The water is essential to life itself, it can also be quite terrifying.
This is especially true when you submerge animatronics in it.
The idea of being in the water with the twisting gears, sharp edges and often
terrifying imagery of these machines creates the ultimate nightmare fuel.
In recent weeks, the general fear of submerged machines, a.k.a.
submechanaphobia, has been gaining steam on places like Reddit and Tik Tok, and with
animatronics being an essential part of the theme park industry.
I figured it was time to give this subject my list aholic top 10 treatment.
So as voted on by the fans, here are the top 10 scariest underwater animatronics to give
you submechanaphobia.
Number 10 The Crocodile Located at England's Water Mouth Castle found in Devon County,
England, Water Mouth Castle is a small family theme park with a lot going for it.
This park is centered around a large historical dwelling built all the way back in
1825.
Among its surrounding attractions is a series of rides and curios for the whole
family to enjoy.
One of the main features of this park is an array of animatronic figures for guests to
check out. Among these figures are gnomes, anthropomorphic animals and a truly
unsettling crocodile place behind a stone wall and a cage window.
This croc is shrouded in darkness until it surfaces.
The only movement this creature seems to make is rising out of the water, and the only
sound it makes is the water dripping off of it.
The sheer simplicity of its design somehow makes it even creepier, and the lack of
lighting only adds to its bone chilling appearance.
It just goes to show that when it comes to inciting fear in some submechanophobics,
sometimes less is more.
Number 9, the sea serpent and the giant squid located under the defunct submarine
voyage right at California's Disneyland.
Just because Disneyland is called the happiest place on Earth doesn't mean it's
never had anything creepy in it.
Through the park's history, it's certainly had its fair share of unsettling attractions,
perhaps enough for their own video.
There's The Haunted Mansion, the original Alice in Wonderland ride is the now defunct
underwear museum.
And of course, the famous submarine voyage builds on the former spot of the failed
Phantom Boats Ride.
Guests would board a submarine and were taken on a journey into the deep seas,
encountering several undersea creatures along the way.
These included sharks, mermaids and a terrifying deep sea giant squid.
Admittedly, video of the squid is pretty hard to come by, especially since it was
found in a dark portion of the ride.
This squid utilized compressed air and wires to move its tentacles, giving it an
unnervingly lifelike appearance.
But this wasn't the only notable attraction on this ride.
The submarine would come across a sea serpent.
Its long, scaly body would be shown at first, building up tension before guests come
in contact with the face.
Its big bulging eyes and frozen open mouth facial expression has been described as cute
by some and creepy by others outside of the water.
This serpent is often considered to be far friendlier looking than it does underwater.
But what do you think?
Is this serpent creepy or cute?
Number 8 The swimming dino from Tennessee's Jurassic Boat Ride It's needless
to say that the city of Pigeon Forge Tennessee is all about tourism from its many
dinner shows to its world renowned theme park, Dollywood.
This southern city has quite a lot of charm to it.
Everywhere you turn, there's something new to check out, and one of these attractions is
perhaps the most terrifying boat ride in the country.
Just a short walk away from the Alcatraz East Crime Museum is a alone boat ride
attraction called Jurassic Boat Ride.
This dark ride sits passengers in a small boat, taking them through a dark, spine
tingling adventure through a prehistoric jungle with ferocious dinosaurs and creepy
crawlies. This ride is chock full of scares to keep you on edge, and it's like something
straight out of a creepy pasta.
Just look at the jaw of this T-Rex.
Holy *. Though most of the dinosaurs aren't actually in the water, one mysterious
creature was able to make this list towards the middle of the ride.
A mysterious dinosaur head emerges from the water, baring its teeth at boats, passing by.
The fact that it gets so close to the boat is made even more startling by the devilish
red light that shines upon it.
Unfortunately, this animatronic reportedly stopped working around 2015.
However, it still sits in the water to this day, with only the top of its head still
visible from the boat.
Overall, if you feel like giving your kids nightmares, I highly recommend a ride on this
number 7 Nokken
Located on the defunct Maelstrom ride at Florida's Epcot since nineteen eighty two,
Epcot has been one of the most significant parks in the Disney World Resort.
In addition to Future World, Epcot also features the world's showcase.
Here, you can find pavilions based on various countries around the world a few
years after the park's opening.
The World Showcase would see the debut of the Norway Pavilion.
This celebration of all things Scandinavia featured a wide variety of shops and
restaurants, along with its star attraction maelstrom, named after a powerful whirlpool.
This boat ride served as the ultimate tribute to Norwegian history and mythology.
Guests would encounter Vikings, polar bears and a few trolls.
Towards the middle of the ride, one segment involved a three headed troll angrily
banishing guests from his territory right next to this irate fellow is a creature known
as a Nokken, According to Norwegian mythology, the Nokken is a water spirit that
lures people to their deaths in lakes and streams on Maelstrom.
This creature is portrayed by a submerged animatronic with what appeared to be branches
on its head. What makes the Nook and especially creepy is the bright yellow eyes
that peer at guests through the dark.
Even worse, the boat stops upon his appearance before being sent backwards by the
three headed troll.
This gives guests even more time to look at his bright, piercing stare.
This guy surely must have given kids nightmares during its original run.
Sadly, though, this impressive dark ride was recently closed.
In 2014, Maelstrom was completely refurbished and re theme to frozen ever after
the Nokken, and the three headed troll would be replaced by Queen Elsa.
While frozen ever after is absolutely incredible on its own, it's still unfortunate
that Maelstrom had to close for it.
Number 6 the sea monster located on the I Corsari ride at Italy's Gardaland.
Perhaps the most notable theme park in Italy is the incredible Gardaland.
This park is jam packed with colorful and extravagant attractions for everyone to
enjoy. From the ornate family rides to the wonderfully themed roller coasters.
Every attraction stands out.
This is also true for the dark ride I Corsari.
Think of this boat ride as the Italian equivalent of Pirates of the Caribbean.
Like the aforementioned Disney ride.
Guests will go on a swashbuckling adventure with decorative set pieces and animatronics.
Most of these figures are tame, but one in particular is a big old bucket of nope for
submechanophobics towards the middle of the ride.
You'll spot a serpent like tail sticking out of the water.
Then, as if ascending from the watery depths of Davy Jones Locker, an aquatic hell spawn
rises out of the water.
Aquaphobics will gaze in horror as water spews forth from its mouth.
After emerging, this creature will bare its face to the riders.
The combination of its human like face and puppet like mouth makes its appearance
particularly discomforting.
Some passengers may say it's so scary it'll make them wish they could scroll down to the
comment section in real life.
There's not much else to say about this dude, except you may be seeing him in your
nightmares tonight.
Number 5 The shark attack from the Hollywood tour ride at Germany's Phantasialand
Phantasialand is well known by thrill seekers for its excellent selection of roller
coasters. However, it's also home to various other attractions, including a water based
dark ride. This ride, named Hollywood Tour, takes park goers through the classic motion
pictures of old starting off with an introduction by the animatronic of legendary
director Alfred Hitchcock.
You'll find yourself whisked away through several famous movies, including King Kong,
The Wizard of Oz and Steven Spielberg's Jaws.
The scene begins in a mock New England fishing village, and things seem peaceful at
first. As you turn right, though, things take a turn for the worst.
A shark fin suddenly appears out of the water, swimming past another animatronic of a
fisherman in a yellow raincoat.
Suddenly, his boat starts to sink, which is already unsettling enough.
But immediately afterwards, a shark will rise out of the water right next to the boat,
showing guests its razor sharp looking teeth.
And as if that weren't enough, another shark pops out on the opposite side of the boat to
make sure guests on each side of the boat get a piece of the action.
So if you're afraid of sharks and water and the dark, this ride would be a great exposure therapy
number 4 Moby Dick.
Located on the defunct hunt for Moby Dick right at Massachusetts Pleasure Island after
the success of Disneyland, several other theme parks started popping up across the
country. One of these parks was Pleasure Island in Wakefield, Massachusetts.
This park featured two main themed lands, a Western themed area, as well as one based on
a New England fishing village.
The latter featured the park's most famous attraction, The Hunt for Moby Dick, based on
the recently released Nineteen Fifty Six Gregory Peck film, this boat ride took guests
on an excursion to find and hunt down Moby Dick.
Guests would tangle with the rhinoceros, gaze on a few porpoises and have a close
encounter with the legendary white whale himself for 1959.
This animatronic was truly ahead of its time, measuring at an estimated 50 feet long.
This massive, ghostly white animatronic would rise out of the murky water and bare
its teeth, and the sight of it alone was quite intimidating, according to historian
Robert McLaughlin.
Several past guests say this whale really spooked them as kids, with many saying they
won't even go on a whale watch.
It was undoubtedly an impressive sight.
Unfortunately, during its run at the park, the animatronic would be extremely difficult
to maintain. The design was problematic, with the wheels running on what seemed like a
trolley track, unlike roller coasters.
The wheels didn't lock onto the track, and with the fiberglass whale being full of air,
it would often float off, said track.
Since the natural pond couldn't be drained, a diver would have to be sent underwater to
fix and realign it, even after holes were drilled into the back to prevent it from
floating. The ride was still a maintenance nightmare.
Over the course of a decade, this park would quickly lose popularity, its focus on slower.
Family focused rides just couldn't keep up with the increasing demand for thrill rides
in the industry and towards the end of its run.
The owners didn't even bother to maintain the whale and the ride would cease to operate
before the park shut down after deciding the land was more valuable than the park.
Pleasure Island's owners would close it down after Labor Day.
1969.
Nowadays, office buildings in an apartment complex sit on the park's former spot, but
the aforementioned pond still remains eerily enough.
The ramp used to move the whale into the water is still on the property.
It is even rumored that the whale itself still sits in the water to this day, by the
way. Special thanks to Robert McLaughlin for helping me with the research for this
segment. He's got some amazing books on Pleasure Island and an entire website about
it. If you want to check them out, I put links in the description
number 3
the drowning man located on the FATA Morgana ride at the Netherlands Efteling.
There's no doubt that Efteling is one of Europe's most popular theme parks.
This park perfectly mixes state of the art attractions with elaborate fantasy theming.
Prime examples include the steampunk theme Dive Coaster, Baron In 1898,
as well as the Surreal Flying Pagoda.
But the attraction we're going to talk about right now is the dark ride FATA Morgana.
First opening in nineteen eighty six, this boat ride can be best described as a journey
through Middle Eastern folklore.
Based on a thousand and one Arabian Nights, your boat will pass through a wide variety of
scenes brought to life by one hundred and forty animatronics.
You'll feast your eyes in the sultan's gold, sail through the marketplace, face off with a
giant gene and witness the horrors of the torture chamber.
Yes, a torture chamber.
This scene features a guard with a whip ordering prisoners to work the machines.
This is already dark enough, but directly across the scene is where things get even
darker. On your right, you'll see a prison cell filled with water.
A prisoner can be seen clinging on to the bars, bobbing his head up and down, trying
not to drown. Needless to say, this is certainly more unsettling than anything on
Pirates of the Caribbean.
Now, just imagine it's a small world having a torture chamber.
Then again, with that song that plays over and over again, some may say it already is
one. Plus, Disney is no stranger to torture chambers.
They did distribute cars two into theaters, after all.
Number 2, the entire Jaws ride at Florida's Universal Studios, Orlando and
Universal Studios Japan.
Based on the movie Jaws, this ride was meant to expand on Universal Studios Hollywood's
tram tour experience.
This new ride would be insanely complex, putting guests in the water with the film's
titular shark, though its initial opening in 1990 suffered from numerous
technical difficulties.
The ride would be vastly improved upon by 1993.
This version is still remembered fondly to this day.
This ride centers around guests boarding a boat and taking a scenic cruise around Amity
Island. Things go awry, though, when the Great White Shark himself destroys another
tour boat. State of the art animatronics were used to give the shark a highly detailed
and bone chilling appearance.
Being surrounded by water with no immediate escape only adds to the ride's terror, and
the water's lack of transparency makes the Sharks appearances even more startling out of
the ride. Six shark animatronics two of them in particular, are especially traumatizing.
The first occurs in the boat house, where guests attempt to hide from the shark.
I personally remember thinking such a big shark wouldn't fit inside the small boat
house, just as the boat is about to go outside, though the shark comes charging from
the corner with the interior darkness of the boat house, making him even more terrifying
towards the end of the ride.
The shark will bite a power line, causing it to be burnt to a crisp.
And in all my years on this planet, I've never screamed as hard as I did seeing this
electrocuted monstrosity.
To the disappointment of many, this ride was not to last, and in 2011, the Florida version
would end up being replaced with more Harry Potter attractions.
However, a near exact clone of this ride still exists at Universal Studios Japan to
this day. So if you're a fan of the original, a trip to Japan is highly
recommended before we get to the number one spot.
Here are a few honorable mentions.
First up is Mildred the crockclebog at England's bewilderwood.
You can see this creature on the bewilder boat ride as you sail past her, she will
spray water from her nostrils, so she does look intimidating while submerged.
A closer look at the figure reveals that she's much more cute than scary.
The park website says quote Mildred is really a vegetarian, and she often tries to
make friends with butterflies, but people seem to get the wrong impression of her.
As such, I simply didn't have the heart to put this lovely lady on the list.
She is simply too charming to be scary, and the park even sells plush toys of her.
How could I possibly call this poor girl scary?
Next up is the Sea Serpent from the twenty thousand leagues under the sea ride at
Florida's Magic Kingdom.
This one just missed making the list.
Like Mildred, I also thought this fellow was more cute than scary, though I must admit the
pictures of it sitting abandoned are absolute nightmare fuel.
I mean, jeez, this looks like something straight out of the SCP Universe.
Number 1 Birth of the Bunyip.
Located at Australia's Murray Bridge, this animatronic one might pull in a landslide
originating from indigenous Australian mythology.
The Bunyip is a mythological.
Go water dwelling creature, also known as the ''Mulyawonk'', it is said to inhabit areas
like swamps, riverbeds and creeks coming out at night to devour any human or animal in
sight in 1972.
A man named Dennis Newell created his own rendition of the Bunyip as a coin operated
tourist attraction.
Over the years, though, the water would eat away at the exterior, leaving it more and
more abandoned looking.
And as if one of these creatures wasn't enough, the Bunyip was given a baby in
1982 and renamed Bertha.
18 years later, though, both the baby and its mother were a truly terrifying pair,
with their pupils washed out over the years.
These pictures are beyond nightmare fuel.
I can't even properly describe how disturbing they look.
So to restore it to its former glory, this local treasure was given a major makeover in
the year 2000.
Nowadays, the Bunyip is much more cartoonish and less scary looking than it was before.
On the other hand, it's still extremely popular with the locals, and it's ranked as
the number one thing to do in Murray Bridge by TripAdvisor.
Despite its toned down appearance, there's no doubt that tourists and submechanophobics
agree that they wouldn't want to get in the water with this thing.
Can't get enough submechanophobia for one video.
Feel free to check out fast Fastpass Facts video on Disney
submechanophobia
This is definitely one of my favorite YouTube channels, and they did a great job
with this subject. If you want to check out their video, I've put a link in the
description as well.
Thank you all so much.
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