Homemade Dark Ride progress walkthrough 2021. Derailed at Windy Acres.

[@r.d.sussmann9672]

Every single year you top yourself with this - and this year is no exception. Outstanding in every way!

[@intocoasters]

Tish...pshaw...nonsense. I mean.... Thank you! heh.... wish you were still in the area to see it firsthand. And then build some coasters together! Happy Halloween!

[@milesdudleydiyanimatronics6467]

Well done Eric! Scott would be proud!

[@intocoasters]

Thank you Miles! It's been a tough season. Almost gave up this year a few times. But I know that would have disappointed Scott. Hopefully he will be there with us Halloween night, smiling as he always did . Happy Haunting!

[@asmarteru]

Wow man ... looks great. Love the tribute pumpkin ... wonderful way to honor a friend. Hope you all have a great Halloween.

[@intocoasters]

Thank you so much! I know Scott would get a kick out of being a jack-o-lantern. That's the kind of humor we all shared. Happy Haunting!

[@roguea987]

I have to say, the progression on this build is amazing. You all have done a terrific job.

[@intocoasters]

Thank you so much! I wish I had documented the progress better. There were 2 complete re-themes that occurred in the ride and I thought we would end up being way behind. Thank you for watching! Happy Halloween!

[@raymitchell9736]

Wow... that was excellent!!! Wished I could give that 2 thumbs up!!!

[@intocoasters]

Wow! Thank you! LOL I'll take this comment as another thumbs up. Thank you for watching! Happy Halloween

[@raymitchell9736]

@@intocoasters I wished people around me would do these kind of awesome projects... I feel I'm in a Halloween desert and my competition is a store bought prop with a sheet thrown over it.... You're doing awesome work and keeping the spirit of home haunting alive! Please keep the videos coming, they brighten my day!

[@erickgregersen6095]

Turned out great! Can't wait to see the finished ride in action... Great job as always!

[@intocoasters]

Thank you Erick! I hope to have a 360 video posted from a better 360 camera this year. Will will film with the handheld as backup.

[@369284ab]

So sorry to hear about your friend. I’m sure he’ll be proud of the wonderful work you all are doing

[@intocoasters]

Thank you so much! Truly. It's a weird feeling to come up with a new effect and want to call him up and talk about it. He was a huge part of the creative process - the video "Best Ghost Hologram effect, Halloween 2015" Started as his idea - it took us 2 years to figure out the best approach. I really hope he is somehow watching progress with that joyous grin he wore while building Halloween props. Happy Haunting.

[@369284ab]

@@intocoasters I’m sure he is ...happy Halloween

[@OutdoorsWithShawn]

Man that's awesome!!! I wish I had the space to do something like that at my place. Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work!

[@intocoasters]

Thank you so much! believe it or not, it's only a two and half car garage. It is quite the illusion of space once all the walls are built.

[@RestlessHollow]

This is simply awesome! So many great details.

[@intocoasters]

Thank you so much!

[@brianbonson5150]

Awesome as always! I look forward to participating once again this year. It looks like we will have some great weather.

[@intocoasters]

Me too! Thank you for joining! And yeah, I had to peek at the weather. Thank goodness no rain!

[@usasoccerfan1972]

Awesome!!! I'm adding the 3D fan to my Halloween show this year and all thanks to you. I'm adding it to a levitating table attached to a computer monitor mount.

[@intocoasters]

Thank you! And that is AWESOME! I'd love to see the final project! Happy Haunting!

[@larryhughes5319]

Wow awesome work

[@intocoasters]

Thank you so much!

[@Runnamuka]

Wow!!! so very cool as always!!!

[@intocoasters]

Thank you! I wish you could ride it in person ;) Happy haunting!

[@PyroniousIndustries]

Amazing work!

[@intocoasters]

Thank you! Happy Halloween!

[@telecasterbear]

Well done. Thanks and have a great Halloween.

[@intocoasters]

Thank you very much! Happy Halloween!

[@AtticusRex]

Super cool! That fire breath feature is outstanding! FYI, I've finally managed to finish my version of a dark ride cart obviously inspired by your amazing work. It will be taking my guests this year through a haunted pirate ride in my garage. It's short and simple but, assuming all goes well, I'm looking forward to expanding it in years to come. Thank you for all the great inspiration and teaching!

[@intocoasters]

Thank you and very cool!! I would love to see your take on the ride! The fire breath is a fairly simple effect - I have a fog machine that is DMX controlled, so the lighting and fog come from the same machine. I control it with Light-O-Rama. The complex part is almost invisible unless you are super observant on details. There are 3 bricks in the wall that 'break away' just at the fog starts. They reset after about 15 seconds. The bricks are servo controlled. I hope to do a video on that wall after halloween.

[@AtticusRex]

@@intocoasters That's awesome! I didn't catch the break away bricks in the video. I'll definitely watch the how to video when you make it.

[@intocoasters]

@@AtticusRex I am uploading a short video before we fully decorated. It was a lighting test and there is a slow motion close up of the stones opening also

[@AtticusRex]

@@intocoasters Just watched the video. Very cool! we ran our cart on saturday night and it worked great for a while but then started having issues making the turns. I never got it to make a full, uninterrupted run after that. I'm still trying to debug it. It seems like the wiper motor isn't getting enough juice to turn the wheels predictably under load. Have you seen any issues like that? It seems either my battery isn't strong enough, or the motor is faulty or burned out, or the cart + load is just too heavy in general. I suppose it could also be the H-bridge having some problem but that seems unlikely since it runs fine unloaded. I'm operating on about 5% of your expertise here so it will take some head scratching to work it out. Otherwise, it's been a blast to build so far and will definitely be a staple of our haunt from now on. My son took some video that I'll share when he gets it edited. Thanks again for all the inspiration!!

[@intocoasters]

@@AtticusRex I have to say both very cool!! And I'm so sorry you started running into problems! For us, the biggest issue was leaves blowing in and getting in the way of the sensors, giving false readings from time to time. Based on your symptoms, my guess would be the battery that runs the steering became too low to deliver full current for each correction needed. Have you charged the battery and tried again? That would be my first step in troubleshooting based on what you said. This year, we had such a huge crowd that each cart had to be pulled off track and the drive batteries replaced after about an hour and a half. I'm working on collecting video from friends to see what I could put together to post myself.

[@howtodiyanddoothercoolstuf6075]

I’m gonna make some diy props for next year. Actuators are expensive so I’m going to use some cheap power tools from Harbor freight in place of them. For example, use a 20$ sawzall behind a skeleton or coffin to shake it. Zip tie the trigger down and hook the power up to a motion sensor on a short timer. Hope that idea can help you make some stuff

[@intocoasters]

Some of my props (not on video) use security light fixtures (flood lights with motion detector to turn them on) to turn on a prop when someone passes. It's a great method to trigger many props and lighting!

[@knowyourjoe8826]

This is off the rails! That is an awesome attraction. How much square footage doe it take? Is the space dedicated for the ride at this point or will it all come down after the season ends and stored till next season? I would love to be able to do something on that scale. Great job guys and sorry to hear the loss of your friend. Thanks for sharing.

[@intocoasters]

"Off the rails" I see what you did there, LOL. And thank you so much! Without grabbing a tape measure, I think this is right around 600 square feet. It's a two and a half car garage, with shelving, a fridge, utility sink, and pool pump / filter equipment in place along the back wall taking up space. All of the interior walls are modular and come down and stack in a spot in the garage. When well organized, both halves of the garage can be used for vehicles properly. I even have a vehicle lift on the right hand side. The reflective tape stays on the ground. This means each year I have to repair / replace parts of it because it gets damaged by other projects. But I did not want to be limited to a fixed layout nor did I want to have to figure out how to store 70 ft of track. As an added bonus, there is no trip hazard from any rails or track if we have to have guests walk out of the attraction. The interior dimensions are deceptive. Even my builder comments on how much bigger it seems during Halloween then any other time of the year. So, you can pack a lot of experience in a tiny space if you're stubborn enough to do so, LOL Thank you for your kind words about Scott. Happy haunting!

[@knowyourjoe8826]

@@intocoasters I am even more impressed now. I would have thought it was much larger than that. Great job again!

[@tzkelley]

Very cool but sorry about your friend.

[@intocoasters]

Thank you very much for the kind words.