Five diving bells that held 75 people (and one Junior) each. Total "show" time in the capsule was 10 minutes. Prior to entering the diving bell, about 10 minutes of the "scales" and "wharf" scenes where Junior set up the purpose of the "ride" portion. Total of 20 minutes inside the building for your adventure. Moving people through the building added a few minutes, too. Believe it or not, most days (except sometimes in June, July, August) not all diving bell capsules were used. There were 8 to 12 Juniors at the ride, depending on guest attendance projections, and we took one or two rides as crowds gathered in front. Most times, your wait in front of the ride was under 20 minutes. During that time, the Juniors entertained you with songs, tug of war, kids playground next door, just chatting to individuals, and so on. We kept your mind off waiting in line. Peak days would see 350 people wrapped in lines in front of the ride, then, all five capsules would operate and we would run groups of 75 in two at a time, each five minutes. (five minutes for scales scene, then, those 150 moved to the wharf, right on their heels loading into the scales area were another 150 people.) If the Juniors timed things just right, soon as the five capsules emptied out, there would be enought people in play on the wharf and scales to immediately load two to four capsules. Then we would put in a load of 75 more on the scales to fill that last diving bell. Here is a secret known to few: In '83, capsule B was seldom, if ever used due to maintenance issues. Capacity was down to four capsules. By the time I appeared for a few weeks of work in August, '84, we were down to three operating capsules. We knew the ride would be made into the lost river that winter, and maintenance used parts from the two "downed" diving bells to keep the other three operating. It did not seem to affect operation very much. STAR TOURS was exactly the same kind of simulation attraction as the diving bell but only with a different theme. I rode Star Tours in 1996, and was struck at how similar it was to the diving bell...the way people moved through the building, into the capsule...and out the other side. I understand Star Tours has been revamped in recent years, so I don't know what kind of special effects they use now to convince people, but I'm guessing the effects are better. I can tell you this, in the late 70s and early 80s, you had the added effect of Junior running around in the capsule in front of the view screen, reacting to the water leaks, the rock that plunged through the wall, the leaking geysers pouring water in the front of the capsule...and we did convince many people we were REALLY underwater...if they only knew they were really just inside a little theater on a ball joint being rocked around by hydraulic arms! They entered a themed metal building but left 20 minutes later somehow changed! Man, those were fun days!