Under the Deep Blue 20000 Leagues of the Sea

Start from the beginning
                                    

Here's the GIST of the ride:
After waiting a bit in the busy queue, hearing spiels (a fast speech or story) and nautical songs such as The Sailor's Hornpipe, A Whale of a Tale, and What Shall We Do With the Drunken Sailor? (that is, if you're going on the ride in or around 1982), you finally get sent to one of the dock-like structures to wait to board your vessel into liquid space.
Upon boarding, there were two rows of seats to match with the two entrances and exits- one on the right and one on the left. Disney designed the ride so that people could enter one way and leave another. Once everyone took a seat, the usual submarine could fit anywhere from 36-40 people, the submarine was started along the track.

These are what the seats, from 20K and the original Submarine Voyage, looked like

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

These are what the seats, from 20K and the original Submarine Voyage, looked like.

The overall length of the track/guide rail that was used to keep the submarine 'on course' was 1,365 ft or 416 meters. Its speed, direction, and when each tape would play was dictated by the cast member in the conning tower who drove and commanded the boat along the track. If the cast member was really skilled, he (usually the people running the ride were all men, same goes for the Jungle Cruise while the Swan Boats in Magic Kingdom were run by women) could play the tapes at the exact time when the scene was just being passed by the first seats, being seen by the middle seats, and being anticipated by the last seats. The scenes shown while the tapes were being played were the same on each side of the vehicle. That means that while grandma is looking at a turtle wrangler on one side of the sub, you're looking at a turtle wrangler on the other side of the sub at the same time. There was no way for the cast member to sit in the conning tower so they had to stand at all times.
The first recording: "This is the captain speaking. Welcome aboard. We are now underway and proceeding on a course that will take us on a voyage of exploration through liquid space. En route, we will pass below the polar ice cap, and then probe depths seldom seen by man. Make yourself comfortable, but please remain seated at all times. And no smoking please—the smoking lamp is out." This tape played as they left the 'dock' and queue. 
After the taped narration above was over, other narrations began where the Captain gave the order to clear the bridge and secure hatches and vents. While this tape is going on, the dock operators raised the ramp to get to the entrance, secured the hatches, and untied the rope securing the submarine to the dock. Finally, the Captain gives the 'all ahead one-third' order and the submarine leaves the dock, diving towards the first section of the ride: the coral reef. 

 

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
You've reached the end of published parts.

⏰ Last updated: May 12, 2016 ⏰

Add this story to your Library to get notified about new parts!

Creepy, Unknown, and Abandoned DisneyWhere stories live. Discover now