The Most Incredible Dark Ride You’ve Never Heard Of

[@scampbell3363]

My father attended with his grandfather who was born in the final year of the Civil War!! They were from a town of less than 1,000 in rural west Tennessee. Needless to say they were impressed.

[@chrisshorten4406]

If it were still around today, I would very much love to see that Trip to the Moon Rise. It sounds so cool! Why must time be so cruel.

[@benjamindover4337]

And 100 years later we have... Los Angeles. 😞

[@chadimirputin2282]

At least its not Detroit.

[@nannettefreeman7331]

If ONLY we had 14-lane highways, it might not take me over an hour to travel 25 miles! I think the widest I hit is 10 (?) around the 405/110 interchange. Depending on the time of day & direction of travel, it's remarkably not all that congested. 🙄✌🏼

[@seanbatiz6620]

@@nannettefreeman7331 That last line you so eloquently summed up could just as easily be said for nearly all roadways/intersections, lol… but yeah, am familiar with that specific area having relatively less major congestion by comparison too the outlying interchanges. It sure would be cool if that entire GM Futurama ride installation were preserved & could be experienced nowadays!!

[@Rich-fr2yv]

And Houston

[@jefffrederick258]

@@seanbatiz6620 you've never been to LA, have you -_- Traffic in new your is insane. Traffic in Houston is 1 2-lane highway wrapped around the city. I exaggerate a bit. But I can honestly say that I would prefer the traffic of those 2 cities than any freeway in Los Angeles. In truth it's gotten worse after covid. It used to be there was a set period of time you knew to get in and get out of LA. Usually between 11am and 2pm. And any time between 9:30pm and 4:00am you were fine. Now, with do many working from home, there is no consistency to the traffic during the day. It's congested any time between 4am and 9pm. It's one thing if you drive into LA on occasion. But after one week you would truly understand the horror that is the 60/10/101/405/210 freeway. Remember - Californians don't measure a the distance of a car ride in miles. We measure it in time. Because when it takes you an hour to drive 4 or 5 blocks west on Wilshire on a Sunday... Well distance is irrelevant.

[@rikspector]

My parents visited the 1929 Worlds Fair and we had a souvenir booklet featuring the Trylon and Perisphere . I visited the New York World's Fair in the mid sixties and went on that Futurama Ride which included cities in the Arctic., it was amazing and I've never forgotten it. Alas, World's Fairs are a thing of the past as we slowly devolve rather than evolve. Cheers, Rik Spector

[@johnjones2nd667]

It would be awesome to experience a world's fair, any world's fair. I hope you still have that booklet, sounds cool.

[@jessgunn6639]

my great grandfather designed and built the water slide and boats for the worlds fair in cork in 1902

[@Morbos1000]

Everyone has heard of Futurama due to the animated show which took its name from this ride. It is more that most of us weren't familiar with the details of the ride.

[@mim5351]

No shit, sherlock

[@michaelpacinus242]

Incorrect

[@sarahissersohn5495]

I never knew about the ride. I hadn’t heard the term “dark ride” before this. Pretty cool!

[@Unfamous-Chronicles]

@@sarahissersohn5495 (sorry about the length! When I start talking about rides, I don't shut up.) the term "dark ride" is used in the US, and probably the UK, to describe any ride within a building. So the spaceship going to the moon, the Futurama, even just a small mouse coaster put in a building at an amusement park are dark rides. Haunted Mansion, Tower of Terror, Pirates of the Caribbean, the giant ride inside of the Epcot ball, they're all dark rides. Funny thing is... I mentioned good ones. Every state or county fair will tend to have at least one dark ride where you ride a small car on a twisty track, normally set up with 'scary' things. They're awful and let in so much light as they're moved so often. Or Six Flags has a tendency to put cheap coasters in huge steel buildings and then not keep the building up. My local one did this when they bought the park, and within 10 years the best roller coaster there was closed because they didn't want to pay for upkeep. And they're known to put simple, sometimes used rides like a mouse coaster in a building to make a cheap ride. I will say my local one had a scrambler in a fake igloo and then closed it and moved the ride, since the igloo was letting in so much light. A few years later it reopened and is actually dark, so strobe effects and then sudden darkness make the scrambler actually exciting. But it's one of the few non-Disney dark rides I enjoy. Oh! And log flumes. The ones with the mines are a blast.

[@jeffersonott4357]

@@sarahissersohn5495 yea, no one had, but you had heard of the cartoon, right? That was morbos1000 's point

[@OrdinaryDude]

I swear, "It's a Small World" is the fourth level of hell. Maybe fifth.

[@tgmccoy1556]

Ninth

[@davidbwa]

True story - One of my brothers was on the Small World ride and it broke down, with their car stopping just outside the building. They were stuck there for over an hour, baking in the sun, that horrible song looping continuously. Couldn't get off due to surrounded by water. He said they were just about to the point of just getting out of the car and wading through the water when FINALLY they got it going again and they were able to finish / get off. One of those situations that is a funny story after the fact but really sucked for them at the time.

[@dianecripps204]

I heard it at the 1964 World's Fair as a kid. It creates an instant memory.

[@OrdinaryDude]

@@davidbwa Happened to me too. It was more like 20 minutes, but it FELT like HOURS.

[@ignitionfrn2223]

Good news everyone : the whistlerverse has expanded with *The Science of Science Fiction*

[@laurabryant4100]

Really wish you'd make this channel a pod cast so I could listen to it on my way to work I listen to what you have available already as a pod cast

[@LisaBowers]

The only World's Fair I've ever attended was the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee. One of my favorite exhibits was Foods of the World (or something like that) where I experienced my first taste of Häagen-Dazs Rum Raisin ice cream. Oh, the joys of being a 7 year old! 😋🍦

[@jaybirdjargon]

did you visit the Wig-sphere? (Simpsons reference)

[@indowneastmaine]

I'm confused because It's a New York brand. Some World's Fair, but I guess compared to Tennessee, that is international to you.

[@batboy-xf3ki]

I'm absolutely in love with this story.

[@kcollier2192]

2:40 May you never be caught with your Kennywood open.

[@Jaysin412]

I haven't said that in decades!!! Lol. Was definitely a big saying for kids in Pittsburgh growing up in the 80s and 90s

[@jamesslick4790]

@@Jaysin412 60's and '70s too! LOL. Fun Fact: Most Eat 'N Park restaurants have a sign on the inside of the Men's room door asking: "Is Kennywood Open?"

[@grapeshot]

We're whalers on the moon we carry a harpoon.

[@diggerdame4709]

😂

[@benjamindover4337]

We do it for the prunes, amidst the sand dunes, as would whalers on the moon.

[@amberly0317]

But there ain’t no whales so we tell tall tales And sing our whaling tuneeeee

[@ignitionfrn2223]

Come on mon : you forgot the *whoop whoop whoop*

[@diggerdame4709]

Saw that title and was like "Futurama Dark ride?!?! Take my money!!!!!"

[@Spacepilot616]

It's funny the old mill from Kennywood has changed themes 8 or 9 times since 1920. But it always returned to the old mill theme.

[@Jaysin412]

Wish they'd go back to the old mill and get rid of that stupid Garfields nightmare ride

[@Spacepilot616]

@@Jaysin412 they did.

[@Jaysin412]

@@Spacepilot616 not quite, just in name only. The attraction is not what it once was

[@jamesslick4790]

@@Jaysin412 It NEVER is the EXACTLY the same. The imagery has changed MULTIPLE times over the decades! The ride ITSELF is what has only changed ONCE (In the first few years, It ended in a dramatic drop! - Think "Pittsburg Plunge").

[@jamesslick4790]

@@Jaysin412 They got rid of Garfield TWO YEARS AGO.

[@wetcanoedogs]

for the last 30 or so years a ride thru the Old Mill was a treat at the Minnesota state fair.

[@aja9469]

Idk if anyone has beenon the universal studio's Transformers ride..... but that "Dark Ride" is absolutely intense..... easily a top 10. Ride even though it is litteraly a cart moving through different rooms.

[@KnottsBear-yTalesPreserved]

Thanks for making this!!

[@seanbatiz6620]

The immense positive feedback that this GM futurist promotional attraction gained at that ‘39 World’s Fair, truly had to correlate with why so much detailed effort & craftsmanship went into GM’s PostWar (WWII) MOBILE “Progress Of Tomorrow” fair exhibit of a scaled down version of this, all automated and incorporated within one of the dozen or so “GM Futurliner” couches for those events… quite a wild “show” that display would put on for folks! Ironically tho, one of those couches was also showcasing the “Future of Television”, which was what essentially caused the demise of that entire mobile concept

[@masterbondofox8982]

Oh, that was fascinating!

[@fredflintstoner596]

Mrs Richards: "I paid for a room with a view !" Basil: (pointing to the lovely view) "That is Torquay, Madam ." Mrs Richards: "It's not good enough!" Basil: "May I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically past?..." Mrs Richards: "Don't be silly! I expect to be able to see the sea!" Basil: "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky." Mrs Richards: "I'm not satisfied. But I shall stay. But I expect a reduction." Basil: "Why?! Because Krakatoa's not erupting at the moment ?"

[@traceymarshall4481]

The ride you were talking about in Blackpool UK is called athe Alice in Wonderland ride, it was my favourite ride as a kid. Love the fact it's still going strong today.

[@ExperimentIV]

simon you need to watch the defunctland video on the garfield dark ride

[@jamesslick4790]

The Garfeild dark ride "Garfeild's Nightmare" was a reimaging of the very same Old Mill at Kennywood Park (Pittsburgh, PA) Simon mentioned. It has been restored to "The Old Mill" The "guts" never changed, just the visuals, It's still basically the 1901 ride, The Old Mil was reimaged several times over the decades.

[@jamesslick4790]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZPGlpZtm7ahgJY&ab_channel=Kennywood

[@ExperimentIV]

@@jamesslick4790 yes but a lot of people were gay in the garfield dark ride and i love that energy, james,

[@Lady_Vengeance]

Though I have been obsessed with world‘s fairs my entire life and would certainly love to go back in time and visit the Futurama, for my money if I could only go back and experience one of these attractions, I would choose A Trip to the Moon.

[@vincentmorello83]

I forgot about it's a small world dammit Simon bringing up suppressed childhood trauma like that .

[@jmanj3917]

Intro; Be careful what you try to plant in peoples' minds, brain boy...It's a small world, after all...

[@richardgilson3512]

Don't worry, Be Happy.

[@LisaBowers]

@@richardgilson3512 Oh God, no! Not that song too! 😫

[@triciahennis6608]

I've ridden The Old Mill at Kennywood. In the 90's it was changed to Garfield's Nightmare.

[@Jaysin412]

Garfields nightmare sucks! I went last week and was super sad to see the old mill was technically gone

[@triciahennis6608]

@@Jaysin412 it is awful. I wish they would remake it

[@jamesslick4790]

@@Jaysin412 You DID NOT GO THERE LAST WEEK! Garfield has been gone since 2020!

[@jamesslick4790]

@@triciahennis6608 It's "The Old Mill" again. The Garfield stuff has been gone for two years. The "Old Mill" was never gone. Just re imaged. That's happened at the Old Mill multiple times since 1901. It always gets returned to "the Old Mill" imagery. The ride ITSELF has only changed ONCE (It used to have a dramatic drop at the end in the very early 20th Century.)

[@jamesslick4790]

Garfeilds Nighmare is NOT from the 90's It's from 2004. It lasted only until 2019.

[@Grizzdrop]

I would always visit the Old Mill in Kennywood whenever I went there :) haven't been in over 10 years since I developed vertigo :(

[@seanoconnor2741]

Tough title, great video.

[@joesjoeys]

That title needs some serious work. You had me about to call 911 thinking I had a stroke while trying to understand the meaning!

[@amaccama3267]

Duff beer for me Duff beer for you I'll have a Duff you have one to.... ..

[@jamesslick4790]

You Can't get Enuff of that wonderfull Duff!

[@coyoteartist]

I wonder if when designing Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune, any of the Imagineers knew of the original dark ride you've mentioned.

[@promiscuous5761]

Thank you.

[@40-forty-plus]

How many channels do you have man?

[@ljphoenix4341]

Title needs a : after The Futurama to make it make sense

[@jasontoddman7265]

Title is wrong. I *have* heard of this dark ride. There was a documentary about it I remember watching as a teenager (so, circa 1970) on TV which reproduced the ride in detail. I remember being amused how the prediction about the world of 1960 had turned out in reality (not as close as your video here made it seem outside of the highway system that was built) and I have been wary of shows/books/people trying to predict the future ever since.

[@theangelbelow88]

With a video title like that, I was expecting a far more morbid video...

[@arandomguy1226]

You have another channel

[@jacksonstarky8288]

And the future we actually got? "Let's automate most jobs and still require everybody to work 40+ hours per week to make ends meet anyway, while the rich continue to get richer at their expense."

[@MrTexasDan]

You kidding? You only need to view half of Simon's videos to know that the past sucked in just about any way imaginable. Count your blessings, friend.

[@jacksonstarky8288]

@@MrTexasDan Oh, I completely agree. I'm just saying there's still room for improvement. And I'm never going to consider wage slavery to be a blessing, no matter how much propaganda the billionaires try to substitute for income adequate to the cost of living.

[@MrTexasDan]

@@jacksonstarky8288 Wow, like your entitled to anything. Should have studied harder, man.

[@GrievousReborn]

Futurama the television show was named after this ride

[@th3gvt3keep3r4]

What was that ride that squished a girl. Like she got caught in the changing stages. Across America maybe?

[@Temple-of-Procrastination]

The girl was in it's a Small world at Disneyland in California and got squished between the stages. Somewhere there's a KZbin on it

[@th3gvt3keep3r4]

@@Temple-of-Procrastination ty yeah I it on youtube..maybe even one of Simon's I couldn't remember the name to save my life. Thanks

[@th3gvt3keep3r4]

And I just checked it was America sings a ride no longer there which is why I checked I knew the ride wasn't around anymore and I knew It's a Small World we're still an open attraction

[@NEEDCheese]

FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!!! - silver dollar city

[@McNuggins]

That GM thing looks so fucking ugly, it's a real shame how accurate it turned out to be.

[@wabisabi7755]

The title confuses me. Lol

[@saltyfox7056]

I was born in 1969 so this is all before my time.

[@nugboy420]

Popyeah mahshay?

[@tophers3756]

Trying to read the title gave me brain cancer

[@ignitionfrn2223]

And cause you to bite a shiny metal arse ?

[@jamesbodnarchuk3322]

The red river ex who employs ex cons I got strapped in the Roco plane . Not securly ! Every time I went around to the bottom screaming for help bouncing off the cage! Alls I saw was a burly carnie smoking a cig. Thank fully I got of in one piece!

[@donsandsii4642]

Dark rides is Disney theme parks

[@jessejoyce1295]

The old mill ride in Kennywood you mentioned was my favorite ride at Kennywood. They tore it out like 10 or 15 years ago and replaced it with Garfield’s dumbass pizza nightmare or something like that. Sad

[@Jaysin412]

Came here to say that!!! I totally hate the Garfields nightmare theme that they did! I miss the old musty smell of the old animatronic miners! I was at the park last weekend and went on it just to see, and my was it just the worst. No better way to dry a girl's panties than watching Garfield cartoons

[@jamesslick4790]

The NEVER tore out the Old Mill. The Garfeild stuff was a "bolt on" re-imaging job. The original Old Mill "guts" were still used. AND It's since been re-converted BACK to "The Old Mill".

[@jamesslick4790]

@@Jaysin412 You could NOT have been there since 2020, The Old Mill is the Old Mill. Garfeild is LONG GONE.

[@MrWhyme55]

😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀

[@rikspector]

Addendum, I meant the 1939 world's fair sorry😒😒 Rik See the next comment

[@Jaysin412]

I live in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, and I love going to kennywood! I went last week actually with my gf and 2 roommates. Sadly to say, the Old Mill at kennywood park is no longer... they turned it into some stupid neon-colored, Garfield's nightmare mill ride.... it's terrible, TV screens all through the ride showing Garfield cartoons, and trying really hard to scare 3 year olds....

[@jamesslick4790]

It's been re-converted back to The Old Mill. (With modern effects and props). This happened in 2020! Oh, and the Kangaroo ride is also back. Fun fact the old Old Mill never left. The Garfield stuff was essentially a "bolt on". The original "guts" of The Old Mill were there the whole time. The Old Mill has gone through several "reimages" since it was built in 1901.

[@jamesslick4790]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZPGlpZtm7ahgJY&ab_channel=Kennywood

[@Jaysin412]

Yep

[@Pepsi_Addicted]

first

[@RyanCoomer]

Im a beekeeper in minnosota. I trap 7 Monarch Butterflies in a jar. I then place jar in the middle of the Beehive. It then is a joy for me to watch the bees frenzied Sting the Butterflies til they Disintegrate. IT creates some of the best tasting Honey I have ever produced!!!

[@Kevin-hp5fk]

That's a truly bizarre non-sequitur

[@gamerjaqi7873]

Really hoping your just a troll and not a psychopath.

[@SA-bc6jw]

Deliberately exterminating an endangered species...hummmm.

[@RyanCoomer]

@@SA-bc6jw yup!!!!

[@RyanCoomer]

@@gamerjaqi7873 it's insects dude calm down wtf

[@scampbell3363]

My father attended with his grandfather who was born in the final year of the Civil War!! They were from a town of less than 1,000 in rural west Tennessee. Needless to say they were impressed.