''Yosemite Sam and the Gold River Adventure!'' was a

dark Darkness is the condition resulting from a lack of illumination, or an absence of visible light. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low luminance because the hue-sensitive photoreceptor cells on the retina are ...

boat ride Water rides are amusement rides that are set over water. For instance, a log flume travels through a channel of water to move along its course. Notable types *AquaLoop *Bumper boats * Fishpipe * FlowRider *Lazy river *Log flume * Old Mill * Ri ...

at the

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

Six Flags Over Texas "Six flags over Texas" is the slogan used to describe the six sovereign countries that have had control over some or all of the current territory of the U.S. state of Texas: Spain (1519–1685; 1690–1821), France (1685–1690), Mexico (1821� ...

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal c ...

. The ride opened on June 15, 1992, as a replacement for ''The Spee-Lunker Cave'', and closed on September 22, 2018, before being replaced by ''Pirates of Speelunker Cave'' in 2022.

History

''Yosemite Sam and the Gold River Adventure!'' opened at Six Flags Over Texas on June 15, 1992. The ride originally opened as ''The Spee-Lunker Cave'' (also known as ''The Cave'' on its entrance and layout) in 1964. The ride did not have a storyline, but rather showed the peculiar alien characters in various scenes that occasionally changed from season-to-season. After Time Warner Entertainment purchased the Six Flags chain, the Spee-Lunkers were removed and replaced with ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

'' characters by the beginning of the 1992 season. Bob Bennett, the president of Six Flags Over Texas, stated that ''The Spee-Lunker Cave'' was closed because Six Flags needed a family ride that would bring them into the 20th century, and the ride was very dated. Alan Reynolds, a former Six Flags employee, and many nostalgic park guests would often petition to bring the Spee-Lunkers back. On the night of September 21, 2018 and the morning of September 22, 2018, Six Flags Over Texas was hit by flash floods that caused damage to the park. Water levels in the Tower and Boomtown sections reached nearly 8 feet, causing damage to restaurants and buildings and forcing rides to be closed for repairs and inspections. The entire show building for ''Yosemite Sam and the Gold River Adventure!'' was flooded, with the boats floating into walls, set pieces and animatronics. The incident resulted in irreparable damage to the animatronics, lights and special effects throughout the attraction, which were already in poor condition after 25 years of operation prior to the flood. After an extensive retheming, the ride reopened on May 14, 2022, as ''Pirates of Speelunker Cave'', paying homage to the original ''Spee-Lunker Cave'' ride and its Spee-Lunker inhabitants (now named "Speelunkers").

Ride experience

The ride began with guests entering a warehouse named Acme Freight Lines. Inside, they went past a stall with various Acme crates and a television displaying ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoons like '' Bunny Hugged'' on its screen. They exited the warehouse and queued outside an enormous two-story wooden depot, complete with a giant water tower and oil derrick, and came across a notice sign by

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is a cartoon character created in the late 1930s at Warner Bros. Cartoons (originally Leon Schlesinger, Leon Schlesinger Productions) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his featured roles in the ' ...

, the captain of the Texas Rangers. The sign read, "Guards needed for gold shipments. Low pay, long hours, danger everywhere.... apply now!" This helped provide the backstory before the ride began. Below the sign was a crate with the

Tasmanian Devil The Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii''; palawa kani: ''purinina'') is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. It was formerly present across mainland Australia, but became extinct there around 3,500 years ago; it is now con ...

and the Tasmanian She-Devil grunting, growling and rasping inside. Guests got on 3 small oval-shaped

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...

boats, each with 2 rows of 4 seats each, before being taken through the bank.

Yosemite Sam Yosemite Sam ( ) is a cartoon character in the ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of short films produced by Warner Bros. His name is taken from Yosemite National Park in California. His real name is ''Aloysius Bartholamew Sam''. ...

robs the bank and steals the gold, leaving the bank's security guard,

Elmer Fudd Elmer J. Fudd is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes''/''Merrie Melodies'' series and the archenemy of Bugs Bunny. Elmer Fudd's aim is to hunt Bugs, but he usually ends up seriously injuring himself and other antag ...

, crying upon the realization that he has been "wobbed". After that, the guests meet Bugs, who deputizes them to help him catch Sam and, along with

Speedy Gonzales Speedy Gonzales is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He is portrayed as "The Fastest Mouse in all Mexico" with his major traits being the ability to run extremely fast ...

, points in his direction. The guests then go through a tunnel, where the Road Runner pops out from behind a wall saying, "Beep, beep!" After exiting the tunnel, they come across

Wile E. Coyote Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons, first appearing in 1949 in the theatrical short '' Fast and Furry-ous''. In each film, the cunning, d ...

, who hoists a large anvil on a rope (above some birdseed and in front of a painted bullseye) with one hand and tugs on a cannon pointed the Road Runner in the other. However, his plan backfires, leaving Wile E. caught up in a bind and holding a sign saying, "Help!" The guests are then ambushed by Sam, who emerges from behind a pile of rocks, taunting them and saying that they will never catch him. He fires his guns at them and laughs, but misses his target and hits some of Chug-a-Lug Waterworks' barrels, causing water from inside the barrels to spray out onto the guests. After that, the guests go past a scene where

Daffy Duck Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character created by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett for Leon Schlesinger Productions. Styled as an anthropomorphic black duck, he has appeared in cartoon series such as ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Me ...

attempts to sell them some Texas "T" Tea. Around the bend,

Porky Pig Porky Pig is a cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his celebrity, star power, and the animators created man ...

appears on the back of his donkey from ''

Drip-Along Daffy ''Drip-Along Daffy'' is a 1951 Warner Bros. '' Merrie Melodies'' theatrical cartoon short, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. The cartoon was released on November 17, 1951, and stars Daffy Duck and Porky Pig. This cartoon wa ...

''. He tells the guests to go after Sam, pointing in the outlaw's direction. The guests arrive at an ore hoist stack in the Kicked Bucket Gold Mine. As their boats are pulled up a lift,

Tweety Tweety is an animated character, a yellow canary bird in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of animated cartoons. His characteristics are based on Red Skelton's famous "Junior the Mean Widdle Kid". He appeared in ...

sits on a crate and calls for help, telling them that

Sylvester Sylvester or Silvester is a name derived from the Latin adjective ''silvestris'' meaning "wooded" or "wild", which derives from the noun ''silva'' meaning "woodland". Classical Latin spells this with ''i''. In Classical Latin, ''y'' represented a ...

will get them blown up. Sylvester pulls on a lever and yells to the guests to leave as the hoist is about to blow. The guests' boats suddenly drop down into a steam-filled mine shaft, and they find themselves out on the prairie sunset, where they discover Sam trying to lever a boulder off a cliff onto their path. Next, guests go past the Texas Ranger's campsite, where Bugs deputizes Daffy (who wears his attire from ''Drip-Along Daffy'') and Speedy to help him catch Sam. The guests go past geysers named Old Unreliable and Some-What Faithful, and encounter Sam, who laughs and attempts to give them the slip with lots of explosives. Suddenly, Bugs pops out of a hole with some long fuses and puts them to Sam's lit match, which causes an explosion. The guests then enter a room that lights up, revealing a charred Sam, who vows revenge on Bugs. The guests come across a livery stable, from which Speedy appears and tells them that Sam has robbed another bank. He then runs off, and pops out of a barrel to encourage them to keep their heads down, as Sam and Daffy are having a shootout. Daffy tries to shoot Sam, but lacks aim, wildly missing his target and hitting a barrel, a spittoon and two lanterns, while Sam laughs and taunts him. Suddenly, the Texas Ranger's Office's doors swing open, revealing Bugs with a cannon pointed at Sam, and holding a sign saying, "Nice try, Sam!" (when the ride first opened, Bugs did not hold a sign). He blasts Sam with the cannon, which uses a red light when fired to simulate cannon fire (when the ride first opened, the cannon would emit smoke). The guests then enter the jailhouse, where Sam is behind bars and Speedy is standing on a stool, holding the keys to Sam's cell. Back at the office, Bugs and Elmer celebrate Sam's capture and the gold's return, and Bugs discharges the guests. Pictures depicting stills from '' Rebel Rabbit'', '' Rabbit Every Monday'', ''Drip-Along Daffy'' and '' Zoom and Bored'' can be found on the walls. The guests go through a wall designed to resemble the ''Looney Tunes'' rings with text saying, "That's all Folks!" (when the ride first opened, Porky could be heard saying, "Th-th-th-th-that's all, rangers!" whenever the guests went through the wall), which leads to a tunnel with lanterns and Acme crates, and return to the loading station. The guests are unloaded, and exit using a bridge and go under the Texas Rangers' lookout tower, with Bugs in it.

Voice cast

Greg Burson Gregory Lewis Burson (August 15, 1949 – July 22, 2008) was an American voice actor. He was best known for being one of the many successors to voice actors Daws Butler (who was also Burson's mentor) and Mel Blanc following their deaths in 1988 an ...

and

Joe Alaskey Joseph Francis Alaskey III (April 17, 1952 – February 3, 2016) was an American actor and comedian. He was one of Mel Blanc's successors at the Warner Bros. Animation studio until his death. He alternated with Jeff Bergman, Greg Burson, Ji ...

, and

Bob Bergen Robert Berger (born March 8, 1964), known professionally as Bob Bergen, is an American voice actor. He voices Warner Bros. cartoon characters Porky Pig and Tweety and has voiced characters in the English dubs of various anime. He formerly hosted ...

and

Maurice LaMarche Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor. Across a career spanning more than four decades he has voiced Chief Quimby on Inspector Gadget, Egon Spengler on ''The Real Ghostbusters'', The Brain on ''Animaniacs'' and its spi ...

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for come ...

and Tasmanian She-Devil (archive recordings) * Paul Julian as Road Runner (archive recordings)

Ride design

''Yosemite Sam and the Gold River Adventure!'' reused the ride system from ''The Spee-Lunker Cave'', manufactured by

Arrow Dynamics Arrow Dynamics was an American manufacturing and engineering company that specialized in designing and building amusement park rides, especially roller coasters. Based in Clearfield, Utah, the company was the successor to Arrow Development (19 ...

. The ride was designed and art-directed by R&R Creative Designs, Inc. It was originally planned to be named ''Yosemite Sam and the River of Gold''. The ride's story was written by R&R co-founder and president Rick Bastrup. The ride featured more than 125 special effects and 24 scenes with 29

audio-animatronics Audio-Animatronics (also known simply as AAs) are a form of Mechatronics, mechatronic animatronics puppetry created by Walt Disney Imagineering and Trademark, trademarked by The Walt Disney Company for use in designed shows and attractions at Disn ...

, designed by

Sally Corporation Sally Corporation (also known as Sally Dark Rides) is a dark ride and animatronic manufacturing company based in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. The company serves amusement parks, attractions, museums, and retail clients worldwide. It ...

. The retheme was done between November 1991 and 1992, and cost over $5,000,000. The theme song for the 1974 film ''

Blazing Saddles ''Blazing Saddles'' is a 1974 American satirical postmodernist Western black comedy film directed by Mel Brooks, who co-wrote the screenplay with Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, Norman Steinberg and Alan Uger, based on a story treatment by Be ...

'' is interwoven throughout the score for the ride, composed by Kevin Nadeau. Six Flags, R&R and Sally Corporation knew that there was still relevant interest in ''The Spee-Lunker Cave'' at the time, and so included tributes to the ride in the form of wanted posters: "Wanted" (bank scene), "Wanted: The Spee-Lunker Organist for Piping" (shootout scene), and "Wanted: Spee-Lunker Band" (jailhouse scene).

References

External links