Ride Profile
www.parkworld-online.com
It’s the Drop! “We asked Creative Visions to come up with story line and theme for the ride,” Beckley notes, “and they absolutely came through for us.” “My first thought was,” recalls McDonough, “that's crazy. When do we start? I was cautiously optimistic until the hole got down to 75 feet (23 m). It's one thing to say you are going to dig a giant hole in a mountain. It's a whole other thing to actually do it. In typical Steve fashion, though, he took a simple concept like a drop tower, and redefined how scary and thrilling it could be.” McDonough questions if the Haunted Mine Drop is really a dark ride. “It's really more of a heavily themed thrill ride, with a dark element. What makes it so different, aside from the fact that it goes underground, is that the experience is very controlled. We don't just winch you up the side of a tower and drop you on the count of three. We are building anticipation, creating a story designed to put the guest in a specific frame of mind. Why this theme? Honestly, it had to be a haunted mine. The concept, the park, the local history. The story practically wrote itself.” “People will love this,” he continues, “because it's more
than just a 2.5 second drop into a hole. It is a story that starts as you approach the building. The whole thing is designed to give you the biggest possible thrill when that car drops. It is no accident that you drop in the dark. The ghost isn't just there to entertain you. The video effects and even the various signage serve one single
purpose...to set you up for the most intense experience possible when the car drops.” McDonough would love to say that the theming and special effects are the best part of the ride, “but let's be honest,” he confesses, “it's the drop! Everything we did was to orchestrate the most perfect drop possible.”
Temperature Drops Guests enjoy a scenic gondola ride to reach the Adventure Park, located on top of Iron Mountain at an elevation of 7,000 feet (2,134 m). The building housing the ride is themed to look like an old mine shack. The ride experience begins in
the queue as guests learn they’ve arrived for their first day on the job at the Glenwood Mining Corporation, which has just reopened after a grisly mining accident more than a century ago. Theming inside and out creates an old mine atmosphere, with a wood and rusted tin exterior and moving gear visible in the upper section of the building. “We are always trying to add attractions that are unique
to us,” Beckley explains. “Since the park is limited on space, we take common rides and use our location to make them one-of-a-kind. That’s certainly true for the Haunted Mine Drop, as well as our Giant Canyon Swing, Cliffhanger Roller Coaster and Glenwood Canyon Flyer.” Once inside the building, the storyline continues with
mining relics, vintage signage and video effects until the new employees enter the drop room where they’ll be lowered into the mine. A Pepper’s ghost illusion appears to tell the real story behind the mine’s closing so many years ago.
“ To compete
with larger parks, we take common thrill rides and use our setting to make them unique. That’s why the Haunted Mine Drop is garnering interest around the globe. There is a lot of appeal in experiencing a one-of-a-kind ride.
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SEPTEMBER 2017
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