Captivating 4D Dark Ride Whisks Riders High into the Himalayan Mountains to Discover Katmandu’s Origin Story
Client: Katmandu Park | Punta Cana
Services: Attraction design, media production, sound production, art direction, installation supervision, project management, character development
Location: Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
When guests enter the queue for the 4D dark ride, Legend of the Desirata™, at Katmandu Park | Punta Cana, they’re transported to a traditional Nepalese market. The low chatter of unseen shoppers can be heard in the aisles of the bazaar. A sign warns visitors to watch out for unexpected portals. From time to time, a flash of light pops behind a door as a sound suddenly arises, indicating another portal has just opened.
Soon, guests hear the voice of the market manager, who welcomes them to the interdimensional Katmandu Market, which is brought to you by the Desirata™ and Kilgore Goode™. He tells the visitors to keep an eye out for Hira the Elder near the loading dock. If you find her, you can take a historical tour to learn the story of Katmandu’s beginnings.
The last stop is a humble wooden office retrofitted with steampunk equipment and crates of strange tools. On the screen in front of guests, a rooster struts by before a portal opens, revealing a joyful Hira and her transportation vehicle, which happens to be the same vehicle that guests will soon step into for their expedition.
Hira is thrilled to have this opportunity to educate the group about Katmandu™ and its mysterious portals that allow travels to The Hidden Realms™. A sketchbook that Hira holds floats out of her hand and glows red. This is significant because it means the Desirata is eager to share her story. Guests learn that this mesmerizing jewel is the reason why Katmandu is infused with magic. So, what role did Kilgore Goode play in the market’s establishment, and what is his connection to the Desirata? That is what the visitors are here to find out!
Once everyone gets seated safely inside the vehicle, they are lurched forward onto the track and expelled through an animated portal and onto the snowy slopes of the Himalayan Mountains. Hira narrates as the vehicle swoops over the sacred building known as Jadu. Close observers will notice that Jadu looks a lot like the entrance to the park, although it is right-side up here.
As the series of scenes continues, riders follow Kilgore’s dangerous trek, which includes a long fall into an ice cave and a near disastrous, face-to-face encounter with Boro the Yeti™, the Great Yeti Guardian. When Kilgore tumbles a second time, the Desirata saves him with her magical force and sends him hurtling through The Hidden Realms. The ride vehicle spins through a cave-like setting. Physical set pieces help to further the illusion that this is a place that doesn’t quite belong on Earth but doesn’t quite belong in outer space either.
When the Desirata is done having her little fun, she sends the riders back to the ice cave, sans Kilgore. An astonished Boro is waiting there. With a final flourish, the jewel lifts Boro and slings him into Jadu, elevating the Yeti and the house far off the ground. Jadu lands upside down in Katmandu Village!
Falcon’s Creative Group was responsible for every creative element of the Legend of the Desirata attraction. The story, developed in-house, was heavily influenced by the original Katmandu intellectual property, but as Falcon’s has done in the past, they expanded upon the IP. Hira the Elder, for example, is new to the Katmandu franchise. She is the village’s best storyteller and one of its wisest (and cheekiest) residents.
After our design team illustrated the settings and characters, the digital media team began crafting the 3D models and running visual effects tests on Boro’s fur and Kilgore’s trek through waist-high snow. The animators leveraged and adapted Vicon’s state-of-the-art motion capture system to help bring the characters to life.
To validate ride vehicle timings and establish THRC, Falcon’s created a 3D version of the ride. They used the ride’s timing and motion to create an animated lens shader that allowed them to match the perspective of the onscreen content, turning the media screens into windows through which other worlds can be seen.
The ride manufacturer, Oceaneering Entertainment Systems, took the 3D ride profile animations and used it to program the real-world ride system.
The seamless blend of practical effects, scenic design, choreographed motion and lighting, and high frame rate, stereoscopic, 3D content delivers an immersive and “legendary” 4D dark ride experience at Katmandu Park | Punta Cana.
