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Highlights from INSPIRE Week and 2025 Thea Awards
March 14, 2025
Sally Dark Rides
Sally Dark Rides was in California last week to learn from the industry's best and celebrate all things Treasure Hunt: The Ride
If you don't know by now, Sally Dark Rides and Daniels Wood Land teamed up on a dark ride adventure that took root back in 2022 when Ron and Jon Daniels of DWL acquired an old wax museum on Cannery Row in Monterey, California. What happened after that was an epic propulsion of artistry, imagination, and superior talent.
In honor of Treasure Hunt: The Ride ride receiving the TEA Recognition of Merit, we shared the full story of how the attraction came to fruition in the Spotlight Session: Stories from the Fringes last week at TEA INSPIRE.
Day 1: Spotlight Sessions
Kicking off Stories from the Fringes at TEA Spotlight Sessions.. and this one was indeed from the fringes!
Erik Essig from BMorrow Productions and Shelby Honea from Universal Creative co-hosted the spotlight session
Ron Daniels and Rich Hill reliving all the fun and mayhem involved with bringing this dark ride to light
The location for the project presented many challenges
Like building a dark ride in the basement of an old wax museum
We incorporated local lore into the storytelling
Packing in a multi-level ride experience into a mere 8,000 square feet
Mixing practical and media-based sets and scenery
Did someone say pirate invasion?!
That look says it all!
You know we had to bring some drama to the TEA
Day 2-3: INSPIRE
You know we love a robot moment
We especially enjoyed hearing from the creators of the new Zootopia dark ride, which features an impressive animatronic queue character
The State of the Industry panel, hosted by Shawn McCoy, took a deep dive on our current standing, industry trends, and future insights
Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to get inspired
This week was as much about building connections as it is about learning—so we made time for both! Great conversations with industry colleagues and plenty of new faces.
INSPIRE The Night -- Universal Hollywood Wizarding World of Harry Potter
One time for these gorgeous women and these stunning gowns!
The men were also serving fashion
Treasure Hunters reunite!
We've been practicing pirate face for years now
Putting the T-E-A in team
We accept this Recognition of Merit on behalf of everyone that put their time and talents into this special dark ride project over the last few years, and those who continue to keep the operation running.
A special thank you to our Treasure Hunt team and subcontractors!
Gosetto, Alterface, Pure Imagination, Techni-Lux, Extreme Engineering, M2Designs, David Graves Construction, Parallel Design Studios
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