Rube Dugin's Diving Bell, the ride that was decades ahead of it's time. For those of you that never saw it, it was a state of the art motion/picture simulator, that provided an experience so real that many got sick or dizzy on the ride. This concept was first introduced to Disney World, but being as new an adventure as such a simulator was, they didn't see the true value of such an attraction, and SDC picked it up.
For more information and photos, go here -> http://geysergulch.tripod.com/divingbell.html (http://geysergulch.tripod.com/divingbell.html)
Sadly, due somewhat to the particular spot it was built in, SDC decided to destroy the diving bell to make way for the new Lost River, but the thought of bringing the ride back has been persistent. In fact, to this day many people have asked that SDC consider resurrecting the ride, so maybe one day we'll see it again.
Does anyone have any memories of this ride? I was too young at the time to remember much, so I was hoping someone here could tell us what a ride cycle consisted of.
I'm too young to remember it... I didn't start going to SDC 'til '94...
Conductor Sam's got some great info and wonderful big pics here:
http://silverdollarcity.blogspot.com/2007/06/rube-dugans-diving-bell.html
I'm trying to track down the movie he mentioned... There's one that seems it could fit, but the timing seems a tad off...
~ "Becky" Joy ~
I wasn't born when this ride was here, but I did see Conductor Sam's blog entry about it, and my parents have also talked about this ride. It seems like a really fun family ride that I would've enjoyed. I doubt it will ever come back though...I'm sad to say.
Man I wish the diving bell was still operating I mean they were way head of their time for the technology. Heres a fun fact about the diving bell, there use to be a "fake" sub that went out on a track and the tracks still there
^Really? I've heard something like that before, but I can never see the track. I believe some of the Lost River's structure is from the old Diving Bell though.
no, my dad said the cave if you know the story line that it had no physical relation ship of rube duggin but it is suppose to be the cave down in lake silver, the one you go in on rube duggin's ride.
Where is the track from the Diving Bell?? I would love to see it during my trip in a few weeks.
go to silver dollar city inside track and go to rube duggin's page they have pics there
I've seen that but I don't remember seeing the track piece. Where's it at?
It looks like it must be on the very far side of the lake. Maybe you can catch a glimpse of it before your raft heads up the lift on LRotO.
Hmmmm.... I really want to find that track piece.... It'd make a nice addition to the trip report I'm wanting to post after my SDC trip soon.
I'am planning a trip there soon so I will get some pics for you steve
Could you take a pic of the Rube Dugan's track please??
yeah if I can find it
I will look for the track too! A friend had a lot of pictures of Rube's Bell and Lake Silver I will try to get in contact with her and get some scanned. I also know that they use to give boat rides on Lake Silver as well. They had geysers that would blast at the boats and they would float out to the sunken mine. The sunken mine is still there they painted it yellow when they added Geyser Gulch and you now shoot at targets on it.
OOh man Copper, if you could get a picture of some of that that'd be so awesome!!
I keep wanting to type Cooper for some reason whenever I type your name. l-o-l.
That's odd, how long has that sunken mine been there? I've never seen it in any of the old photos.
I think I might've seen the mine but I'm not sure. I really want to see some pictures of the old track though. So if SDCFan or Copper could get them that would be great.
yeah i will and i knew about that but never knew if it was true or not but i'm going down there pretty soon so I will take alot of pics for you guys.
Well has anyone found the coveted track piece or mine yet?? If not, I'm going to do some searching this weekend.
i would but i don't have the time to with school and work combined
I have searched and searched for it and I am not able to find the track piece. I will check again when lake silver is drained some for the Christmas season.
The contraption where you shoot targets was also a part of a paddle-your-own-canoe-type ride where riders ended up getting drenched when they rounded the corner and rowed past the stuff. I believe this was the replacement for the Diving Bell before the Lost River was installed.
^Whoah, so there was another attraction there? Can you tell us more about what it was like, and how long it was there?
I want to say it was the Greedy Brothers who helped you row the boats. It was a little dock somewhere between the Lost River and Fiddlesticks, and you just rowed around the lake and around that stuff in the middle. Water shot out of that thing and it soaked the whole boat. It was the wettest ride of all until the Waterboggen was built. I forget what the premise of the ride was, but it seems like the Greedy Brothers were the villains of that area.
The Diving Bell was still one of the best attractions in park history (I love the rides that tell stories.). I was too young to appreciate it when it was there, but I remember the floors flooding with water and thinking that we really were under the water.
Does anyone else think the last room of the Lost River has never been completed? All along the lines there have been signs about Ponce de Leon searching for the Fountain of Youth, and I always expected some kind of fountain at the end, maybe with some characters around it in some humorous scene.
There's no mention of it here that I've seen, but the collapse of the bridgeway to the Lost River a few years back is a part of SDC history, too.
The Lost River of the Ozarks gets its name from the stream of water that flows through Marvel Cave. Legend says that the Spanish explorers traveled through the Ozarks in search of treasures and the fountain of youth. A man went as far as pulling a gun on a tour guide in the early 1900s because he believed all the stories of the hidden treasures. The passage that this incident occurred in was the Lost River Trail also known as Lost River Canyon.
Yes, I agree that the Lost River's story line could be worked on. It would be easy to add some theme elements. There is obviously enough information for them to do this with.
Quote from: dale on December 12, 2007, 03:41:30 PM
There's no mention of it here that I've seen, but the collapse of the bridgeway to the Lost River a few years back is a part of SDC history, too.
Good grief, I have a lot to catch up on. What were the details of the bridge collapse? I don't remember that happening, and I've been watching the park for awhile.
This is some great info, I'll have to add it to the site history pages.
I remember I'd been there only a week before it happened. I know one woman broke her arm or something... Can't remember many other details about it.
~ "Becky" Joy ~
Quote from: shavethewhales on December 12, 2007, 06:55:32 PM
Quote from: dale on December 12, 2007, 03:41:30 PM
There's no mention of it here that I've seen, but the collapse of the bridgeway to the Lost River a few years back is a part of SDC history, too.
Good grief, I have a lot to catch up on. What were the details of the bridge collapse? I don't remember that happening, and I've been watching the park for awhile.
This is some great info, I'll have to add it to the site history pages.
I was at the park a few months before it happened. I heard about it on our local news. Maybe since you live in Oklahoma you didn't hear about it Steve??
I think a woman broke her arm (like Joy said), a few were sent to the hospital, and maybe one or two were killed, but don't quote me on that. It was a sad deal. But SDC managed to get the bridge back up and make it seem like nothing happened.
Here's an article about it:
http://www.morningsun.net/stories/071702/reg_0717020029.shtml
No one died. The worst injury was a woman who had broken bones in her legs and ankles, which she ended up having to have surgery for.
And an article about the ride re-opening:
http://www.themeparksonline.org/tponews.asp?ID=1943
~ "Becky" Joy ~
I just found this website, and this is my first post. Anyway, I remember the diving bell. The thing I remember most was being picked to turn the wheel to try to stop the water from coming in. I remember the guy telling me to turn it faster, because it was going to flood us. It was fun!
There was a shallow cave at water level that you can just make out th the right of the scale room in the second picture on sams page. What you are seeing is where groups of around 40 would be let in one one of two "Scales" where the group would be weighed to act as ballast to "get the bell to stink.... er sink". From there your group would walk breafly out onto docks on the backside where the Junior would step on a footswich which caused the "bell" to come out of the cave right next to the dock go out about 10 feet and submerge. This was only a small top, and timed so that everyone in the group was into the caves and boarding their bell by the time it backed into its cave again. Hope that helps in track spotting.
The bright panel to the right of the view screen was a map which flew up as the rock broke through.
The water was pumped up from a stock tank below the bells, and on the "Last ride of Rube Dugin" a friend of mine dumped dye into the tank. The junior was shocked when he went to slap his hand over the leaking pipe and the water went from clear to ink black!
Eli was foiled by the way becouse his paddles were cought on a stalagmite.
The movie you spoke of was filmed in 1977 as part of the R.D. launch
This is my first post here, this is really a great site.
I remember the diving bell, I always thought it was one of the coolest rides in the park. I wish they would bring it back. I wish SDC would add more of these types of attractions, rather than going for the thrill rides.
Someone mentioned there was more info on the diving bell at "Silver Dollar Inside Track". Is this a website? I googled and couldn't find anything.
^The Inside Track was a website (silverdollarcity.blogspot.com). It was Conductor Sam's blog, but it has been removed and replaced with Mom's Blog (silverdollarcityblog.com), which is too bad. It had great info and nice pictures of the Diving Bell.
http://209.85.215.104/search?q=cache:l3mYI7gyRUkJ:www.noelgreen.com/2008/02/rube-dugans-diving-bell.html+Rube+Dugan%27s+Diving+Bell&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us
Check this out!
^That's good info, Old Guy. I didn't know Noel Green was the only one to play Rube Dugan at the park. The post is dated February 2, 2008, and he mention that Rube Dugan is "back". He played him during the 1999 and 2000 seasons; is the character featured somewhere in the park now? Has anyone seen any representation of Rube Dugan at SDC this season or last? I'm just curious.
I would like the Diving Bell to come back, especially since I've never experienced it myself. We started going to the park three years after it was removed. I really don't see it coming back. Maybe some sort of museum display of artifacts from the ride (for the 50th anniversary) is possible, though. I just don't know where they would put the ride if they brought it back, unless they're thinking of putting something Rube Dugan-related in the new area.
I've heard the Disney World thing before and I've wondered about it. Why was the ride proposed to them? Did SDC ask them if it was possible or something? Why did they tell us it couldn't be done? I guess I'm asking is why they knew about this project.
^Coaster, I've heard two versions of the Disney World story. One is that SDC asked them if it was possible, and they told SDC no because it was too expensive. The second version is that a ride of this type was originally proposed to Disney by the ride company and Disney said that it wasn't practical and too expensive. SDC then heard about it (maybe was given a proposal by the same ride company) and decided to give it a try even though Disney passed on it. I think the second version is more plausible, but I'm not sure if any of it's true. Regarding the first version, I'm with you. Why would SDC ask Disney for their recommendation? Can anyone shed definitive light on this?
^Yeah your second idea seemed much more likely. Parks don't usually ask other parks what to put in their parks.
^Really? That's very interesting, because I have heard right from the mouth of Dick Kinzel, CEO of Cedar Fair, that he has been to SFGAdv to ride El Toro and has been to several other SF parks to see rides. I also know that Brad and several of the Herschend crew went to several parks that had the Screamin' Swings installed at their parks before they installed TGS.
So, not to be mean, but yes parks do talk to other parks about what to add and recommendations. This business is smaller than you think.
I'm sure they do their research; there's no doubt about that. But to ask advice? Certainly not if the park is a competitor in the region. Maybe otherwise though. I'm not sure that it really matters, though. The point is that the Diving Bell was a decent ride, a storytelling ride that took visitors into the story and scared the little kids. Priceless!
I say bring it back as a 4-D ride! The Herschends have 4-D shows at other venues, so it's not like they could imagine such a thing. It would be a NEW ride, but still have the nostalgia that so many of us crave.
The thing is, parks are not really competitors unless they are in the exact same region like Orlando or SoCal. Parks like WOF and SDC don't really compete against each other. If that was the case, why would SDC invite Brandon Stanley from WOF down to speak at Coaster Christmas each year in December
Because it encourages WOF lovers to visit SDC. I agree that they should bring back the Diving Bell. During thunderstorms it could be another attraction that remains open like FITH and the Flooded Mine; it would please guests in so many ways!