John Wood, chair and CEO of Sally Corporation, has been inducted into the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions Hall of Fame.

During an induction ceremony last month, Wood was cited for his ideas and the part he has played in reviving family dark ride attractions around the world.

During his career, he has received praise for his creativity, which has encompassed adding an extra element of fun and competition to the rides with strong storylines, interactivity and modern technology, music, sound effects, and special effects.

Founded in Jacksonville, US in 1977 as an animatronics company, Sally Corporation's first foray into the world of dark rides was the renovation of an existing ride at Alton Towers theme park in the UK in 1986.

Several more ride renovations followed and Wood recognised there was a gap between the high-quality, story-based rides at the Walt Disney parks and most of the dark rides in the smaller markets.

Recounting the company's early forays into the ride market, Wood said: "We wanted to create something new, a highly-themed, affordable, interactive dark ride with a strong storyline that would foster repeat business."

Wood then broadened the company's in-house talent pool and began offering full design/build services for the visitor attractions industry.

Sally's first full drawing board-to-installation project, Zombie Paradise, a haunted castle type ride, opened in Tokyo, Japan, in 1992.

Since then Sally Corp has become known for its method of incorporating animatronic characters into the company's dark rides, as well as its method of using black light painting in rides to create an additional exciting dimension - along with interactive laser targeting and ride car scoring consoles.