Sally Corporation

This article is about the ride and animatronic manufacturer. For other companies named Sally, see Sally (disambiguation).

Sally Corporation (also known as Sally Dark Rides) is a dark ride and animatronic manufacturing company based in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. The company serves amusement parks, attractions, museums, and retail clients worldwide. It offers complete design/build services from concept to installation, including scripting, audio and music production, props and sets, lighting and special effects, electronics, and project management.

Sally Corporation

Formerly	Sally Unlimited (1977-1982) Sally Industries (1983-1991) Sally Corporation (1992-2019)
Industry	Manufacturing
Founded	1977 (1977)
Founder	John Wood John Fox John Rob Holland
Headquarters	Jacksonville, Florida , U.S.
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Rolf Paegert (CEO) John Wood (Chairman, President) Rich Hill (Creative Director, Ride Designer)
Products	Dark rides, animatronics
Number of employees	35
Website	www.sallydarkrides.com

History

Sally Corporation was founded in 1977 by high school friends John Fox and John Rob Holland.^[1] The company began by manufacturing animatronics for various commercial applications,^[1] including an animated figure of President Lyndon Baines Johnson, which was created for Neiman Marcus and later donated to the LBJ Library in Austin, Texas.^[2] After Sally had been in business for 6–9 months the second hire for the new company was John Wood who had previously worked with Fox. The first hire was an office manager, Nancy Hafner. John Fox left the company in 1983.^[1] Holland stayed with the company until 1988.^[1] In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Sally Corporation went on to develop interactive dark rides. John Wood continues to serve as the Chairman and President, with Rolf Paegert assuming the role of CEO following a corporate restructuring in January 2023.^[3]

Dark Rides

Name	Park	Location	Type	Opened	Status	Notes
Around the World in 80 Days	Alton Towers	Alton, Staffordshire, England	Redeveloped Dark Ride	1986	Defunct	Refurbishment	[4]
Boo Blasters on Boo Hill	Canada's Wonderland Carowinds Kings Dominion Kings Island	Vaughan, Ontario, Canada Charlotte, North Carolina, United States Doswell, Virginia, United States Mason, Ohio, United States	Interactive Dark Ride	2010	Operating	Cedar Fair retheme of Scooby-Doo's Haunted Mansion; Variant of the Ghost Blasters II Model.	[5]
Challenge of Tutankhamon	Walibi Belgium	Wavre, Walloon Brabant, Belgium	Interactive Dark Ride		Operating		[6][7]
Den of Lost Thieves	Indiana Beach Seoul Land	Indiana, United States South Korea	Interactive Dark Ride		Operating		[1]
E.T. Adventure	Universal Studios Florida Universal Studios Hollywood	Orlando, Florida, United States Universal City, California, United States	Conventional Dark Ride	1990 (Orlando) 1991 (Hollywood)	Operating at Orlando Removed at Hollywood	Animatronic Figures & Plants Only.	[8]
El Ultimo Minuto	Dinopolis	Teruel, Spain	Conventional Dark Ride		Operating		[9]
Ghost Blasters (Ghost Hunt)	Castle Park Great Canadian Midway Lake Compounce Nickelodeon Universe Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk	Riverside, California, United States Clifton Hill, Ontario, Canada Bristol, Connecticut, United States Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States Santa Cruz, California, United States	Interactive Dark Ride	2001 (Castle Park & Santa Cruz) 2002 (Great Canadian Midway) 1999 (Lake Compounce & Nickelodeon Universe)	Operating		[7]
Ghost Blasters II	Elitch Gardens Theme Park	Denver, Colorado, United States	Interactive Dark Ride	2008	Defunct	Rethemed to Kaleidoscape by Meow Wolf in 2019.	[10]
Gobbler Getaway	Holiday World & Splashin' Safari	Santa Claus, Indiana, United States	Interactive Dark Ride	2006	Operating		[7]
The Great Humbug Adventure	Santa's Village	Jefferson, New Hampshire, United States	Interactive, Redeveloped Dark Ride	2000 (Original) 2020 (Refurbishment)	Operating	Redesigned by Sally for the 2020 Season.
The Great Pistolero Roundup (Quick Draw)	Family Kingdom Amusement Park Frontier City Korean Folk Village	Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, United States Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States South Korea	Interactive Dark Ride	1995 (Family Kingdom) 2007 (Frontier City)	Operating		[4][11]
Haunted Castle	Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Galaxyland	Santa Cruz, California, United States Edmonton, Alberta, Canada	Custom Dark Ride		Operating		[4]
Haunted Hotel	Myrtle Beach Pavilion	Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, United States	Redeveloped Dark Ride		Defunct		[4]
Jocco's Mardi Gras Madness	Six Flags New Orleans	New Orleans, Louisiana, United States	Interactive Dark Ride		Defunct		[note 1][7]
Justice League: Alien Invasion 3D	Warner Bros. Movie World	Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia	Interactive Dark Ride		Operating		[12]
Justice League: Battle for Metropolis	Six Flags Over Texas Six Flags St. Louis Six Flags Great America Six Flags Mexico Six Flags Magic Mountain Six Flags Great Adventure Six Flags Over Georgia	Arlington, Texas, United States Eureka, Missouri, United States Gurnee, Illinois, United States Mexico City, Mexico Valencia, California, United States Jackson, New Jersey, United States Austell, Georgia, United States	Interactive Dark Ride		Operating
La Aventura de Scooby-Doo	Parque Warner Madrid	Spain	Interactive Dark Ride	2005	Operating	Spanish Variant of Scooby-Doo's Haunted Mansion.	[9]
Labyrinth of the Minotaur	Terra Mítica	Benidorm, Alicante province, Spain	Interactive Dark Ride		Operating		[9]
Laser Raiders	Legoland Windsor	Windsor, Berkshire, England	Interactive Dark Ride		Operating		[13]
Lost Kingdom Adventure	Legoland California Legoland Florida Legoland Malaysia	Carlsbad, California, United States Winter Haven, Florida, United States Nusajaya, Johor, Malaysia	Interactive Dark Ride		Operating		[13]
Mine of Lost Souls	Canobie Lake Park	Salem, New Hampshire, United States	Redeveloped Dark Ride		Operating		[4]
Mystic Mansion Spökjakten	Park at OWA Furuviksparken	Foley, Alabama, United States Furuvik, Sweden	Interactive Dark Ride	2019 (OWA) 2018 (Furuvik)	Operating	Variant of the Ghost Blasters II Model.	[14]
Nights in White Satin: The Trip	Freestyle Music Park	Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, United States	Conventional Dark Ride	2008	Defunct		[15]
North Pole Adventure	Happy Valley Happy Valley Happy Valley	Chengdu, China Shenzhen, China Shanghai, China	Interactive Dark Ride	1997 2007	Operating		[6]
Reese's Cupfusion	Hersheypark	Derry Township, Pennsylvania, United States	Interactive Dark Ride	2019	Operating
Reese's Xtreme Cup Challenge	Hersheypark	Derry Township, Pennsylvania, United States	Interactive Dark Ride	2006	Defunct		[16]
Scooby-Doo's Haunted Mansion	Canada's Wonderland Carowinds Kings Dominion Kings Island	Vaughan, Ontario, Canada Charlotte, North Carolina, United States Doswell, Virginia, United States Mason, Ohio, United States	Interactive Dark Ride	2000 (Canada's Wonderland) 2001 (Carowinds) 2004 (Kings Dominion) 2003 (Kings Island)	Defunct		[17]
Scream In The Dark!	Ripley’s Entertainment Zone	Pattaya, Thailand	Interactive Dark Ride		Operating		[4]
Sesame Street: Street Mission	PortAventura Park	Catalonia, Spain	Interactive Dark Ride	2019	Operating
SpongeBob's Crazy Carnival Ride	Circus Circus Las Vegas	Winchester, Nevada, United States	Interactive Dark Ride	2023	Operating
The Temple	Legoland Billund	Billund, Denmark	Interactive Dark Ride		Operating
Treasure Hunt: The Ride	Cannery Row	Monterey, California, United States	Interactive Dark Ride	2023	Operating		[18]
Volkanu: Quest for the Golden Idol	Lost Island Theme Park	Waterloo, Iowa	Interactive Dark Ride	2022	Operating
Vi På Saltkråkan	Astrid Lindgren's World	Vimmerby, Sweden	Conventional Dark Ride	2007	Operating		[19][20]
*Ye Old Mill	Playland	Rye, New York, United States	Redeveloped Dark Ride	2001	Operating	Refurbishment	[21]
Yosemite Sam and the Gold River Adventure	Six Flags Over Texas	Arlington, Texas, United States	Redeveloped Dark Ride	1992	Defunct		[22]
Zombie Paradise	Tokyo Dome	Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan	Conventional Dark Ride	1992	Defunct		[23][24]

Animatronic Shows

Name	Premiered	Theme	Known Installations	Current Venues	Status	Characters	Notes
Daniel and the Dixie Diggers	1982	Dixieland Jazz	Adventureland (Iowa) Aqualandia Celebration Station Choo Choo Charlie's Ontario Dixie Dog Showtime Phenix City Family Kingdom Funtime, USA Garden City Hersheypark (as Dogpatch Dawgs) Huckleberry Junction Genesee Kidz Zone Greenville Squirty Worm Lima Mark Twain's Riverboat Playhouse (Kendall & Fort Lauderdale) Paddlewheel Hotel & Casino Paddlewheel Pizza Parlor Groton Pinocchio's Pizza Bountiful Pizza Pizzazz Whitehall Roller Kingdom Reno Roll On America Lancaster Rusutsu Resort Skateland Salisbury Station Alpha Pikeville	Huckleberry Junction Genesee Roller Kingdom Reno (Standing But Not Operating) Rusutsu Resort	Operating	Betty B. Birthday Clem Col. Beauregard Daniel T. Bones Huck L. Berry Jethro P. Hogg Mark Twain Scratchmo Sir Percival Wally Wish	Available in Quintet, Trio, and Showboat Variants.
Hank & Beau	1982	Country, Bluegrass, Dixieland Jazz	Bryant's Supermarket Greenville Funhouse Pizza Salem Formosa Wonderland Gregerson's Supermarket Gadsden Sam's Joint Caledonia Stew Leonard's (Norwalk & Danbury) Sunny Hill Resort Greenville	Stew Leonard's (Norwalk & Yonkers) Sunny Hill Resort Greenville	Operating	Col. Beauregard Hank Winter	Can be separable for solo acts.
Sally at the Piano	1983	Piano Lounge	Holiday Inn Dallas Rusutsu Resort Wax World of the Stars Wisconsin Dells Westgate New York Grand Central	Rusutsu Resort	Operating	Sally Papa Bear (Rusutsu Only)	Namesake of the company.
Gwen and the Magical Music Makers	1983	Medieval, Musical	Enchanted Castle (Calgary & Lombard) Round Table Pizza	N/A	Defunct	King Arthur Godfrey Guinevere Lance Merlin Oscar Owl Prince Rodney Toby	Daniel and the Dixie Diggers Showboat Retrofit.
John Phillip Tuba	1983	Marching Band	John Phillip Tuba's Ice Cream in the Park	N/A	Defunct	John Philip Tuba Pablo Pistachio	One set exists in private ownership.
The Berenstain Bears	1985	Unknown	International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions	N/A	Defunct	Brother Bear Papa Bear	Papa Bear figure repurposed for Rusutsu's Sally at the Piano.
The Magic Lantern Theater	1985	Steampunk, Vaudeville	Six Flags Power Plant	N/A	Defunct	Mr. Electro Proto	Co-production with Landmark Entertainment Group.
The WizBangs	1985	Magic	Mystery Fun House	N/A	Defunct	Craven Morgana Prince Wizard Wizzy	Chuck E. Cheese Cyberamics Retrofit; Equipment & Programming Only.
Ratón Chito y Sus Amigos	1985-86	Unknown	ShowBiz Pizza Fiesta Boomis Pizza Fiesta	N/A	Defunct	Comecome Elote Ratón Chito Tete Venancio	Chuck E. Cheese Cyberamics Retrofit; Show Controllers Only.
Bubba and the Badland Band	1987	Country, Bluegrass (English) Unknown (Korean)	Dutch Wonderland Everland / Yongin Farmland Fun Mountain Gatlinburg Rusutsu Resort	Dutch Wonderland Rusutsu Resort	Operating	Bubba Bear Bucky Barnum Chief Fullabull Miss Foxy Homer Honeydew Mark Twain Skeeter	Available with or without Mark Twain.
Billy Jo and the Bluegrass Boys	1987	Country, Bluegrass	Frontier City ShowBiz Pizza Kuwait	N/A	Defunct	Billy Jo Bubba Bear Homer Honeydew	Redesigned in 1995.
Care Bears: Care-A-Lot Castle	1987	Care Bears	Dunia Fantasi Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom	N/A	Defunct	Beastly Bedtime Bear Cheer Bear Friend Bear Funshine Bear Grumpy Bear No-Heart Tenderheart Bear
Jethro P. Hogg	1988	Country, Bluegrass	Aldor Acres Langley Casino Pier Celebration Station Cross Eyed Critters Nashville Farmland Foods (as Jasper P. Swineherd) Funtime, USA Garden City Huckleberry Junction Genesee MoonDoggie Beach Club (as Moonhoggie) Porky's Catering Ruggieri's Market Cranston Santa's Workshop (as Elmer Elf)	Aldor Acres Langley Cross Eyed Critters Nashville Huckleberry Junction Genesee Santa's Workshop (as Elmer Elf)	Operating	Jethro P. Hogg	Can be paired with the Trio Daniel and the Dixie Diggers.
Ursula and the Oom-Pa-Pas	1989	Alpenländische Volksmusik	Rusutsu Resort	Rusutsu Resort	Operating	Berthold of Baden Ludwig Von Bearhoven Sigmund St. Gotthard Ursula Wilhem von Wickenstat	Exclusive to Rusutsu Resort.
Rocky and the Railroad Ramblers (The Man & Dog)	1992	Country, Bluegrass	Gillian's Wonderland Pier	Gillian's Wonderland Pier	In Storage	Antonio Bubba Bonga Henrietta Hatpin Henry Howls Rocky Panda	Chuck E. Cheese Cyberamics Retrofit; Equipment & Soundtrack Only.
Chu-Lin and the Zoo Notes	1993	Zoo	Madrid Zoo Aquarium	N/A	Defunct	Chu-Lin Panda Gigi Giraffe Hector Hippo Mombo Monkey Tumbo Elephant	Exclusive to Madrid Zoo Aquarium.
The Rockin' Rascals	1993	Rock and Roll	Celebration Station Knoxville	N/A	Defunct	Calvin Cat Hurricane Hound Major Moose Purrscilla Purr	Daniel and the Dixie Diggers Trio Retrofit.
Banda Chic Chic	1994	Unknown	Chico Cheese's Rio de Janeiro	N/A	Defunct	Bucky Barnum Col. Beauregard Miss Foxy	Exclusive to Chico Cheese's.
The Jammin' Jesters	1994	Medieval, Rock and Roll, Broadway	Enchanted Castle Lombard	Enchanted Castle Lombard	Undergoing Refurbishment	Cute Godfrey Guinevere Rodney (Unnamed) Toby Wally Wizard	Reconfigured Gwen and the Magical Music Makers.
YeYe and the Little Airplane Band	1994	Chinese folklore	Splendid China Florida	N/A	Defunct	The Monkey King Pun Pun Hippo Show Gow Giraffe Shou Shou Panda Ting-Ting Panda YeYe Panda	Exclusive to Splendid China Florida; Monkey King exists in private ownership.
The Flintstones Bedrock Trio	1996	Stone Age, Rock and Roll	Bedrock City South Dakota	N/A	Defunct	Dino Fred Flintstone Wilma Flintstone	Destroyed upon Bedrock City's closure.
Rocky and the Ramblin' Rascals*	1998	Country, Bluegrass	Enchanted Forest Water Safari	Enchanted Forest Water Safari	Operating	Antonio Bad Bonga Henrietta Hatpin Jumpin' Jacko Rocky Rabbit	Chuck E. Cheese Cyberamics Retrofit; Equipment & Soundtrack Only.
Cross Eyed Critters	2020	Country, Rock	Graduate Nashville	Graduate Nashville	Operating	Miss Bessie Ernie Bear Jethro P. Hogg	Miss Foxy and Bubba Bear retrofits from Bubba and The Badland Band are used. Cooper Manning provides the voice for Ernie.

Notes

1. Destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

References

1. Pipkin, Wanda R. (July 20, 1998). "Sally Industries exhibits technology's lighter side". Jacksonville Business Journal. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
2. "Exhibits at the Library". LBJ Presidential Library. 2014. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
3. "Sally Dark Rides Corporate Restructure". Sally Dark Rides. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
4. Sally Corporation. "Basic Info". Facebook. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
5. "Scooby Who? Cedar Fair Rethemes Dark Rides". Park World Magazine. Datateam Publishing LTD: 12. May 2010. ISSN 1462-4796. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
6. Szakonyi, Mark (October 29, 2007). "Sally Corp. scares up profits on dark rides". Jacksonville Business Journal. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
7. "Sally Corp. promotes two". Daily Record. March 28, 2008. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
8. Fuller, Laurie (July 3, 2005). "The factory factor". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
9. Joossens, Patrick (February 26, 2007). "Sally Corporation: l'intervista". Parks Mania (in Italian). Retrieved February 12, 2012.
10. "Ghost Blasters II". Sally Corporation. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
11. "Frontier City shoots 'em up". Park World Online. June 27, 2007. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
12. "Building thrills comes at a huge cost". Gold Coast Bulletin. June 5, 2012.
13. Canovi, Roberto (April 29, 2010). "Le novità 2010 in Italia e in Europa". Parks Mania (in Italian). Retrieved February 12, 2012.
14. "Mystic Mansion Amusement Ride – the Park at OWA, Foley, AL".
15. "Nights in White Satin". Park World Online. June 30, 2008. Archived from the original on February 20, 2012. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
16. "Sally Corp. working on ride for Hersheypark". Jacksonville Business Journal. December 7, 2005. Retrieved February 12, 2012.
17. "Life Without Scooby". Sally Corporation. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
18. "Treasure Hunt: The Ride Dark Ride". Sally Dark Rides. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
19. "New projects from ETF Systems". Park World Magazine. January 1, 2007. Archived from the original on June 16, 2013. Retrieved May 8, 2013.
20. "Unusual dark ride for Swedish park". Park World Magazine. January 1, 2007. Archived from the original on June 16, 2013. Retrieved May 8, 2013.
21. "The Old Mill". Sally Corporation. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
22. Sally Corporation. "Dark Ride Brochure" (PDF). ERMES Technologies. Retrieved September 14, 2012.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
23. Marbut, Max (March 29, 2012). "Workspace: Sally Corp". Jacksonville Daily Record. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
24. https://darkridedatabase.com/rides/zombie-paradise/ ^{[bare URL]}

External links

• Sally Corporation's official website