Old Hag's intention to kill Snow White.

I don't remember Mr. Toad changing a whole lot over the years. The term dark ride doesn't necessarily mean that it will be scary and frightening, but that possibility does exist.

 

[6Smiles]

Thank you for your help.

 

[abouley]

Thank You. Is Peter pan and Monsters Scary? My 5yo daughter loves kitty (sully) but I don't want her to get freaked out. I vaguely remember Mr. Toad from when I was a kid. Has it changed much?

My 5 year old is a bit of a chicken (ok maybe a lot at times). But he loves Monster's Inc and Peter Pan. Mr. Toad is a bit more scary because there is a loud explosion. Alice is ok for him too but the others are a bit too much.

 

[kailuagirl]

My DD2 only got scared in Roger Rabbit, all the other "dark" rides she was fine in, didn't even mind Haunted Mansion or Pirates. But my nephew when we took h im was scared of most of them, so it all depends on the child. He still talks about being scared and he is now 9

Every child is different, so I guess do some of the not so scary and go from there depending on how scared he gets.

 

[DLR29]

Peter Pan, Winnie-the-Pooh, and Monster's Inc. aren't scary at all. Alice isn't too bad either for little kids.

Roger Rabbit and Mr. Toad are both pretty dark and have some loud noises (fake explosions) and scary parts.

Pinocchio and Snow White are very intimidating throughout most of the ride.