A ‘Walking Dead’ Theme Park Ride Might Be Coming, And We Have Ideas

If you thought the “Hunger Games” theme park was an insane/terrifying/morbid idea, just wait ’til you get a load of what this company is pitching.

As detailed by SlashFilm, animatronics company Sally Corp has cooked up a “The Walking Dead” theme park ride design and presented a first-glimpse at its zombie offerings at the 2015 International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) convention in Orlando, Florida on Tuesday (Nov. 17).

Reportedly, the plans are already in place for this thing and all the company needs now is a taker with some space and twisted imagination, and BAM! We’re on the move to go ride this thing.

Naturally, news like this gets our brainwheels turning, so we came up with a few ideas for what a “Walking Dead”-centric theme park ride/area needs to have.

• The Carl Corral

  

  AMC

  This is the daycare center (named for CORAL) where they’ll serve your post-apocalyptic younguns squished acorns and sour milk and fruit straight from the can. Best part? Reservations aren’t required for parents; you can be a — wait for it — Walk-in Dad.

• A Terminus BBQ stand

  

  AMC

  Fair warning: Steer clear of the meat selection.

• Weapons training stations

  

  AMC

  Options: Crossbow lessons with Daryl, shooting tips from Rick, Michonne’s samurai school, and/or Aikido training from Morgan.

• An escape the walker-filled fog portion

  

  AMC

  Never mind. That would be TOO f–king terrifying.

• Ultra quiet lawnmowers

  

  AMC

  Clearly, there’s some kind of magically silent auto-lawnmower existing in “TWD” times that keeps all the grass to ankle-height or below everywhere. We want to see this.

• The Governor’s museum of dead heads

  

  AMC

  All of which are still blinking and/or snapping teeth, of course.

• A gift shop that sells eye patches and cowboy hats and all the things

  

  AMC

  This’ll be a magical place where you can buy your very own Michonne sword and Grimes Boys cap and some fake Abraham mustaches you can wear for funzies.

   

Hey @SuperheroFeed and @DoctoroftheDead, here’s the Sally Corporation booth. Featuring The Walking Dead! pic.twitter.com/vD59pda1oW

— Chandler Desrochers (@ChandlerD8113) November 17, 2015

The exact details of the ride were not available to the public, but we can make a fairly educated guess on what you can expect based on the company’s previous output. Most of Sally Corp’s dark rides combine 3D projection, physical sets, and animatronics, moving thrill-seekers through a physical environment that is enhanced through screens and animated characters. Their more recent output has borrowed from a trend started by Men in Black: Alien Attack at Universal Studios and Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin at the Disney theme parks – guests are usually armed with plastic weapons, letting them interact with their surroundings by shooting everything that moves.

Normally, the story of the ride makes a point that the guests are using stun weapons of some kind. We imagine that The Walking Dead won’t be so shy about its interactive bloodshed. For the record, Inside the Magic says that the ride won’t be as gnarly as the show, but will be more violent than your average theme park attraction.

For a taste of what you can expect, you can look at two of Sally Corp’s most recent dark rides, both of them themed around DC comic book characters. First up is Justice League: Alien Invasion 3D at Warner Bros. Movie World:

And here is a ride-through of Justice League: Battle For Metropolis at Six Flags Over Texas:

Watching this very specific ride-and-shoot aesthetic being applied to the Walking Dead license should prove, well, interesting. The show is certainly popular enough to justify its existence, but will it still be The Walking Dead once you’ve essentially turned it into a video game? After all, a proper Walking Dead theme park experience would only give you a single bullet, surround you on all sides, and encourage you to turn the gun on yourself. Without depressing angst and ongoing dread, a Walking Dead ride could be just be a zombie shoot-em-up.

But who are we kidding? Just let us know when this thing is open and we’ll make a pilgrimage to check it out.

MTV