Next up is the Diving Bell ride. Many visitors have fond memories of this attraction and the visual excitement. The bell popping to the surface is quite a scene with the bubbles and water.
Final image shows the Skyway ride. The theme of the ride was pure genius, mimicking diving bells. The ride over the ocean must have been thrilling.
Did the DIving Bell just go down for a little bit, and then it would pop up out of the water? Was there anything to see while you were under water? I'm intrigued by that ride!
ReplyDeleteI always assumed the Diving Bell submerged into the ocean itself. I'd like to know what it actually did too.
ReplyDeleteSorry guys, even though the Diving Bell is one of my memories of POP I didn’t have the courage to actually ride it. I too have always wondered if you saw anything. I do remember watching it surface and descend with a big splash - just like the picture on the card.
ReplyDeleteI remember riding both the Diving Bell and the Skyway when I was a kid. For the life of me I don't recall seeing much on the Diving Bell but I do remember the Skyway scaring the cr*p out of me :)
ReplyDeleteI worked the Divimg Bell for a couple of years just after high school. The two bells submerged in a tank that sat on the beach sand below the pier. Inside the bell the operator pumped a hydraulic ram to clamp the bell to a steel cable. He then activated a winch to pull the bell to the bottom of the tank. When the pressure to the ram was released the natural bouancy of the bell brought it to the surface...in a hurry. There once had been fish in the tank, but by the 60's when I was there only heavily clorinated water filled the tank. The sudden rush to the surface, witha moment of weightlessness was the whole point by then. And the occassional thrill when the door acceidently came open on the way up. JimBussey@live.com
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