Gold Rush Attraction for DCA

[JoeCool]

A Gold Rush Attraction would be ideal for DCA. I would plan a huge attraction that would be a series of mountains and waterfalls. Guests would enter and board vehicles that look like mine carts...the carts would slowly enter the caverns of the mountain and along the way the history of California mining and the gold rush era would be told. Then the mine cart would go down a dark shaft and the cart would move quickly down a steep hill and then the fun would be begin. Guests would experience a roller coaster like that of the indoor Rock and Roll Coaster at MGM but the gold rush theme would prevail as well as scenes from CA vast wilderness..redwoods, etc. Any thoughts or ideas?

[ah schucks]

Hey Joe-

Its been discussed in several threads. I think there is a lot of support for this idea. I strongly believe this would make a great replacement for that entire area between Golden Dreams and the Maliboomers where that lame Mullholland Madness currently resides. Get rid of those restraunts, rip out those kiddies rides, throw away the Zepher and build a large well themed Mining ride.

[E-ticket]

There's still a whole section of parking lot out there beyond ToT just begging to be used!

[ModHatter]

Precisely. That's where I'd put my Gold Rush flume ride. Use the Atlantis elevators instead of lift hills, and then you have a great berm for that corner of the park.

I had typed this out more elaborately before my browser crashed, but to sum up, have a two-part journey. Your first elevator shows you geologic time and how gold forms and eventually enters a river. Then you take a ride in the river, avoiding rocks and tree brances, and maybe a giant fish. Then you end up in a miner's pan. Like Maelstrom, you swirl around, and then you see the intimidating drop. But your boatr keeps swirling, and you feel saved. Until you realize the boat has turned completely around and you will take the drop backwards. Then, you take another lift elevator and are introduced to Sutter's Mill and the onset of Gold Fever. Now you ride through a PotC/WRE-style show of miners' lives, and end up at your final drop, a giant sluice. Maybe instead of a plain drop, you could even make it like the old carnival hilly slides, simulating going over the wooden catches along the sluice.

This would be the centerpiece of Eureka Bay (revised from Discovery Bay), which would also host such rides as the 1906 Earthquake ride, the Fireworks Factory rollercoaster, and a revamped Golden Dreams to be placed on a scaled-down Angel Island, directly South of the Golden Gate entrance.

[E-ticket]

Eureka Bay... I really like this concept! In fact, I think it would be great to capitalize on the whole gold rush idea and create multiple rides in a truly themed land (DCA doesn't have a lot of these!). At least 1 E-ticket and a few D's. Family friendly, educational, and if done well, a whole lotta fun!

[ah schucks]

Eureka Bay... I really like this concept! In fact, I think it would be great to capitalize on the whole gold rush idea and create multiple rides in a truly themed land (DCA doesn't have a lot of these!). At least 1 E-ticket and a few D's. Family friendly, educational, and if done well, a whole lotta fun!

I would love to hear some D-ticket ride suggestions? Dark rides perhaps? I also am fearful of creating two "woodland" areas that do not connect. If you can somehow replace the San Fransico area there and put Eureka Bay there so that seemingly Grizly River area and the Eureka Bay connect I think it would improve the flow of the park, otherwise it will come as poorly connected and unplanned.

[Cuzco-topia]

I love this whole gold rush idea, but do you think it may be tied to closely to DL Fronteirland?

[PumpkinKing!]

Love the idea of a Eureka Bay too! Hey not sure where to post this but nayone remember when DCA opened wasnt that area (where the bathrooms are located in SF) an arcade?

[dshimel]

Any thoughts or ideas?

Sounds like combining Calico Mine Ride from Knotts with BTMRR.

[ModHatter]

I would love to hear some D-ticket ride suggestions? Dark rides perhaps? I also am fearful of creating two "woodland" areas that do not connect. If you can somehow replace the San Fransico area there and put Eureka Bay there so that seemingly Grizly River area and the Eureka Bay connect I think it would improve the flow of the park, otherwise it will come as poorly connected and unplanned.

Well, let's define what we now consider A-E attractions. After all, Buzz is, at best, a D, but HM I believe is an E.

Besides, even though the interiors of a ride like the flume ride would be "woodland," Eureka Bay is more similar to the Discovery Bay concept. It has a very definite timeframe (later Victorian, from the discovery of gold in 1849 to the destruction of the Barbary Coast area during the Great Earthquake and Fire in 1906), and should be full of urban growth. After all, at the time, San Francisco was California's main point of entry in this period. This is why California's equivalent to Ellis Island is in SF Bay, not near LA.

As for someone else's comment about Frontierland... yes, that is a concern. To me, I actually see this area looking more like a cross between FL and Main St. But I think Frontierland has gone for a deserts and mesas feel, with a touch of ghost town. Eureka Bay is definitely a different kind of frontier, so if the Imagineers are on the ball, it shouldn't feel like a redundancy.

[Reaver]

I like the idea of taking a concept ride like Calico and doing it well. Let's face it, the only reason Calico still exists is because of Haunt (and the expense of ripping it down, combined with the fact that they wouldn't gain much space in the park if they did).

I could see this in a bobsled configuration, but with the cars themed as mine carts - old, rust metal, big rivets, etc - and basically a slow ride, but with a few quick drops and speedy turns (hence the need for the bobsled config), think a similar feel as Pirates, to the next level. Cave-ins, earthquakes and such could add some excitement to the ride, and it could be above/under ground, and could be inside/outside varying. I'd love to see something like this.

[dlfreak]

Oh you mean Big Thunder 2.0, DCA-style? Nah, I'll pass.

[ah schucks]

It sort of reminds me that was originally a mining car ride near where Big Thunder now stands, but it wasn't a roller coaster per say. Like most of the posts say, it would have to be very very very different from Big Thunder to excell as a ride. Taking some cues from the "Journey to the Center of the Earth" ride in Toyko might help.

[ModHatter]

I like the idea of taking a concept ride like Calico and doing it well. Let's face it, the only reason Calico still exists is because of Haunt (and the expense of ripping it down, combined with the fact that they wouldn't gain much space in the park if they did).

I could see this in a bobsled configuration, but with the cars themed as mine carts - old, rust metal, big rivets, etc - and basically a slow ride, but with a few quick drops and speedy turns (hence the need for the bobsled config), think a similar feel as Pirates, to the next level. Cave-ins, earthquakes and such could add some excitement to the ride, and it could be above/under ground, and could be inside/outside varying. I'd love to see something like this.

I agree... as much as Disney was an innovator, he didn't invent every ride on the planet. You can always take a good idea and make it better, In a way, wan't Indy based on a PotC-style show, seen from a motion simulator? Sort of like putting a Starspeeder on a track?

Frankly, as long as a ride is themed (I don't care as much about the queue, but if blacklight cut-outs aren't good enough on Pooh, they're not good enough on RnRC either), any E ticket will help DCA make up for the plethora of shows and cheapie rides,

[JoeCool]

I love the Eukera Bay concept! This attraction could work in Frontierland but DCA needs it more!