Two to three seconds, one hundred and ten feet straight down.
That’s the terrifying concept behind a new thrill ride set to open at the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park this summer.
They call it the “Haunted Mine Drop.”
Six people at a time will sit in one row of seats, in a dark room about ten feet by 14 feet, to be taken back in time to a ghost story set in the dark, narrow mine tunnels of the gold rush.
Then, in a split second, they’ll plummet down to the bottom of the mine shaft.
The mine drop is the creative brainchild of owner Steve Buckley, who loved the concept of a thrilling drop ride, but didn’t want to build up and out of the ground and into the sky, disrupting the view for the neighbors of Glenwood Springs.
The ride won’t actually be in an old mining tunnel. Instead, crews have been working for eight months to dig a new 110-foot tunnel, blasting and clearing about ten feet at a time.
A building on top of the tunnel will add about ten more feet of drop for passengers, so all in all, riders will plummet a straight 120 feet down to the base of the ride.
It’s being designed and engineered with help from Stan Checketts, a well-known thrill ride creator. The haunted ghost story theme is being finessed with help from Mark McDonough of Creative Visions in St. Louis.
Outside the ride, kids will be able to play with pretend dynamite causing smoke and a loud “Boom!” when they press on the ‘charge.’
The ride will connect the lower cave, King’s Row Cave, back around to the theater, which Marketing Manager Heather Austin says will open up a whole new area of the park.
The construction of the new ride coincides with numerous other projects and improvements at the adventure park.
By Memorial Day weekend, the park hopes to have finished their plaza development project, adding a water feature for kids to play in, more seating, and plenty of other new developments, according to Austin.
You can read more about the ride from the Glenwood Springs Independent.
