Curse of DarKastle

**Curse of DarKastle** was a dark ride located at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia. It was a hybrid dark ride which combined roving motion-simulating vehicles, 3D projection animation, physical sets, in-vehicle audio, and special effects (wind, water, fog, and lighting). Curse of DarKastle carried a rider height requirement of 42 inches, but with a sign warning that scenes within the attraction may be too intense for young audiences. The ride took place in an abandoned Bavarian castle, haunted by evil ghosts and a demonic werewolf.

The attraction closed on September 4, 2017, to make room for a new Howl-O-Scream haunted house named “FrostBite”. It was assumed that the ride would return after the end of the event, however, plans were announced to utilize portions of the attraction’s space for a Christmas themed event. In an interview with the park’s Vice President of Marketing, Dan Dipiazzo, it was discovered that returning the attraction to operational status was undetermined. Dipiazzo confirmed that, as of late 2017, the attraction was still operable. However, due to high maintenance and operating costs, low ridership, and ongoing budget cuts at Busch Gardens’ parent company SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment, the ride was officially announced as closing on January 23, 2018. The building became a special events space themed to a fictional German castle in 2018, with much of the gothic theming removed from the exterior and interior.

## Preshow & Storyline

The queue line for Curse of DarKastle was entered under a frozen, crumbling arch under the Bavarian castle's highest tower, two wolf statues were standing at the end of the arch. It then weaved throughout the outdoor courtyard of the castle. The line weaved around a statue of three howling wolves covered in ice and aged as copper. As guests entered in the hallways within the palace, flickering candelabras lit the way into a large, circular stone chamber in which the preshow was projected using simple animation as a heavily accented voice told the tale of the castle's haunted past.

As the final words were spoken, the torches in the chamber turned to blue flames as a stone wall lifted, ushering guests into a grand hall in which the fleet of golden sleighs again waited, ready for Ludwig's newest guests.

## The Ride

Immediately upon the ride's beginning, the sleigh rounded a corner, entering into the forest outside the castle. There, gnarled trees with glowing, vague faces seemed to groan "Why are you here?" "Get Out" in a deep voice. Approaching the castle's front doors, the ghostly apparition of Ludwig's mother flew out of the door, hovering just in front of the vehicle, warning riders that they must get outside the castle walls, because her son had no power there. Just as she disappeared, Ludwig's voice boomed through the courtyard, menacingly inviting riders to tour his castle as two stone wolves adorning the stairway came to life and leaped onto the sleigh, snarling and biting at riders.

Once inside, suits of armor adorning a long hallway came to life, stepping off their pedestals and jabbing spears towards riders. One of the helmets fell off, ricocheting off the floor and levitating just in front of the sleigh, its face-guard lifting to reveal a skeletal face screeching within. Retreating down another hallway, guests entered the music room where the ghost of Ludwig manifested in a flaming whirlwind, blowing gusts of air onto riders and lifting the various musical instruments into the air, slamming them around the room. Outraged at the intrusion, he shouted "You have such hunger for my secrets? Come, it shall be fed!", launching a flaming blue orb at riders, which pushed the ride vehicle in to the next scene.

Blasted backwards into the kitchen, the sleigh looked down a long dining table set for a feast. Ludwig's ghostly voice emanated from the walls as knives flew at the riders, whizzing past on all sides. Appearing at the opposite head of the table, Ludwig grabbed a knife, flew towards the sleigh, and mocked cutting off his own head, as it appeared on a platter being served by a skeletal waiter.

Entering into a dimly lit hallways, Ludwig's mother's voice again urged riders that they "must get out before it's too late." Ludwig mockingly told his mother that the guests ought to stay, as it was about to be "a blast." Just then, the torches all blew out as a wall of wind gusted down the hall. Passing a brightly lit portrait of the young Ludwig and disfigured paintings of his parents, the sleigh pulled into the two-story library. There, above the fireplace, a portrait of Ludwig came to life, issuing guests towards the smoking, flaming fireplace. As the sleigh was physically felt pulling away from the fire, Ludwig pulled it in. The vehicle spun out-of-control in the pitch-black darkness, rising out of the chimney.

Immediately out of the chimney, Ludwig's mother grabbed hold of the sleigh and pulled it through the sky, weaving between the castle's turrets as they crash down, leading riders to the castle's walls and escape from Ludwig's powers. But Ludwig grabbed the sleigh, pushing it back towards the castle. His mouth opened as his tongue turned into a snake, hissing and lashing out at riders.

The sleigh spun around and its nose dipped down towards the courtyard below, but Ludwig's mother grabbed halt of it before the sleigh could fall. A comet shot down past the guests into the ground below, and Ludwig's fiery apparition launched toward the sleigh, morphing into a werewolf as he roared "Mother, you're driving me insane!" From behind the vehicle his mother shouted "Ludwig, my son, you were never sane to begin with!"

Just then, Ludwig fell from the sky and dabbed, dragging the sleigh with him in a simulated free-fall from the castle's turret and crashing into the glass conservatory, complete with frozen plants and golden wolf statues. Ludwig leaped over the sleigh, his weight cracking the ground as the sleigh dropped again, this time down into a cavern underneath the castle. The cave walls depicted ghostly faces with glowing eyes and mouths. Rounding the corner, Ludwig's werewolf figure burst down a door, leaping towards the car with his claws outstretched. His mother laughed, shouting "They are beyond your reach!" Leaving the castle walls and thus forfeiting his eternal soul, Ludwig turned to ice and shattered, spraying riders with water. His voice echoed through the hall, "You will never escape!" as the sleigh returned to the great hall and guests disembarked.