Mission Bermuda Triangle

Ah, Mission: Bermuda Triangle. My Home away from home in the summer of 2003. And, the home of Captain Gerard. Inside is a, to this day, state of the art motion simulator system, which, arguably, was not put to good use with Mission: Bermuda Triangle. But this didn't stop me, and a handful of others from loving the tacky presentation.

Mission Bermuda Triangle opened in 2000 at Sea World Ohio. The only seasonal Sea World in the chain, the Ohio park was facing troubling times. Never before had the park built a ride, as a non-compete agreement had been signed with Geauga Lake, preventing them from ever building a ride, and likewise, prevented Geauga Lake from ever having animal attractions.

However, Sea World was desperate, and Geauga Lake made an allowence for them to build the attraction, because it would be concealed within a big metal hangar, and would not likely affect their market share. Unbeknownst to Sea World, in 2000, Geauga Lake was going to spend $40 million dollars to convert into Six Flags Ohio. It was unlikely that families who wanted to try something new would actually pick Sea World over the newSix Flags. So with the proper approval, Sea World started construction of Mission: Bermuda Triangle in the fall of 1999.

Now, if you are the inquisitive type like myself, you would wonder how they built M:BT. After all, the simulator pods are all one piece; they cannot be assembled on site. As I understand it from talking with some seasoned maintenance personnel, is that the foundation was poured 6 feet below ground level. Next, all four simulators were lowered into position, and secured. Granted, this had to be done before the winter weather arrived, so this procedure took place in the fall. Next, 4 large wooden boxes were constructed, one over each pod, as to protect them from the elements. Finally, the rest of the facility was built, including the metal hangar roof. But worth noting is that the way the building was made, the only way to remove one of the simulators is by tearing down the whole building.

Anheiseur Busch is known for making very elaborately themed attractions. Evidence of this is the huge World War II plane sitting alongside the entrance. The original SOP (Standard operating procedure) for this ride from Sea World includes a brief story about how the plane wreckage was pulled off the coast of Florida and brought up to Sea World for this ride. However, if you believe it is real reckage, you have been fooled! Actually, the plane was made from scratch in a field in Streetsboro, Ohio, about 15 minutes away from the park. And having looked inside of the plane, you'll find alot of unconventional materials holding it together, including PVC pipe sections.

In May 2000, Mission: Bermuda Triangle opened to the public, with much media fanfare. After all, it was probably the most expensive addition to the park in it's history. It appeared to be a hit for Sea World. Long lines were the norm in the opening season, but Sea World was prepared. The story goes that they had 12 staff people running the ride when it opened, which is incredible. 4 simulator operators, 1(5) entrance host, 1(6) at the front of the line, 2 (8) at the pre-show rooms, 1 (9) in the non-motion theatre, 2 (11) in the exit hall directing guests where to go, and 1(12) Team Lead for the area. WOW! Among the features of the building were 4 motion simulator cabins from SixEx of Ontario Canada. They were capable for holding 30 guests at a time, for the 4:45m ride. Also, a non-motion theatre was included for handicapped guests, as well as younger ones who might be too short to otherwise ride. Pre-Show rooms played a short video safety announcement, and moments later, a warning light would go off, and guests would enter the simulator. All and all, it was really well done. There were even television monitors in the queue line that showed "live" footage from the SSN Irvin.

But with the opening of Six Flags Ohio, and Cedar Point's new Millennium Force, MBT and Sea World was left behind in the race for the Amusement dollar. It is too bad, because the ride was a quality production, however it just did not bring in the crowds it was desinged to. In early 2001, Sea World was sold to Six Flags for $110 million dollars.

MBT's opening season was by far the best. But motion simulators have short shelf lives; you can't use the same movie for long before guests start asking for something new. In it's junior year in operation, things started going down hill. By 2002, the pre-show rooms had started disappearing. The valuable projectors were removed by Six Flags so they could be used elsewhere in the park. The non-motion theatre was abandoned, and turned into a classroom for training at the park... and not surprisingly, ridership started dropping. It's hard to say which came first, the drop in ridership or the drop in funding to run the building. Either way, the television monitors in the line disappeared, lights started burning out, the speakers outside stopped working, and it was apparent that Six Flags was not interested in spending the time or money to keep the attraction in the condition it was when it opened. The attraction's hours were cut, so that it only operated from 12-8 daily.

In 2003, I was offered a chance to be an Assistant Team Lead at Six Flags... jumping at the oppourtunity, I asked what areas were available. Mission: Bermuda Triangle was on the list, and I snatched it. During the season, we usually ran 1 simulator all day. We'd fire up the second one if we had the staff, and we tried to arrange it so that we had 2 running for the "Pirate's Rush", refering to the times during the day when the 4-D movie next door would let out, spilling guests into our queue. In my time there, I grew to know and love the ride like the back of my hand. To this day, I can recite word for word the whole soundtrack.

In winter 2003, it was announced that next season, Six Flags would re-theme the ride to Stargate-SG1, much to the delight of many enthusiasts who were glad to see the triangle put out of it's misery. However, in Spring 2004, Six Flags Worlds Of Adventure in Aurora, Ohio was purchased by Cedar Fair, L.P. for $145 million dollars. All the themed rides like Batman and Superman were to be phased out, as the new owners did not own the license the use the names. The renovations at MBT were scrapped, but it was rumored that the project hadn't been started whatsoever. Many were unsure what would become of the "South" side of Geauga Lake, the old home of Sea World, including the Bermuda Triangle. Cedar Fair announced that the park would be called Geauga Lake again, however, they had no plans to keep the animals Six Flags had over on the south side. The park quickly erased the Six Flags logos and Opened on May 1st, 2004. Among the many changes was a huge wooden wall blocking the entrance to all of the animal attractions. Mission: Bermuda Triangle had been saved however, as a 1 year contract was renewed with Anheisuer-Busch, the owners of the film. (The film also played at Sea World San Diego, but was replaced with a "Wild Arctic" themed ride) In all honesty, it the ride had not opened with Geauga Lake in 2004, few would have missed it. Ridership was the worst it had ever been; rarely did the cabins fill up at all.

As 2004 came to a close, word started spreading around the park that the South Side would be closed after Labor Day. A few weekends later, stantions were put up just past Happy Harbor, blocking access to Pirate's 4-D and MBT. It was apparent that Mission: Bermuda Triangle had finally performed it's last dive. On November 10th, 2004, Geauga Lake announced that MBT would be converted to Dino Island II 3-D: Escape From Dino Island. Among the changes would be an upgrade to the cabins, including new 3-D projectors, air-blasts, water sprayers, leg ticklers, and vibrating seat cushions. Finally, the building was going in the right direction.

Update: On February 2nd, Geauga Lake Disclosed to the Aurora Advocate newspaper that the Decorative Airplane out front had found a new home at the Akron-Canton Airport, where the Military Aviation Preservation Society would proudly display the plane there. Au-revoir!

Update: These photos come from GeaugaLake.com, where we can see maintenance crews have begun retrofitting the new simulator cabins for 2005...