Worst Themed ride you have been on?

[Rollerman87]

Disaster Transport at Cedar Point! When I went Summer of '07, there was absolutely no theming whatsoever. Although, the queue theming was amazing. The ride: huge letdown after queue.

[Capitalize]

I tend to be pretty forgiving of bad theming, simply because I appreciate the attempt. Plus, "cheesy" is usually fun in its own right. And even WTF theming usually makes me laugh.

 

Still, for pure cheap-out-theming-from-a-company-I-expect-better-from, "Sounds Dangerous" at Disney's Hollywood Studios is a 4D type attraction that mostly involves sitting in darkness while you listen in on Drew Carry's undercover cop, who is supposedly wired for sound and (inconsistent) video. Exactly how this allows the entire audience to get wet by being sneezed on at the end (ala Honey, I Shrunk The Audience) is still a mystery to me. But, in any case, the whole thing is one big pile of cheap badness.

I miss the old show they had in there where random people wold make the sound effects and all that stuff. If blew the Drew Carey thing away. I was sad to see it go.

 

Scooby Doo's Haunted Mansion at Kings Dominion.

I disagree, go on the one in Carowinds! KD's is a million times better then that one theming-wise. They actually did a decent job on the line, and the ride itself is good.

 

 

 

I say:

- Typhoon Sea Coaster: the theming is awful and its a pretty crummy ride to boot.

 

- Primeval Whirl: looks like it belongs in a state fair, not at all up to "Disney standards".

 

- The Italian Job/Backlot Stunt Coasters: I actually always enjoy the coaster, but thats mostly in spite of the poorly done/rarely working theming.

 

- Disaster transport: Just absolutely horrible.

 

 

 

 

Also, totally forgot about Skull Mountain @ SFGAdv, the skeleton and pumpkin fail, I liked it better when it was just dark in there...

[Teacups Make Me Sick]

Pirates Hideaway in Casino Pier.

 

They put you in a pirate boat shaped coaster car....inside of a pirate mural facade...you go inside the building and there is NOTHING pirate-themed...unless you consider a ladder and some rope lying around to be pirate-y.

 

Its just sad...but then again...I guess it blends in with the rest of Seaside.

[Hercules]

^ That is the winner for me too. I was expecting a little something other than the ride op saying "Hold onto your hat."

[MisterP]

Pirates Hideaway in Casino Pier.

 

They put you in a pirate boat shaped coaster car....inside of a pirate mural facade...you go inside the building and there is NOTHING pirate-themed...unless you consider a ladder and some rope lying around to be pirate-y.

 

Its just sad...but then again...I guess it blends in with the rest of Seaside.

 

Plus, to add insult to injury, the coaster is a painful, awful mess too..

[JamesMC]

Disaster Transport at CP is pretty lame.

 

Adventure Express at King's Island with it's weird ending with the Tiki Statues is beyond comprehension (though I enjoy the ride itself)

 

Batman The Dark Knight (I cannot even explain how disappointed I am in SFGAM's choice of a "new" coaster for this last season)- the queue is the best part. The ride is marginally fun and the effects are Craptacular once you actually board the vehicle. If you like this ride, I wish you well, but I literally have spoken to no-one who has told me "It was worth the wait.", "That was great", or "I can't wait to ride it again". Ughhhhhhhh

 

I'd say Scream as well, but was that really a themed coaster to begin with or just poor product placement? (Kinda has that old SFGA Shockwave parking lot coaster feel, but I always liked the ride)

[HerBlackWings]

Aside from the usual suspects...

 

I'd like to nominate Dragon at La Ronde. Think Skull Mountain... with LESS indoor themeing (just a few red lights) enclosed in a castle-shaped box. Seriously, the facade could pass for painted cardboard. I know they're both Intamin family coasters, but I'm not sure if the layouts are exactly the same.

[travanx]

I still can't get over Scream at Six Flags Magic Mountain. I think this is the best ride I have ever been on, but really they couldn't just paint the car striping lines black to match the parking lot asphalt, at the very least??? What maybe like $100 to at least make the ground not so tacky. The theme is basically hundreds of trash cans on your way to the ride.

[stuartnz]

I still can't get over Scream at Six Flags Magic Mountain. I think this is the best ride I have ever been on, but really they couldn't just paint the car striping lines black to match the parking lot asphalt, at the very least??? What maybe like $100 to at least make the ground not so tacky. The theme is basically hundreds of trash cans on your way to the ride.

I went on Scream when I was a lot younger and thought it was the best ride ever, but now looking at videos and pictures I think "holy shit!" when I look at the ground under it. I mean, is grass really that expensive?

 

I love the way my park map shows Scream with trees and shrubbery surrounding it

[haiderodes]

The Fast & the Furious Tokyo Drift stop on the USH tram tour seemed promsing but was an utter letdown...especially when the cars start "dancing".

[travanx]

The dancing cars were kind of decent. Not sure why they wasted money to do that though. I also can't believe they would actually build a set like that for a movie.

[WFChris]

I know Scream at SFMM is a popular choice on this thread, but I think the point of the thread is discussing rides that were meant to HAVE theming in the first place. What would make Colossus better themed? Or Goldrusher?

 

Anyhow, my vote goes for Gadget's Go-Coaster at DLR. Might work at another park but just not up to Disney standards in my opinion.

 

Chris.

[Kennyweird]

I found this article regarding Disaster Transport's terrible theming. Can anyone confirm if this is true?

 

Disaster Transport’s original theme was an out-of-control space mission to deliver hazardous materials to a receiving station in Alaska. Riders were members of the shuttle crew, and the queue line featured two talking robots, numerous lighting effects, and a repair bay station with a shuttle being serviced by automated drones. Inside the ride, fog filled the initial lift, the shuttle was sprayed with coolant before climbing the hill, and a computerized navigator provided continual updates on the mission’s progress, including when the shuttle went out of control. An exploding planet was projected onto a massive screen, the shuttles flew through a detailed debris field, and the final landing in Alaska was accompanied by scenes of the futuristic frozen tundra.

 

As the ride aged, however, many effects failed and were downsized to keep the ride operational at a lower cost. Gradually, many effects were removed, and in recent years the ride has been slightly rethemed. Instead of the space port theming in the queue line, the narrow hallways have been painted with fluorescent paint and blacklit to provide a mild 3D effect, and riders can purchase 3D glasses if desired. The ride itself has been darkened to provide a spookier, more unexpected ride as many areas of the ride are now pitch black and riders cannot see the upcoming twists and dips.

[Team Thriller]

Even though there are worst, Mulholland Madness gets my vote just because for Disney, it's horrible.

 

--James

[Philrad71]

^^Somewhat true...when the attraction was initially opened after the much touted "upgrade" over Avalanche Run, I remember reading an article similar to what was expected of the ride. I skipped out on riding it the first year because my sister and her hubbie stood over three hours in line for it and dubbed it "the stupidest thing they had ever ridden" and that the wait was definitely not worth it (think Batman Dark Knight).

 

I did ride it the second season and I remember the talking robots and special effects in the queue - it was like they were trying to be Disney/Epcot, but with less money spent on effects. This is not Cedar Points specialty - never has been, never will be.

 

We waited over an hour for it, but the ride itself wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. I recall the mist/steam going up the lift and the funky light pattern that reminded me of Space Mountain, but a bit cheesier. There was an announcement of panic over the loudspeaker that we were in grave danger and the expirement was out of control (or something to that effect).

 

The ride itself was okay, but I went several years before I rode it again. I recall the 3D effects being noted on the park map, but when we went and got in line, there were no 3D glasses. All of the effects were turned off in the queue because it was all walk-through and the ride itself was pretty much a walk-on. None of the effects up the lift hill were on except some light coming in from the outside. Actually, I thought the ride in pitch black was kinda cool because of that out of control feeling. Still seems like they invested a lot in a ride that was never that good to begin with!

 

I have been to Halloweekends twice and they have a walk-through Egyptian themed haunt where you can buy 3D glasses for a buck in the DT building. There were still none available in the queue of DT and it was in a totally different entrance.

[jarmor]

I would say dark knight at SFGAdv. It was seriously hyped but was a major let down. Hot box, you can see people leaving while you are riding, loud lift. It was like you can see the budget becoming less and less as you enter the building and get to the station...once the ride was over there was like no more money left for anything.

[ianf71]

The worst one for me, and I'm sure many people will disagree, is Test Track at Epcot.

The firsat time I rode it we queued for almost 2 hours, the line 'entertainment' wasn't entertaining at all (there is a horrible sound in one part, so may people were saying it was giving them a headache standing in line) and then the ride itself sucked.

I rode it again a couple of years ago with someone who hadn't been on. I didn't give my opinion but they said after it was all horrible.

Now if we are there and people want to ride it I use that time to grab a beer and something to eat.

[ukpete]

I'm voting for Air @ alton towers, it would be really nice if they actually painted the tunnel, the fact you can sometimes glide over a puddle of water and other assorted crap before the lift hill is just not good enough!

[awclark]

Dark Knight at Gadv. I went there w/ my friend to go ride it knowing all the horrible reviews it was getting. I thought they were just being mellow-dramatic about it and exaggerating how bad it was. They weren't.

 

I won't even mention the pre-show because one of the employees managed to forget to turn on the audio before the park opened so I had no idea what was going on. The ride itself was just bad. It wasn't dark because the exit door let in copious amounts of light every time someone left, the scenery went by so fast you couldn't catch a story (if there ever was one). It also looked REAL cheap even at the speed we were going, so maybe it was a good thing we went so fast so as not to see SF's complete copout on an attraction. Just bad bad bad. The 1 and only time I'll ever ride it.