Just wondering if anyone else thought it was scary. I was actually a little scared.

Most rides I go on are a little scary but I mean a little.

i think fascinated is my word, i love the technology put behind it, up there with Spiderman @ Universal, i really enjoyed it, scary? No, fun yes!

Scarey? Not really, but fun for sure. I could see a few things that could be jumpy for most people, but I've grown up on horror movies. Everytime I ride now I keep finding myself looking around the building instead of at the screen seeing how every special effect is done (and which are not working at the time). With the ride being so versitile I hope they constantly change things to keep it interesting and constantly getting better.

Well the things that stand out most about this ride are its themeing, a surpurb job done there. But 98% of the actual experience the ride delivered is forgettable sorry to say. I remember more moments about Corkscrew Hill than I do about DarKastle. The best parts in DarKastle are the actual props and "room" theming, not the filmed parts.

Perhaps its that the story is not easy to follow or that they have tried to pack so much into each scene, but I left this ride with an empty thrill.

Maybe its just me but I much prefer a dark ride like the Haunted Mansion at Disney over this new technology at DarKastle. Having 3D computer effects shoot at me does not have same impact as actual animatronic or prop effects.

Why? Because in the back of my mind I know I am looking at a projected image on a screen, where an animated prop that is taking up real space gives a more authentic thrill. Yes I understand the business behind it, the ride can be changed at will with less cost just by changing the film.

But once you ride it once, I feel that there is no re-ride factor to this attraction until they decide to change the filmed portions again.

So was it scary? Unless you are aged 10 or under then no. My 13 yo. son was completely bored with it(took his glasses off half way thru), and my 9 yo. daughter hated it (but she doesnt like scary things so most of the ride she didnt even watch.)

That ride scares the bejezes out of me. I rode it for the first time like a year and a half ago and it scared me so much. I still have nightmares about it.[/sarcasm]

I don't honestly see how it could be scary to anyone on this site. A 7 year old maybe, but not anyone here. It's not really supposed to be scary. It's supposed to be thrilling.

As I was riding it yesterday I sat next to a family and I would estimate the 4 or 5 year old sat next to me. I think when the snake came out of Ludwigs mouth the kid got too scared and was crying the rest of the ride. I felt bad, yet was laughing at the same time.

And they added a new fence to the exit of the ride to force you to walk away from the castle more before re-entering the main midway...

Hey, I can't blame the kid...I almost cry when that snake comes out of Ludwig's mouth too: it's the most retarded part of the ride by far, and it ruins the flow of the ride

Seriously, think of the lack of logic here. This is a castle frozen in time. Snakes are cold-blooded, which means they couldn't possibly survive in said "castle-frozen-in-time." Just completely out of place and unneeded if you ask me. It's sad that 3-D movies always strive to be cool by having random things fly out at you but sometimes end up just looking retarded. Luckily, DarKastle's ending is great enough to make up for this unnecessary snake-encounter

Honestly, this ride was a huge dissapointment to me and almost anyone i know. This ride wasnt scary to me at all and ive only ridden it around ten times since it opened, and i've gone a lot more than ten times. i dont see what the point of standing in line for an hour to ride something that isnt thrilling or scary like they said it was going to be. Then they came out with all of the updates saying it was going to be even better. i think its worse. every time i have ridden it since these improvements the film is either ahead or behind the audio, and the special effects dont always work either. i think wildmaus was more scary than this.

^Wow, you have been one unlucky DarKastle rider then...about 90% of my rides on it have been working properly

the only thing that bugs me is that for all of this season the fireplace has not been working. other than that i absolutely love the ride. does anyone know if the park will try to fix the fireplace?

Wow...I must have absolute excellent luck with this ride...It has been right on with everything working prperly every time I've ridden it. (Fireplace included)

What is the fireplace supposed to do?

When I went thru it all there was were orange lamps overhead that are supposed to look like fire?

I thought it would blast us with some heat but it didnt. Just orange lights.

^ Yeah there is supposed to be smoke that rises from the ground which looks close to fire when working, overhead there is supposed to be heat blasted on you (though I've never felt it myself). Seems like the fire has not been working much of the year, even on the weekends that I have gone. Kind of sad since it is one of the cooler effects during the ride.

Nope, but tis much fun!

Most of those effects I haven't seen since I rode it on cast preview night last year. >>''

It's not scary to me,but,next year,I'm planning to bring my soon-to-be 13 yr.old niece and my sister to the park for their first time. I don't know how she reacts to stuff like that. Also,one of my friends is scared of snakes,so I'm a little worried about his reaction to it.

It wasn't bad... But a little scary not knowing much about it...

My Grandmother loved it...

I think the people going into this ride don't have the mindset that the ride is actually going to be scary, but rather that it's going to be a neat, 3-D ride. Some of the parts of it can catch you off guard but for the most part it's just a really cool experience. The part where you're falling through the castle weirded my body out though.... I started feeling light-headed. I've riden Kumba 28 times in one day (9 times in a row without even getting out of my seat) and was perfectly fine but this little flat ride made my head spin

the scary park of the ride is that your initial reaction to that is to move out of way but you can t so all you can do is

I thought it was mainly scary because the second time i rode it it broke down but still kept runing. So what happened we went through just a grey room, and the car was moving all around and you're watching a bare screen. That was a bit nerve racking.



Skyrider

[COLOR=green]It was ok, i was alittle dissapointed though. It was fun though, i had fun, lol

Definately not worth more than a 30 min wait, but still a great ride.

I have to admit, I was a little scared the first time I went on, but the second time, I wasn't scared at all. I love this ride, it's really fun.

The ride could have been great, but has never met its full capibilities. I beleive it will continue to operate in lame mode with some effects not working.

^I agree. While I love DarKastle and can't imagine the park without it now, it is just way too weak of a ride. My biggest beef about the ride is by far the 1000 foot fall only to gently thud into the ground without any impact

There are so many parts of the ride that the magic story they transport you to is broken by revealed lights, poles, floor, and other obtrusions. But it is very Disney-esque, and makes the attractions around it seem just a little sub-par.

Not scary at all, but the fun makes it worth the wait.

Ha, my mom and i went on it, and we first got in line, it looked kind of spooky, and then just waiting to get in the car was making me nervous....but then, as I went through the ride, it wasn't really scary, the scariest part was the spinning in the dark...sad aint it? I was so disappointed, but my ma had a blast! I still liked it though, it just wasn't scary! <3

PeAcE-XTina

Yeah it is disappointing - hopefully they can fine tune it to make it great. It definately needs something more to it ( more force or something ). But maybe for a younger [or elderly] audience - it's perfect.


PS. 1 more post and I'm at the big #100 so I better make it a great one and one that will live on forever. [ Look out Ferg I'm coming for you- only another 620 to go!!! ]

Yeah, you know you can spend millons on 4-d, but in the end, it's not real, and it won't ever be. I thought Busch gardens would have been better off building a flat ride, or a good drop tower or something. *Line takes FOREVER too*

I enjoy DarKastle, but it definitely needs improvements. I thought it was an excellent investment...it got the park recognition as the world's best theme park if nothing else I just wish they'd bump up the intensity a bit

I personally think it is a little silly. The effects are great, but I think they could have made a better story to go with the ride.



--The Loch Ness Monster

If you could explain what makes the story silly I'd appreciate it Any storyline that requires some vague historical knowledge is bound to come across as foreign.

We rode DK the year it opened. The only thing I was dissapointed with was the sound quality. The "pre-ride" story was a nice touch, except it was hard to hear and understand. The sound was really garbled. And with that going, once we got on the ride itself, it was hard to follow the storyline inside since that too seemed garbled. It was like they had the volume turned too far up (even though it wasn't). That was the only think that I didn't like. Other than that, it wasn't scary, but I think I spent the entire ride taking in the pictures and the effects, and trying to get a feel for what was coming around the corner. I kept looking for the "50 ft drop" that I kept hearing about, which turned out to be my favorite part of the ride.

That part does really trick your mind and senses into thr idea you're actually falling. I like it- but I wonder if you do really fall......

The entire ride stays ground level the rntire ride. The cars, however, contain rising and falling mechanisms, so in actuality, you do "fall" several inches

I dont mean, "Silly", Just over-all compared to other attractions, (Spider Man, Posidens Fury)[Spelling?] DK just doesn't deliver what I expect it to. All the advertising and TV commercials seem like they were talking about something alot different.



--The Loch Ness Monster

i think DK is very scary- Scary as in im scared that BGW thought this would be a great ride- its not great- simple as that. now the sharp turns on wild maus- those were scary. you know what im starting to realize is that the whole area that DK located on is cursed (no punt intended) so many rides that have been built there have failed. first Glissade, some other rides then wild maus then they build DK. if busch doesnt make this ride better it will find the same fate as its predecessors. its harsh buts its the truth. busch doesnt put up with rides that dont bring the crowds in and once everybody has ridden DK, the ride will lose its popularity and then DK no more. it will end up being a new spot for a new ride most likely in the next 15 years at best. now yes busch did spend a fortune on this ride for them just to close it. but then again they did the same thing with drachen fire

I've said this countless times on I don't even know how many message boards: the designers behind Spiderman had a cast of classic characters that almost everybody is familiar with and/or vaguely knows something about to play with. Busch Gardens had to try to create a storyline around a historical character that the general public isn't nearly familiar with. There's no way a 2-minute preshow and a 3-minute ride experience on the life and mysteries of Mad King Ludwig can compare to nearly 50 years of Spiderman brain-washing...fundamentally the storyline was going to be less accessible from the start

Am I saying DarKastle has a flawless story and stunning dialogue...no. In fact there are several "wtf" moments, such as entering the fireplace and suddenly plummeting 1000's of feet with lightning strikes blowing stuff up all around you. But to say that "Spiderman" has a stronger storyline than DarKastle seems unreasonable to me for the simple fact that everyone already knows and loves Spidey.

And vaughanvt24, DarKastle isn't going ANYWHERE...there are plenty of park guests who love it and even if the ride program ceases to bring in the crowds, the ride is dynamic enough to be altered dramatically between seasons. So what you just said really has no logic behind it to be quite honest.

Let me begin by saying, to Loch Ness Monster, that there are very, very few advertisments out there that actually represent the ride truly acurately. For instance, Kings Dominion doesn't even have the guts to show their own Drop Zone tower in their adverts, and it's supposed to be better than the others. That is just one example however, and I do realize Busch is above the Dominion by many a level.

I also agree with what Ferg said about Spiderman being much more recognizable. Before going to ride DarKastle, I had no idea what the ride was going to be about, but yet I was still entertained, to an extent beyond Spiderman actually. Of course opinion will vary on which is better, but I think to have to create a story, and an experience for guests like that, it takes much more power than taking a character right off a page and making it 3-4-D. That being said, I do enjoy The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman, but I just enjoy DarKastle more.

As a final note, griffonstomp, next time you have a thought.....let it go I mean, I could understand if you might have thought it really dropped, but, after a few moments, you think you would have realized it didn't, conidering the whole ground not moving up thing.

^ I hear you. I was actually just trying to say that the drop really felt real, but i can see how that could be misunderstood. (I'm not that stupid)

Anywho...thanks drgnlvr89 for backing me up. Personally I haven't ridden Spiderman, and I am in no way putting the ride down. I'm sure it is continually voted the best dark ride year after year for a very good reason. But as soon as DarKastle opened, it came under harsh scrutiny regarding its story and how *weak* it is. While I haven't ridden Spiderman, I think it is safe to assume that the ride creators relied heavily on the riders' familiarity with the subject matter. With DarKastle, Busch Gardens did not have this luxury.

I have been on Spiderman and I must saying seeing as I have ridden both that although Spiderman's story is more recongnizable, Darkastle's is more mysterious and I believe thats what adds to its charm. Everyone knows what Spiderman is but I believe that since Darkastle is something else people will want to go to see what exactly it has to offer. I don't believe the story is weak though I'm sure that there are people that do. The problem that I have with Darkastle the most, is that the effects do not work some of the time and I have never had this problem on Spiderman granted I have ridden Spiderman less.

Dark castle has little re-ride value for me. Once i've ridden it onces, i've had enough for the season. The lines are long and you don't feel anything.

Im not sure if anyone has been to dollywood... but they have a rollercoaster that is in the dark but instead of snazzy special effects they have sceens were the trails slow/stop you wwatch the seen then you move on. Its really fun because the drops/turns ect are REAL but you have know idea when they are comming because it is a pitch black. Thats what i thought the ride was goingto be like when i first heard about it, but i was slightly dissapointed after watching 4hrs on launch day to ride it.

On the upside, it is imo extremely well themed and it was a solid ride. And for a two-minute plus ride the story was well enough and it wasnt that hard to follow.

I didn't know where exactly to put this but it seemed pretty cool. Apparently at the opening day of Darkastle, the gates to the ride were made of ice, pretty neat.
Pictures

So, what elements don't consistantly work? I didn't ride this until season 2, and I've never felt the fireplace heat or seen smoke, just orange lights, but I've never noticed anything else glaringly "broken."


As far as the ride, well, it's about as scary as an animated PG movie could be. I love it for the theming and detail. Even the things like keeping the thermostat nice and chilly, and the deorating touches in the queue, and the water constantly dripping from the castle outside.

^Most of the effects that apparently have been turned off are rather minimal in nature. The candles along the wall prior to the haunted-armor dudes haven't been flickering lately, the eyes of the wolves before the first animated scene don't light up anymore, and just little stuff here and there.

Anyways, welcome to the forums.

It's not SCARY but it's just a little startiling. The houses at howl-o-scream are worse (which still arent too scary) but for a "family" ride its pretty scary. No one under 7 should go on or they will probably come off crying.

7yr old me was going on Grizzly at the other VA park. I'd classify that as scarier than DarKastle...