Top Entrepreneur Legend John Wood: Steering the twists and turns of dark rides

The co-founder of Sally Dark Rides started in 1977 building animatronic robots and evolved into Chuck E. Cheese shows and now SpongeBob in Las Vegas.

  • By Max Marbut
  • | 2:30 a.m. March 21, 2024
  • | 0 Free Articles Remaining!
John Wood, Sally Dark Rides chairman and president, started the company in 1997 and has installed hundreds of animatronic characters and nearly 80 dark rides at dozens of theme parks and other large-scale attractions.
John Wood, Sally Dark Rides chairman and president, started the company in 1997 and has installed hundreds of animatronic characters and nearly 80 dark rides at dozens of theme parks and other large-scale attractions.
Photo by Max Marbut
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John Wood helped cut the ribbon March 1 at the Circus Circus Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas to open “SpongeBob’s Crazy Carnival Ride,” the latest animated interactive attraction his company, Sally Dark Rides, designed, built and installed.

The company started in Jacksonville in 1977. Since then, Sally has installed hundreds of animatronic characters and nearly 80 dark rides at dozens of theme parks and other large-scale attractions.

More than 40 people work in the administrative, creative, marketing and fabrication departments at the company’s headquarters at 745 W. Forsyth St. Downtown.

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