Port Partner Spotlight: Sally Dark Rides

3 MIN READ

Written by: Marcia Pledger

Jacksonville-based manufacturer Sally Dark Rides is in the business of bringing smiles to amusement parks worldwide, so when they’re ready to ship custom-built rides and games, reliable transportation is everything.

A “dark ride” is an amusement industry term describing rides where passengers travel through specially lit scenes that include animatronics, sound, and special effects. Essentially, Sally Dark Rides’ products create the experience that gives theme park goers the screams, spooks, and aha moments they enjoy.

John Wood co-founded the company in 1977 and currently serves as President and Chairman. Sally Dark Rides’ products are designed and manufactured in its LaVilla facility, just west of downtown Jacksonville.

Company employees are involved in every aspect of a new ride, from concept to installation and operation.

Their work appears at amusement parks throughout North America, including Legoland and Six Flags, as well as parks in South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, the Middle East and Scandinavia.

One fan favorite is the Sesame Street: Street Mission ride at Spain’s PortAventura Park, known for its quick movements and interactive elements, and Europe’s first interactive Sesame Street dark ride. Another is Justice League: Battle for Metropolis, spanning nearly 20,000 square feet at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey.

Like any business, the company has had ups and downs, including a slowdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. But now, it is a company that is on the move with exciting new projects.

This winter, the Sally team will install a new SpongeBob-themed ride at Land of Legends Theme Park in Turkey before it opens in early 2025.

For many years, Sally Dark Rides has focused on interactive elements that make rides more economically appealing to attraction owners and operators while being fun for visitors.

“Regional parks rely on people visiting multiple times,” said Wood. “On our rides, you shoot targets, and that makes rides repeatable.”

In 2013, the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions Hall of Fame inducted Wood in recognition of his company’s role in reviving the family dark ride market worldwide. In 2024, the Jacksonville Daily Record recognized John Wood with its Top Entrepreneur Legend recognition.

Exporting through JAXPORT

John Wood and the company’s new CEO Rolf Paegert recently toured JAXPORT’s Blount Island facility to get a look at cargo operations at the SSA Jacksonville Container Terminal. Sally Dark Rides’ finished products bound for overseas projects are trucked in containers from their warehouse to Blount Island and then exported to theme parks around the world.

JAXPORT Director of Cargo Development David Briceno said Sally Dark  Rides enjoys direct transit from Jacksonville to ports worldwide. “The goal is to make sure the product gets to the end destination with the least amount of parties handling their boxes,” Briceno said. 

That efficiency is important because Sally Dark Rides has a team that travels to its clients’ locations to unload and assemble the ride once its parts arrive on a containership to its destination. Wood said safe transit of their products is critical. During his port tour, he was impressed to learn about logistics software that can track a container to its end destination.

“What I saw at JAXPORT showed me the quality of the handling of containers, and with the experience that those guys have, I’m confident that when we ship through JAXPORT, it’s going to be handled correctly,” Wood said.