Home > Virginia > Busch Gardens Williamsburg > Curse of DarKastle

Curse of DarKastle
Website: Busch Gardens Williamsburg Homepage
Ride Type: Flat Ride
Ride Status: Running
Average Rating: 4.0323
TPC Overall Rank: #154 out of 2933 rides.
Reviews: 35
Last Review: 7/1/2009 4:44:00 PM
In User Top 10: 7 times.
User Tracker Count: 76 times.
 

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4 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up jeopardyfish on 7/1/2009 4:44:00 PM
This ride is certainly fun, and the concept is unique. I had a good time, although not all of the effects worked. The theming is exquisite. Definitely not one for children (except, of course, for those who handle dark rides well).

4 Rating
+1 Rating Rate Down Rate Up praxis on 9/7/2008 11:03:00 AM
Most 3-D (or 4-D, as they often like to be called) attractions are shown in a theater kind of setting. Your seat may rattle a bit, or have other fx built in, but for the most part, you sit in one place. Not so with Darkastle, where you board a moving car inside a dark ride, and this combines with the 3-d movie. The effect of this combo (real + simulated movement) can be quite effective.

The only other ride I know of that does this is Spiderman at Islands of Adventure. and DarKastle begfs comparison to that one. It&#39.s a contest that Spidey handily wins, but DK is still quite good.

First, the downside: as many have noted, the storyline (such as it is) is a little mucked up, poorly presented in the queue, and probably overly complicated. A crazy Euro-aristocrat/monster guy tries to trap you in his haunted castle. Nuff said! Secondly, the animation is a little fuzzy. Thirdly, it almost never interacts with live backdrops/sets (a very marked contrast to Spidey), and at times, the blank movie screen setting is noticeable.

On to the good stuff. The theming is good - starting with the errie castle motif of the building with the nice wolf statues. The fx are generally quite good, sometimes elevating to startling movement fx (like the time you get knocked through a window), and in general, the haunted house m.o. is well suited to this kind of ride.

Yes, it&#39.s not as good as Spiderman, but it is good, and a lot of fun. Beware that it has long lines - in part cause its queue is largely shield from the heat, and because (despite the fact that it&#39.s likely too scary for small kids) it lacks the intimidation factor of the big coasters.

4 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up DDfan on 9/5/2008 3:36:00 PM
Curse of DarKastle is an amazing dark ride. The special effects are spectular.(some puns are&#39.nt bad ethier but i&#39.m getting a head of my self lol!) You enter the castle expecting some thing very cold but, suprisingly it&#39.s not that cold in the castle. The ride starts of you passing through a forest with trees with horrifed faces, mumbiling &quot.Why are you here?&quot. Then you see a bunch of ghosts run out of some castle doors. There is an eldrly one who helps you throught the ride. An amazing expirence thought I do not remember it clearly it&#39.s worth a vist or two if in the park. Worth wating about twenty to thrity five minutes.

4 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up SFne201004 on 8/19/2008 11:18:00 PM
Having gone on Spiderman earlier this year, This ride wasn&#39.t the best. it was quite simmiliar obviously, but Spiderman is slightly better in every category. I still loved this ride and thought it was a great addition to BGE.

3 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up Steve NY on 5/2/2008 8:48:00 PM
I will start off by saying that I indeed have been on Spiderman and inevitably, I will group the two a lot. Ill say it off the bat, Superman absolutely crushes this in almost all aspects. That being said, DarKastle still is a pretty fun and unique attraction. The one thing that DarKastle has over Spiderman is definitely theming. Busch went all out from the castles breathtaking exterior to the intricate detail inside, it was an incredible job. Now for the two negatives that really detracted from my ride. The audio during the ride is extremely muffled leading to me not knowing what the heck was going on the whole ride. That also leads to my other gripe, the uninspired and confusing plot. Just when I think one thing is occurring another is occurring. However, it still was quite enjoyable thanks to how well animated the attraction is and the movement is extremely well-synched with the ride and the breathtaking 3-D effects. There actually were a few effects that really got me, especially one that made me actually fear for my life! Spiderman still is the king of this type of ride, but DarKastle is pretty good in its own ways.

4 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up m311ton on 3/22/2008 6:54:00 PM
This might be my confession of a guilty pleasure, but I had a lot of fun on this ride. I laughed through much of the ride, and had a blast with the 4-D environment. I couldnt follow any of the story, but did spend a lot of time trying to dodge approaching objects. My best advice is, dont dismiss this attraction when at Busch Gardens. I usually hate stuff like this because I find it a waste of time for thrill seekers like myself, but DarKastle was actually a lot of fun and I will definitely make an effort to enjoy it every time I visit Busch Gardens!

4 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up T-Rex on 12/6/2007 6:09:00 PM
Not as good as Spiderman, but still a pretty good ride. The theming as always was top-notch from Busch as the castle looked great. Throughout the ride there were excellent 3-D effects and all the scenes looked incredible. The audio was a bit muffled in spots though and the plot was a bit confusing.

4 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up coaster05 on 10/14/2007 10:21:00 AM
A very good a fun attraction at BGE, but not quite the experience I wanted it to be. Had I not been with an experienced veteran of the park, I would have had no idea what the story was as all the pre ride stuff is jacked up, or people just talk over. The ride itself was visually great and only had one glitch in the middle. It definately did not come off as good as Spiderman, but was still a very good addition to the park. I love when you "drop" on these types of rides.

4 Rating
+3 Rating Rate Down Rate Up coasterf42 on 6/23/2007 9:19:00 AM
Since I dont get to go to BGE a lot, DarKastle was the one non-coaster ride I HAD to do in 2007. And since it cost about 8 times as much as any other thrill ride Ive done, I had high expectations. DarKastle was very fun, but I must admit a little weird and maybe just a bit too over-the-top! It is clear that rides like this arent just for thrill, but also for the story, so thus it’s kind of like a movie as well. This ride’s story seemed just all over the place. Wolves, death, castles, water, etc., it was all literally just thrown at you! It was impossible to follow for a first time rider, and I could only imagine what someone with no knowledge of the ride at all would make of it. The themeing overall is very well done, and very well kept. The castle looks great from outside, as does the entrance, the outdoor queue, the many wolf statues, the inside glowing windows, etc. It all just looks incredible, easily the best queue in the park. The vehicles look pretty sweet too. The ride is pretty good, but it was surprising that it was basically all electronic-no “real” scenery on the ride at all. It felt like 10 movie screens that the sleigh traveled around to. The 3d effects were really well done, and effective at enhancing the scare-factor a whole lot. I kind of felt the ride was a tease, however. It kept on saying stuff like, "your gonna die, just wait till later, your gonna be terrified, etc." Nothing really happened accept for a bit of crazy spinning and a spray of water. I also remember the many DarKastle ads talking about high speed moments, and it seemed like the vehicle started to go fast in parts, but never really got going. I kind of felt like I was on an extremely advanced 3d movie while on DarKastle. I think that I actually get more of a thrill factor in the stationary theater with the moving seats than I did on DarKastle. However, DarKastle is a very fun and innovative ride with a completely wacky story. It may be a bit too scary for some kids, but is one of the coolest non-coaster rides I have ever been on at an amusement park.

4 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up thare on 6/18/2007 9:15:00 AM
Nice hi-tech ride, but it is not worth any of the long lines. I like this ride, but it is not as thrilling as I thought it would be. This is still a must do, but when the lines are down. This is also a nice place to be if it is warm outside!

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