Mr. Toad may have a wild ride, but Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre in North Hollywood, California has a wilder ride with “DarkDark-RideRide” now heading into its final weekends.
One of the greatest thrills for me when attending a theme park or even a small town carnival is the decades old dark ride. There’s something really special about hopping in your vehicle as you ride through tableauxs of your favorite (or most feared) stories. Now take away the track and the robotics, then replace them with a human-guided ride vehicle with live actors surrounding you and you have “DarkDark-RideRide.”
After entering the performance space, you are the ride operator as you count down “5-4-3-2-1 BLASTOFF!” From there you are guided into your dark ride vehicle and sent into a wild and disorienting experience as the cast takes you through every inch of the intimate Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre, even including areas that guests don’t usually visit. They do a fantastic job using classic blacklight and neon paint techniques. From one disturbing tableaux to the next I couldn’t help but smile. I literally had a grin on from ear to ear during the entire experience. Some folks may replace that grin on their face with terror depending on your sensibilities.
Most of the experience you’re seated in a dark ride vehicle, but for the last stretch of adventure you exit and walk through some final moments that frankly makes you question when this crazy/wild/disturbing/exciting journey will end.
One of the things that Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre does best is show us new and exciting ways to entertain crowds interested in the macabre. They’ve done it countless times in the past, but “DarkDark-RideRide” feels like a love letter to the haunt community. Your senses can’t help but recognize the passion that was put into this latest experience.
Tickets to this experience are VERY limited as only two people get to go through at a time for an approximately fifteen-minute adventure. Get your tickets NOW if you want to go, because it will sell out. Performances are on Thursday thru Sunday nights from now until February 24th.
ZJU Theatre Group, 4850 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601
TIX Only $15.
Advance TIX On Sale at: ZombieJoes.Tix.com
Official Website: ZombieJoes.com