Jim Hill
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Rock 'n' Roller Coaster

Rock 'n' Roller Coaster: Even though this particular thrill ride wouldn't be up and running at Disney/MGM in Florida 'til July 1999 (Indeed, at this particular point in time, WDI hadn't even nailed down which rock band would be serving as the defacto "hosts" of the attraction. As you might have expected, the Imagineers' first choice -- the Rolling Stones -- wanted 'way too much money to make even a token appearance in this Disney/MGM attraction. Which is why Disney eventually settled on Aerosmith. After all, Steven Tyler & Co. were imminently more affordable. More to the point, the Mouse already had a relationship with these guys, since the group had a hit single -- "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" -- on the soundtrack of Touchstone Picture's Summer 1998 release, "Armageddon." So closing that deal didn't take the Mouse nearly as much time and/or cost nearly as much as signing Mick & the boys would have ... Anyway ... ), there were still plenty of folks at WDI who immediately thought that Rock 'n' Roller Coaster had franchise written all it. Here was another attraction like Splash Mountain or Space Mountain that Disney could quickly drop into all its theme parks worldwide that was sure to be a hit with the public.

But -- when it came to putting Rock 'n' Roller Coaster as an opening day attraction at DCA -- there was just one little problem. This park was already scheduled to have a looping coaster that made use of Disney's accelerated launch system: California Screamin'. In fact, that particular ride was supposed to serve as the centerpiece attraction of the park's Paradise Pier area.

To open DCA with two thrill rides that both had loops as well as made use of the very same rapid launch system would have unintentionally undercut the appeal of both California Screamin' & Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. Then -- when you factored in the expense of actually building RNR (The ride had to be housed in a 68,000 square foot structure) -- Well ... It just made sense to hold off on the construction of the DCA version of Rock 'N' Roller Coaster 'til 2003 or 2004. That way, California Adventure would have a big new thrill ride to lure guests back for a second look at the park during its second or third year of operation ...

Which brings us to ...

The Armageddon Special Effects Show: Many folks who saw this Summer 1998 Touchstone release may recall a sequence that occurred about 2/3rds of the way through that film. The moment where Bruce Willis and his heroic team of high flying oil well diggers accidentally blew up the Russian space station? To quote Big Jim McBob & Billy Sol Hurok from the "Farm Film Report" segment of the late, lamented SCTV: "It blowed up real good."

Well, the Imagineers thought that that particular portion of "Armageddon" blowed up real good too. Which is why they supposedly gave some very serious thought to creating a "Backdraft" type attraction for DCA. Something modeled after that old Universal Studios Hollywood's perennial, where guests stood on a platform and watched all sorts of pyro effects explode right in front of their eyes.

According to the scenario that WDI had mapped out for the proposed attraction, DCA guests -- as part of a demonstration of Disney's special effects wizardry -- would have been lead into a room that resembled the interior of the Russian Space station. Then the cascade failure -- the event that caused the Mir-like vessel in the movie to go boom -- would begin.

So what was this DCA attraction supposed have been like? Imagineers who were working on the "Armageddon" show likened the proposed attraction to being "trapped inside a tiger cage with a roaring, snarling tiger."

Sounds like fun for the whole family to me.