Junior responding: First of all, I played "Junior Dugan" at the diving bell from 1979-1984. Spent most of my time employed at SDC at RDDB. So, that said, here I go: Rube Dugan's Diving Bell was one of the early simulator attractions at a theme park. Very cutting edge for it's time. The diving bell was located where lost river is today. While standing in the line to get onto lost river you will see a sign on the building that says "Dugan Salvage Yard," which is the only physical reminder of what came first. Here's the story line for the diving bell. Grandpappy Dugan discovered silver in a mine or cave on the edge of SDC. He amassed quite a fortune. The rains of 1820 came, flooded the valley the mine/cave was in, and created Lake Silver. Grandpappy and his silver were lost. Then, Rube Dugan came along. He was the inventor of a diving bell, a submarine that could ply the waters of the lake and be used to retrieve the silver. The diving bell was made of barnwood, so it floated. Rube Dugan was captain of his diving bell, his daffy nephew Junior Dugan was the pilot. The SDC guests were dubbed "volunteers" and were brought on the trip in the sub because they essentially were ballast, used to help sink the diving bell. They were promised a cut of the silver if we all survived. Here's the twist, Rube's rival, Eli Tolts, had invented his own little submersible, and was going to race Rube, Junior, and the "volunteers" and if he beat them to the silver he would not share. Folks were loaded into the diving bell, and a cat and mouse game of being chased by Eli developed. Many underwater obstacles caused trouble too. First, Junior forgot to untie the diving bell from the dock and so as the capsule was pulling away, it rips out the dock. Later the dock almost swings around and hits the capsule underwater. There are rockslides, a cave, and other "issues" that hinder the trip. A leak develops in the capsule, and so on. Finally, Eli's capsule gets stuck on some underwater debris, so the diving bell crew is free to find the silver without the race. When the crew does find the silver, the ghost of Grandpappy Dugan uses dynamite to blow the diving bell out of the water to protect his treasure. A rock crashes through the wall of the capsule, water pours in, the geysers at the front of the capsule burst, allowing fountains of water into the passenger area. By the time everything settles back down, the diving bell is wrecked, stuck on an underground ledge. Junior swings the doors open, and shouts "ABANDON SHIP! WOMEN AND JUNIORS FIRST!" then proceeds to run out of the capsule first. The ride is over. Volunteers slowly make their way out into a cave, with an underground waterfall, then to their right, a few rays of sunshine...a way out of the cave back to the surface. Nobody lost their life, but the closest they got to the silver is seeing a big, fat vein of silver embedded in the rock as they make the final turn to leave the cave.
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The simulator attraction was quite popular, operated from 1977-1984. It used special effects, film, sound effects, a live actor in the "theater" and special effects like water and the rock that crashed through the wall, and the capsule itself was placed on hydraulic arms which caused the capsule to sway back and forth, forward and backward in sync with the film being played on a viewscreen in front. It was quite realistic for it's time and day. Other popular simulator attractions that would follow in the years to come at other theme parks include "Star Tours" at Disney Orlando, and the "Back to the Future" attraction at Universal Orlando.
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If retooled and placed back at SDC today, the diving bell could be fantastic. However, that period of time for SDC is likely over. Time marches on. Today, a ladies dress shop is located on the banks of Lake Silver that is called "Dugan's Trading" which is a tip of the hat to the the diving bell, although most people visiting the park, and most, if not all people working in the shop and even at lost river, don't even know what the diving bell was. Memories are short, and many of the folks passing through the streets of SDC today may not have even been born when the diving bell was in operation. I'm a freelance writer now, and I ended an article on the diving bell that was published a few years ago like this... "today the diving bell is fondly remembered by guests and employees alike as part of the romantic history of Silver Dollar City's bygone days." That sums it up OK.
Check out my Flickr site for many photos of the diving bell. Go all the way back to the beginning of my photos (over 160 posted) to see a lot of diving bell stuff:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/juniordugan Anyone seriously interested in reading an article with illustrations I did about the diving bell may send me a private message with their email address and I will send it right away. The article goes into much more detail, and I think you would enjoy the illustrations with captions under them. -Junior
