I was wondering if anyone had any pictures of Rube Dugan's Diving Bell cuz i looked on the internet and only found 2 boring pictures of it. I am way too young to remember it but it sounded like a cool ride. Can anyone provide some pictures??
Conductor Sam had some great pics of the Diving Bell on his blog, but unfortunately his blog has been taken off the internet completely and replaced with Mom's Blog. As far as I know, those pics are gone. :-[
I believe I saved all the pics that Conductor Sam posted. I'll see if I can get them uploaded to my Photobucket tomorrow.
Joy
Check FLICKR & FACEBOOK.
^Good idea!
^^That would be awesome, Joy! :D
Hmm...why not ask Rube?
Okay I have illustrations, slides, coloring books, and photos, but unfortunately no postcards (the bulk of my park collection) Here is a teaser until I get home to my other SDC -Rube pics
Interior space
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/duganinterior.jpg)
1979 coloring book Illustration
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/rube.jpg)
THE HORROR...THE HORROR...thanks Rube for bringing those scary memories 'flooding' back... ;)
Ang
A few more from assorted SDC brochures-books
From the SBC Rhyme Book
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/RubeDugansDivingBell4.jpg)
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/RubeDugansDivingBell3.jpg)
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/RubeDugansDivingBell.jpg)
Quote from: stlphotogal on August 07, 2009, 09:06:48 AM
THE HORROR...THE HORROR...thanks Rube for bringing those scary memories 'flooding' back... ;)
Ang
Did that ride scare you, too? The one time I rode it I left crying hysterically. I thought I was going to die! The ride was pretty real for a four-year old.
It was amazingly real to a little kid. I wish I could see it as an adult.
Here are the pics Conductor Sam posted on the SDC Blog:
http://s223.photobucket.com/albums/dd129/sdc_joy/Diving%20Bell%20From%20SDC%20Blog/
I'm glad I saved these... I tried to get archived versions of the blog posts through the Wayback Machine, but only the post about National Taffy Day was apparently logged... Darn it.
Joy
Awesome! Thanks...... this ride should really be brought back. Im sure it would be a big hit.
^It would be a big hit, but it would have to be modified. It was taking up some prime real estate in the park, as evidenced by the fact that Lost River is now occupying that space. It also didn't run very many people through per hour. I think those are the two main reasons it was removed.
Those pics show how long the lines were. I don't think I ever waited in line as long for any other feature, as we used to wait in line for Rube Dugan's.
Now that we've seen how quickly Disney can load and off-load a show/ride, I'd like to see Rube Dugan bring his diving bell back to SDC revamped to accommodate the large crowds. Think Haunted Mansion, where the preshow in the stretching room is actually part of the queue before the ride begins. You're in line - you just don't realize it.
If Rube has at least the same amount of seats as Electro-Spin, I think it could be pulled off capacity-wise.
And I like your idea of the whole pre-show queue thing. Kinda like Star Tours, too (though Haunted Mansion's is even more involving). And technically, Rube Dugan's could be compared to Star Tours in terms of the type of ride it is (simulator). Maybe they could take some cues from how they set up Star Tours in terms of moving the crowds (IE, having more than one simulator).
Joy
If silver dollar citys administration would just read you guys's great ideas then they would have a huge hit by bringing the diving bell back.
Part of the "believability" of the Diving Bell was its small size. That also contributed to the long lines. If it was big, it would just be a stage show, and wouldn't come off nearly as well.
Solution: one queue, two Bells, arranged so that guests don't realize there is more than one..
And BTW, it would be historically appropriate. James Eads was the inventor of the bell and used one to sink the foundation thingies for the Eads bridge, which to this date successfully crosses the Mississippi River at St. Louis. Submarines were also used in the Civil War, of course, so as out-of-the-box as this idea seemed and seems, it is very appropriate.
Joy, you are absolutely correct, and a simulator ride does not take up the space that a coaster or dark ride does. It makes a lot of sense to try to fit one in. I was thinking also of Mission: Space or for that matter any of the 4D shows that Disney presents. HFE has 4D rides at DW and at Stone Mountain - has anyone experienced them?
I am jealous over the 4-d theater they have- that would really be a nice addition to the park and with the show changing from time to time its like a new addition each time.
I have been to Bugs Life, and Shrek, both 4-D theaters, and both big hits- they were great, you could incorporate so much of a story telling vibe to the whole thing. The unsteady carriage ride, baldknobbers, the sights and smells of leaves food, the still out back. Okay only kidding on the last one, but they gave so much of a platform for a real story. It could take you through the history of the park, from Devils Den to Marmaros and beyond incorporating all of the sights, smells, and motion you wanted. One recommendation, no Guano please.
Now that is thinking outside the box. I was against bringing this ride back. It is fun to remember but...........it really was not that much fun to ride after you had done it four or five times. Now in 4D that would be something different and fun. They could do a great deal with it.
^^Guano happens!
Here's another place to sell my t-shirts.
It'd be awesome if they brought it back because it was gone before I was even born. But, if it was taken out for taking up too much space...where would they put the new one?
Take out splash Harbor. I hate that place.... And they could make a long bridge for queing right next to the bridge for the lost river that splits off and heads to the right directly to where the ride would be.
For those of you who remember riding Rubes, there was a long cavernous walk into the chamber before you went into the Diving Bell. At the time, I really didn't think about it, but I am pretty sure they had more than one "Simulator" as I do remember interior waterfalls along the hallways that had separate doors.
Splash Habor is a blast. Our family (all the boys) from 25 down to 4, and sometimes the Grandpa, love to play in the water. The last time, the wives, including Grandma were not too happy with us. It seems we stayed for over an hour.........something about wasting their time. We told them there were plenty of perfectly good shows to see. All ended well just cost dinner at The Landing. We thought it was well worth it. Splash Habor!!!!!!
I wonder if there'd be a way to mesh together Splash Harbor and a new Rube Dugan's, rather than getting rid of SH. I'm hoping to take my niece to Splash Harbor once she's a few years older. She had a BLAST playing in the little squirting fountains at the entrance to the Geyser Gulch area; didn't want to leave.
Joy
They could build and old school boardwalk, connecting SH to the Wilson's Farm area, along the backside of the lake, and put Rube's back there as well! Traffic flow, SDC, TRAFFIC FLOW! Get rid of all these dead ends, please!
Quote from: tinmann620 on August 16, 2009, 07:40:37 AM
They could build and old school boardwalk, connecting SH to the Wilson's Farm area, along the backside of the lake, and put Rube's back there as well! Traffic flow, SDC, TRAFFIC FLOW! Get rid of all these dead ends, please!
There would probably be issues with the train robbery, but the rumor mill has already said the robbery could be changed or deleted. I'm afraid of your suggestion of a boardwalk, though, because I know that translates to more carnival games (which I despise) and those would not fit with the Rube Dugan theme very well. (I'm with cjfootball on this one - I just think Splash Harbor, and Geyser Gulch are out of place and could be repainted and reworked to fit better.).
There would be a continuity problem with extending it through the Wilson's Farm area, too.
This ride/show/simulator only needs to appear to be on the water. It could ultimately share a reworked queue with Lost River, similar to the Wildfire/AP queue.
Of course, they could always make a new lake. Some of you want Echo Hollow to be removed - how 'bout fillin' it with water? ::)
Dark rides or other indoor attractions- A plus for a theme park open in winter with temps below frezeeing. How long will the cue line be for splash battle come christmas time :-*
I like History Buff's idea........I think gettin' rid of Echo Hollow is a great idea cuz ever since Jim Dandy and Chosen Few left it just hasn't been worth watchin'. I have Echo Hollow from the 90's on tape and in that movie you can see how full Echo Hollow used to get but now its just a useless place in the park..... Based on what they did with the parking lot area I think that they are very capable of filling part of that in and making another lake.... Then they could build Rube Dugan's on the lake and also have room for other stuff. :)
;)
I want the water/laser show from Celebration City to move to Echo Hollow. They could change out scenes with whatever festival is going on at the time. It would also give an excuse for the park to be open later in the summer.
Rube Dugan could be "re-imagineered" to be part of the transportation section of the Grand Expo. You'd have to change the story line some, but a submarine at a world's fair would not be out of the question... and since they should also add Roaring Falls to that area a lake would need to be built as well. botta bing botta boom your problem is solved.
Yes! The water/laser show would go PERFECTLY in Echo Hollow. I haven't even *been* to Echo Hollow in at least ten years. Putting that in would definitely ensure my butt being seated in there once more.
Hmmm... I like your idea for Rube Dugan's, too.
Joy
WOW! We all got so many ideas! Where's the Herschends ??? They need to read all this!!
Ah, the diving bell! i REMEMBER IT WELL. "Howdy there, folks! My name is Junior Dugan, and I'll be drivin' your diving bell..." That was a line I repeated over and over during the years I worked at the diving bell. (1979-1984) As has been mentioned on this website before, the diving bell was replaced with Lost River due to capacity issues. Inside the diving bell building were FIVE diving bell capsules. They held 75 people and 1 Junior each. Only so many folks could move through in an hour! I've seen RUBE DUGAN'S photos posted on this site, I wish I could make out who the "Junior" is pictured in the capsule photo, but I can't. Hey Rube, do you remember what year that photo was taken? If I knew which year, I could narrow down the names as to who that could be.
^I had no idea there were five capsules, Junior. I'm sure the folks here would be interested in reading more of the script or any other information about the DB. It is obviously the most missed attraction SDC has ever removed.
I kept EVERYTHING that my managers on park gave me...memos, guidelines, costume department reciepts, and DIVING BELL SCRIPTS AND LINE ENTERTAINMENT suggestion sheets. I kept all of the weekly company newsletters during that period, too. I have promotional material, brochures, pathfinders, city maps, EVERYTHING from 1978-1984 that I ever got my hands on. So...if there is an interest in this stuff by the SDC Fans on this site, I'll post some of it. Here is one little tidbit that some of you may remember from the diving bell. The guys playing Junior Dugan entertained people waiting in line, and one of the little novelty songs we performed was done to the tune of the Christmas song, "The First Noel." Here are the lyrics..."Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel, we ain't got no water 'cause we ain't got no well!" In print it may look kind of goofy, but let me tell ya, it brought down the house every time. Anyone that's a fan of the diving bell will remember the other entertainment while waiting in line like the "Toss Test" with liferings, the tug-o-war games, the Ozark Diving Competitions, and the Ozark Bathing Suit Competitions. Hey, here's one that some of you may remember, "The Honorable Order of the Woodchucks" induction ceremony!?!? Let me hear from you, folks! I'll dig out some of the old jokes and scripts and post some of them here for you if you like.
We want it all... I think you need your own page on here... :)
+1 for Junior as best new potential resource.
Start posting those scans, Junior! ;D
Let me see what stuff I can dig out of my file cabinet. Hummmmm....how about a few photos of the diving bell?(http://[img])[/img] (Whoops! Forgive me...I'm new at this computer stuff. I still believe it was wrong to throw out the ole IBM Selectric typewriter. Let me get some help on loading these photos. I'll get back to ya.) In the meantime, how about some Diving Bell "facts known by few?" Russ Maulden is the only guy in diving bell history to have 1) helped build the building in winter of '76, 2) Played Junior Dugan in the '77 season, and 3) Worked the maintanence crew from 78-84. Here is another for you: Kerry Chester was lead man in maintanence at the diving bell all eight seasons it operated. Another? OK! Randy Stowe was lead man (manager) at the diving bell four out of eight seasons. He was lead at the new Lost River, too. Guess what else all three of those guys still have in common? All of them made careers at SDC. All are still employed there in 2010, over 30 years later! John Brewer and his son Lucas Brewer are the only father-son duo to work at the diving bell. In 1977 John "worked the line" in front of the ride, greeting guests and visiting with them. His son Lucas played Junior Dugan that year. Here's one more" Ken Fowler from Republic, MO was a Junior in 81 & 82. He tried his luck at a recording career in the early and mid 80s, and had a song chart on the Billboard Country chart in 1985, called, I think, "It's a Heartache." The Billboard country chart listed the number one through number one hundred songs, and I think Ken's song charted in the 90s. I don't know what he's been up to in recent years.
I seem to recall a female "Jr." Am I wrong that girls were also in the role? It has been a looong time.
You have a VERY GOOD memory! There were a few young ladies that worked occasionally at the diving bell. Because the dialog of Rube and Grandpappy Dugan were recorded as part of the soundtrack to the film that was shown on the screen in the capsules, no women could pilot the diving bell, because throughout the ten minute "ride" Rube shouted orders to Junior. When we were shorthanded, we called upon people from other attractions to help us out. Sometimes a man or a woman would be posted in front of the ride to work "crowd control," in other words, meet and greet people as they got in line, and entertain them with jokes, chatter, or simply by talking with visitors, finding out where they came from, and so on. This allowed all the "Juniors" to be free to take rides. In 1977, a man named John Brewer worked the line on a full time basis, playing a friendly sea captain type character. When the women worked with us, they were culled from the SDC labor pool, from Tom Sawyer's Landing, the American Plunge, and the Paid Games area that operated across from the diving bell 1980-1983. When we had women working the line in front of the ride, we called them "Ruby Dugan." Ruby was a cousin to all us Juniors. Oh, by the way, when we would shout to one another in front of the ride to get a co-workers attention, we would ususally shout, "Hey, cousin!." or "Hey, Junior!" Whenever someone would ask us why all of us guys were named Junior Dugan, we used a clever line that I think Terry Sanders came up with in the 1980 season. We would say, "we have a BIG family with a SMALL imagination!" It always got a good laugh. Some of the women that played Ruby Dugan included: Jennifer Cameron of Branson, Carol Myers from Tom Sawyer's Landing, Sara Smith from Paid Games, and Phyllis Peacher a student from School of the Ozarks. A really great older man sometimes worked with us 1981-1983 named Aubrey. We called him "The Colonel," because he looked like Colonel Sanders from Kentucky Fried Chicken fame. He was part of the labor pool, too. There were other "Rubys" and other men that worked the line, too. The names mentioned are all I can remember from off the top of my head.
Here is a previous post from The Diving Bell Archives
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/duganinterior.jpg)
Found a few more!
This was from my colored book, as opposed to the uncolored one...not sure where those scans are though! You'll have to deal with the artistic hues until I find the others!
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/sdc002.jpg)
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/sdc.jpg)
(http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/rubedugans/sdc001.jpg)
Thanks for posting those. Keep 'em coming! :)
Wow! I've never seen those coloring book pages before! I guess I didn't make enough trips to the Hospitality House or the Ozark Marketplace where stuff like that was sold "back in the day."
I wanted to give a brief "DUGAN" update: Keith Shull, a "Junior" in 1979-80, was one of the wonderful guys I worked with back in the old days. He is a committed Christian, and was involved in the Young Life program at SDC back then. I FOUND HIM! I did an Internet search for Keith and found that he is living in Phoenix, AZ and hosts a Christian based radio show, and also does voice over work for film, TV, and radio! I have sent Keith an email, and I'm steering him toward this Website, so I hope I will hear from him soon. I'll post an update as soon as I can.
Thanks for the pics rube!
I cant wait to visit with another Jr, Jr. It will be cool to hear how both of yall worked at the diving bell yet have different experiances. Looking forward to a new member!
Love the blue, and red hands, and the green, and red mustache of Rube! :D
Awesome coloring book pages. I love the old knacks that Silver Dollar City once had.
I have this coloring book!!!! I was a hoarder even at the young age of 5!
For more photos and illustrations of the diving bell, check out my Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/juniordugan
Most of the diving bell stuff on Flicker is posted on pages 2,3,4,5, and 7. Some float trip and Hee Haw Theater stuff is thrown in between. Hope you enjoy it all.