Rube Dugan

Junior · April 20, 2010, 04:34:15 PM

Oh, one last thought...one reason SDC consulted with Disney is because the gentleman mentioned in my previous post was based in Florida, and had done work with Disney in the past. By the way, the man I'm talking about helped with the Star Tours attraction at Disney, too.

Junior · April 20, 2010, 04:42:18 PM

One other last thought...the man I'm talking about also worked on the King Kong attractions at Universal, and with parks in Europe, too. His name is Tom, and for as busy as a fellow as he is, he has been very nice to communicate with me over the last several months and discuss this project he was involved in some 35 years ago! He takes a lot of pride in the work he does and is one of the top people in his field. The SDC project came along fairly early in his career and was one of the important attractions he helped develop along with several people that worked on park at the time. I worked with a fellow "Junior" named Deleslie Koogler, we went to high school in Branson together, and even shared a locker. His dad, Gerald, was one of the men on park that designed the look of the park in the mid-70's and early 80's. Alot of the design of the diving bell and the area around it was his work. He left SDC in the early 80s, but his influence in the look and style of the park lives on...you see it everytime you walk around the park. He was a nice man, too. Don't know what he's been up to in recent years.

History Buff · April 20, 2010, 09:06:48 PM

Is this the same designer as the Hound Dog Holler show that never germinated? That one would have been similar to the Country Bears.

Oh, and Mission to Mars has been updated to the current Stitch's Great Escape...which is just a really weird attraction/simulator/4D thing and nothing like the Mission to Mars.

Junior · April 21, 2010, 08:02:12 AM

Yes, he is the same guy that came up with the hound dog review idea. One animatronic hound dog was made a few years later, and they tried putting it into the Courthouse Theater show in the early 80s. It kept breaking down, and was sold to Presley's Jubilee. They used it for a year or two, then they ditched it, and had one of Herkimer's kids, (Gary Presley) to put on a hound dog outfit that was used in the show for many years.

vpbsr · April 20, 2011, 02:41:32 PM

Quote from: Junior on April 20, 2010, 04:42:18 PM
One other last thought...the man I'm talking about also worked on the King Kong attractions at Universal, and with parks in Europe, too. His name is Tom, and for as busy as a fellow as he is, he has been very nice to communicate with me over the last several months and discuss this project he was involved in some 35 years ago! He takes a lot of pride in the work he does and is one of the top people in his field. The SDC project came along fairly early in his career and was one of the important attractions he helped develop along with several people that worked on park at the time. I worked with a fellow "Junior" named Deleslie Koogler, we went to high school in Branson together, and even shared a locker. His dad, Gerald, was one of the men on park that designed the look of the park in the mid-70's and early 80's. Alot of the design of the diving bell and the area around it was his work. He left SDC in the early 80s, but his influence in the look and style of the park lives on...you see it everytime you walk around the park. He was a nice man, too. Don't know what he's been up to in recent years.

my father has retired and doing just fine

Junior · April 20, 2011, 04:28:21 PM

VPBSR: Are you talking about Tom, or are you talking about Mr. Koogler? We are glad to have you post on SDCFans.com! If you could go into more detail about your previous post, it would be great. If you are talking about Mr. Koogler, then, let me know how Deleslie is! What's he up to and how has he been doing? Send me a private message if you want to keep things out of public view. Thanks again for posting!

Junior · April 21, 2011, 06:25:19 PM

Ah, yes! VPBSR is the one and only "Doc" who worked as one of the other "Juniors" in the early 1980s! He's being a bit quiet now, as a member of sdcfans.com, but I hope to coax him out of his shell and encourage him to contribute to the site. If you think some of my old stories here are a bit wild and crazy, well, they pale in comparison to stories that could be told by my old pal "Doc." VPBSR and I went to high school together in Branson, and worked on park for a few years. He took off for California, and I was told that at one point he worked for Disneyland! So, "Doc" I'm eager to hear from you, and if you want to keep things quiet, just send me a private message anytime.