What do you think is the best dark ride in Australia?

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

6 hours ago, pushbutton said:

I think Bermuda Triangle was most peoples favourite.

Seems we'll all have to go and live in Germany!

9

[downunder]

11 hours ago, pushbutton said:

I've never been on this............YET.

I will be having my first ever visit to Draculas tomorrow though. Is the ride part better than a standard ghost train?

I was kind of taking the piss, it's not too bad. Dracula's is fun.

[DWP]

11 hours ago, AlexB said:

9

Well played sir

[Theme Park Girl]

21 hours ago, pushbutton said:

I've never been on this............YET.

I will be having my first ever visit to Draculas tomorrow though. Is the ride part better than a standard ghost train?

Haha nice, I only visited Draculas for the first time last year (Dec) for my bday. Absolutely loved it! And yeah, as mentioned, you don't want to take the ghost train there too seriously. It's designed more for cheesy fun than as a proper dark ride. Think back to Grundy's days or the cheap ones you see at the Gold Coast show, and you'll have an idea of what to expect from it ??

On 18/02/2016 at 3:24 PM, Bailz said:

What about Scooby Dolby Doo?

Didn't know if that counted or not, being a roller-coaster and all. If it does, then yeah, definitely my fave current dark ride too ???

[Bailz]

Is the ghost train scary?

[Theme Park Girl]

Haha, only if you're frightened by cheap scare tactics. I spent most of it laughing my head off ?

[pushbutton]

To sum up my experience of Draculas:

Ghost train - quite good, but could have been a lot scarier. More use of live actors needed and some sudden unexpected ride movements and sounds.

Food - Very good except for the cold and dry asparagus. I had the Pork Belly.

Music - Too loud. I couldn't have a conversation with friends. 

Jokes - Really terrible and cringe worthy. Mostly consisted of time fillers like making fun of different accents and country / racial stereotypes. Might have worked in the1960s.

At the end of the evening they tried to tell us we couldn't leave until we had a wristband to prove we had paid for our drinks. That borders on false arrest, and there is a much better way which is just get people to pay for drinks when they order them!

Despite my whinging I love the concept. It just needs a few things tweaking!

[New display name]

@pushbuttonmaybe its just not for you.  Thanks for your review but the things you don't like is what makes the place great.

[Brad2912]

Too scary means it's not suitable for families, or older people. 

The jokes are supposed to be cheesy, you are not going to see a professional comedian.

proving you have paid for something before leaving is not false arrest... 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

5 hours ago, pushbutton said:

At the end of the evening they tried to tell us we couldn't leave until we had a wristband to prove we had paid for our drinks. That borders on false arrest, and there is a much better way which is just get people to pay for drinks when they order them!

*Claims he dines on "gourmet food" by getting create your taste at his local McDonalds... Considers a venue where they supply you a product on a tab basis and expect you to pay at the end to be bordering on illegal.

#FastFoodIsNotTableService

[Theme Park Girl]

Yeah it would be too much of a distraction from the show for others if the wait staff had to fiddle around with eftpos machines, change etc. on every occasion that someone bought a drink. I think the current setup is a better idea, ie. running a tab for each group, fixing the bill up at every table at the end of the show and then provide wristbands as proof of payment. It was a fairly drama free procedure for us. 

And yeah, the jokes are supposed to be corny lol. According to reviews,  the least popular act of the current show is the yum yum horse one (esp when you learn what the meaning of the term is lol ??) but during our night, the young drunk guys on the next table over still got into it lol, they were singing and cheering along, much to everyone's amusement. 

I thought the aerial acrobats were great, also the costumes and music. It did get raunchy at times, esp with the burlesque acts, but was still good.  I went with my husband, my mum and her husband, and we all had a great laugh. I also enjoyed my salmon. 

You just have to have a bit of an open (dirty? ?!) mind and not take it all too seriously and you will have a great time at Draculas ?

Will definitely be going again when the next show season comes around ??

[pushbutton]

It was a good night, and I will be going again. However in my opinion Australian Outback Spectacular is a far more enjoyable dinner show. I've seen AOS 6 times since I arrived in Queensland this time last year, I'll be seeing it again in a few weeks, and I still find it just as enjoyable as the first time.

Draculas on the other hand I will probably want to see again in a year or so.

Best dinner show I've ever seen was the Fawlty Towers dining experience!

Edited February 22, 2016 by pushbutton

[Brad2912]

Dracula's show changes every 18 or so months 

[Theme Park Girl]

4 hours ago, Brad2912 said:

Dracula's show changes every 18 or so months 

According to the FB page for the GC theatre, their show season changes once every 12 months. The current show (Bloodbath) started in July last year. The one before that (Spiderlash) in July 2014. So we should be able to look forward to a new show in roughly around 4 months' time

Pushbutton, I have not done the Fawlty Towers experience first hand, but I have worked at venues that have hosted it. Still remember the night I was working upstairs in the bistro at my last job whilst the show was on downstairs... Looked up when I heard shouting and commotion coming from the entrance to the function room, to see a convincing Manuel lookalike running out at top speed toward front reception, with a Basil Fawlty lookalike hot on his heels, sporting a frying pan held up in the attack position. Needless to say all the people dining upstairs were all looking on in surprise and amusement. Classic ?

[The Sunlander]

• I vote for Lassiters Lost Mine ride.

[BNErider]

Probably Bermuda Triangle for Australia's best dark ride ever. Though, Justice League is pretty damn amazing and is probably one of the best ever in terms of theming alone. The static cars lets it down

[WalleyWorld]

Bermuda for me. Really immersive with a 'film-like' narrative that was conveyed well. I really loved how the old 3 dark rides on the coast (bugs, bermuda and batman) incorporated a story line with multiple pre-show rooms, actors, ect. When you think about it, they were very innovative for the time in terms of immersive queue-management. Shame they are gone . 

More dark rides these days should really utilise a 'multiple pre-show room' format with or without a real person providing the backstory/direction. Baron 1898 at Efteling is really a great modern example of how to utilise preshow rooms to make the queue experience more exciting. It's the best themed rollercoaster I have been on.

18 hours ago, ash.1111 said:

Though, Justice League is pretty damn amazing and is probably one of the best ever in terms of theming alone. The static cars lets it down

^I agree. If we got the newer Six Flags version with the motion base vehicles, it would be an awesome ride. I wonder if MW could do an overhaul of the ride; add in Sally's new motion base cars and re-do some of the 3D animation? Actually market it properly this time under a new name. Just like with Batman the Adventure ride 2. I'd love to see that happen.
 

[GoGoBoy]

4 hours ago, Luke said:

^I agree. If we got the newer Six Flags version with the motion base vehicles, it would be an awesome ride. I wonder if MW could do an overhaul of the ride; add in Sally's new motion base cars and re-do some of the 3D animation? Actually market it properly this time under a new name. Just like with Batman the Adventure ride 2. I'd love to see that happen.
 

Totally agree. But this would probably require a major overhaul of the ride and possibly an additional/expanded building. It'd be worth it in my opinion, but I doubt MW would consider it.