Jora Vision, a leading creative company with over 30 years of experience in the design, development and delivery of immersive experiences, has designed the first dark ride – and its largest to date – for VinWonders in Nha Thrang, Vietnam, Tata World River Adventure.
“It’s very brave for a park to enter the world of dark rides with such a large and richly themed ride. As a visitor you will experience fully immersive decors with integrated projection screens, uniquely designed animatronics, special and visual effects and a custom music score.” explains Victor Schade, creative lead at Jora Vision.
The story
On the planet’s most beautiful coastal bays, there is a miraculous land called Van Hoa. It is filled with fragrant flowers, fantastical plants, cute animals and talented songbirds – the home of Princess Tata, famous for her radiant beauty.
Guardian of the peace in Van Hoa is the Pearl of Happiness, but the Pearl has been stolen by the Dark Princess.
Together with Princess Tata and her close friends, Monta Monkey and Tuka Parrot, guests embark on a journey to retrieve the Pearl of Happiness.
The story is based around an already existing show in VinWonders Nha Thrang.
The visitor experience
Visitors begin their journey in the Library of Fairytales. In this huge fantastical library, all fairytales of the world are cherished, kept safe and collected. Guests meander through sections of Europe, South-America and Asia until they find their way to the pre-show, the Tata Treasury. In the pre-show an animatronic called the Fairytale Librarian will tell visitors the story of Princess Tata and the Pearl of Happiness before they travel through a magical world map of Van Hoa.
After the pre-show guests board one of the seven boats in the Palace of Princess Tata and sail into the Land of Flowers. They will find their way to the Pearl of Happiness where they witness the robbery of the Pearl of Happiness by the Dark Princess.
Then, they’ll travel through the Land of Jungle and the Land of Ocean, and while being amazed by the fantastical creatures they encounter as they come to seek help and gather a fellowship.
Two sister princesses of Princess Tata will join and together with them, visitors engage in an epic battle sequence in the Land of Darkness. Finally at the top of the second lift hill, they will find out if the Pearl of Happiness is retrieved.
A wide range of special effects
The ride uses a wide range of uniquely designed special effects. In one of the scenes a combination is made between a pepper’s ghost and a mechanical effect to let the Pearl of Happiness disappear in plain sight.
In multiple other scenes, the illusion must be given that visitors are in a much larger world than the actual building provided. Effects like depth projection and forced perspective are used to extend scenes beyond their borders.
Finally, to keep the mystery alive, guests will also encounter one of the largest animatronics they will ever witness.
“Creating dark rides is one of our biggest passions and expertise. Dark rides are the ultimate way to create an immersive story driven experience. Thanks to the trust of our client VinWonders we can bring our extensive knowledge of dark rides to Vietnam,” explains Da Wang, design director at Jora Vision.
The collaboration between VinWonders and Jora Vision is set to continue with several projects planned for the future, including a masterplan for a complete new resort and VinWonders’ first Flying Theatre attraction.
June Ren, managing director, Asia, at Jora Vision, concludes: “We are very happy with the successful creative collaboration with the team of VinWonders. We are certain that this partnership will result in many exciting new one-of-a-kind experiences.”
