First SDC Memory

[History Buff]

Ooooh, I would pay to see some line jumpers and rude teenagers thrown (I mean, "jump") off a platform into the lake, but I've never heard of this feature.

[Old Guy]

Just to clarify, There was a log rolling show in the pond in the late 70's that included a log rolling dog and yes the croud stood all the pond as well as bleachers set on the surrounding hills,but no one from the crowd was brought in. The waterfall was also the entrance to a proposed but never built walkthrough cave maze/attraction. There was a diving mule but that was in the Echo Hollow show with the Dillards.

[sdcforever]

Just to clarify, There was a log rolling show in the pond in the late 70's that included a log rolling dog and yes the croud stood all the pond as well as bleachers set on the surrounding hills,but no one from the crowd was brought in. The waterfall was also the entrance to a proposed but never built walkthrough cave maze/attraction. There was a diving mule but that was in the Echo Hollow show with the Dillards.

Hmmmm...a cave maze/attraction.  That sounds cool!  Although, maybe a little overkill with Marvel Cave on the same site.

So, Old Guy, was the waterfall built specifically to be the entrance, then was the cave maze idea abandoned?  Or was the waterfall already in existence when they came up with the cave maze idea?

[Old Guy]

The waterall came with the lumbercamp in "73"(it was a package deal) as a backdrop and to hide elements of the float trip behind it. The walkthrough was a later idea of a former entertainment director around "77" or so.

[betamike]

Old Guy, wasn't the waterfall area also incorporated as part of the Butterfield Stagecoach ride?

[sdcforever]

The waterall came with the lumbercamp in "72"(it was a package deal) as a backdrop and to hide elements of the float trip behind it. The walkthrough was a later idea of a former entertainment director around "77" or so.

Ah, that makes a lot of sense!  I didn't think about the location of the float trip in relation to the waterfall.  Thanks, Old Guy!

[History Buff]

Old Guy, you write about several projects that were intended but never finished.  Why have they started so many things without finishing them?

[Coaster]

^Most likely cost, future expansion, or just change of mind. I couldn't be sure though. I wasn't around back when all this stuff was happening.

[Old Guy]

keep in mind that a lot of ideas get tossed around. Those can get narrowed down to a few presented as options to the public. When I put together the survey before the Llost River was built, it included 11 other proposed attractions. The data was diverse and intended to find types of rides and appeal from a wide section of potential clients. Kids wanted different things than adult, and single males  have different prioritys from Moms who tend to have a bigger stake in where the family tends to go. It all depends on who you are marketing to at the time, as well as economic indicators, things like presidential elections and the olympics in the same year every four years which increases advertising costs that season while reducing the number of tourests, gas prices, other parks within the market area and what they are doing,etc. The Lost River wasn't even the number one for anyone on the survey. It was however the cumulitive number one between divergent groups and within technical and monitary goles. It is a complex formula that leaves a lot of good ideas in the dust. Sometimes they get recycled like the Ice house which has been pushed out there at least 4 times that I know of. Maybe its time will come, maybe not. I'm way out of the loop now and those decisions have got to be even more complex now.

[Old Guy]

Old Guy, wasn't the waterfall area also incorporated as part of the Butterfield Stagecoach ride?

while next to and visable from the old stage depot (which at one time had a talking stagecoach which told you a story before you left about a "10 foot tall stone faced injen" a talking rock indian who turned out to be friendly) the waterfall was never part of the stage ride.

[History Buff]

I understand how things get selected or tossed out based on market research, but it just seems that so many projects have been started and never materialized completely.

[Old Guy]

quite true. I was was given a budget to experiment with using bubbles at whitewater and came up with all kinds of exotic bubble machines, bubble chamber concepts etc. In the end my conclusion was that as fun as this all could be it would become a collage fountain after a frat party for the whole park because there was no practical way to keep from spreading the bubble solution to the rest of the rides. great idea, to risky to try.
A friend of mine was given the job of inventing optical illusions for more "do not look in this hole" extras. He turned in dozens of drawings, technical plans, etc, all quite workable, but not a one ever appeared on the park. Who knows what happened. Man are we off topic!

[History Buff]

More "Don't Look in this Hole"s!  I'd go for a million dollar investment like that.  Those little items are what makes SDC so lovable.

[KBCraig]

I do remember the logroll.

The "don't look in this hole" features are great, and quirky. I always loved the girl in the bathtub, who's not quite what she seems. 

[betamike]

Old Guy, wasn't the waterfall area also incorporated as part of the Butterfield Stagecoach ride?

while next to and visable from the old stage depot (which at one time had a talking stagecoach which told you a story before you left about a "10 foot tall stone faced injen" a talking rock indian who turned out to be friendly) the waterfall was never part of the stage ride.

Thanks a million!  I knew there was a talking rock involved in that attraction, but couldn't for the life of me remember the story of why we encountered it during the ride.  Man, was it hot inside that stagecoach during the summer!