Rejected Amusements: El Bumpo at Magic Mountain and XK-1 at Knott's Berry Farm

Debuting with the park in 1971, El Bumpo was a unique Magic Mountain ride. It's notable for being the only Arrow bumper boat ride ever built. Not in the original plans for the park, the ride was added at a late stage in development to add more family rides.

The gas-powered boats were contained in a large pool. Boats traveled at a less-than-fun speed in the pool, and guests frequently complained about fumes from the motors that escaped out the back of the boats.

By 1979, the ride was removed and scrapped. Today, this area of the park is known as Bugs Bunny World.

XK-1, Knott's Berry Farm's Intamin Flight Trainer, was added to the park in 1990. Riders controlled their own two-seat spinning car attached to moving arms, while the ride itself lifted off the ground.

The ride initially stuck out in the park's Roaring 20's section. The surrounding area would later be known as "Knott's Airfield," before transforming into The Boardwalk.

A 1991 accident on a similar ride at King's Island in Ohio forced changes to the ride's programming. An intoxicated woman fell out of the ride, and changes were made to the ride's handling of joystick that controlled the spinning motion on the cars. Hanging up-side down was no longer possible after these modifications.

In 1997, Cedar Fair purchased Knott's Berry Farm, and the XK-1 was removed. It's replacement, Supreme Scream (an S&S space shot tower), opened the following year.

Rejected Amusements: Miami Vice Action Spectacular at Universal Studios Hollywood

The Miami Vice Action Spectacular stunt show at Universal Studios Hollywood opened in 1987. Based on the hit 80's TV show of the same name, Miami Vice replaced the earlier A-Team Live Stunt Show that ran since the mid-70's.

Going off the TV series' themes of two undercover cops raiding a drug lord's compound, the show incorporated boats, jet skis, guns, explosions, and even a run-away mine cart. Shown day or night, the show's finale involved a helicopter on a giant arm that emerged from behind a building, as seen in this overhead shot below.

Miami Vice (the TV show) was cancelled in 1990, while the stunt show managed to live on until early 1995. Today, this area is home to the Waterworld Stunt Show, which retained several of the same stunts.

There were preliminary plans to build a version of this show at Universal Studios Florida, but instead, that park received the spiritual successor to the show, Dynamite Nights Stunt Spectacular.

Rejected Amusements: VertiGo and Extreme Trampoline at Cedar Point

In August 2001, Cedar Point opened Vertigo, an S&S Power attraction. Three towers standing 265 feet tall, with a central gondola connected to the towers by cables that riders are strapped into, then ejected above the height of the structure itself. VertiGo was located in Cedar Point's Challenge Park, and riders would pay $10 each per ride.

Once the park closed, Cedar Point's maintenance team removed the center car and cables that supported the towers. Due to the Point's location on Lake Erie, and Ohio's harsh winter, the towers collapsed during it's annual refurbishment in the off-season.

Similar attractions also existed at Six Flags Great Adventure, Six Flags Magic Mountain, and Knott's Berry Farm.

Installed for the 2004 season, the Extreme Trampoline in Cedar Point's Challenge Park. Guests in harnesses bounced up to 20 feet in the air. Guests between 40 and 200 pounds could buy a block of time for $6.

The attraction was constructed next to Challenge Racing and Ripcord, where VertiGo once stood. In later years, the fee would jump to $7, and the name would change to "X-Treme Trampoline."

Due to the cost of upkeep and low capacity, the ride was slated to be removed. For 2008, the attraction was replaced by Skyscraper, itself moved from Dorney Park and Valleyfair.

Rejected Amusements: Villain at Six Flags Ohio

Debuting in 2000, the Villain was a CCI-built wooden coaster added for Six Flags Ohio's opening year. Built as a 120-foot tall hybrid coaster (steel supports with wooden coaster track). The track layout was unique, in that the coaster did not cross over itself at any time during the almost 4,000-foot long track.

The ride received retracking attention in the off-season, most notably in 2006 when the trick-track section after the second hill was removed. Each of the Villain's twelve drops received new wood over the life of the coaster.

A mid-course brake was planned, but shelved due to tight time demands. Villain would never run with three trains efficiently as a result. In 2003, the Villain lost one of it's three Gerstlauer-built trains to the nearby Raging Wolf Bobs coaster.

When Geauga Lake closed in 2007, the ride was put up for sale. Without a buyer, the ride was sold for scrap. The trains from the ride are currently at King's Island.

Rejected Amusements: Nightwing at Six Flags New England and Chicken Express at High Hopes Orchard

Opened in 2000, Six Flags New England's Nightwing was the only Huss Fly Away ride installed in the US. Riders sat in gondolas that gave the impression of flight with a ride system similar to an Enterprise.

Nightwing was named after the fictional character of the same name from the DC Comics Batman franchise. This was the only ride ever named after the character.

In 2008, the ride was removed. Frequent downtime and expensive repairs prevented the ride from operating consistently. Today, a Chance Wipeout named Joker's Wildcard is in it's place; the ride being an enclosed ride that opened the same year, but removed in 2005 due to not complying with fire code regulations.

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Chicken Express was an Allan Herschell Little Dipper coaster at High Hopes Orchard. The ride dates back to the 50's, when it originally operated at Bayville Amusements in New York. Chicken Express had seen a big refurbishment before it opened in 2002, along with a small collection of other kiddie and family rides.

Chicken Express ride only operated between August to October. By the end of 2005, the ride was dismantled and sold along with the rest of the amusements. High Hopes Orchard continues to operate today, without rides.

Rejected Amusements: Dungeon Drop at Six Flags Astroworld and Thriller Coaster at Sports Plus Entertainment Center

Built in the Nottingham Village section of Six Flags Astroworld in 1997, Duengon Drop was a second-generation Intamin drop tower. Dropping riders from a height of 20 stories, the 230-foot tower was one of the tallest rides in Texas when it opened. The queue line began in a castle to go along with the theme.

In 2005, Astroworld closed for it's last season, and shortly after, the ride was dismantled and trucked to Six Flags St. Louis. Here, it was to become Acrophobia, patterned after a similar ride at Six Flags Over Georgia.

In 2006, the ride was re-constucted on the hill close to the park's Screamin' Eagle wooden coaster. Mark Shapiro, who took over as head of Six Flags after Kerrian Burke was ousted by the shareholders, wanted the ride to tie-in with the Superman franchise instead of the original plans. He had the ride re-painted and renamed to "Superman: Tower of Power."

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The indoor Thriller Coaster at Lake Grove, New York's Sports Plus Entertainment Center opened in 2004. The custom Wisdom Rides coaster weaved in and out of the center's former 3D theater, which was outfitted with new blacklight-accented scenery and paintings.

(Note: I apologize for the blurry photos. These are my own, and the lighting was bad as I was shooting them indoors in 2005.)

The coffin-like coaster cars were designed with some unique features. The train's lap bars could only be opened by a ride operator with an air hose at the end of the ride. Also, because the ride only made sharp left-hand turns, the couplings for the trains were on the far left.

Even though it was advertised as "Long Island's Greatest and Only" indoor coaster, it would not last very long. Around August of 2007, the amusement section of Sports Plus closed for good, and the Thriller Coaster along with it.

Sports Plus still operates as a bowling alley. As for the Thriller Coaster, it is currently for sale for a cool $199,000.

Rejected Amusements: Discovery River Boats at Disney's Animal Kingdom

Editor's Note: I'm pleased to welcome a new series to NewsPlusNotes, Rejected Amusements.  In welcoming the series, I'd also like to extend a warm welcome to its author and a new memeber of the NPN team, Ryan.  Rejected Amusements will be taking a look at our favorite industries' unbuilt, altered, and short-lived amusement parks and attractions.  Rejection never felt so good! ~Mike

Opening with the park in 1998, Disney's Animal Kingdom's Discovery River Boats (also known as "Discovery River Taxi") provided up-close looks at animals and took guests on a leisurely trip around the park's Safari Village (later named Discovery Island). Along the way, riders were shown some smaller animals held by a trainer, who also gave a live speil about Discovery Island.

Primarily, the purpose of the boats was mainly transportation (from the Safari dock to the Asia dock, outlined in white on the map below), but the voyage also showcased some upcoming (now lost) Beastly Kingdom attractions. Near Camp Minnie-Mickey, a waterfall with dragon-shaped rockwork could be seen (yellow), while a fire-breathing dragon in a cave existed further down (green). Geysers were up ahead in Africa, but they wouldn't soak guests.

Coming from the Asia dock, riders could see a preview of the Asia-themed land (which would be debuting the following year), a static dinosaur statue (red) in the river, and some fountains (since removed). The boat storage and dry docks for the boats was placed behind the Theater in the Wild (blue).

In early 1999, with the park in need of more capacity, the attraction was given a Radio Disney River Cruise overlay. Instead of station-to-station travel, the boats now completed a round trip of the river. Animals no longer were a part of the cruise, and new speakers played pop music and pre-selected sound clips. Perhaps the most jarring change was a complete disregard to the realistic scenery surrounding the route (for example, the fire-breathing "rock dragon" was re-christened as a volcano in the tour audio).

By the end of 1999, the attraction was closed altogether. Long lines, as well as guest confusion over the nature of the attraction, led to the Discovery River Boat's early demise. Both docks are used as meet-and-greets in the park.