Curse of DarKastle

Register or Login to Hide This Ad for Free!
Edit: I thought this post would be more appropriate in this thread, so I relocated it.

The fireplace scene used to have pretty intense spinning during the dark section. It was intended to make you feel like you were in a smoke stack of some sort.

They have reprogrammed the ride several times, but one of those times made the ride very dull. It lost all movement realism. There is no longer a thud when you hit the ground, after falling through the glass atrium.

To top it all off, you can now clearly see most screens resetting. Also, they expose lighting that is supposed to be hidden. All of this ruins the vibe of actually being in the action, versus moving between movie screens. I think it will take more than reverting back to old programming at this point, because now; the illusion is broken.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jornor, Hoopla, Jesy and 2 others
CastleOSullivan said:
Edit: I thought this post would be more appropriate in this thread, so I relocated it.

The fireplace scene used to have pretty intense spinning during the dark section. It was intended to make you feel like you were in a smoke stack of some sort.

They have reprogrammed the ride several times, but one of those times made the ride very dull. It lost all movement realism. There is no longer a thud when you hit the ground, after falling through the glass atrium.

To top it all off, you can now clearly see most screens resetting. Also, they expose lighting that is supposed to be hidden. All of this ruins the vibe of actually being in the action, versus moving between movie screens. I think it will take more than reverting back to old programming at this point, because now; the illusion is broken.
Click to expand...

Didn't know all of that, but agreed. When you tone down stuff like that, the illusion of what's happening is broken. Slow spin is fine, but add some effects to counter. I don't think the ride is 'beyond repair' so to speak. But it definitely needs work and some love.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Flyer, jornor and Ziva
CastleOSullivan said:
Edit: I thought this post would be more appropriate in this thread, so I relocated it.

The fireplace scene used to have pretty intense spinning during the dark section. It was intended to make you feel like you were in a smoke stack of some sort.

They have reprogrammed the ride several times, but one of those times made the ride very dull. It lost all movement realism. There is no longer a thud when you hit the ground, after falling through the glass atrium.

To top it all off, you can now clearly see most screens resetting. Also, they expose lighting that is supposed to be hidden. All of this ruins the vibe of actually being in the action, versus moving between movie screens. I think it will take more than reverting back to old programming at this point, because now; the illusion is broken.
Click to expand...

I see the "getting ahead of myself" screen reset but didn't see it on the others. Still a thud as well but maybe less intense..I don't remember how it used to be
 
Zimmy said:
I understand that they had to, "dumb down," certain parts due to illness.
Click to expand...

For the record, this isn't actually what I've heard. What I have been told a few times now is far, far stupider.

The latest neutering of the attraction occurred because there has long been a chronic problem with DarKastle: People bring their refillable cups onto the ride and don't secure them. The movement knocks them over, splashes them about, etc. Maintenance got really tired of their vehicles being soaked with soda and instead of banning loose articles on a family darkride, the park opted to nuke the ride's movement again.

Do drinks stay upright with the current movement? I sorta doubt it. But that was the excuse.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jornor, VACoasterFan, Jesy and 2 others
Ride was running fairly well last Saturday. No off scenes, no seeing the screens reset, no backups. The fireplace screen was frozen but that was pretty much it. Guess I caught the ride on a good day.
 
While getting nostaglaic about Darkastle, and sadly procrastinating I managed to find some neat images for the ride from Falcon's Treehouse.
darkastle(1).jpg

darkastle(2).jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: jornor, lightninlady, Merboy and 1 other person
To add to what Zachary was saying, I have heard that certain park execs. also wanted it toned down. That makes sense, because Europe in the Air was also reprogrammed directly after some management changes. I can only hope that David Cromwell loves thrill rides enough to override several votes.

Edit:
Connor said:
While getting nostaglaic about Darkastle, and sadly procrastinating I managed to find some neat images for the ride from Falcon's Treehouse.
Click to expand...

I love that Falcon's Treehouse still shows love for DK on their site. Maybe it has something to do with them now licensing DarKastle media. I don't know any specifics about licensing requirements.
 
I'll forever be disappointed about what became of this ride. Even now, in 2016, this could be a headlining attraction. And for a park that just seems ripe for wonderful, classic dark rides based on "legends," it's surprising that DarKastle is really the park's only dark ride.

Anyway, I'm making my first trip in a few years next week. Coming all the way down from Ohio with a slew of first-time visitors. What kind of shape is the ride is now, more than a month into operation? Any fog in the fireplace?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Flyer
When I rode it in April, most of the standard effects were running except for the screen in the fireplace, which was frozen.

Ride was in pretty good shape compared to last year thanks to the off season maintenance.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Consider Donating to Hide This Ad