The Kiddie Ride
Ah, kiddie rides. Those things that practically suck the spare change out of your pockets (particularly if you're a parent) and are largely found in or near shopping malls. The things that attract little kids (and Periphery Demographic crowds like bored or drunken teenagers) like magnets.
Originally introduced as a portable alternative of the carousel (and additional income earner for grocers), these have since crossed into Merchandise-Driven (and occasionally, Misaimed Marketing) subtrope territory with the introduction of the licensed kiddie ride. Now kids will be able to rent up to one and a half minutes of their favorite characters' time for a dollar or two.
Subset of The Merch and Merchandise-Driven. May cross paths with Misaimed Marketing.
If a TV show targeted at children gets too famous, it's bound to spawn at least one kiddie ride. If it has an Ear Worm theme tune, the ride will play it every five minutes to attract attention.
Note: This index is a list of shows and franchises that have been immortalized by having their characters licensed for being made into a kiddie ride. It does not involve shows that featured a kiddie ride in their plots, those belongs in another trope.
Anime and Manga
Word of warning: The Japanese are very fond of kiddie rides. Expect to see quite a number of them, especially in Misaimed Marketing territory.
- Doraemon
- Pokémon
- Anpanman
- Hamtaro
- Hello Kitty
- Ojamajo Doremi
- One Piece: A textbook example of Misaimed Marketing.
Comics
- Batman - Tons of it. Perhaps one of the earliest known example of licensed vehicle rides.
- The Incredible Hulk
- Peanuts - Two reasonably well-designed rides, and one that's just da-da. And oh, dozens of unlicensed ripoffs.
- Spider-Man - Since when does he have a helicopter?
- Superman - Yep, he's stopping the train you're in.
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - The turtle van.
- Garfield - Two models exist- one with Garfield driving a taxi, the other design is a giant Garfield which the rider sits in. Plus one unlicensed rip-off of the latter model, complete with a bow on Garfield's head, if you want to get technical. The rides are made by the same company that put out the Stuart Little, Clifford, Arthur and the da-da design Peanuts ride.
Film
Literature
- Arthur - A school bus ride was made by Jolly Roger in the United Kingdom in the early 2000s.
- Blinky Bill
- Richard Scarrys Busy Town
- Clifford the Big Red Dog - One made by Jolly Roger in the United Kingdom in the early 2000s.
- Noddy - His yellow taxi has been seen in a Walmart in Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA, of all places.
- Thomas the Tank Engine
- Spot the Dog - Did not do well in arcades and malls in the United Kingdom due to the design, but apparently did well enough in Australia to warrant a rumored second design.
- Winnie the Pooh - No less than 5 designs exist.
Live Action TV
- Barney and Friends - At least three different ride designs are known to exist.
- Bear in the Big Blue House - One was made by Fun2Learn in the early 2000s.
- Heres Humphrey
- Hi-5
- In The Night Garden
- Jay Jay the Jet Plane
- LazyTown - What's a flypod?
- Play School - The Australian version, at least, spawned a carousel.
- Sesame Street - At least half a dozen designs are known to exist. Particularly prevalent are rides that feature Elmo.
- The Teletubbies
- Thunderbirds
- Ultraman
- The Wiggles
Western Animation
- Bob the Builder
- Budgie The Little Helicopter
- Classic Disney characters- Perhaps most infamously, this Donald Duck ride which got people wondering what Disney was thinking when they approved the design. It could be Fridge Brilliance (do ducks even have manhoods?) or it could be a successful case of Getting Crap Past the Radar of an unfortunate Cloudcuckoolander rep that Disney sent to meet with the designers. The world will never know. And we'll leave it at that.
- Also from the maker of said Donald Duck ride: Donald not spicy enough for you? How about getting laid by Marsupilami instead?
- Dora the Explorer
- Fireman Sam
- The Flintstones. Yes, really.
- The Koala Brothers - the brothers' plane.
- Little Einsteins
- My Little Pony (Specifically, My Little Pony Tales. Practically inevitable, that one.)
- Muppet Babies
- Peppa Pig
- Postman Pat - The infamous post van (which has been redesigned once over), the helicopter from Postman Pat: SDS, and a strange ride where you get to sit on a sack of mail next to Pat. The signature van design is a pretty common ride all over the UK.
- The Real Ghostbusters - Now you can drive Ecto-1!
