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6 Rating Posted by: fergusonat on 5/7/2005 1:25:00 PM

2005 Review:

3 hours......3 hours of my life well spent! This is an amazing ride with seamless theming and an excellent story. This is by far my favorite non-coaster ride...no other ride compares. You begin your journey through this castle frozen in time by entering a room with flickering candles and a quivering chandelier. You are told of the ghostly past of this castle, and are then guided through a passageway to the loading platform. One by one, the golden sleighs bear their victims away around a corner flooded with mist, until finally your sleigh arrives. The slam of the door resounds in your ears as a sudden jolt swings you around the corner, embarking on your journey. With a thrust, you are spun wildly in the dark, crashing through this haunted castle, discovering unearthly secrets around each corner. As intense as any roller coaster, Curse of DarKastle is a milestone in amusement park technology, combining amazing 3-D graphics, theming, and effects with an all-too-vivid afterlife…

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2006 Review:

I will begin by saying that Curse of DarKastle has come an extraordinarily long way from last year, which is saying a lot considering how much I enjoyed the ride last season. Now one year-old, Curse of DarKastle has gained an undeniable character and has carved a very noticeable niche in Busch Gardens’ solid line-up of rides. For the 2006 season, Busch Gardens Europe took DarKastle to the next level by adding new and extended footage to the ride and stepping up the existing effects to an even higher quality. Simply put, Busch Gardens embarked on the tedious task of perfecting their largest investment this year, and with every visit, new changes are very apparent. Last year, Curse of DarKastle came under a lot of heat concerning the weakness of the story-line, and this year Busch Gardens has risen to supply riders with the necessary info going into the ride to make the experience as fulfilling as possible. A video screen in the queue not only passes the wait-time, but also provides future riders with a fascinating history lesson on Mad King Ludwig and his mysterious ways. One visit to the park does not do this ride justice, however. The true beauty of Curse of DarKastle is the dynamism of the ride system. I’ve gone to the park three times so far this year (as of writing this review on May 8th 2006) and with each visit the ride has progressively gotten more and more kickass. The sound has been bumped up to a much higher quality, the film projection has been improved upon to make the animation even crisper and stunningly beautiful, and the car-movement has intensified quite a bit to satisfy the thrill seekers out there. While there are still some kinks that need to be worked out obviously, I still hold to my original review of this ride…it is nothing short of breathtaking. It is still a 10 in my book and has captured a position in my Top 10

Great pics, welcome to the site.

^thanks, I had a lot of time to get as many pictures as I wanted in that god-forsaken line

Welcome to the site. im glad to ear that the ride was so good a 3 hour wait seemed well worth it.

This ride looks like it will bring alot of good attention to an outstanding park. I cannot wait to ride this thing. It looks like "The Haunted Mansion" from DisneyWorld on steriods, speed, crack, and meth. SWEET!

Good review man, I enjoyed it as much as you did.

Im dying to try this ride as the theming is right up my alley. Id love to know how this compares to Spiderman at USIoA.

Ive heard from one person (whos ridden both) that Spiderman is better....but this is only one person. I wouldnt worry too much...Im sure plenty of dark-ride buffs will prefer this over Spidey, but then again, Im sure many will stick with Spiderman. Its too early to tell. I for one cant tell you, because I too have only ridden DarKastle

I loved Spiderman, but Im sure this wont disappoint me. I just hope I can make it to Busch Gardens this summer.

Hopefully I will be able to make that chaoise in the next couple of years. Im likly goign to visit BGW this year. but it may be a year before I hit florida.

What the hell is wrong with you, man...I am no kid, and I have been to enough parks to recognize a good ride when I ride one. As for the "cartoonish crap" you speak of...what the heck were you expecting? Its florida counterpart is even more cartoon-like! Even the most advanced computer graphics in the world still dont look compeltely realistic! "Zero-attention to detail" Wow, that is probably the most absurd statement Ive ever heard. The 3-D graphics are far from "sub par" and the story isnt meant to scare the crap out fo you...like BGWs other rides, it aims rather to amuse you with corny jokes. To say that DarKastle isnt a world-class ride discredits you as a fair critic right off the bat. Next time, try to provide valid reasons why you didnt like the ride, because the ones you presented are preposterous. You are entitled to your opinion, but to write a "hate post" is in my mind unacceptable.

The only thing I can say is who really gets scared on any dark ride who is over the age of 10. Unless they make "the Ring" ride they will all be corny jokes and maybe some startles. I mean I didnt feel fear in haunted mansion or Knoebels and those are two of the best. I jumped when the truck horn went off but thats not fear. If you are going on darkrides to be SCARED then you need more adventure in your life.

I agree. Dark rides arent exacly maid to scare you. Most dark rides are ment to be fun. Spiderman isnt scarry from what I heard.a nd every dark ride I have been on isnt scary.

Spiderman may be scary if you have a fear of falling. It was definately not scary or even meant to be.

I wouldnt read what Anonymous has said, as he is too much of a wimp to show his name.

Haha, aint it the truth!

Always I would really like the anoymous posting to end. One person called out my ability to teach then posted anoymous.

That was me by the way. Talk about irony.

yeah, sorry everybody for saying "what the hell" I just got pretty riled up there, thats all...I shant do it again

Anyway, I might be going to BGW again this weekend, so Ill get some new pics of DarKastle...mostly of the theming inside the castle and maybe a couple showing the entire site

I Just feel he had a bad reason for hating it. if you dont think its scary then name some dark rides that here scarry you though was better. Perhaps it could have been better suported.

Well then say thrilling not scary and open up an account.

Well...I am going to go to Busch Gardens Sunday, and Im going to ride this ride again, and I am going to love it again! I frankly dont even care what you think anymore, Anonymous...to say that DarKastle has a zero-thrill factor is just plain sick

It wasnt the movement that thrilled me, it was the total experience. The 3-D graphics blew me away and the way everything transitioned was amazing. I didnt expect to go on and be thrilled in the same way that a roller coaster would. I think you were maybe expecting too much...

ferg is in da house!

Glad you enjoyed it. I am waiting to see a review from someone who has been on both Spiderman and Darkcastle.

I am in da house, indeed

Skifast22 wrote a good review for DarKastle...he said it was not as good as Spiderman, though. Go read his review, man

Eh, I rode it again today, and it was having some problems...the sound in some portions didnt happen, so sometimes it was just the movie and silence. The good new is the lines were moving faster, so as soon as they get the bugs worked out, it will be perfect

Oh boy...Im trying to bite my tongue, but its becoming increasingly difficult

Dont worry about it fergusonat. Only a child will come on a site to try and agrivate people by talking about rides.

I highly Doubt that they were sayign "we want Spidernam" Most likely only a hand full of them road both. anyways if you want to keep posting get an acount. dont hide behind an IP log.

Thats absurd...very few would even realize that Spiderman and DarKastle are the same type of ride...

Wow a nice anonymous reporter and may I recommenr you do get that account. This site is awfully good.

I took your advice and opened up an account (Im the last anonymous user that posted). I definitely think Ill enjoy it here, thanks for the recommendation

Actually, there were less kinks in the actual ride program opening day than this past sunday...the main problem opening day was a bad set of wheels on all the cars. I e-mailed Derrick Bowie, one of the parks managers and actually got to talk to him on the phone. He said that though there were many mechanical problems the first day, the biggest frustration was with the wheels, of all things. The last time I rode it, many of the sound effects were muted and sometimes it was just a silent movie. They had 12 cars running for the first time that day, and they didnt know how to run it efficiently yet

Nobody yet...

I will eventually ride both. thing is untile Darkcastly has 5 years of development and a year of operatign you cant compair.

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