Ride Profile
About Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park
Located midway between Aspen and Vail, Colorado, Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park offers a one-of-a-kind mountain-top adventure. The Adventure Park features a gondola ride, walking and wild tours of Glenwood Caverns and Historic Fairy Caves, dining, and year-round attractions including an Alpine Coaster, Soaring Eagle Zip Ride, the new Haunted Mine Drop, 4D Motion Theater and Laser Tag Arena. Seasonal offerings include the Giant Canyon Swing, Glenwood Canyon Flyer, Cliffhanger Roller Coaster, Wild West Express family coaster, a climbing wall, gemstone sluice box mining, a Ferris wheel ride and a holiday light display. The Park operates the new Iron Mountain Hot Springs now open on the bank of the Colorado River in Glenwood Springs.
“Not only is the building themed like an old mine,”
explains Beckley, “the ride drops down a shaft excavated out of solid rock the same way that a real mine shaft would be. The temperature drops, and the earthy smell of the rock adds authenticity to the experience.”
Truly Terrifying Upon entering the ride, six guests at a time are seated. (Hourly capacity is expected to reach 100-120.) They are strapped in and entertained as ghostly miners appear to tell tales of a mining tragedy from long ago. Riders don’t realise that the floor has slid out from underneath them until they drop and scream their way deep inside the mine shaft. More ghosts appear at the bottom to continue the tale, and then the ride returns to the main level for guests to depart. “The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive,”
acknowledges Beckley. “I think there are several reasons people are enjoying it so much. Being one of the first to ride a first-in-the-world attraction has certainly brought people here this first week. The drop itself is terrifying. First, the digital effects are very well done and distract riders so that they don’t realise the floor is gone from beneath them. We also draw out the last seconds before the drop so that they’re not sure when it’s coming. And dropping in the dark, with the drop in temperature and earthy smell of the rock, increases the thrill. A lot of our guests are shaking at the end of the ride, then they get back in line to ride it again.” Surprisingly, on opening day Beckley had not yet ridden, but his wife and co-owner, Jeanne Beckley, had. “The best part of the ride is the shock or surprise factor,” she maintains. “You really have no idea when you’re going to drop and, being in the dark, you really have no idea of when, or if, you’re going to stop. I love that. It’s truly terrifying.”
Attendance Bump In addition to the world’s first underground drop ride, Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park also introduced the first alpine coaster to the U.S. in 2005. The Giant Canyon Swing is the highest of its kind, launching riders out 1,300 feet (396 m) over the Colorado River. The Cliffhanger Roller Coaster, situated on the edge of Glenwood Canyon at an elevation of 7,160 feet (2,182 m), is the highest-elevation, full-sized roller coaster in America. “We have a limited amount of space because of our
location,” Beckley adds. “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.” Building a ride of this nature was not without challenges.
“The excavation took longer than expected,” recalls Beckley. “It ended up taking a year. We removed 1,500 tons of rock to reach the depth we wanted. Anytime you build something on top of a mountain, you know that you’re going to have to make adjustments for the weather. We are at the mercy of Mother Nature up here.” Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park saw a record 205,000
visitors during the 2016 season, and with the arrival of the Haunted Mine Drop, they should exceed that number this year. “I think we will see an increase in attendance,” believes
Beckley, “but our goal with this ride is to provide added value for our guests to keep them coming back again and again. We love to see the same families come back year after year, and want to give them reasons to keep doing so.” For other park operators thinking of building a similar ride,
Beckley has this parting advice. “Make sure you know where your water table is unless you want to make it a water ride.”
Stan Checketts, Steve Beckley and Mark McDonough on the opening day of The Haunted Mine Drop.
44 SEPTEMBER 2017
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