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Glenwood Caverns Discussion Thread


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Glenwood Caverns recently broke news about their plans for 2017, which include an expansion anchored by a fully themed drop ride that will drop 120 feet underground into a haunted mine with special effects. The first half of this article discusses their plans a bit more in depth:

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A peek at life, and death, in a late 19th century Colorado mine will be among the attractions for visitors to the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park starting this summer.

 

The Caverns has been busy digging the final few feet of a 120-foot shaft in an area of the park below the main visitor center, restaurant and theater building that will become the new Haunted Mine Drop thrill ride.

 

The ride will be similar to Disney’s Tower of Terror and other amusement park drop rides. The Mine Drop is different in that it will have a relevant historical theme and will actually be underground just like a real mine shaft, explained Caverns Adventure Park owner Steve Beckley.

 

“This is our first ever try at theming a ride at the Caverns,” Beckley said. “It’s a real exciting thing to take a ride like this and put a whole story and theme around it.”

 

To do that meant pulling some actual mine history together and building a ghost story around it, he said.

 

“It’s not a true story, but it is based on some stories that we’ve found about the mines up in Leadville and some of the mining accidents that happened around the turn of the century,” Beckley said.

 

The ride is being designed and built by renowned thrill ride enthusiast Stan Checketts of Utah. Checketts also built the giant swing and zip line ride at the Caverns, as well as notable attractions like the Stratosphere Tower Big Shot in Las Vegas.

 

The Haunted Mine Drop will welcome visitors as if they are coming to work at the mine for the first time, but the orientation is given by a couple of ghosts.

 

“It’s your first day of work, and the ghosts will tell stories about what happened there and why the mine had to be closed because of ghostly activity,” Beckley explained. “Then, boom, the floor drops out and it’s a free fall to the bottom.”

 

Inside will be more ghoulish images, skeletons and such to round out the thrill.

 

The park is working with St. Louis-based Creative Visions for the hologram imaging that will be featured with the mine ride. Company mastermind Mark McDonough has developed characters for theme parks, museums, zoos, aquariums, haunted attractions and amusement centers around the world. The company’s client list includes Universal Studios Theme Parks, SeaWorld, Knott’s Berry Farm, MGM Grand Adventure, Six Flags and David Copperfield.

 

The new Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park ride is part of a larger investment of some $2.5 million into park improvements for the coming year that will include a new pathway loop connecting the Mine Drop ride to the lower cave tour area and back up to the top of the park.

 

“The cool thing about the ride is that it’s opening up a whole new area of the park,” Beckley said. The mine shaft building will also have additional restrooms and other amenities.

 

The new ride is expected to be delivered by May and should be open by mid-summer, he said.

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Looks interesting! But not going to lie, this:

 

maxresdefault.jpg

 

Is the first thing I thought of!

To be fair, it's probably not going to be too far off the final product.

 

In all seriousness, I did dig around a bit to see if I could piece together what kind of ride it will be based on what they were describing in the article. Given the way they're describing how it will operate, in conjunction with the involvement of Stan Checketts, my best guess at this point is a top-loading Soaring Eagle Daring Drop (shown in thumbnail, video starts at 0:43):

Considering they only use seat belts, that could make this way crazier than it already was!

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Wow...this sounds like it's going to be a really awesome attraction!

 

I would love to visit this park someday, although I would have to be at least a little buzzed to get the courage to ride that crazy looking Screamin' Swing over the canyon.

 

Do they have a bar up there?

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Wow...this sounds like it's going to be a really awesome attraction!

 

I would love to visit this park someday, although I would have to be at least a little buzzed to get the courage to ride that crazy looking Screamin' Swing over the canyon.

 

Do they have a bar up there?

GC.JPG.08fe6dc545118bf8c6c4efe1fefc1a54.JPG

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Also, the picture of that pit is actually terrifying

 

Haha, you should see it in real life. When we were caving regularly back in the Fall, the hole was only 60-70 feet deep and you couldn't see the bottom.

 

In all seriousness, I did dig around a bit to see if I could piece together what kind of ride it will be based on what they were describing in the article. Given the way they're describing how it will operate, in conjunction with the involvement of Stan Checketts, my best guess at this point is a top-loading Soaring Eagle Daring Drop (shown in thumbnail, video starts at 0:43):

Considering they only use seat belts, that could make this way crazier than it already was!

 

Good job, that is correct. Yes, Soaring Eagle is the manufacture. We already have a dual zip from them so makes sense to me. (Then again I wouldn't have been opposed to an S&S tower.)

 

This actually sounds seriously awesome. This could be a breakout for this park.

 

The park on a busy Summer day handles around 2,000 guest though we've done higher. (Start personal thoughts.) Personally I don't think this is a breakout for the park, it is capitalizing on what has been a very successful concept. It's a ride that is being built in-part do to already increasing crowds. The park in part I feel is under a very controlled growth, mostly due to where it is located and the transportation. Read the whole article and you'll see that is being worked on. (End personal thoughts.)

 

Wow...this sounds like it's going to be a really awesome attraction!

 

I would love to visit this park someday, although I would have to be at least a little buzzed to get the courage to ride that crazy looking Screamin' Swing over the canyon.

 

Do they have a bar up there?

 

As Larry said, we do. Extra info it is of pretty good size for a park, inside the restaurant. Wine, beer, vodka, etc

 

I started working at the park the year the Canyon Flyer opened (2014) but have been at the park when other rides have opened as well. (Including the Cliffhanger grand opening.) This ride by far I'm the most excited about. Not only is it a unique experience for the park, but it brings a whole new experience especially in the theme department. While the article kind of hints at the ride experience, there is so much. I can't tell you what some details are of course but I'm sure that if you love the Tower of Terror concept, you will love this. I hate drop towers but you can bet I'll be one of the first employees on.

 

That being said, if anyone is updated I can continue to follow the progress. The hole is done be blasted hopefully we'll see some vertical progress soon. The structure you see will be over the ride so that we can hopefully run it in the Winter with the other four attractions. Whenever it opens, you can bet (if I'm not working) that I'll be there to cover it.

 

I'm really excited about the future of the park. I've seen the plans, sketches, talked, etc what is ahead. I think you guys will be too.

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[T]hat is correct. Yes, Soaring Eagle is the manufacture. We already have a dual zip from them so makes sense to me. (Then again I wouldn't have been opposed to an S&S tower.)

Thanks for the kinda sorta confirmation on that. They did an awesome job with Terror-Dactyl at Cave of the Winds, so I'm excited to see what they'll do here (especially in conjunction with all the other things planned for it)!

 

I'm really excited about the future of the park. I've seen the plans, sketches, talked, etc what is ahead. I think you guys will be too.

Other people here described the park as a nicer version of Ober Gatlinburg or Ghost Town in the Sky, but given the direction with the new developments, I think we could see them follow a similar vein as something like Silver Dollar City...definitely exciting!

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As Larry said, we do. Extra info it is of pretty good size for a park, inside the restaurant. Wine, beer, vodka, etc

 

I started working at the park the year the Canyon Flyer opened (2014) but have been at the park when other rides have opened as well. (Including the Cliffhanger grand opening.) This ride by far I'm the most excited about. Not only is it a unique experience for the park, but it brings a whole new experience especially in the theme department. While the article kind of hints at the ride experience, there is so much. I can't tell you what some details are of course but I'm sure that if you love the Tower of Terror concept, you will love this. I hate drop towers but you can bet I'll be one of the first employees on.

 

That being said, if anyone is updated I can continue to follow the progress. The hole is done be blasted hopefully we'll see some vertical progress soon. The structure you see will be over the ride so that we can hopefully run it in the Winter with the other four attractions. Whenever it opens, you can bet (if I'm not working) that I'll be there to cover it.

 

I'm really excited about the future of the park. I've seen the plans, sketches, talked, etc what is ahead. I think you guys will be too.

 

Thanks for the response...I think that I can feel free to speak for a lot of enthusiasts on TPR when I ask that you please do keep up us updated on the progress - this sounds like one awesome project!

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I'm more intrigued by this development than any other new 2017 ride in the US.

This looks like one of those really funky "dark horse" projects that can fly under the radar because people are more excited about #WhatsInTheShed...maybe we could start asking #WhatsInTheMine?

 

That joke was bad, I apologize in advance

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I once rode an indoor ride frog hopper that was in the dark but accentuated with lasers and strobes. It was extremely disorienting and unpredictable. I don't care about the hype for most 2017 rides but I seriously see the potential here.

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I consider the airtime received on Tower of Terror to be better than those of many tower rides that exist, almost better than S&S only because you sustain plenty more out-of-your-seat moments on it.

 

That said, I am absolutely loving the concept of this and can't wait to hear more about it!

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